Weird Q6600 Problems running @ stock speed

[tommygunn87]

Here is my problem:
I upgraded my cpu from a Pentium D 2.8GHz to a Q6600 2.4GHz (G0 stepping)a while back. When i got it i immediately realized something was wrong.

-When I ran prime95 on it and after a while it it would always give me an error, usually within 15 min.
-I also had osx86 installed on my box as well (I know this isnt really the place to talk about this but im trying to give as much info as possible), and the system would ALWAYS gets the equivalent of a blue screen after its on for a while, usually within 15 min.
-Also now i recently started playing Unreal Tournament 3 (on Windows obviously) which is extremely stressful on the system , and i noticed that I ALWAYS get a blue screen error during gameplay, similar to what happens on the osx86 side, and of course usually within 15 min. Although it seems that osx is much more sensitive to this than windows

Now at first i just figured that being a new quad core, i must not have enough power from my PSU, which was only 430W at the time . Eventually i tried stepping down the cpu clock to see if that would lower the power consumption and solve my problem, and it actually worked. I lowered it about 7% down to 2.24GHz, and all of the above problems were solved. So I just went by at 2.24GHz for a while because obviously the cpu must be using too much power at 2.4GHz, or so i though...

BUT now i upgraded my PSU to a 600W, and when i run the CPU at 2.4GHz (stock) i still get the same problems, that is unless i step down the clock speed.

OK so it must be the temperature then right? Nope, the cpu runs stable at 2.24 even if i intentionally remove cooling to make it run EVEN HOTTER THAN AT 2.4GHz, keep in mind that at 2.4 it goes up to 60C max, and around 45C idle, at 2.24 it is only marginally cooler.

I have messed with all the bios settings i possibly could have, turing speedstep and all the like on/off , manually adjusting the cpu voltage. I have upgraded, downgraded, and degraded my bios, but the only way it is stable is if it is clocked down about 7% even if i get close to 2.4 it gives me the same problems.

Guys im out of ideas, am i missing something?

Here are some of my specs

Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2H
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (G0) not quite 2.4GHz
(2) Corsair XMS-2 1 GB DDR2 800
ATI x1600 256MB recently upgraded to XFX 8800GT XXX 512MB
2 SATA HDD
1 SATA DVD
OCZ StealthStream 600W PSU

 

[Guest]

its possible you got a bad chip

it sounds like thats the case... more often than not issues with stock stuff is do to temperature which you ruled out... or under volting it

I also kind of sounds like the mobo doesn't like the FSB of 266... instead of leaving the multiplier at 9... change the multiplier to 8 and then try it out as that will gve you a little under 2.2 ghz but should tell you whether or not its the FSB thats causing issues or the cpu istelf

your ram might also be bad, try running memtest86 and seeing if it fails or not, if it does its most likely the ram thats been giving you head aches (although there still may be other issues)

 

[tommygunn87]

OK i just tried changing the multiplier and leaving the FSB at the normal 266 and it failed (osx86 kernel panicked). It does seem to be the FSB that is causing this. Would this most likely be a bad mobo then? or is it not possible to tell if it is a bad mobo or cpu, because the fsb is the link between the NB chipset and CPU, right?

 

[jimmysmitty]

^You are right. But just to make sure, check your memory voltages. When I first got my new PC together it would run fine in Windos but during gaming it would restart or randomly BSoD.

At first I thought it was the PSU so I went and got a 800w PSU. Still the same thing. It turned out that the auto setting for the memory in BIOS was setting the voltage much to low for what it was. So I had to manually set the memory voltage to its spec.

After I did that I didn't have any problems at all and still havent. So check that first and set the memory voltages and timings to spec in BIOS before thinking its the CPU or Mobo.

 

[tommygunn87]

Well I just tried to set everything to run at normal speed 2.4GHz cpu, 266 fsb, 800MHz ram and adjust the mem voltage. But it didnt work, I increased the mem voltage up +.2V and then tried +.4v, but it still gave me problems.

However i tinkered around a little more and found that if i set my ram to run at 667 my cpu is stable at 2.4GHz. So basically it seems that i can have my cpu or ram running at full speed but not both at the same time. I havent ever encountered anything like this, but im going to start looking for a new mobo - this has to be the mobo. Sigh - Next time ill just stick with Asus.