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yes it is. Well, 375FSB ain't too shabby but I still think there's something you're missing in your settings keeping you from hitting 400. Your temps are good. Make sure you're at least 16-24hr stable at your max settings.

just an update on my original message, i reverted back to xp pro 64. which has helped with monitoring tools compatibility.

I really need some help. Has anyone on this forum gor a qx6700? im a bit concerned about the temps im getting.
with the side panel off of my antec p180 i get idle temps of 45,45,40,42 if i put the panel back on im getting 55,55,50,52 at idle. [im overclocked at 2900mhz 290x10] if i run a stress test temps go over 70 on the first two cores, which makes me feel a bit uncomfotable. intels recommended max temp for the qx is 65.
obviously i dont want to fry an expensive cpu so thoughts or advice would be helpfull. ive googled for the info, but havent found much, all i have found are other people with similar concerns to mine.

i really dont want to leave my side panel off because of dust etc.
I have a thermalright ultra extreme fitted now and used as5, its the only thing that has changed with my hardware following my original post, quoted above.

please any advice guys?

Serenity228, Did you lock your PCI-Express @ 100 and your PCI @ 33.33?

I have all 3 of my PCI-Es set and locked on 100, however i have no option in my bios to set PCI @ 33.33. What is that setting under usually. The only other one under PC clocks tab (where my PCI-E are) is "Spp<->MCP Ref Clock" and i have that set on auto cause i have no idea what this is. Is this the only thing you see wrong with the OC? Thnks. I apreciate the fast response.

Serenity: lookie what I found: http://www.motherboards.org/review [...] 704_2.html

I just gave it a brief run through. Not sure if it'll help but it's got BIOS screenshots for OCing. That, and I think you should change your memory setup from Sync mode to 1:1 to start things off.

Bustamove: That antec p-180 has a big chimney fan up top towards the back, right? Make sure your exhaust fans (top & back) are running at the same speed or faster than your intake fan(s). You might be creating a dead zone around your CPU with your current fan setup/speeds. There definitely shouldn't be a 10 degree difference with the side off. Usually only 2-3. Corect me if I'm wrong, but you should have a 120mm in the front, one 120 in the back, and a 200mm up top? Also, do you have a fan blowing on your Ultra extreme? I recommend mounting it vertically with the fan on the right side, blowing through it towards the back of the case.

My setup for the Antec 900 case is as follows:

Front:
2 intake 120mm TriCool Fans set on max speed (3 settings: 1,2 and 3, 3 being the highest)

Sidepanel:
1 Intake 120mm TriCool Fan set on max speed (3 settings: 1,2 and 3, 3 being the highest)

Back:
1 Exhaust 120mm TriCool Fan set on max speed

Top:
1 Exhaust 200mm TriCool Fan set on max speed.

The PSU in this case is at the bottom, meaning the heat rising from the PSU is being sucked out before it heats up my other comp components.

So you think i should turn my memory on 1:1 meaning, if my QuadPump FSB is set at 1550, Run the memory at 1550 too? In my bios if i set the ratio to 1:1 it makes both the CPU FSB and the Memory FSB the same thing, ex: if i have my CPU set at its default 1333MHz, it Changes the Ram to 1333MHz too. I thaught i read that ur Memory FSB should be double your non Quad pumped FSB. Ex. if my Quad Pump CPU FSB is 1333MHz that means its runing at 333MHhz, so my ram should be 667MHz, If my Quad Pump FSB is 1600MHz that means its running at 400MHz, and my ram would be at 800MHz. Im using QuadPump because that is what my bios uses. Here are screenshots, maybe im doin something wrong. Thanks again for the quick response, i really appreciate it. Hopefully you can help me figure this out.

Thanks for this krazynuts. What you are saying makes a lot of sense and did cross my mind 'the dead zone thing''

OK, The fan set up is as follows- 1x 120 at rear of case 1x 120 at top of case, no fan at front of the case, [maybe thats my problem] ill fit one today. there is another 120 fan at the bottom of the case in between the psu and hard drive enclosure. i dont have this one turned on. i have an akasa fan -120mm] mounted on the heatsink. [you said it needs to be on the right hand side] but you also added blowing towards the back of the case? my cpu fan is on the right hand side, but that blows to the front of the case i.e towards the rom drives.

i do have a bit of an issue with wiring, there is a problem with a 'spagetthi like lump at the bottom of the motherboard, i realize this could be affecting air flow. the problem is [i think] there is a panel that sits above my psu that seperates it from the main interior of the case, all my sata ports sit just above it where the mass of wires are, dont know how i can change that if at all.

You have given me something i can work on, oh btw can you tell me if my cpu fan is sitting on the correct side of the heatsink? [heatsink is vertical as you said] first thing i need to do is put a fan in the front panel of the case, there is a housing for one, but none present, thus no intake fan right? meaning two exhaust fans, top and back but no intake?, ill do that first then work from there.

thanks again for the advice, its very helpfull. now i know where to start.

Serenity: YES, put the ram in a 1:1 mode. The best way to run DDR2 is in a 1:1 ratio so when you start off OCing, your gonna be running your RAM @ 533 and working your way up simultaneously with your CPU. So if you get your CPU to 400 FSB (1600), your RAM will be running again at it's own stock speed of 800 (1600). Setting your RAM in the BIOS to run in 1:1 mode, you should notice an immediate increase in headroom on your OC. This is my best advice for your mobo. For anything else, consult that guide I made a link to in my previous post. It should help with any other questions on your mobo. Hope all that helps!

Bustamove: Oh wow man. yeah, that fan on your CPU heatsink blowing towards the front of the case most defnitely creates a dead zone for you. the reason is because you have two fans blowing in opposite directions in your case, right over the CPU area. That's bad. This is what you should do tonight:

1: Hook up that fan at the bottom of your case.
2: Add an intake fan at the front
3: Turn your CPU fan around to be blowing through the heatsink towards the back.

