E6600 woes

C

cerebrex

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Sep 29, 2004
Messages
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I'm having some difficulty getting a decent OC out of my processor. I lapped both the processor and the waterblock to mirror finishes, and I'm using AS5 and watercooling... looking at about 40c under load, 24c idle.

I'm running F9 Bios on a DS3
I've hit a WALL at 334FSB.. I can't seem to go any further... but I've had some weird ass problems...

first of all, the processor seems to need more voltage than most. Currently I'm running 1.375v stable at 3.0GHz. It will post momentarily at 3.15GHz and then shut off before it even gets to the bios, or freeze as you hit delete. If I UP the voltage at all, it won't post or do shit... what the hell is the deal with that? More voltage and it does LESS?!

My memory is Ballistix DDR-1000 - so it's nowhere near it's max.. its significantly underclocked right now.

I've tried even 1.525v with the memory set to auto and it won't even post at 375... or 350... no matter what it REFUSES to continue. I have the MCH, FSB, PCI-E all at 0.1v increases and the ram at 2.2v.... I'm really damn frustrated I'm having these issues. The MCH has a fan, and it's never more than slightly warm to the touch. So what is the problem? my processor, MCH, ram, everything is very cool, my voltages are increased, my hardware is top of the line.. yet... shit.

EDIT: Many developments - read further.
 
well, i guess it's your cpu, try another one. Mine hit a wall around 3.4ghz (380FSB) @ 1.425 vcore, I didn't have the guts to go higher on stock cooler :) It does run happily at 3.06mhz with stock voltage (340fsb). I expected a little bit more out of e6600 but what can you do, oc'ing is never sure business, it's always a roulette what kind of oc is possible with the cpu u get
 
Well yeah.. theres bad batches and then theres this one... seriously a lapped, watercooled E6600 can't make it past 3.0GHz? I don't care how terrible it is, it should make it to 3.6GHz if you just floor the shit out of it.. this one won't make it to 3.15... something doesn't make sense...

Could it be my powersupply possibly? I am running an old 430w thermaltake w/ a 8800GTS and many cold cathodes, watercooling setup, etc..

I see in CPU-Z that my core voltage fluctuates from 1.328 to 1.344 when it's set to 1.375 in the bios... and when I go to high voltages.. the system doesn't even start... is that symptoms of a weak psu?
 
First, I would search for a good bios setting from a good clocking DS3..... sounds like its more a setting issue rather than hardware issue.... Tons of people are using this board so getting a good startup setting should be easy to find.....

Secondly, you need more voltage to get a high overclock.... every cpu is different, some needs more volts than others, your load temp of 40c gives you alot of room to increase your voltage.... Same for your motherboard, just setting everything to +.1v doesnt sound like you put enough effort to find a good overclock.... play around a bit, youll be amazed how sometimes a slightly different setting gets you over a wall you couldnt break before......Good luck dude ..... remember, sometimes more voltage = less overclock so dont overdo it.....;)

Or it could very well be you power supply..... Im using 510w and I feel Im right at the borderline......
 
Thanks for the information, I appreciate the optimism.. but unfortunately I'm a little starved of that at the moment.


I think it might be the processor... I think it just sucks. Currently, I am running at 3.0Ghz @ 500FSB - 6x multiplier... I hit a damn wall at 3.0GHz may it be 9x multipler, 8x, 7x, 6x... no matter where.. I can't even POST at 3.2GHz... I've tried increasing voltage on my MCH, FSB, PCI-E from .1v to .3v to no avail... I'm taken voltages from 1.375 to 1.550 just trying to floor it into some sort of progress... at 500FSB it is stable, as I'm been running Orthos for 20 minutes and i've peaked at 45C... memory likes the 1000MHz speed.. was able to tighten the clocks to 3-2-2-8 believe it or not.. ballistix is amazing....I slowly walked down from my 9x multipler just trying to get the fastest 3.0GHz OC I could... and to also demonstrate just how much of a boat anchor my processor is being... I see a LOT of people running 1.51vcores and saying it's just fine and dandy... makes me feel like maybe I should hammer on it harder. I was hoping for 4GHz to tell you the truth... especially with this cooling system and my case/memory or at the bare ass least 3.6GHz...

But what I can't understand is why the 3.0GHz barrier? is this normal of a bad batch or something? it just sounds like I'm missing something.
 
yeah, sounds like it. Actually, after reading this thread, I tried to get my cpu stable at 3.4 (380FSB) but it won't budge, with vcore up to 1.45... Like I said, I'm on stock cooler, so I'm hesitant to go further :) But it feels like my e6600 tops out around 3.3-3.4ghz or so :( oh well, unfortunate, what are you gonna do... I can send it back and get another one but again, it's gonna be another spin of the roulette :D
 
u got any friends that can try and oc it for ya?...just to confirm it's the chip you know? Sounds wierd I know but other than spending a fortune on hardware it might be a good option. You can always try another mobo but still, that cost money.

and as long as you got cooling, it shouldn't hurt it to give it some juice. Look around, you see high 1.6s out there lol.
 
what is the stock MCH voltage for a DS3? Should that even be a concern for me since I'm stable at 500MHz at 6x... I assume at any other multiplier at or below 500MHz I should rule it completely out as memory or MCH being the issue for the overclock... what do you think?
 
