I have built my new gaming PC a few months back. I struggled a bit with trouble shooting blue screens. I finally resolved them by removing 2 of the 4 gigs of ram I have and I loosened up the timings a bit. It has been stable for a couple months. I tried tinkering a bit with suttle overclocking, I even tried Gigabytes over clocking software. I did not get very far without lock ups or booting problems. I have spent countless hours reading thru forums about overclocking, and I can tell you my head hurts.  I am wondering if I can get a fresh simple start here? I am not looking to get crazy, I just want to get a better bang for my buck. I know I have the hardware, I just don’t seem to grasp all these voltage settings and which ones to really start with? The only benchmarking utility I have is 3Dmark06. That at least gives me some idea if I am heading in the right direction. Like I mentioned, I am currently only using (2) 1 gig sticks of ram. I do have 2 more of the same, but I don’t really think I need them, at least at the moment. Can anyone help me out as to where to start? I don’t need to do this over night, but perhaps you can look at my current specs and bios settings and suggest some simple changes I should start with first? I do have CPU-Z and Core Temp utilities installed for monitoring. Thanks in advanced,  
_____________________________________________________________________  
Tower = LIAN LI PC-61  
Mobo = GIGABYTE GA-X38-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Ultra Durable 2(BIOS F7)  
Power Supply = Thermaltake Purepower TWV 500W  
CPU = Intel Core 2 Q6600 GO Stepping (9 x 266)  
CPU Heat Sync = Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler Model U-120E  
CPU Heat Sync Fan = Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Case Fan, 1600 RPM Model SFF21F  
CPU Heat Sync Thermal Paste = Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound  
Memory = Crucial Ballistix 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 (PC2 6400) (4-4-4-12 @ 2.2v)  
Hard Drive = Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB WD5000AAKS SATA 2  
GPU = EVGA GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0  
DVD/CD Burner = Asus DVD Burner DRW-2014L1T SATA 2  
Sound Card = Razer Barracuda AC-1 Gaming Sound Card  
Monitor = Gateway XHD3000 30" Widescreen  
OS = Win XP Pro 32 Bit SP2 w/ current updates  
 
Fantom G-Force GF500EU 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache USB 2.0 / eSATA External Hard Drive  
______________________________________________________________________  
MB Intelligent Tweaker (MIT)  
Robust Graphics Booster:Turbo  
CPU Clock Ratio: 9x  
CPU Frequency: 2.4 Ghz (266 x 9)  
CPU Host Clock Control: Enabled  
CPU Host Frequency(Mhz) : 266  
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) : Auto  
C.I.A.2: Disabled  
Performance Enhance : Extreme  
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) : Auto  
Memory Frequency(Mhz): 800  
DRAM Timing Selectable : Manual  
 
Standard Timing Control  
CAS Latency Time: : 5 [5]  
DRAM RAS# to CAS# : 5 [5]  
DRAM RAS# Precharge : 5 [5]  
Precharge Delay(tRAS) : 18 [18]  
 
Advanced Timing Control  
ACT to ACT Delay(tRRD) : 3 [Auto]  
Rank Write to READ Delay : 3 [Auto]  
Write To Precharge Delay : 6 [Auto]  
Refresh to ACT Delay : 42 [Auto]  
Read To Precharge Delay : 3 [Auto]  
Static tRead Value 4 [Auto]  
Static tRead Phase Adjust 0 [Auto]  
Command Rate (CMD) 2 [Auto]  
 
Clock Driving and Skew Control  
CPU/PCIEX Clock Driving Control : [800mV]  
CPU Clock Skew Control : Normal  
(G)MCH Clock Skew Control : Normal  
 
System Voltage Control [Manual]  
DDR2 OverVoltage Control : +0.40v  
PCI-E OverVoltage Control : Normal  
FSB OverVoltage Control : Normal  
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control : Normal  
MCH Reference Voltage Control : Normal  
DDR Reference Voltage Control : Normal  
DDR Termination Voltage Control : Normal  
Loadline Calibration: Normal  
CPU Voltage Control : Normal  
Normal CPU Vcore : 1.28750v  
 
Advanced Bios Features  
Limit CPUID Max to: 3  
No-Execute Memory Protect: Enabled  
CPU Enhanced Halt(CIE)isabled  
CPU Thermal Monitor 2: Enabled  
CPU EIST Function: Disabled  
Virtualization Technology: Enabled

I use the DS4 version, not DQ6, but the options look identical.

