What could be stopping my q6600 going over 2.7ghz?

[_aurora_]

anything higher and it hangs at the bios flash screen.

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=916373&topic=40882507

 

[Evilonigiri]

Ram settings?

It could be your ram...

 

[bildo123]

Do you just try and shoot for the ol' 9x333 setup?, like evil said, check your memory timings, make sure they are auto at the least, PCI-E 100Mhz, make. Make sure your giving both RAM and CPU the right amount of voltage. Some people I believe are able to get 3Ghz without changing the voltage but some chips are different than others. LoL throw us a bone man, need a little more info than that

 

[cnumartyr]

If you can't think of anything else try 5 MHz increments over and over til you get up to about 350x9.

Could be a FSB hole. 680i's are famous for them.

 

[PlasticSashimi]

Try your memory timings @ 5-5-5-15 with 2.1 or 2.0 volts
and unlink them from the FSB

Increase your NB volts to 1.4v.....

Have you installed the latest BIOS for your board?

 

[_aurora_]

ok, this is all I've done>

Set the FSB - Memory clock to "unlinked"

Changed the FSB (QDR) to 1200mhz (2.7ghz)

Left memory at 800mhz

and changed the vcore to 1.3v (everything else on auto) when trying to overclock higher, but atm its at 1.22v.

I went straight for 2.7ghz and that seems to be the highest.

CPU-Z says my mem-timings are 5-5-5-18

It mite be my bios version (1305) but i've heard that updating could be risky, is that true?

 

[_aurora_]

Ignore the link in my first post, It was to another topic which had all the info I just posted but its gone now.

 

[PlasticSashimi]

There's always an inherent risk when flashing a new BIOS, I get it over with very early on in the process of building a system.

That having been said...I've flashed a new BIOS to various systems about 5 times or so and have never had a problem...just make sure you follow the instructions to a T.

Increase your vCore to 1.4v or even 1.45v (its safe for testing for sure) and see if that gets you anywhere...you can always go down incrementally to see where the threshold is.

Your memory voltage is also very important if you didn't change it; often 680i boards undervolt your ram to like 1.8v or something....

If some of these settings aren't available see if a BIOS update will add them to your options...(does happen sometimes)

 

[_aurora_]

"Your memory voltage is also very important if you didn't change it; often 680i boards undervolt your ram to like 1.8v or something.... "

yeah, CPU-Z shows it as 1.8v. Should I make it higher? if so, whats safe?

 

[Evilonigiri]

"Your memory voltage is also very important if you didn't change it; often 680i boards undervolt your ram to like 1.8v or something.... "

yeah, CPU-Z shows it as 1.8v. Should I make it higher? if so, whats safe?

That depends on your ram. It should specify what the limit is.

 

[_aurora_]

Its CM2x1024-6400

http://www.corsair.com/_datasheets/CM2X1024-6400.pdf

 

[PlasticSashimi]

2.0v will be completely fine in my opinion....I think heat would become a problem at >2.1v

If you have good airflow in your case then don't sweat it...

I can almost guarantee that your 1.8v was a problem...

 

[_aurora_]

ok will try now.

 

[_aurora_]

nope, didn't work. The screen just went black and I had to restart.

 

[Evilonigiri]

nope, didn't work. The screen just went black and I had to restart.

Too much voltage will also cause issues. Did you try 1.9V? You did put it to 1:1, right?

 

[_aurora_]

no, its on "unlinked", I cant select a ratio.

 

[Evilonigiri]

no, its on "unlinked", I cant select a ratio.

That could be why. When increasing the fsb, you're also OCing the ram, so if it's higher than the specified 800MHz, there's no guarantee it'll work properly. What's the ratio right now?

 

[_aurora_]

if its FSB: DRAM, its 3:4.

 

[_aurora_]

dont know how that face got there

thats better.

 

[Evilonigiri]

if its FSB: DRAM, its 3:4.

Yeah, that's the issue right there. Corsair ram doesn't OC well.

If you did 333 x 9, your ram would be at 888MHz. Since you laxed the timings to 5-5-5-18, try increasing the voltage to 2.1V.

 

[_aurora_]

So I should have the memory "linked" so it overclocks with the FSB? Before I started to overclock, I was being told that its better to leave it "unlinked".

 

[Evilonigiri]

So I should have the memory "linked" so it overclocks with the FSB? Before I started to overclock, I was being told that its better to leave it "unlinked".

I don't understand what you mean by linked and unlinked. FSB is always linked to ram.

 

[_aurora_]

http://www.overclock.net/attachments/intel-motherboards/43376d1173800426-asus-p5n32-e-overclocking-guide-image-3.jpg

 

[Evilonigiri]

http://www.overclock.net/attachments/intel-motherboards/43376d1173800426-asus-p5n32-e-overclocking-guide-image-3.jpg

Well, try linking it...unless you can't?

 

[PlasticSashimi]

I run mine unlinked....
Like you said it's always somewhat linked but you don't have to have a common ratio like 4:3 or 1:1....(however your BIOS might not support this)

What's your NorthBridge voltage?

and what plugs do you have running as power to your mobo...?

I still recommend updating your BIOS if it isn't the newest one...I did that before I started any overclocking, and I had a breeze with my clocks working