How are you overclocking your cpu, setting it on the bios or using windows? Where did you get your settings from? Try to disable everything you dont need in the bios like CIE, speedstep, spread spectrum etc and loosen up your timings..... I cant see why you cant boot at ..

3400mhz 378*9
rams 1:1 @4-4-4-12
vcore 1.55v
vdimm 2.2v
nbv 1.45
sb auto

I know your rams are capable of running higher with tighter timings but run it at 1:1 for now..... if you havent tried those settings then it it a try and start from there..... I still think that cpu is capable of way more, its really really really hard to get a dud cpu......
 
it's not a dud, it works at the rated speed, right? No one is promised a certain degree of overclock, if someone is successful in that regard, it doesn't mean the same thing will happen for everyone else.
 
Something is completely screwed up here.

I start orthos and walked away, came back an hour later and my computer was in suspend (as suspected) but it was locked up ... ? I restarted the computer and it booted with stock fsb at like 1.6GHz or something stupid, I had saved my 500fsb settings, re-loaded them and it wouldn't take, went back to 1.6, I tried EVERY DAMN SETTING i had saved and it did NOTHING. I then cleared the CMOS, and it did it again... I powered it off, flipped the switch, cleared the cmos 5 times, and then started it and reloaded the original 3.0GHz @ 334 1.35v and it booted... what in the flying fuck is wrong with this motherboard? This gigabyte is a piece of shit in my opinion, I've owned 11 Abit boards and this is my first time for any other manufacturer, and this thing is junk... sometimes it shuts off when I make a CMOS change, sometimes it doesn't... half the damn time it doesn't even respond to a change... I'm getting sick and tired of this thing.
 
this board is trash. I just rebooted my system, went to "optimized defaults" and then changed the FSB on a 9x multiplier to 350 --- and it booted! at 3.15GHz... I quickly went back in the bios and saved the settings... and couldn't figure out what the hell was causing the issue, so WITHOUT A SINGLE CHANGE I restarted and it failed to post, never posted at 3.15GHz again... you can't tell me this is something everyone puts up with?

Could all these issues arise from my 430w PSU?
 
I've been doing some research and it appears my problems could be from my PSU, at least the inconsistant bios saving/restarting.. that alone would ease my tensions.
 
Pkirk618 said:
and as long as you got cooling, it shouldn't hurt it to give it some juice. Look around, you see high 1.6s out there lol.
Click to expand...

hes not using dice or phase, high 1.6s vcore will fry most water systems. normaly people dont go over high 1.5s
 
please, if not to try then what else?

I've given mine on stock well over 1.5. If he can cool it, then he can juice it. Even without highend cooling, you'd still be able to see if more voltage is viable solution -- he can then buy the cooling needed.

btw, I didn't mean 1.6s was the norm...I said "some" but thats beside the point...ok, I didn't say "some" I meant it though :)
 
Okay, went out and bought an Ultra 600w - 37A across the dual 12v rails... considering my old PSU was 18A entirely... it's a big difference...

heres a few real interesting things:

My temps before were 45c under load in orthos @ 1.375vcore @ 3.06GHz

My temps now are 40-43c under load in orthos @ 1.425vcore @ 3.15GHz

Oh yeah, did I mention.. I'm able to get 3.15GHz at the moment... I'm in the very early initial stages of OC'ing further.. but I passed that barrier I was stuck at.
 
8x @ 400 - 3.2GHz 1.45vcore 46c peak load - fails orthos at ~7minutes.

developing..
 
Try 360 or 370 fsb x 9, I also couldn't get 3.2 to work with 8x400 but the 360x9 did work for me... But then, I've got a 975 board, it doesn't like high FSB I guess :(
 
I think this motherboard is just junk after dealing with it time and time again... it just seems defective.

I worked my way from 3.0GHz base stable OC all the way to a 3.6GHz post and windows load... it froze, so I was going to bump voltage again.. and then it started the shutting down shit after a bios change... and the moment it starts this shit the problems develop.

I reverted back to a completely stable and successful 3.0GHz @ 500fsb... failed to post, wouldn't do a damn thing. Tried another 3.2GHz OC that I verified in windows was absolutely stable.. failed to post.... pretty much won't do a damn thing now except my 3.0GHz base OC... which I'm at now...

so basically, New PSU... broke the barrier @ 3.0--- got to 3.6GHz and now the motherboard is screwed again, not letting me past 3.0GHz...if this is what you gigabyte boys put up with, you must be dumb... tomorrow I call gigabyte, if they tell me it's defective, the mobo is going back to newegg and an abit or asus is getting ordered... I'm not going to put up with a completely random unstable unpredictable motherboard.
 
