[Help] q6600 + p5kc voltages

[jvasquez33]

Never bothered to overclock my cpu until now and im stuck with the voltage part of the overclock. Im pretty sure I have the fsb/cpu multiplier and ram settings correct but im not really sure about all the voltage settings and how to set them to make my system stable. My setup:

Intel Quad Core Q6600 2.4ghz OC'd to 3.3ghz
Asus P5KC Motherboard
Gigabyte GTX 460 Video Card
Patriot PC2-6400 800mhz DDR2 4gigs
WD Viking Sata 10K RPM 150gigs HDD
Windows 7 64bit Ultimate

My problem is that when I try to run prime95 I get errors and it crashes, and even some games (Black Ops, Darkfall, Rift) just randomly completely close, and on occasion I do get a blue screen. I've looked around and most say that I need to up the voltages. But I dont know for sure what settings do what with voltages. Here is a CPUZ and Speedfan screenshot of my info:

I have tinkered with some of the settings but no matter what I did the vcore never seemed to go up in CPUZ. So as you can see im stuck and seeking some advice on and looking to see what others have for their voltages.

Here are my current motherboard settings:

CPU Ratio Setting: 9.0
FSB Strap to Northbridge: 333Mhz
FSB Frequency: 370
PCIE Frequency: Auto
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-889Mhz
DRAM Command Rate: Auto

CAS# Latency: 4
RAS# to CAS# Delay: 4 DRAM Clocks
RAS# Pre Time: 4 DRAM Clocks
RAS# ACT Time: 12 DRAM Clocks
RAS# to RAS# Delay: Auto
REF Cycle Time: Auto
Write Recovery Time: Auto
Write to Read Delay: Auto
Read To PRE Time: Auto

DRAM Static Read Control: Enabled
DRAM Dynamic Write Control: Disabled
Adjust CHA Skew Support: Disabled
Adjust CHB Skew Support: Disabled

Transaction Booster: Disabled

CPU Voltage: Auto
CPU PLL Voltage: Auto
FSB Termination Voltage: Auto
DRAM Voltage: Auto
NB Voltage: Auto
Clock Over-Charge Voltage: Auto
Load-Line Calibration: Auto
CPU GTL Voltage Reference: Auto
NB GTL Voltage Reference: Auto
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled

Can anyone help me with my current setup with the voltages? And how does the temps look? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[jsc]

First, you are overclocking your memory. Adjust your strapping so that your memory clock is 740 MHz. Overclocking memory in a Core2 system does not help performance that much and it is another source of instability.

While I am talking about memory, take the memory voltage off Auto and set it to factory recommended voltage.

Take your CPU voltage off Auto and see where it is sitting. Then as you test, you can increase vcore if you need to.

You need better than stock cooling. Your core temps are clearly idle temps.

Do not exceed 1.5 volts on the cores and keep your load temps under 70 C.

Depending on the chip, typical OC range of a Q6600 is 3.4 - 3.6 GHz.

 

[jvasquez33]

First, you are overclocking your memory. Adjust your strapping so that your memory clock is 740 MHz. Overclocking memory in a Core2 system does not help performance that much and it is another source of instability.

While I am talking about memory, take the memory voltage off Auto and set it to factory recommended voltage.

Take your CPU voltage off Auto and see where it is sitting. Then as you test, you can increase vcore if you need to.

You need better than stock cooling. Your core temps are clearly idle temps.

Do not exceed 1.5 volts on the cores and keep your load temps under 70 C.

Depending on the chip, typical OC range of a Q6600 is 3.4 - 3.6 GHz.

Ok I did that and raised my cpu to 3.4 and it boots and runs fine. Even played some online games and it ran fine (Black Ops and Darkfall). Downloaded and installed Real Temp and here is the screenie of it:

I also ran prime95 to see if it would run stable and I got errors right away:

Here are my exact settings:

CPU Frequency: 9.0
FSB Strap: 333
FSB Frequency: 376
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-752

CPU Voltage: 1.4
DRAM Voltage: 2.2
FSB Termination Voltage: Auto
NB Voltage: Auto

With those errors should I slow it down to where it will run stable with prime95 or my voltages not set correctly?

 

[jsc]

What kind of cooler do you have?

Unfortunately, I am not familar with Asus motherboards. I pretty much use Gigabyte boards and the BIOS is substantially different.

Yes, you have a RealTemp screen there, but it is displaying idle temps.

From your first post, you were overclocking your RAM:
"Here are my current motherboard settings:

CPU Ratio Setting: 9.0
FSB Strap to Northbridge: 333Mhz
FSB Frequency: 370
PCIE Frequency: Auto
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-889Mhz <------- at an FSB freq of 370 MHz, your RAM clock should be 740 MHz.
DRAM Command Rate: Auto "

Doesn't matter what games you play. If Prime95 crashes immediately, you do not have a stable system. And because P95 is crashing immediately, you cannot put a max load on the CPU to check your load temps.
You should be able to run all the Prime95 tests for 6 hours each (I test for 24 hours).

You need to find out if P95 is crashing because of CPU settings (small fft's) or memory settings (large fft's and blend). Lower your memory clock to 376 MHz (BIOS) or mem frequency to 188 MHz (CPUZ). And rerun Prime95. If Prime95 runs for a while, you problem was memory settings. If it still crashes, your problem is your CPU settings.

You have a pretty good Q6600 (1.2625 volt VID). With a decent air cooler, you should be stable at 3.4 - 3.5 GHz.

 

[jvasquez33]

Tried:

CPU Ratio Setting: 9.0
FSB Strap to Northbridge: 333Mhz
FSB Frequency: 370
PCIE Frequency: Auto
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-740 (down from DDR2-889)

VCore Voltage: 1.45v
DRAM Voltage: 2.2v

Ran prime95 again and it actually ran for about 30 secs then got some fatal rounding error.


Edit: Why is it even though I set the vcore voltage to 1.45 in the bios, cpuz shows a lower setting???

 

[pablo3z]

Tried:

CPU Ratio Setting: 9.0
FSB Strap to Northbridge: 333Mhz
FSB Frequency: 370
PCIE Frequency: Auto
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-740 (down from DDR2-889)

VCore Voltage: 1.45v
DRAM Voltage: 2.2v

Ran prime95 again and it actually ran for about 30 secs then got some fatal rounding error.


Edit: Why is it even though I set the vcore voltage to 1.45 in the bios, cpuz shows a lower setting???

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/8055/cpuzl.jpg

Try fsb 380, and get vcore bigger. I had also these problems with prime95 and i think it's because of vcore. Try uppering your vcore setting to... let's say 1,55 in bios. Then run prime and see if it's better now (if it stays stable longer.. or maybe the whole time ). I know you shouldn't pass the 1,5 V but in my situation it helped... and still cpuz shows me about 1,47 V max. And when it's under load cpuz shows vcore in range from 1,35 to 1,41 V. So don't worry, just try. Also i didn't touch FSB strap - it's still on auto in here. Should i change that?