CPU overclock question !

[seager]

So I am new to overclocking but... every guide I read says to only increase your CPU when overclocking like 25mhz at a time, soo I am wondering what is the point of this?

What if I just put the FSB on my q6600 @ 2.4ghz up to 1333 to make it 3ghz ? what would the difference be from just doing that then raising the fsb from 1066 up 25mhz everytime?

example: 1066,1075,1100,1125...etc

Also when I overclock should I move the voltage at the start or not touch the voltage until its needed ? hence cpu voltage on my board is like 1.3 or something but I see alot of people moving the voltage up to 1.4 when they overclock... wasnt sure if since I already knew around the area of other peoples specs with the same hardware if I could just plug in there numbers and tweak from there. Thanks for any insight!


SPECS: nforce 750i, q6600 2.4ghz, gskill ddr2 1066 4gb, x2 8800gts sli

 

[seager]

bump... no one has any insight to my question ?

 

[sailer]

Many of the guides were written years ago, when 25mhz was a fair sized jump. Further, 25mhz doesn't always work out with the various multiplier, etc. The next step up might be 35mhz, for example. I now check on the overclocks that people are getting on a similar setup as mine, if such are available, and then start about 200mhz under theirs and work up.

Putting it a different way, my QX9650 runs at 3.0ghz stock, but I find a lot of people are running them between 3.8ghz to 4ghz. So I started with a speed of 3.6ghz and then worked my way up in 100ghz increments until an instability occurred while running Prime95. Then I backed down 50ghz, wrote down the settings, and went back to the unstable level and adjusted the voltages of the ram and CPU until it was stable. Then I raised the speed about 35ghz and tried again, adjusting the voltages as necessary. As for CPU voltage, 1.4v is common for overclocks, but you need to watch the temperatures. Some CPUs along with high performance heatsinks and fans, will tolerate 1.45v before getting too hot, while others might run into problems at 1.35v. You have to use Speedfan, Realtemp, or Coretemp for monitoring the temp of your CPU while experimenting with overclocks. I can run my QX9650 stable at 4100mhz on air, but it gets hot fast, so I keep the clock down to 3700mhz for daily use. If I ever invest in some better cooling, I know I can get more speed.

By the way, you're a bit confused about the FSB speed. The 1066 speed is a quad pumped value, that is 266x4. But this is not your CPU speed. Your CPU speed is the multiplier times the FSB speed. So the 2.4ghz CPU speed is a FSB of 266 times 9= 2400mhz. It is the FSB of 266 that you would raise by 25 in your example, so you would add 25 to 266 for 291 (291*9=2619mhz). Jumping straight to a FSB of 333 would give you a speed of 2997mhz, close enough to 3ghz. This should be a safe overclock for your Q6600.

 

[seager]

Thanks Sailer was very helpful, I am going to be starting overclocking today, I wanted to wait for my ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler to arive today.

I am running hot I think though on my CPU around like 50 C with stock cooler not overclocking at all.

Here is my tower - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103014

any suggestions on airflow ? ( I installed a 120m fan on the back to suck out the air ) I put the tower infront of my ac unit at home and with that side fan on my tower, it blows the ac air right on the motherboard and I got my CPU temp down to 29-30 C ... idle... I would like a better alternative then having to put it infront of the ac unit though haha.

I am using artic silver 5, i use the rice grain amount then spread it with a toothpick to make sure i dont get any oil from my hands or fingers on it... and a very thin layer.

 

[sailer]

Putting a 120mm fan on the top of the case to exhaust hot air is very helpful, I've found. If I remember correctly, your case has a 120mm rear fan and a 250mm front fan standard. That's a lot of air coming in, but it has no place to go. If you added a second rear fan, that's good, but a top fan will help as well.

I have an Antec 900, which had four fans and that seems to keep things fairly cool, though I'm thinking of adding a fifth fan. I'm going to see how its affected with summer temperatures first, though. As for your CPU temp, most of the stock Intel coolers are barely adequate, so running 50c with a stock cooler is normal. The AC Freezer Pro you ordered should help out a lot. I try to keep a CPU temp under 50c loaded if I can, though the chip is rated for up to 65c. My QX9650 idles at about 28c, using a TRUE with a single Noctua 120mm fan.

 

[iluvgillgill]

i have build system in that case. its better to max the side fan.it will cool the things inside better. i used a ACF7P in that case as well. pretty cool. generally the case is quiet. or should i say acceptable.

i used the Q6600 as well. the ACF7P will max out on that cooler at about 3.2Ghz. i only manage to get to 3Ghz with a VID1.325V Q6600. so good luck.

 

[kad]

Use RealTemp 2.5 to check your temp
It's the only accurate one

 

[dagger]

Use RealTemp 2.5 to check your temp
It's the only accurate one

It's hardly accurate. RealTemp underreports temperature. You're better off using something like Coretemp, which overreports. Better to err on the side of caution and be safe.

 

[seager]

Ok soo I got my fan today - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134 but im pretty sure its not sitting down on my NVIDIA nForce 750i motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188026 im seeing 51 C readings with this on my Q6600 @2.4ghz stock using Ntune Nvidia Monitor View, I also checked with speedfan and said same thing.

