Well i tried overclocking my q6600 to 3.0ghz. The only other thing i really changed was putting my memory into sync mode. I set the memory voltage to 2.0 (my memory is rated for between 1.9 and 2.1) changed the Vcore voltage to 1.3 And left everything else on auto. I also disabled the powersaving stuff the guide in this forum says to disable.

Now my computer hangs on the big Asus message, it says press del to access setup, but it doesn't work, and just sits there on that screen until i turn it off. I don't know what i could've possible done to end up with this result, my hardware tested solid, and i was under the impression 3.0ghz was a fairly mild overclock for the Q6600... so... is there anyway i can regain access to my computer? heh.

Just reset your CMOS and it should get everything back to stock. There should be a jumper somewhere on your board to do that. I recommend reading your mobo's manual to figure exactly how to clear your CMOS.

After that, it's probably best if you take things one step at a time so you can be sure what caused the problem, and keep your last working settings written down somewhere in case you need to clear again.

Reset CMOS ^^^^^^^^^^^

reset cmos, if u cant find the jumper then unplug the system and remove the batery on the mobo for a minute or so, this will have the same effect.

ok, i reset the bios, man i thought i was making really minor adjustments.. guess not. Hopefully that would not have caused any hardware damage?..

Naw, it will be okay. What did you wanna do with that quad? What are your goals and junk? Also, do me a favor and DL and run the newest version of Core Temp, and list your VID here, please? Watch it for a moment to make sure it doesnt change with processor usage.

And list the components in your system! Mobo, Power supply, vid card, ram brand and type, CPU stepping, Bios version, etc.

Thats a good start.

Lupi.

Oh, and I hope it isnt a 650/680i chipset, lol!!

--Lupi!

pretty sure it is a 650i, at the time it's what was recommended to overclock my q6600 with. I only tried overclocking it to 3ghz.

Now i have another problem tho'. After resetting the bios it tells me it's "missing operating system" Mine was on a RAID array... am i going to lose everything on my HD?

*edit*
Here's the thread i gave detailed info about my system in before Overclocking, i've got tempatures in there etc, and no my Vid doesn't change in Core temp, i forget what it is, but it was also in that thread

*edit again* whew, i figured out the RAID thing, that scared the crap out of me, i was afraid i was going to have to wipe the HDs... I'm also running at 2.7GHz now, that and putting my RAM into sync mode are the only things i changed this time, i guess i'm going to have to manually set the voltages if i want to go higher, i'm checking stability now.

yeah, well. Its a oc limit for that chipset. The majority of them with q6x00s in them cant get past 2.85ish!

There is no link to the images!

Yeah, you have to re set the disk to RAID mode in the Bios, so it uses the raid controller, then it'll find the striped array you had.

But I guess your VID becomes irrelevant unless you decide you wanna upgrade to a better board!

Although I still like to see if anyone gets a rare chip. like 1.2250 and lower!

--Lupi

People have clocked the Q6600 up to 3.8 Ghz... from what i understand 3.0 is very common. My board my not be the best, but it was the best at the time i bought it, and i know people have overclocked successfully on it. I got my chip running stable at 2.7, i didn't do anything at all except change the chip speed and set RAM to sync this time... all voltages on auto.

*edit* what the hell, i know i put this link in there http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ores-ocing

People? Haha, maybe me! But anyways, yes! 3.0 is easy for that chip. Its not the processor at all. Its the NVidia 650/680i chipset. The chipset doesnt like to allow the CPU to run at high speeds.

There are a few people that have managed to get it working past that.

I am not making fun of your board. I am telling you that it doesnt like to clock quads to high.

Voltages on Auto tend to over volt, so you know. I understand what you want, but you will have to figure out if it can get there!

if you wanna run Core Temp and list the VID of your chip, then I can prolly tell you near what vcore voltage you need for what speed.

But if your board wont let it run at that speed... what can be done?

--Lupi

I listed the Vcore in the other thread and you never got back to me =P
it is 1.2375. That's what it was at 2.4, and now at 2.7, i've never seen it fluctuate.

Kewl, thats a decent one! 3.6 @ 1.325 or a tiny bit more loaded. (Loaded = under Load with small ffts in prime on all cores. Maximum power drainage.)

Sorry! Whats up now?

--lupi!

ok right now everything runs stable at 2.7 with all voltages on Auto, what voltages would you suggest to try to get it running at 3.0. I'm not sure i want to go any higher than 3.0 anyway. I'm not looking to break any benchmarking records just improve my FPS in games.

Well, first you need to see if your board will allow a 3.0 OC. Some dont.

To test that is easy! Set the VCore to 1.3500 in the Bios, and make sure its near 1.320 in CPUz while idle, and that under load it doesnt droop below 1.28 or so. Thats MORE than enough VCore for 3.0. Once you get her booting into windows, you can prime test for an hour, then lower the VCore a notch, then prime for an hour, lower a notch, until it BSODs or a core stops testing because of a failure at near an hour.

When it does that, raise the VCore 1 notch and then re test for 8 hours. If it fails at 4 hours in or so, add another notch of VCore. That way you get the lowest 8 hour stable VCore requirement for 100% drain on your CPU.

--Lupi!

ok, so if i set the VCORE to 1.3500, and the computer doesn't post, then it basically means my board is a POS?

crap =/

So i should keep the north and south bridge voltages on auto?