Now, now, no need to vent your frustration at everyone else. Besides, who knows, it just might be your cpu, after all, everyone knows that oc'ing is never sure business... So take a deep breath, relax, take a good night sleep and tomorrow try again :D
 
TehQuick said:
Now, now, no need to vent your frustration at everyone else. Besides, who knows, it just might be your cpu, after all, everyone knows that oc'ing is never sure business... So take a deep breath, relax, take a good night sleep and tomorrow try again :D
Click to expand...


Clearly you can see I'm pissed.. I'm realistic and humble at the same time... I know when I'm beat... and I know when a device is failing to function as advertised. My processor has nothing to do with the fact the motherboard will be completely 100% stable 30 minutes through Orthos.. and then 2 hours later, won't even POST at the EXACT same bios save settings... there is zero excuse for that... clearly that is a bad motherboard... no variables change, yet a different result? random inconsistencies...it's time to throw the towel in on this thing... looks like many many people are having the same kinds of problems...

as for my processor... I can honestly say it appears to be a hoss... If I'm able to get to 3.5GHz @ 500FSB rock solid at just 1.40vcore @ 45c load.... clearly the processor isn't the limiting factor here... I'm really happy and impressed with that.. initially I thought the processor was junk.. but it appears to have been the PSU (possibly, theres no way to know with the boat anchor I have it attached to) that limited that... I had an opportunity to actually start to overclock for about 2 hours.. the motherboard cooperated and I was able to post a setting, fail a post, make a correction, post it.. and continue.. the way it is suppose to be.

Like I said motherboard was cooperating fantastic for about 2 hours, every bios save would restart the mobo, and either post or double-beep and clear the cmos and end back up in the bios settings... THEN all of a sudden, it started locking up in the bios... what the fuck is that? I've never even seen that happen... and I don't mean once, I mean like 10 times back to back with weirdo video errors and such... and this is on completely stable settings that have been proven... and then the 5 saved bios settings, all which boot windows and stress test fine suddenly fail to work, hell they won't even boot. And now, if you up the FSB, or really do anything to change the cmos.. the system instantly shuts off and fails to post.. then you have to manually clear the cmos with the jumper and start all over... ridiculous. (oh and btw... jumper to clear the cmos?.. I had a laugh at this.. I hadn't even seen this since the slot a days being an abit user for the past decade)

Now, if this was something new I'd say maybe I screwed something up... it's possible right? No, it did this the last 2 nights in a row... it won't cooperate whatsoever... come tomorrow it suddenly starts working again... play with the bios at all and it starts shutting down and won't post any OC whatsoever.... I thought it might be power consumption, so I bought a ultra 600w sli psu...seemed to do something for a few hours.. now its back to being junk. Before that I thought my problems were from heat... I ignored the fact that I have a 250mm side case fan, and 2 120mm front fans and a case temp of 2* over ambient.. and a processor that idled at 21c.. so I installed a considerably bigger heatsink on my northbridge and put a fan on it... even at 500fsb running .2v over on the MCH... I've never even felt it "warm" let alone hot.... I've done just about everything possible and it keeps coming back to a bad motherboard... it isn't power, it isn't heat, it isn't the processor, it isn't the memory... here we go again..
 
yeah, i can see your point. However, there's no reason to go and start calling names other gigabyte users ;)
 
tomorrow I call gigabyte, if they tell me it's defective, the mobo is going back to newegg and an abit or asus is getting ordered... I'm not going to put up with a completely random unstable unpredictable motherboard.
Click to expand...

The 680i chipset has been a walking-on-glass experience for every mobo manufacure. Who ever is making the reference boards is ethier doing a shitty job of it, or the chipset itself is causing a lot of problems. What I mean to say is that its hard to lay the blame on Gigabyte, especially when Asus 680i's are suffering just as bad from DOA's and a backed up RMA process, just like EVGA was having a lot of problems not to long ago also. I don't use gigabyte so this isn't me trying to shield a favored brand name, but what I'm saying is that when/if you do RMA the mobo you might give Gigabyte another chance, and if you get an Asus board that comes in DOA or dies after a month, don't be too suprised :(

Either which way, good luck.
 
J_Devil said:
The 680i chipset has been a walking-on-glass experience for every mobo manufacure. Who ever is making the reference boards is ethier doing a shitty job of it, or the chipset itself is causing a lot of problems. What I mean to say is that its hard to lay the blame on Gigabyte, especially when Asus 680i's are suffering just as bad from DOA's and a backed up RMA process, just like EVGA was having a lot of problems not to long ago also. I don't use gigabyte so this isn't me trying to shield a favored brand name, but what I'm saying is that when/if you do RMA the mobo you might give Gigabyte another chance, and if you get an Asus board that comes in DOA or dies after a month, don't be too suprised :(

Either which way, good luck.
Click to expand...

