Q6600 w/ ep45-ds3l - trying to overclock

I am running a Q6600 with a ep45-ds3l, and two sticks up Corsair DDR II SDRAM RAm, pc2-6400 (400 mhz each).

just picked up an arctic freezer 7.

I would like to overclock to 3.6 but am currently trying to overclock to 3.2 ghz.

these are the settings I inputed into the BIOS:

356 x 9
vtt 1.35
pll 1.55

pci set to 100

multiplier set to 667


My computer boots with these settings but it boots up always at 356 x 6, not 356 x 9, so it is actually running at way below 3.2 ghz.

Can anyone help me figure out what I need to do to fix this? Thanks.

Thanks for your replies. I have just been learning more about the way the powersaving feature works for the Gigabyte mobos. So now I understand that with C1E enabled the processor will stay at a lower setting, only moving up as needed.

I have experimented both with enabling C1E and disabling it in BIOS and then doing tests with prime. And this has led me to wonder: what triggers these multiplier changes?

Right now I have things set at 440 x 8 (3.52 ghz), and I have C1E enabled. If I run prime95, and watch in coretemp, I never see it move from 6 up to 8, despite the fact a processor-intensive task is running. Why is this? Would coretemp not register this change, and is there another piece of software I would need to see this shifting? Also looking at the CPU panel in easytune, the multiplier always remains at 6, so I'm left wondering if the feature functioning properly?

I appreciate the feedback.

very odd, all cores are at 100% but it is staying at x6.0.

I am looking at it in both CPU-Z and Core Temp.... both show 6...

does this mean there is no way I can overclock unless I turn C1E off? or could there be another BIOS setting causing a conflict, which is causing this?

My settings have changed a bit since my first post. This is what I have now:

8 x 440
vcore 1.48 (anything less was causing BSOD during prime)
vtt 1.34
pll 1.55

I am idling at 45. Stress testing with prime takes me up to 70.


Any fine-tuning suggestions would be welcome.

I'm wondering if overclocking can cause problems with Vista sleep? Since doing my OC I'm having trouble getting the comp to wake up from sleep. When I go to wake it up the following happens:

fan comes on, there is sign of comp accessing my optical drives.. then everything goes dark.. same process repeats ad infinitum

if I turn the comp off at the PSU, then turn it back on after a few seconds, it will reboot, and allow me to restore my sleep state from disk... but that is pretty inconvenient...

never had any problems waking up from sleep before.. any ideas?

I have an ATI Radeon 4800, with the latest ATI drivers. Also have the latest drivers for my mobo from Gigabyte's site.

I left it on with my overclock and i manage to get my Q6600 to idle at *just* under the stock speed (2.334ghz) and max out at 3.5ghz (stock Q6600 - 2.4ghz).

do NOT just jump your overclock drasticly like suggested here

A quick note in Gigabyte OCing:
It is usually recommended that you should NOT install the DES (Dynamic Energy Saver) software. All the EP-xx boards have this software on the driver DVD. If you have already installed DES I highly recommend you uninstall it before doing a OC. The DES software can/may lead to system instability when OCed.

^kg41cg, you are an idiot for suggesting such a jump. OCing should be done in stages as stable OC settings change from system to system.

oh and im not talking about 4ghz and that sort of drastic, im talking step by step to get the most out of the cpu - the correct way, and a Q6600 @ 4ghz = super batch, super cooling, or super stupid (1.7+ on vcore)