Need help overclocking Q6600 for the first time..

[norco kid]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a bit of help overclocking a Q6600. I'd like to get it around 3.0-3.2Ghz

I am using the following components:
Q6600 G0 2.4Ghz CPU
XFX 680i LT Motherboard
OCZ Vindicator HSF

On the stock settings and using Core Temp and Prime95, I my temps are ~32 at idle and ~55 load (my #2 core is always 2-3 degrees cooler), which I find a little hot to begin with.

I tried changing the FSB speed in the bios from 1066 to 1333 (unlinked) and left all other settings as they were. It booted into Windows fine and was running at 3Ghz, but temps were ~46 idle and after running Prime95 for about 5 mins they were hitting 70 so I shut it down. I read this thread

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/24...0ghz-temp-load

And the guy is only reaching 68 at 3Ghz on the stock cooler!! What's wrong with my setup? I would think my CPU with the OCZ Vindicator should run much cooler than his. Anyways I've never overclocked before and don't have a huge amount of computer knowledge so if anyone could help me out I'd really appreciate it. Like I said I would love to run it around 3.2, but I don't want to stress out my CPU or cause it to die prematurely. Thanks!!!

-Adam

 

[festerovic]

I have had my q6600 on three different mobos, and got different OCs on each one. One board it was hard to hit 3.0 stable. On another it was good all the way to 3.8. Then on the last board, it would do 3.6 only.

Heat on all these was max at 70*. The trick to keeping the heat down is to slowly OC. You have to do it with patience so that the right amount of voltage is being used, not just leaving CPU voltage on AUTO. That usually uses too much voltage, which means more heat.

The best way IMO is to set your BIOS to stock first, and see how low of a voltage you can run at stock speed to stay using super pi or other stressful benchmark. Your benchmark choice should make all the cores go to 100% use, and heat up the chip to max temps in 30 minutes. Once the lowest stable voltage is determined, start bumping up the FSB and repeating this process.

Every chip is different, so I cant say Just put it to X volts and you will be good. Another thing is the chipset voltage, which usually needs to get notched up one, to like 1.45v. This may be too much if your board has no NB heat sinks and low circulation.

also, since its a q6600 and its already 3 years old, you may not want to worry about longevity

 

[norco kid]

Thanks for the advice! So when I overclock all I have to do is change the FSB and the CPU Core voltage correct? Also using CPU-Z I can see that the actual voltage to the CPU fluctuates, so when I set the CPU Core voltage in the BIOS is that the maximum voltage the CPU will receive? Or does it only fluctuate because I currently have it on auto? What about the other voltages (CPU FSB, Memory, nForce SPP) do I leave them on auto?

 

[festerovic]

To overclock this chip, yes, all you have to do is raise the FSB and core voltage. You will also likely need to adjust the memory divider, because when you raise the FSB up say 20% you also bump the RAM speed up. Typically you will just lower the speed of the RAM by 1 notch, ie 533 to 400, 800 to 667. etc.

The cpu voltage you set is supposed to be the max voltage the chip gets, but its not. When you load the chip it takes more, but that is probably very dependent on your mobo. It will fluctuate when its on auto because it would fluctuate anyways - the auto usually means "Use up to this much" and sets the voltage as high as the mobo goes.

You can leave the others on auto until you get past 400mhz FSB, then you may need to up it. What brand and model of RAM are you using?

 

[norco kid]

I have 2 sticks of 1GB PC2 6400 RAM by Shikatronics. I also have 2 sticks of OCZ PC2 5400 Value Ram that a friend gave me that is not installed. I don't know if it would be better to go with the Shikatronics because it's faster or the OCZ because it's a better name. Also the OCZ has the timings written 5-5-5-10 and the other RAM does not. Or should I just use all 4 sticks? I've unlinked the AM and FSB in the BIOS and I left the RAM settings alone.

Also seem to be having a weird problem.. At 3.1ghz it runs fine and I can always seem to lower the voltage (I'm at 1.23750 now). But I cannot get it to boot into windows at 3.2ghz (I've tried up to 1.35v).

 

[festerovic]

I would use the OCZ chips for more RAM, since you shouldnt run the two together unless you want to do a lot more work.

Also, when you adjust FSB to reach 3.1, or 3.2, are you adjusting the RAM speed as well? What speed does your RAM report in Windows (use CPUz ID)?

 

[norco kid]

Ok so you would suggest the OCZ even though it's only 5400 vs 6400? I haven't been adjusting the ram speeds. In CPUz under the memory tab Dram Frequency is ~ 323mhz

 

[festerovic]

Even though its a little slower it won't affect things very much. In games, you may see 1 fps decrease. Having more RAM for the game would likely speed things up more than not having the extra little speed in the RAM.

Re: freq of RAM. that's good. Do you know what the FSBRAM ratio is? its under the DRAM freq in CPUId.

Also, do you have manual timings on the ram or auto?

 

[4745454b]

I would not OC the 680i. If you do, at least make sure you have the newest bios to (help) prevent SATA data corruption.

 

[jsc]

I have an eVGA 680i motherboard. You do not need to worry about SATA data corruption if you do not try to overclock the PCI bus.

You should be able to reach 3.0 GHz with the stock heatsink with little or no vcore increase.

This should be your first stop.
Core2 Overclocking Guide
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/259899-11-core-overclocking-guide

680i overclocking guide
http://pc.ign.com/articles/747/747606p3.html

That is a pretty good OC guide except for the section on the memory. At a stock FSB freq of 266 MHz, the memory clock is 533 MHz and the FSB clock is 1066 MHz. 680i boards use the FSB clock to OC with. Either run the memory Linked or adjust the mem clock to one half the FSB clock (twice the FSB freq). Choose what you need to maintain stability.

The 680i boards do not use dividers. Running at an FSB:RAM ratio of 1:1 (there's no real benefit to running faster) at 3.3 GHz, the FSB freq will be 367 MHz, the memory clock will be 733 MHz, and the FSB clock will be 1466 MHz. With a halfway decent cooler, you should be able to reach this.

Do not exceed 1.5 volts vcore or 70 C load temps.

 

[norco kid]

Thanks for all the help so far guys! I have the CPU at 3.4ghz, now I'd like to work on my RAM... I am using the Shikatronics ram now. 2x 1GB of PC-6400 800mhz. The ram is my lowest score in my windows experience index (5.5). I'd like to boost it up a bit if possible...

These are my settings right now:

So what should I do next?

 

[festerovic]

lower the core voltage and test for stability. To make the ram faster, you can raise the FSB to 1600, which will bring ram to the true 800mhz you set it at.

 

[4745454b]

It looks like you didn't hit 400MHz for your FSB. Drop the CPU multiplier down to 8. Bump the FSB up to 400MHz. This should give you 3.2GHZ, which isn't really any slower then 3.4GHz. (You might even be able to use 8.5 if your bios allows it, same CPU speed.) From what I can tell from your settings the RAM should then be at DDR2-800 instead of DDR2-756.