My First Overclock

the PCI-E bus speed overclocks the bus not the card, and is a waste of time to adjust because of that

try raising your processor multiplier override on the third image, if it gets stuck at a certain number, raise the host clock below it, make sure you don't run your ram out of specification though, because it will raise it... unless you want to overclock your ram as well  

edit: try setting the multiplier to 10, the cpu one, if it goes back to auto, or 9 then you have to adjust the FSB to overclock (or host multi or whatever it is)

What's the difference between raising the processor multiplier vs the FSB? Is one better than the other? If I raise my processor multiplier from 9 to 10 is that all I need to do? My overclock is 100% done?

You say to make sure I don't run my RAM out of specification, how do I know if I'm doing that? My BIOS says my ram is 667 mhz.

FSB (BCLK) brings up your benchmark scores also need strong RAM, Well overclock multi is the easiest way and give more stable  
read this guide OC Q6600
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/259899-29-core-overcl...

I read through that guide (and several others). It sounds like from everything I've read that in my specific case, I should be able to just raise the host frequency multiplier from 266 to 300, which will give me an overlock from 2.4ghz to 2.7ghz. This makes my overall FSB 1200 which should still be fine for my 667mhz RAM (which should be ok up to 1333 max FSB?)

Is that right?

The easiest way to overclock a Q6600 is to change the FSB from 266 to 333. 333 is a standard Intel FSB frequency (FSB is quad data rate which means it makes 4 transfers per clock cycle for a total of 1333 at 333Mhz) and has been supported since the P35 platform. This means that the chipset should be stable.

However, when you upclock your FSB you're also changing your memory bus speed (unless you have a discrete clock generator for your memory, which is unlikely), so you'll have to adjust the memory multiplier as well.

Since your have DDR2-667 memory this means that your memory IO bus is ideally clocked at 333Mhz. Since this is was generated by a 266Mhz FSB this means that it has a default ratio of 333Mhz/266Mhz = 1.25 or 5:4. You want to bring your FSB up to 333Mhz but leave your memory at 333Mhz, so change your memory ratio to 1:1, this should ensure memory stability.

Your motherboard may automatically adjust the memory ratio, just be aware that it exists

Thanks Pinhedd, a follow up question though: I had originally considered going for the 333 mhz (3ghz total) overclock for the 1:1 memory ratio as well, but I'm only using stock cooling (and I don't want to have to change that), so I thought a more modest overclock in the 2.6-2.7ghz range would be less likely to require aftermarket cooling. Is there some reason a 300 mhz step up from 266 wouldn't be functional?

Also are there any other things from my screenshots I need to be careful to change? For example, speedstep technology, or PCI-E settings (that image not included)?

A classic case of the blind leading the blind!

The Q6600 is a multiplier locked CPU!

Raising the multiplier is not an option, you'll have to raise the FSB and compensate the voltages to stabilize, to overclock the Q6600!

That is of course if you have a 775 motherboard that's going to give you the overclocking BIOS options you need, to overclock in the first place.

Henydiah, has provided a link to the overclocking guide you need to go by, one of the first things you would have discovered in the beginning of the guide is the Q6600 is a locked multiplier CPU, if you don't understand something in the guide ask specific questions here or Google it.

Mhalroth, You're a first time overclocker so study the overclocking guides that apply to your hardware until you understand them, do not apply any overclocking at all, until you do, and don't take your advice from those that obviously do not know what they're talking about.

A hasty overclock decision on your part could be the end of your hardware, learn what you're doing first, quick fixes with no understanding will lead you to disaster! Ryan

Ryan, appreciate the reply but you are a few posts late to the party my man. Read over the rest of the thread (also have a look at my images posted in first post) and if you have any useful tips or answers to my latest questions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I did read it!

And I've given you my most useful tips!

learn first then do!

The most dangerous overclocker is one that proceeds on a little information with Zero understanding of what they're actually doing, I see it everyday here, usually followed by the crying and whining posts, help me, help me, because they've messed up their machines.



Did this change in a few posts?

your temps seem pretty well under control with your stock intel cooler. Do you have the
GO(g zero) stepping SLACR part(download free, install and run cpuz to find out if you
don't know)? IF so, the only difference between your proc and a qx6850 is 25w of tdp,
the base clock it runs, the part number and binning. I believe the qx6850 uses the same
stock intel cooler yours does so with a base clock boost and maybe a bit extra juice via
a relatively small voltage bump you should be able to run your Q6600 just like the GO
QX6850 and still keep the thermals in check(if you have the GO stepping, maybe even
if it is the older B3 stepping). If you do overclock you want to take it slow by upping the
base clock 5-10mhz(45-90mhz effective at 9x multi) and test for at least 15-20min with
the latest version of prime 95(it's free) set to tax your proc to the fullest and monitor for
uncomfortably high temps and/or errors. if it's good keep going until you get to that point,
then back it of 5-10mhz and try an overnight loop/torture test while temps are monitored
and if it is still good in the morning this should be a good stable overclock.

Yes, much info was given and added. I read through all the guides, and now I have some very specific questions (reason I'm here).

1) Someone mentioned OC'ing to 333mhz to get 1:1 fsb to ram ratio, but this is more OC than I wanted to do. Is there any reason I can't OC to 300 mhz instead? (eg. is it far less likely to be stable, etc.)

2) Based on my *specific* images from BIOS, aside from FSB and voltages, are there any other settings I need to enable/disable? Some posts mentioned disabling speedstep, others said it wasn't necessary.

3) The image I didn't post was my PCI-E bios settings. Do I need to manually lock in that clock to avoid OC'ing it and damaging my video card? One guide said I needed to lock the PCIE at 100mhz, another said the MB would auto-adjust it, and a third post said I should set it manually (but not specifically at 100mhz).

Best answer selected by Mhalroth.

Thanks Pinhedd, I'll give that a try tomorrow then. Appreciate the Edit info as well, makes sense. Cheers.