I took the motherboard completely out and made sure the clamps were down correctly, I and another friend tried putting it back together with fresh artic 5 about 4-5 times seeing if we just werent installing it correctly... but nothing helps... and when I took the Artic heat sink off.... I could see that the artic silver5 compound hadnt touched everywhere on the cpu....chip! But I have no idea how to make it sit any tighter I am positive the artic freezer 7 cpu heat sink was put on correctly.

Any tips for getting a heat sink to sit down tighter ?



p.s. I got my system stable at 3.2ghz overclocked but I cant continue to stress test it due to the high heat being generated by the bad heat sink

 

[iluvgillgill]

whats your load temp on 3.2ghz?any screenie??

you cant get it down any tighter then the lock will go. the cooler you got now it will be limited to 3.2Ghz on the Q6600. there is no other way that you can go higher. i have tried both the chip and the cooler myself.

however! there is one last resort!!!(luckily??) its to lap your CPU and cooler and you should see another 6C drop in load temp at least. but will VOID your CPU and cooler warranty from the first move on the sandpaper!

 

[seager]

I cant run anything overclocked when my idle temp is 51C. I need some insight on maybe a good CPU FAN that other q6600 users with a 750i board are using...

The only way I can overclock right now is by sitting my tower in the window with the AC unit blasting on the processer.

Even with that my CPU is 40-45 C idle and goes up to 62 C under max load at 3.0ghz, using Prime95 to stress test.

Voltage Settings:
CPU CORE: 1.35
CPU FSB: 1.3
Memory: 2.5

 

[iluvgillgill]

62C max load is fine if its not on AC chilled.

thought of lapping it yet seager? the result is remarkable i tell ya.

 

[kad]

It's hardly accurate. RealTemp underreports temperature. You're better off using something like Coretemp, which overreports. Better to err on the side of caution and be safe.

There was a long topic about this issue I can not find it now
but someone calibrated SpeedFan as described in Computronix sticky
and compared the results with RealTemp
Difference was 1 degree only
Trust me dagger itis reliable
I was also suspicious

 

[seager]

I dont know what lapping is iluvgillgill, but I think I need to explore and try another heat sink the ACF7P doesnt sit tightly against my CPU so its not effectively removing the heat ....

You think I should try a CPU fan that is bolted down? Instead of the push-pins?

On another thought if I can just get a decent heat sink on this q6600 w/ nforce 750i motherboard, I should be able to keep under 50 C overclocked at 3.2 with no AC Unit blowing onto my processer. That is my ultimate goal haha...

 

[seager]

Hey Sailer, could I try lowering the voltage going into the CPU? To reduce heat? If I leave it on auto will it just automatically set its self to what it needs?

"As for CPU voltage, 1.4v is common for overclocks, but you need to watch the temperatures. Some CPUs along with high performance heatsinks and fans, will tolerate 1.45v before getting too hot, while others might run into problems at 1.35v. You have to use Speedfan, Realtemp, or Coretemp for monitoring the temp of your CPU while experimenting with overclocks." Originally posted by Sailer

 

[seager]

another thing... I just thought of was would the heat issue be because my power supply is insufficient ?

PSU: (ETASIS ET850 True 850W, Max 950W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, cUL, CB, TUV, MEMKO)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817608007
Is that enough of a PSU to overclock ?

Comp Specs: Nforce 750i MB, Q6600 CPU, Gskill 4GB 1066 RAM, 2x 8800GTS 640mb SLI, Phillips DVD, 300gig sata HD,Etasis 850W PSU.

p.s. I currently am overclocked on the CPU to 3ghz. I can hear the PSU tick every few mins... is that normal?

 

[iluvgillgill]

lapping means sanding smooth the CPU and cooler using sandpaper.

 

[seager]

OK I Lapped the processor but I didnt see a dramtic change or anything... maybe 6 C.

I used a razorblade to make sure the cpu chip was even across after lapping it. However should all the nickel have been removed ? I had a little patch still left on mine but because it was flat I thought it should be ok?

I am going to buy a XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm CPU heat sink. Hopefully that will help... that piece of crap Arctic 7 Heat Sink sucked... wouldnt even lock down close enough to my CPU to fully seat.

 

[iluvgillgill]

you must havent seat it in properly. and 6C drop is very big improvement you will need 2x3000rpm fan to achieve those result. i feel what you mean when say its crap.but for that price come on!

 

[seager]

No I took the motherboard off and made sure the HSU was definately installed properlly and I tried it multiple times with leaving the motherboard in and out and reinstalling the HSU.... I could see when I unlocked the HSU everytime that the artic silver 5 compound didnt even touch the entire service of the CPU.

 

[iluvgillgill]

if the hsf is in fully, then the mobo should be bend if you look at it from the side. and that is a good pressure and contact

maybe you should lap both the hsf and cpu. you will extract more performance out of it.

 

[seager]

New HSU is coming today I will let ya know how it goes

Hoping that it actually makes full contact on the surface with my cpu.

 

[iluvgillgill]

check if the mobo is slightly bend after the heatsink is in.cap pic maybe?

 

[seager]

Ok after installing XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler, and letting it run for a few hours with my CPU Q6600 overclocked @ 3.0ghz it was running around 40 C idle. I plan to remove it later today and make sure it made complete contact.

Only camera I have is cell phone. Won't be good quality will try and remeber to take one.

p.s. I am not sure how much lower I will be able to get temperatures with 2 x 8800GTS 640mb graphix cards... the heat they put off is alot!!!