For 3.2ghz overclocking:
In the MB Intelligent Tweaker screen, set:
Robus graphics booster: standard
CPU clock ratio: 8x
cpu host clock control: enable
cpu host clock frequency: 400
PCI Express frequency: 100
C.I.A.2: disable
Performance Enhance: standard
System memory multiplier: [2.00D]
Dram Timing Selectable: Manual
Standard Timing control:
6
6
6
18
System voltage control: manual
DDR2
Overvoltage: +0.2 to +0.4 (depends on your memory's rated voltage.
Overvoltage starts with 1.8volts base. If ram is rated to run at
2.0volts, it's 1.8+0.2=2.0volts. If ram is rated to run at 2.2 volts,
it's 1.8+0.4=2.2volts.) Running at higher voltage increases stability,
but also increase heat. Running at voltage higher that memory's rated
voltage can damage it.
Loadline Calibration: Enable
CPU Voltage
Control: 1.4 to 1.5, higher voltage increases stability, but produce
more heat. Try 1.4 first, if unstable, try 1.45, if still unstable, try
1.5. Do not go over 1.5.

Leave everything else at default.

If
your system is stress tested stable, you can choose to tightening ram
timing(Standard Timing Control) for a small performance increase.
6/6/6/18 is high, the lower those numbers, the faster it runs.

Those settings are for 3.2ghz on Q6600. If your system stress tested stable, set CPU Clock Ratio to 9x for 3.6ghz.

That's about it. Assuming the 2 boards are the same, of course. Good luck.  

Your appreciated response suggest a jump from stock settings right to 3.2. That will be great if it works fine right off the bat. I guess I will implement these changes and see what happens. If it doesnt work, I will go back to stock for now.
Do you have a recomendation for any free/downloadable stress tests?

Run Prime95 for cpu stress:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Other [...] me95.shtml
Keep an eye on temperature:
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
Cpuz to check current clocks/specs:
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

You can set multiplier to 7x for 2.8ghz

Thanks alot, wish me luck hahaha

I have made the folling changes below, and I am running @ 3.2 at these setting with no real noticable heat issues. I will download and run a stress test later, but initially, my 3D Mark 06 went from 12451 to 14422 (still with only 2 gig of ram installed. Thanks for the help
 
MB Intelligent Tweaker (MIT)
Robust Graphics Booster:Turbo
CPU Clock Ratio: 8x
CPU Frequency: 3.2 Ghz (400 x 8)
CPU Host Clock Control: Enabled
CPU Host Frequency(Mhz) : 400
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) : Auto
C.I.A.2: Disabled
Performance Enhance : Standard
System Memory Multiplier (SPD) : 2.00D
Memory Frequency(Mhz): 800
DRAM Timing Selectable : Auto
Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time: : 5  
DRAM RAS# to CAS# : 5  
DRAM RAS# Precharge : 5  
Precharge Delay(tRAS) : 18  
Advanced Timing Control
ACT to ACT Delay(tRRD) : 3 [Auto]
Rank Write to READ Delay : 3 [Auto]
Write To Precharge Delay : 6 [Auto]
Refresh to ACT Delay : 42 [Auto]  
Read To Precharge Delay : 3 [Auto]
Static tRead Value 4 [Auto]
Static tRead Phase Adjust 0 [Auto]
Command Rate (CMD) 2 [Auto]
Clock Driving and Skew Control
CPU/PCIEX Clock Driving Control : [800mV]
CPU Clock Skew Control : Normal
(G)MCH Clock Skew Control : Normal
System Voltage Control [Auto]
DDR2 OverVoltage Control : +0.40v
PCI-E OverVoltage Control : Normal
FSB OverVoltage Control : Normal
(G)MCH OverVoltage Control : Normal
MCH Reference Voltage Control : Normal
DDR Reference Voltage Control : Normal
DDR Termination Voltage Control : Normal
Loadline Calibration: Enable
CPU Voltage Control : 1.4
Normal CPU Vcore :  1.28750v
Advanced Bios Features
Limit CPUID Max to: 3
No-Execute Memory Protect: Enabled
CPU Enhanced Halt(CIE)isabled
CPU Thermal Monitor 2: Enabled
CPU EIST Function: Disabled
Virtualization Technology: Enabled
 
3D Mark 06 Score = 14422
Sheet 4 5/3/08