This way, you're bringing cool air in through the front and pushing pushing it through the heatsink. The case fan at the back sucks the resulting warm air out of the case. Do these things and your case temps should drop at least 5-10 degrees. Good luck!

@krazynuts.
Thanks for the advice, i feel like i just went a few rounds with mike tyson doing this! i think my head is about to pop but.. i think im there. heres what i did, between my two year old son picking bits up and running off with them! [nightmare]

ok, i turned the heatsink fan around like you said, no difference at all.
so i removed the heatsink, cleaned off the as5 then reapplied new paste put it all back together. [incidently, anyone who has a thermalright extreme, how lame is that wire clip arrangement to hold the fan on!, man i nearly lost it with that completely. anyway by what must have been a minor miracle i got the thing back on. then... no difference. by now i think i wanted to cry.
ok so all my efforts thus far resulted in zero difference. there was no way i was giving up so i put a fan in the front of the case [120mm] problem was though it was about 100mm out of paralel with the heatsink if that makes sense, so was blowing air direct under the heatsink by about 60 or 70 mm. above it are my dvd drive bays. i got a small fan and wedged it in an empty drive bay just above it and had it blowing directly towards the heatsink fan.
then i had the other fan in the psu / hd compartment which just would not come on at all. so out it came, i got another akasa 120mm fan and wedged it in with some foam padding. it fired up np.

so my cpu is clocked to 3.08 now
[280x11]
core volt 1.35
temps are reading at idle.

core0-42
core1-42
core2-38
core3-38

at full load the max it is reading in core temp is 64 64 60 60. i ran tat to get these readings.
this is with the side panel on, for a qx6700 i think this is ok, i did run occt for 30mins on full load. it crashes, but its not because of high temps. im not sure if its a voltage thing with my cpu [needs to go up] or mem timings.
memory timings are something i havent got my head around.

well the inside of my case looks like beirut on a bad day, but the temps are down. the case doesnt have a window so what do i care.
if you have any more advice for me that would be great krazynutz you helped out a lot allready, i appreciate it.

just ran occt for 30 mins after upping the voltage to 1.375. stable. next i need to run orthos.

Good to see the temps drop 5+ degrees. Cool (no pun intended)

Your mixed ram might be a culprit. take out one brand and leave the other and see if it helps your OC. Are both brands Cas4 or Cas5? Either way, take one brand out, leave your timings stock and see what happens with your OC. That's all I've got for now. Good luck!

Krazynutz, should i run the one brand mem in dual or single channel mode? both sets of ram are cas4

shall i remove the gskills or the corsair? or doesnt it matter?

doesn't matter. They'll automatically run in dual-mode if you keep them in their same-color dimms. (should be 1&3, 2&4). I'd try keeping the Corsair and see if it changes your OC. Then use the G-skill and see if it's any different. Good luck!

no difference, in fact if anything the temps went up slightly. i tried both configurations.
i have a question, if i set the bios to stock settings, then raised the multiplier to 12 and left all other settings as they are, [except maybe speedstep] that would theoretically give me a 3.2ghz clock right? is this likely to raise my temps again?
or maybe a similar sum that would =3.00ghz with a x12 multiplier? that would of course be an initial underclock i think. am i way off base here?

Alright well, I went out and bought a tuniq tower 120mm. The thing is massive and really annoying to install. The reason for this is because its so massive and in the Antec 900 there is not enough room to get ur hand behind it and tighten the screws, however after taking out my MOBO, and installing the fan with a slim layer of as5 ive noticed fairly good results. Not as good as some where getting. It may be that my HS and ISH arn't flat and prolly need some lapping but im not sure if i want to void the warrenties just yet. However, with the fan installed and my system running without being over clocked my idle temps on my C2D 6750 are around 31c and 32c. During the GPU tests in 3dmark06 my temps are around 38c-40c, during the CPU tests my temps are from 43c-46c. Are those pretty decent?

Well, anyhow i figured with the better cooling i may be able to finally reach my goal of an OC around 3.2GHz-3.6GHz. Before buying the Tuniq Tower i was not able to make it to the post test with a 1600MHz CPU FSB and 800MHz RAM FSB. So i was crossing my fingers as i was trying to reach that with my new Tuniq Tower. I got it to boot, and made it windows. My idle temps were around 40c-42c. I ran 3dmark06 and it crashed . I dont know what is holding the OC back. Those temps arnt too bad for an overclock with air cooling. Im guessing its my ram that is holding me back. Is there any way to test this out and see if it is indeed my ram? Or maybe my CPU ist just part of a bad batch, or maybe my PSU cant handle it. I dont know what it is but i wish i could figure it out. Any info would be great. Thnks.

Incase peeps forgot my system is as follows:

Case: Antec 900

PSU: Ultra Xfinity 600w

MOBO: Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus

CPU: C2D 6750

Memory: 2gb OCZ Gold gamer memory (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] Code=85236 ) (Fairly Cheap ram, 2gb only costs 59 bucks with a 30$ mail in rebate, normal price is 89$)

Heatsink: Tuniq Tower 120mm

Serenity:

1: did you set your ram to be 1:1 in the bios and your voltage is 2.0-2.1??

2: If so, just for giggles, set your ram timings to 5-5-5-15 and see if it takes you any further. You shouldn't have to, but maybe you have some weak ram.

3: have you updated to the latest BIOS version?

Bustamove:

In theory, that would give you what you want. 266 x 12 = 3.2Ghz. Thing is, do you have a 12x multiplier available?

FSB 250 would net you 3Ghz.