Hi All,

Just completed a New Year build (below) and am still in the set-up / bench marking phase. I'd like some help as the options available in hardware and overclocking, since my last build, seem to have expanded exponentially!

Case: Antec 900
PSU: Corsair HX 620W
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus Extreme
CPU: Intel Q6600 Go stepping
GPU 1: 512MB AsusHD 3870 GDDR4 PCI-E 2.0 (x16)
GPU 2: 512MB AsusHD 3870 GDDR4 PCI-E 2.0 (x16) in Crossfire
Memory: Corsair 2GB (1GBx2) Kit Ballistix (DDR3 1600) PC3-12800
HDD 1: Raptor X 150GB S150 10,000rpm
HDD 2: 750 GB Western Digital WD7500AAKS
DVD: LG Blu-Ray & HD DVD player GGC-H20L SATA
Monitor: 24" Iiyama PLB2403WS-B1 Black Widescreen 1920 x 1200

So far I've installed a split boot partition on the Raptor with XP 32 bit on 50gb and a Vista 64 HP on the 100gb partition. I've loaded up the drivers for the Mb and graphics, firmware for the DVD etc.

Ignoring XP for the time being. So from a Vista 64 stand point:

I was having issues with Asus AISuite and the latest ATI drivers, which installed ok the first time, but since I uninstalled them during set up and tried to re-install... I can now not get them to load (keeps saying cannot find INF file and stops). So am using 8.442.0.0 instead.

I've flashed the bios to v9 as I'm hopeful this will fix the AISuite issues - (am testing at the moment)
All the BIOS settings are pretty standard and even the ram I'm running underclocked from the memory's point of view at PC3-10600 speeds.

Asus Probe is saying that the FSBT is 1.42~1.44 which is higher than the 1.24 'nominal' value, the MB is running at 34c and the NB at 47c! Which are both a little high?

Any ideas on the ATI and temperature issues would be appreciated - along with any advice on set-up in general.

Sorry for the length, but better to give all the info from the beginning IMO.

1st off, dump ASUS crapware. All of them. Don't touch the cd again. It's crap.

Same for Gigabyte, MSI, etc. No serious overclockers would use those on a daily basis. Use real overclocking tools.

Google these:

cpuz - for identifying cpu, mobo & ram
speedfan - for temps & fan speeds
Core Temp - for cpu temps
rivatuner - for gpu temps & fan speeds & o/cing gpu
Memtest86+ - for memory test, 1st thing to do in o/cing
Super PI Mod 1.5 - for cpu/ram speed tests, 2nd thing to do in o/cing, do 1mb-2mb
Stress Prime 2004 Orthos X2 - for stability tests, run 8 hours overnight

Use bios to overclock. The bios temp readouts are ok. ASUS boards have a little lower temps than other boards. speedfan is more accurate. Most accurate would be Core Temp.

There are other advanced tools, but I don't want to confuse you.

Serious overclockers don't even use programs, we code and compile our own!

Also, aren't you forgetting the first rule of being in the Serious Overclocker Society?

You don't talk about serious overclockers

And the second rule

You don't use serious and overclockers in the same sentence, people may start to catch on to us dude!

Cheers for the list akhilles - I'll get on it. I kinda figured the ASUS apps would be pretty naff. I'll leave probe on cos I get the link up to the additional sensors, but will take the rest off.

Any ideas on what range of overclock I might get out of the Q6600?

nossr50 - I've never been a serious anything! But I'll keep schtum... You ain't seen me, right? ; )

You can o/c the q6600 to 3ghz on stock cooling. Just up the FSB to 333mhz (333 x 9 = 3ghz ish). Kentsfield isn't a bad overclocker. Maybe up to 3.6ghz stable 24/7/365 on air. With better cooling, it can go higher. Not very much still. The Yorkfield will break records, on the other hand.

Cheers

I've run benchtests at stock and at 3Ghz. I'm now running:

CPU
Bus speed: 400Mhz
Multiplier: 8
=3.2Ghz
Rated FSB: 1600Mhz
V= 1.425
FSBRAM = 1:2

Mem
Frequency: 800Mhz
Timings= 8-8-8-24
1600Mhz

I reckon I can get tighter timings on the ram. I'll try 7-7-7-24 if this tests stable. It's rated at 1600Mhz, and have been told it can be pushed to 1800 and somebody even managed to get 1900 @ 2v.

I am having some issues with CPU-Z which is flicking between showing the multiplier as 6 and 8 and hence 2.4ghz and 3.2Ghz. I'm thinking this might be due to Asus PC Probe which is showing the Vcore as 1.36v even though I've manually set it higher in the BIOS?!

Any ideas on a better temp monitor tool? The ones you've listed don't install properly on Vista 64...

Incidentally, some initial benchmarks:


3DMark06 = (defaults) 16636
Super Pi: 1M=18.863s 2M= 44.171s

Temps:
CPU=35~45c
GPU1=50~70
GPU2=40~55
NB=50
SB=40

Will run an overnight memtest and orthos.

If this runs, what u reckon on trying 450 * 8 = 3.6Ghz bearing in mind the temps and cooling I have? Also, strategy for getting there incrementally?

Not bad an overclock. If you want shortcuts to o/cing ram, google reviews of that ram & copy others' attempts, as long as vdimm is under 2.4v. Ballistix is the clown jewel.

"Core temp" would be best for Conroes. speedfan for Yorkdales (which have core sensors that are "out of whack", but only accurate in high temps).

You should get a good cpu cooler if you want to go higher than 3ghz, but it might be hassle to remove the mobo to install a large cooler.