Q6600 Overclocking Trouble

[builder]

Hi,

I've been reading through the forum for the past week while trying to get my Q6600 (Rev B. Stepping G0) up to 3 GHz. Unfortunately I can't get things to work out the way I planned. Any help would be great.

I'm using CPU-Z and CoreTemp to see what's up and OCCT to stress.

I can get my system to boot up and work perfectly fine in windows. Idle temps are from 50-60C (which I understand is way too hot). Adding insult to injury after 25 minutes OCCT reports that it crashes. Temperature during the OCCT session peaks at 71 (too hot again).

My system is as follows:
- Q6600 (1.2375V is the batch, or version)
- Thermalright Ultra120 Extreme (reseated a few times)
- Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 (latest BIOS)
- 2 X 1 GB Crutial Ballistix PC-8500

Here's the info from my BIOS (MS Intelligent Tweaker)
Robust graphics booster Auto
CPU Clock Ratio 9X
CPU Frequency (automatically calculated) 3.0GHZ
CPU host clock control Enabled
CPU Host Frequency 333
PCI Express Frequency 100
C.I.A.2 Disabled
Performance Enhance Standard
System Memory Multiplier 2.00
Memory Frequency 667
DRAM Timing Selectable Manual
CAS Latency Time 5
DRAM Ras# to Cas# Delay 5
DRAM RAS# to Precharge 5
Precharge Delay 18
ACT to ACT delay Auto
Rank Write to Read Delay Auto
Write to precharge delay Auto
Refrech to Act Delay Auto
Read to precharge delay Auto
Static tread value Auto
Static tread phase adjust Auto
System voltage control Manual
DDR2 overvoltage control Normal
PCIe overvoltage control Normal
FSB overvoltage control Normal
(G)MCH overvoltage control Normal
Loadline calibration Enabled
CPU Voltage Control 1.15625V
Normal CPU Vcore (not adjustable) 1.23750

I'm new to overclocking but it appears other running similar settings to mine are doing well. I've taken the CPU Voltage to 1.375 but the load temps were too high so I had to abort OCCT about 30 seconds in.

Can anyone out there give me a hand?

 

[bob8701]

what psu you have?
did you use a fan with Thermalright Ultra120 Extreme? that is the best air heatsink,
do you clean and rapply compound each time after you reseat it?
core temp get accuracy temp reading, try it.

 

[jjblanche]

Your CPU voltage looks low to me, for starters. Secondly, what voltage is your RAM supposed to be running at, and what voltage is it actually running at? FYI, you can push a quad right up to 70ish no problem...75*C on the outside.

That being said, what heat sink are you using? The stock intel crapbox? Is your case micro ATX? My brother is using the stock heatsink on his Q6600 with AS5, and his hottest core is idling around 50, 71 full load small FFTs. The only reason he's using it is because his case is micro ATX, and he really can't fit an aftermarket heat sink in there. He's OCed to 2.7 @ 1.175v (BIOS setting).

If you can't keep it under 75*C you can do a few things. The first would be to lower your OC. The second would be to try and refit your heat sink to make sure it is seated properly. The third would be to get a new heat sink entirely, use arctic silver five, and increase ventilation in your case (PCI slot coolers are an excellent way to do this).

 

[builder]

JJBlanche and bob8701: Thanks for your help

Will the low voltage make the CPU run hot? I was under the impression that it would make it cooler, but less stable.

Heatsink is Ultra 120 Extreme
PSU is earthwatts 500

I was thinking of lapping HS and CPU, but that is scary to think about.

 

[jjblanche]

Don't lap the heat sink and the CPU. What size case are you running? Standard ATX? Those numbers seem quite hot for an aftermarket heat sink with the voltage and frequency you're running. What thermal compound are you running? Are you sure you have the heat sink affixed properly?

The computer needs to be stable. You should not sacrifice stability for temperature, it defeats the whole point. One or two hundred megahertz in either direction is not going to make or break you. Up the voltage. If it is too hot, lower the frequency and lower the voltage until you get it stable and cool enough.

 

[bob8701]

so the whole problem is temp too high, Ultra 120 Extreme does not come with fan, so did you run cpu without fan?
we increase cpu voltage to get OC stable.
you lapping cpu will not get warranty from intel in case cpu has problem.

 

[builder]

I have a Scythe S-Flex 120mm fan on the TR120. I'm using the Thermalright grease that came with the cooler. (Read that the cheap grease doesn't work any better than the expensive stuff so I just went with the stuff that came with it for free).

I reseated the heatsink for the 5th time (cleaned with arcticlean 2 stage cleaner everytime) and reapplied the grease.

Temps are better:
idle: 44/45/37/38
under load: 67/67/60/61 (currently 7 mins running OCCT 100% CPU load)

Case is Antec Sonata III 500, standard ATX (120mm fan on rear). Airflow probably isn't the absolute best though. I was planning on mounting a 90mm Antec stealth on the front but there's no way to do so

 

[jjblanche]

Try to get as man fans on/in that thing as possible. If you can't add anymore, than upgrade the ones you have to the highest output models. Beyond that, your temps look perfectly fine to me. I'd say you still have another 7*C to work with, if you really want to tap the max.

 

[builder]

Good news!

I swapped my system to an ANTEC SOLO case with 80mm front fan, 120mm rear fan and Corsair HX520 PS (former home of my HTPC). I also moved the video card down to the lower PCIe slot to get it further away from the HS.

Temps don't go over 67 on the hottest core and it's rock solid at 3.0GHz (1.15625V).

Now on to getting that memory set up!

Thanks for all your help