Another first-time OCing question

[legato89]

I just ordered http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134 to overclock my Q6600 and I hope to go as high as 3.4Ghz. Currently on my stock cooling I go to 70 degrees on all cores under heavy loads. The question I have is once I install this new cooling all I have to do is go into my BIOS and set my CPU to 9 multiplier times 333 (3.0Ghz) and see what type of temperatures I get, gradually going up? Will/should I have to do any adjusting of my voltage (Real Temp says my core VID is 1.1625 minimum / 1.3250 max). My motherboard is an Asus P5Q Pro.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

I just ordered http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134 to overclock my Q6600 and I hope to go as high as 3.4Ghz. Currently on my stock cooling I go to 70 degrees on all cores under heavy loads. The question I have is once I install this new cooling all I have to do is go into my BIOS and set my CPU to 9 multiplier times 333 (3.0Ghz) and see what type of temperatures I get, gradually going up? Will/should I have to do any adjusting of my voltage (Real Temp says my core VID is 1.1625 minimum / 1.3250 max). My motherboard is an Asus P5Q Pro.

Read this: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide

 

[legato89]

Ok, I read through that guide and it seems like it's making things more complicated than they need to. From my understanding though, I shouldn't need to mess with my voltage settings unless I start encountering problems after I run Prime95 for a while to "burn in" my new CPU settings.

 

[jsc]

You do not need to "burn in" anything. You run things like Prime95 to stress test your system to make certain that the settings you select are stable - that is no BSOD's, lockups, crashes, or seemingly random reset/reboots.

 

[legato89]

Ive been reading the guide and am a bit confused on setting my RAM, if I even need to.

This is the RAM I'm using: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184&cm_re=corsair_ddr2_800_4gb-_-20-145-184-_-Product

Here is a CPU-Z of it: http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/5052/memorysc.jpg

CPU is Q6600, heres a CPU-Z of it: http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/960/cpuam.jpg

Currently it says my RAM is at 2:3 but by setting it to 1:1 Im setting it to synchronous which is essentially underclocking it correct?

I really just need to know if I am changing anything other than the CPU frequency from 266 to 333 when I go into my BIOS to overclock.

 

[legato89]

I think I understand everything perfectly now except for voltage. I know that the Q6600 is supposed to run from .8-1.5 and mine is at 1.235 I believe. Im unsure what to set the other voltages to such as NB and whatnot.

 

[jsc]

Currently it says my RAM is at 2:3 but by setting it to 1:1 Im setting it to synchronous which is essentially underclocking it correct?

Yes. 2:3 is a ratio of 266 MHz FSB freq to 800 MHz RAM clock ( 2 X 400) or DDR2-800.

If you increase the FSB freq to 333 MHz, your memory is trying to run at DDR2-1000 speeds if you leave your mem clock settings on AUTO. Change the setting to 2.00. That will set your FSB:mem clock ratio to 1:1. That way, if you can run your FSB at 400 MHz, you will have a 3.6 GHz core speed.

I suspect that this what is limiting your overclock.

You have a better than average VID. Mine is about average - 1.2625 volts. Yours gives you more OC headroom. With a good cooler, something like a Sunbeam Core Contact or Xigmatek Dark Knight (I'm on vacation, I do not have my links) in a good case, you should be able to run at 3.6 GHz with good stabililty and good temperatures.