Q6600 overclocking - what motherboard to use?

[jorgeben]

Hi,
I'm purchasing a new computer tomorrow and uncertain about what motherboard to use.
It will be based around the intel Q6600 G0 and I would like to overclock it to at least 3.4ghz, maybe 3.6 if that's possible. Don't need anything fancy, although it should be forward compatible with the new pennryn processors (too eager to wait..)

Basically, I want a motherboard that will overclock this processor extremely well, but not have too many of those unnecessary extras providing no extra performance for extra cost. (no Abit boards at the local computer store) What do you recommend? I've heard that the Asus P5K deluxe is a good choice. What is the difference between that and the regular pk5 (almost $100 less)? Also, do you have any suggestions for the type/amount of RAM to use in conjunction with this board?

My current computer is an old 2.4ghz p4 from 2003. I plan on dual booting the new rig in a fully optimized gentoo environment and vista 64 ultimate

-Thanks in advance

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums mate

well P5K DELUXE is a good board but P5K-E WIFI has the same features and its cheaper (The only difference is that P5K DELUXE has one more copper and one more gigabit lan )

P5K has the worse cooling compared to P5K DELUXE and P5K-E WIFI

P.S , u may find ASUS P5K-E too , but since u want to OC then go for
P5K-E WIFI (because it has better cooling)

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/asus-p5k_2.html

P5K-E WIFI :
Look, it has exactly the same PCB layout as the top mainboards in the family, which means that its performance will also be up to the mark. As for the features, they are mostly the same, but without some excessive things. The absence of the second network adapter that most users do not need anyway is no drawbacks, but will definitely lower the price. From this standpoint, different cooling systems and accessories bundle are an advantage as well. Namely, we don’t lose anything important and still get a flagship product at a very justified price – if this is not an ideal, then it is really close to it.

 

[akelkar]

I have a gigabyte p35-DS4. I'm a noob to overclocking and I dont quite know the ins and outs of it yet. Fortunately, the mobo comes with software thats called easytune5 which allows intelligent OCing depending on load. I've seen my q6600 go over 3GHz when the "Full thrust" setting is enabled. You will need good cooling though.
My point being, I think even the Asus board comes with some auto-tuning software. But not everyone likes it. Most people recommend doing it manually.

But yeah, bottomline, I like my gigabyte board. Its very feature rich and great for OCing and I think I got for USD 150 at newegg.

 

[Andrius]

Auto overclocking software is dangerous.
It raises voltages very high (over 1.3V @ 3.0GHz for my Q6600 G0).
If you overdo it you could fry your chip.

I used BIOS to reach 3.0GHz @ 1.24375V without fuss. 10°C less average.
15°C less maximum.

If you plan to go very high (3.3GHz or more on a quad core) make sure you get a board with good power handling components. The P5K-Premium is a "new revision" of the Deluxe with some improvements in this area.

Also keep in mind that 6 or 8 phase power regulation is must
so a cheap P35 board is a bad idea.

If you intend to use 4 memory modules you will likely have to reduce timings and command rate settings.
2GB modules with good timings would be ideal but those are not cheap.

 

[jorgeben]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I was going to go for the Pk5 deluxe or pk5-e, but they were out of stock, so I opted for the p5e. Really impressed with this board so far.

 

[JackBlack07]

I've been researching this all weekend. I'm want an SLI setup to push my 3840x1024 resolution so I was planning on going with the ASUS Striker Extreme because I read somewhere someone had reached 3.4-3.6 using this board with the Q6600. What do you guys think?