Overclocking a Q6600

[Alex The PC Gamer]

Hi guys, I'm quite new to overclocking so I ask for your patience and support.

***Edited***

I did some research so I decided to edit my thread instead of recreating a new one.

My System:
CPU: Core 2 Quad: Q6600 (Stock at 2.4Ghz) (B3 Revision)
Mobo: XFX 680i SLI Nvidia Motherboard
RAM: DDR2 800 *4 Gig (4-4-4-15-1T)
VCard: Zotac GTX 560Ti
PSU: OCZ 700W

My CPU Cooler is an Ultra ChillTEC Pelltier Cooler: http://www.ultraproducts.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4143848&sku=ULT40494

My goal was to bring it, well as high as I could with good stability and reasonable temperatures.

I'm not done yet. But after almost 2 weeks of torture testing my PC, here are my results



I have yet to understand Ratios completely (although later in my testing i discovered the true timing of my RAM (so I realize that 5-5-5-15 you'll see in my first OC tests weren't optimal). From what I can tell so far, I've got good RAM but my Mobo isn't very flexible (in fact, it's being a pain). In comparing everyone's results, I find my results quite disappointing. I'm also quite disturbed by my 3Ghz CPU temperatures as I have a pretty good cooler and have applied Artic Silver 5 but somehow, the heat doesn't seem to transfer very well.

I also found the results quite interesting. For instance, I discovered that my CPU is bottlenecking my GPU (as graphics performance increases as I OC my CPU). I also found (not through these results) that my temperature readings (from my cooler's monitoring device) is way off. i.e. It shows 44C while CPU-Temp (the software) is showing 86C.

My testing is done with Prime 95 where I run the FTT test for CPU stability and the RAM test for Ram Stability. Each is usually ran anywhere from 25 minutes to 2 hours.

At this point, I'm looking for suggestions (any) whether it's about FSB:RAM ratio or how to better cool my CPU...or any other tip.

Thanks

Alex

 

[Guest]

howdy alex.

i had a q6600 on a 650 ultra and then a 730i both evga boards but like yours were nivdia chipsets.

i didn't get into "tweaking out" everything: i raised my fsb from the default 1066 to 1333 with a bump in the cpu voltage from the default of 1.2 to 1.3. that got me to 3.0 (actually 2.99) and i called it a day after running prime95 for two hours w/o any errors.
i didn't go any farther because i didn't have an after market cooler and it would idle @45 celsius and 70 on load
unlinked my ram and kept to volts @ 2.1 (manufacturer's spec)

anything more would have been bumping up my fsb, northbride and soutbridge volts, and those chips, like my cpu, were running a little hot.

hope that helps.

 

[rubix_1011]

680i chipsets were poor overclockers, which is why the 780i/790i's came out shortly thereafter. With nForce chips (nVidia) you should have the ability to raise the multiplier and bus speed separately from your RAM (unlinked mode).

Your CPU should clock immediately from 2.4 to 3.0 without any voltage changes; simply make adjustments to your FSB value from 266 to 333 (depending on your actual BIOS, it might be a quad-value of this). You can usually get an 8x multiplier to play nicer but will have lower overclocking ceiling, but with less voltage. With a 9x multi, you'll be able to hit higher speeds but will require more voltage. I had my Q6600 @ 3.6ghz using 1.47500v to be stable using 10x runs of Intel Burn Test. I want to say my FSB integer was 1600 or so, but I don't recall off hand.

You should be able to Google quite easily for some baseline settings for that CPU and motherboard as to where to start your settings/tests. Remember, just because settings work for one person doesn't mean they will work for you...it will likely take a little bit of tweaking to get it stable and with the lowest voltages required, depending on what your actual goals are.

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

Thanks for your replies. I've updated my description (see above).

I'm still working hard at tweaking my system.

