Q6600 and Asus P5Q Pro Overclocking Questions

[jmacfarlane]

I've read the guide and I've been poking around in preparation for my new system. The CPU will be the Q6600, the MB the Asus P5Q Pro (P45 chipset), the video card an ATI 4870, and the RAM 2X2048 PC6400 800. Not sure of the maker of the RAM yet, gonna let the system maker choose I think.

There is a related thread here in which I asked some similar questions:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/248217-29-overclocked-q6600-asus-65mn-2ghz-voltage-question

I'm looking to overclock my CPU without having to play with too many settings. Not going to overclock the RAM or video card.

Here's what I was going to do:

I'm using more than stock cooling -- extra case fans and the Asetek Liquid CPU cooler -- so I was going to just crank up the MB from 266 mhz to 400 mhz. This should give me 3.6 Ghz on the processor. I was going to leave all the MB settings alone, basically, other than the RAM ratio, which I was going to change to 1:1 if needed to keep the RAM at 800 mhz.

If this is stable and cool upon testing, I was going to leave everything alone. If there are problems, I was going to try 400 mhz with CPU stepping of 8 instead of 9.

So my questions are:

1) any problems with this approach?

2) since I'm not overclocking the video card, will I need to mess with any of its settings, including voltage?

3) should I consider buying 1066 RAM for any overclocking-related reason?

Thanks, in advance, from a guy who has not upgraded for like 5 years and had to deal with these issues

EDIT: One more thing I thought of -- is there any downside to starting out with 400 mhz and 8 stepping on the CPU? Would that give me a change at greater stability and better temps? I'm willing to settle for the 3.2 GHZ if so...

 

[evongugg]

Read this.

HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - Guide v1.6.1

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide

 

[rubix_1011]

1) any problems with this approach?

2) since I'm not overclocking the video card, will I need to mess with any of its settings, including voltage?

3) should I consider buying 1066 RAM for any overclocking-related reason?

1) Yes, you will need to increase your CPU voltage, check out what your VID is using CoreTemp and use that as a guide...don't get too crazy. You will also need to increase your RAM voltage, 2.0 is a good limit at first, don't go over 2.1 as most don't like that much power. 1.9-2.0v. A decent idea is to lock your RAM at something like 6-6-6-15/18 to begin and tighten it up once you have your CPU stabilized.

2) If you aren't doing anything with the graphics card, don't worry about much here...there might be a setting like locking your PCIe speed at 100 or something...decent idea to do so...don't let it increase with FSB.

3) Yes, might be a good idea. Otherwise, switch your multiplier to 8x and bump your FSB this way...you might get further by doing so.

Depending on your VID and how well your cooling is (might be time to look into how well your northbridge is cooled if shooting to 3.6)

EDIT: One more thing I thought of -- is there any downside to starting out with 400 mhz and 8 stepping on the CPU? Would that give me a change at greater stability and better temps? I'm willing to settle for the 3.2 GHZ if so...

Nope, nothing wrong with that at all...in fact, I have mine running at 8x500.

 

[jmacfarlane]

Yup, I read the guide. Just was not sure whether I needed to follow it exactly. . . overclocking was easier in the past IMO, so many options to mess with now. . .

Follow-up questions:

1) I don't understand why I need to change the CAS timings when overclocking the CPU. . .?

2) why can't I just let the MB manage the voltage for the CPU, at least initially, and see if that's stable?

3) likewise, why can't I just let the MB manage the voltage for the RAM, since I won't be overclocking it?

Thanks again!

EDIT: And one more -- if you choose the drop the stepping from 9 to 8, and you thus get 3.2 Ghz instead of 3.6 -- is the performance hit you take just the loss of GHZ? I guess I'm trying to ask if you drop the stepping does it impact your performance more than if you just mess with the FSB when you're overclocking and keep the stepping at 9? So is it better to leave the stepping alone, or does it all just boil down to how many Ghz you're ultimately squeezing out of the processor?

 

[jmacfarlane]

Just self-bumping to see if anyone can help me with my follow-up questions -- thanks very much!

 

[yourwhiteshadow]

you need to loosen your timings so you can achieve a higher DRAM OC.

 

[iluvgillgill]

OP i think you need to understand few concepts here!
*what determine the overall system performance - FSB
*when you change FSB what you will increase? - RAM speed
*why no auto voltage? - Mobo will give unneccessary/too little voltage
*unneccessary/too little voltage,so?extra heat/instability
*dropping system multiplier - allow you to achieve higher FSB when CPU reach its limit in OC.