Q6600 with the MOBO p5q-e - where is the multiplier?

[netrate]

I can't find the Multiplier on my BIOS?! I am used to the AMD motherboards where there is a simple X 9 etc. With this one, I am a little lost on how to increase the multiplier.
The mobo is pQ5-E.
I read over the FAQ on overclocking, but all of the motherboards and video tutorials I have seen show a basic MULTIPLIER X blank, but I can't find it with this one.
Also,
What is the difference between the CPU ratio setting and the FSB Frequencies setting? In the manual, it says the CPU ratio setting has only 6, 7, 8, 9 and auto, so I am guessing that is not the multiplier...

Sorry I posted in the wrong subsection, now trying to correct.

 

[4745454b]

Unless you have an extreme edition CPU, you can't change the multiplier. The Q6600 run as 2.4GHz and a 1066 effective FSB. (2400 and 266) If you run the math, this gives you a multiplier of 9. Due to speed step which drops the multiplier down to 6 to save power when possible, you have the settings of 6, 7, 8, and 9. Lower CPU multipliers are useful when going for high overclocks as they allow you to push the FSB farther.

For example, a popular overclock would be to set the FSB and member ratio to 1:1. At stock this means your memory is running at DDR2-533. (266 x 2) If you put your FSB to 400 however, its now running at DDR2-800. The problem is your CPU is now running at (400 x 9) 3.6GHz, and probably can't handle that speed. If you drop the multiplier down to 8, you have a more manageable 3.2GHz.

 

[netrate]

That is really disappointing and interesting. In all of the readings I did before I bought the Q6600, I never did once see the difference between the Q6600 and the Extreme version.
So if I wanted to run at 3.0mhz, would this be possible? If so, how would I do it?

 

[MaDMagik]

CPU ratio in bios IS your cpu multiplier. And to save you some confusion(no offence 4745454b ): unless you have extreme edition cpu you cannot change your multiplier to anything higher than the default one(9 in your case), but you can reduce it to a minimum value of 6.

 

[netrate]

4745454b, sent you a pm.

 

[4745454b]

I just want to get to 3.0Ghz, but it looks like that is not going to happen or can it?

It can, it depends on your individual parts. Your already starting at 2.4GHz, you only need another 600MHz. As I said, 400MHz x 8 = 3.2GHz, so its very possible to hit 3GHz with the Q6600. Depending on your cooling, case, and YOUR Q6600, you might need to bump up the voltage, or you might only hit 2.8GHz. (400MHz x 7) The only way to know is to try it and see.

 

[netrate]

I guess I don't mind 2.8 since I am running with the stock fan. So I need to drop down the multiplier to 7 and then bump up the FSB to 400, right? Do you think I will be ok with a stock fan at 2.8?
Thanks again.

 

[4745454b]

You might. You might even be able to hit 3.2. The only way to know is to try. With the stock fan 2.8 should be quite easy. 3.2 will probably need a bump in voltage which might be to much for the stock fan.

 

[netrate]

yeah, I don't know much about voltage so I wouldn't know where to begin to figure out how much voltage to bump. Is there a calculation? Am I going to run into a host of different voltages or is there one in particular I should focus on?

 

[4745454b]

Depends on your motherboard. There will be "steps" that have ever increasing voltage settings. Unless you have good cooling (water, peltier, etc) you probably only want to go up one or two settings. Anything more then that and your CPU will (probably) get to hot.

 

[netrate]

Got this from another forum :

"For 3Ghz:
334x9 = 3006mhz
5ram/4fsb divider makes ram run at 417.5mhz

For 3.2Ghz:
355x9 = 3195mhz
7ram/6fsb divider makes ram run at 414.16 mhz

What kind of ram/fsb divider options do you have?

Heres' what you need to do:
1. Decide what Final Speed you want
2. Divide that by 9 and figure out the FSB your gonna need to reach it
3. Figure out the RAM/FSB ratio that will make your RAM run at about 400mhz or so with that FSB you figured out in step 2."

This is interesting, but I am failing to understand the RAM/FSB equation. Are they talking about the RAM speed? I have 8gig of RAM (800mhz). How do you work the last part out?
Also, is it better to have a lower multiplier w/FSB or a lower FSB and higher multiplier?

 

[4745454b]

The ram will run at twice whatever the FSB is. So if you have an FSB of 334, the ram speed will be 668MHz. This is assuming you have the FSB:RAM ratio set to 1:1. I suggested using this ratio simply because it makes the math easy. You can change to the 5:4 ratio if you want, but its not as simple. As I said, 400MHz FSB = 800MHz ram. With a multiplier of 7, this gives you 2.8GHz. If you bump the FSB up to 429, you'll be running at 3GHz. Your ram in this case would be 858MHz, it might handle that speed. The only way to know is to try.

 

[netrate]

This has been a long time coming, but I am finally finished my projects and want to try my hand oc'ing this thing, but here is the issue :
I cannot manage to get any numbers to work :

Here is what my bios says :

AI overclock Tuner : set to Manual
CPU Ratio Setting - 9.0 (my input)
FSB Frequency - 333 (my input selection from menu)
PCIE Frequency 100
FSB strap to North Bridge AUTO

I booted and ran CPUZ and it tells me this :
Core Speed 2003.6
X6.0
Bus 334
Rated FSB 1355.8

So what happened here? How come I didn't get the 9X333 to get 2.997 or close to 3.0 ghz?

My temps rose to around 49 idle, so I know something happened but it isn't giving me what I want, or am I misunderstand or doing something wrong here?

 

[4745454b]

When you see a multiplier of 6, that is speedstep working. Disable Speedstep/C1E(?) in the bios. Its simply a powersaving measure, if you fired up something that requires CPU power you should see it change automatically to 9x.

 

[netrate]

thank you for the prompt reply - I am not sure where that is in the BIOS, I did not see it anywhere. Could it be called something else?

 

[4745454b]

Sorry, those are the names I know it by. Double check the CPU and power sections, most likely in there. Might also read the manual and see if there is a "special" bios where overclocking features are.

 

[netrate]

I think I found it under "configure advanced CPU settings" it says :
"C1E Support - Enabled"

I am to disable this right and that will fix my issue?

 

[4745454b]

Well, it will disable speedstep. Not sure if thats an issue or not. With Speedstep disabled, your CPU will never drop its multiplier to 6, meaning it runs as fast as it can all the time. Even if your just sitting at the desktop doing nothing. Again, as soon as something turns on requiring CPU work, speedstep turns off giving you the 9x multiplier again. Its safe to leave it on or off, won't make a lot of difference.