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

howdy alex.

i had a q6600 on a 650 ultra and then a 730i both evga boards but like yours were nivdia chipsets.

i didn't get into "tweaking out" everything: i raised my fsb from the default 1066 to 1333 with a bump in the cpu voltage from the default of 1.2 to 1.3. that got me to 3.0 (actually 2.99) and i called it a day after running prime95 for two hours w/o any errors.
i didn't go any farther because i didn't have an after market cooler and it would idle @45 celsius and 70 on load
unlinked my ram and kept to volts @ 2.1 (manufacturer's spec)

anything more would have been bumping up my fsb, northbride and soutbridge volts, and those chips, like my cpu, were running a little hot.

hope that helps.

That's the first thing I tried. Bumped it to 1333 on FSB and left things like RAM on Auto (which defaulted at 800Mhz and 5-5-5-15-2T. The thing kept crashing before 15 minutes of testing. So i decided to try to bump it little by little (2.4 - 2.6 - 2.7 - 3.0, etc.). But so far, I've got super high temperatures at 3.0ghz.

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

680i chipsets were poor overclockers, which is why the 780i/790i's came out shortly thereafter. With nForce chips (nVidia) you should have the ability to raise the multiplier and bus speed separately from your RAM (unlinked mode).

Your CPU should clock immediately from 2.4 to 3.0 without any voltage changes; simply make adjustments to your FSB value from 266 to 333 (depending on your actual BIOS, it might be a quad-value of this). You can usually get an 8x multiplier to play nicer but will have lower overclocking ceiling, but with less voltage. With a 9x multi, you'll be able to hit higher speeds but will require more voltage. I had my Q6600 @ 3.6ghz using 1.47500v to be stable using 10x runs of Intel Burn Test. I want to say my FSB integer was 1600 or so, but I don't recall off hand.

You should be able to Google quite easily for some baseline settings for that CPU and motherboard as to where to start your settings/tests. Remember, just because settings work for one person doesn't mean they will work for you...it will likely take a little bit of tweaking to get it stable and with the lowest voltages required, depending on what your actual goals are.

I flashed and updated my BIOS for this reason (everyone said to at least run the latest BIOS version otherwise to forget it).

I also realize that i've got the Q6600 B3 revision (and not the G0). I'm not sure what the difference is but from what I've read, the G0 is better...i think.

I don't know if it's my mobo but getting 3.0 with no voltage change is impossible (it won't even boot)...in fact, 2.7 won't even boot without increasing the voltage to Vcore. I wish I could bring it up to 3.6Ghz as my FSB:RAM would be in perfect armony (1:1) Ratio..i think.

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

I came across a weird result that I really don't understand. Maybe someone can help understand this better. I'm now at a point where I can usually get pretty good CPU stability by ajusting the voltage (temperatures still being a problem). To counter my temperatures, I'll simply try and clean/reapply artic silver between my heatsink and my cpu(head). FTT tests in Prime 95 can run for a long time (2hrs+) and all is good. However, as soon as I try the 3rd test (the RAM test) in Prime 95, the thing usually crashes almost instantly or withing the first 2-5 minutes. My RAM is insanely unstable. Because I can't find my receipt, i decided to open up my PC and check the RAM. My RAM sticks are OCZ and the sticker points out the following timings: 4-4-4-15-1T...which I though were pretty good compared to what my system put out as default (5-5-5-15-2T). Now, about those results...

In reference to the "Stock" setup (see my chart), i decided to change my RAM timing from the original (AUTO) setup, which gave me 800 MHz at 5-5-5-15-2T...and changed it to the recommended timings (sticker on my RAM) at 800 MHz and 4-4-4-15-1T (unlinked of course). The system wouldn't even boot. I tried to manualy set the voltage (instead of leaving it to auto) and still, nothing. What the hell is going on??? My system is more stable OCed than my manualy putting the stock settings!

I have 4 sticks of 1 Gig. The only possible reason I that could explain these results were that those are Dual RAM sticks. That said, all 4 sticks are the same, which means I have 2 dual RAM kit aligned properly on my motherboard...i.e. according to my mobo book, the first dual set should be on slot 1 & 3 and the second set on 2 & 4. I double checked everything so I doubt this is the issue.

This overclocking project is turning out to be a nightmare. What's wrong with my RAM (or is it something else)?

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

Best answer selected by Alex The PC Gamer.