E6500 Overclock

[BASGTA]

So I'm trying to overclock my E6500 and I hear people can easily get it to 3.6GHz. Last night I tried OCing a bit and I got it up to 3.3GHz then became unstable. I tried again today, I had my CPU at about 24C - 25C when I started and eventually when I got up to 3.3GHz my temps were only ~35C. Each core was about 50C however. Using Prime95 to check stability, it seemed stable at 3.3GHZ, until I tried running 3DMark03. On the second CPU test (I think 5 or 6 tests in) it rebooted.

I'm using AsRock OC Tuner to OC for now, I was gonna set it in the BIOS once I found a stable speed. I might have been going too fast with my increases in FSB and not letting Prime95 run for as long as it should have, would that factor in on not getting it up to 3.6GHz?

CPU: E6500 (45nm Wolfdale)
Cooler: Coolmaster heatsink (Don't know the exact model)
Mobo: AsRock G41M-VS2
GPU: Diamond 4870 1GB (Stock)
PSU: BFG 550W GS-Series (Stock volts)

 

[r_manic]

I'm not familiar with overclocking too much, but I'm assuming your PSU isn't providing stable enough power? Is it fully compatible with your mobo and CPU setup?

 

[BASGTA]

What do you mean by compatible? I don't know much about power supplies, I just know I have enough watts and enough amps to run my full system.

 

[jsc]

I bet you are accidentally overclocking your RAM, and that is limiting your overclock. If so, common mistake.

At stock freqs, your FSB will be 266 MHz. Your RAM clock should be 533 MHz, not set on AUTO.

 

[Keiki646]

I bet you are accidentally overclocking your RAM, and that is limiting your overclock. If so, common mistake.

At stock freqs, your FSB will be 266 MHz. Your RAM clock should be 533 MHz, not set on AUTO.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Kralnor]

And in case your RAM clock is set correctly, check the voltage being fed into the CPU, you might want to up it by a notch, but make sure to stay within your CPU's specifications. I think the max voltage for a E6500 is 1.5V.

 

[BASGTA]

For some reason the memory tab on CPU-Z isn't showing anything but the size.

In the BIOS they're set for 400, I think I can only change them to 300 something.

Edit: I thought I had the latest CPU-Z, but apparently not.

 

[Kralnor]

I'm not sure what ratio you should use when running PC2-6400 but try changing your FSB : DRAM ratio to 1:1. That should rule out any memory problems if your timings are as per the RAM's specification.

 

[BASGTA]

Yeah, I started talking to some people over at Reddit and I figured it out. I'm currently at 3.3GHz, at 300mhz FSB. I'm gonna try for more later.

 

[affan_khan]

Your MOBO Single Channel Support memory

 

[jsc]

The FSB:RAM ratio indicates that you are overclocking your RAM. Drop the ratio to 1:1 and that should let you push your CPU freq higher.

 

[BASGTA]

Yeah I noticed that awhile ago so I lowered my RAM speed to give my CPU some headroom.

This is the best I can get it to without BSoDing. My temps are fine, the highest I've seen it while playing a game for an hour or two would be about 50C.

I also can't change the VCore in the BIOS for some reason. Only the RAM, NB, and two other voltages, I can't remember them off the top of my head.

Link to AsRock's site about my motherboard.
"- VCCM, NB, VTT Voltage Multi-adjustment"

 

[BASGTA]

Went googleing for E6500 overclocks and found this again. So I was OCing again and I had it up to 3.4GHz/310FSB, then during a torture test it crashed with a BSoD ending in 124, apparently needs more VTT. So I uped the VTT from 1.2 to 1.37 and ran into the same problem, BSoD. Except this time it was another error ending in 3b. I can't find any info on the 3b error code, except some guy on Overclock.net suggesting it's RAM.