The DS3 is actually an intel 965 chipset (not sure if your just using the 680i as a general relation, or direct)... I decided on it over the 680i for one reason: proven stability... damn that was a bad decision it appears.

Time have changed possibly.. or I might have just been lucky with my whole slew of abit boards... the reason I didn't go abit was because the AW9-MAX is like 350 bucks... and it's unproven since its so new... and mainly the other reason is there is so many more products available now than there use to be... hell even intel has mobo's that OC now (incredible!). So, based on that I decided to give another manufacturer a try. Originally really didn't want a DS3 not because of the older chipset, or the brand... but the board just looks... well.. rather fruity with all it's random pastel colors.. but i bit the bullet and decided to go ahead with it. I must say i'm unpleasantly disappointed. And I hope I don't get any heat from newegg about the heatsink having some slight marring from the screws holding the fan on the NB.
 
TehQuick said:
yeah, i can see your point. However, there's no reason to go and start calling names other gigabyte users ;)
Click to expand...

I just feel robbed as a consumer to have experienced these problems... and then what is even more frustrating is to go online and see many people having the exact same problems... I'm aggravated that I managed to spend 2 months researching... chose the DS3... and somehow I never once saw all these problems? different perspectives I guess... geez. Also, in the back of my mind I suppose I'm just pissed at myself for going against my own previous experiences with abit... 11 mobo's and only 1 problem out of them all.. my IC7-G crapped out on my massively OC'ed 2.4C... replaced it with another IS7... and it's still kicking at 3.6GHz today... I'd have to say my experience with gigabyte... being a first time user... is the bios seems cumbersome, tedious, overly complicated, and generally it fails to inform the end user of what they need to know to achieve the results they want. It's certainly been the most challenging overclock I've ever delt with.. my previous OC's starting back with the 300a's all the way to my northwood were about a single day's investment and it was rock solid for years (seriously, I've never coastered a cpu - and I ran them flat out at the highest clock I could for years). I'm primarily just frustrated as I looked forward to this build for so long, and the one piece of equipment I wasn't 100% about bit me right in the ass.
 
Yeah, going off-topic here, I had some unfortunate experience with Abit. I got IC7 and it worked fine for the first few days but then it crapped out. Well I got it replaced, RMA took almost a month and a number of calls to Abit support (no 800# IIRC). The replacement was a refurb, arrived poorly packaged - no foam, no peanuts, just the box. OK, I swallow that pill. Well, afterwards I get problems with audio, had to spend money on dicsrete audio, then NB fan craps out, also need to shell out some dough on NB HSF and now I need to deal with screaming fan. It was not my first Abit board, but was the last, and it's mostly not because I think badly of current Abit mobos, but because I had such a piss-poor experience with Abit RMA dept. I went with Asus this time around hoping for much better support in case something goes wrong :)
 
TehQuick said:
Yeah, going off-topic here, I had some unfortunate experience with Abit. I got IC7 and it worked fine for the first few days but then it crapped out. Well I got it replaced, RMA took almost a month and a number of calls to Abit support (no 800# IIRC). The replacement was a refurb, arrived poorly packaged - no foam, no peanuts, just the box. OK, I swallow that pill. Well, afterwards I get problems with audio, had to spend money on dicsrete audio, then NB fan craps out, also need to shell out some dough on NB HSF and now I need to deal with screaming fan. It was not my first Abit board, but was the last, and it's mostly not because I think badly of current Abit mobos, but because I had such a piss-poor experience with Abit RMA dept. I went with Asus this time around hoping for much better support in case something goes wrong :)
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree with you more about all of those experiences. I actually had the same thing happen on my IC7--- the green NB fan started squeeling loud as hell and pretty much stopped working... the computer had been a stable workhorse for so long I figured nothing could stop the beast... and to it's credit it continued on with a very meaty OC for a year with no NB cooler before it toasted. I was able to replace it with an IS7 for 40 dollars and never looked back.. or had an issue... it was the very first mobo failure I'd ever experienced, and I was completely to blame for lack of maintenance.

Oddly enough, my research led me to believe Asus's customer service was just about the worst of all the manufacturers... I honestly never looked into Abit.. as I've never even called them since I never really had a problem like what I have now with this gigabyte. But, judging from their ridiculous engrish in all the manuals.. that doesn't surprise me. Any issues I experienced with the abit boards were solved by being educated by other users on the net.. I was just failing to utilize the product correctly.

But, I feel differently about Gigabyte.. and not because of any manufacturer bias, or preconceived notion... it's a different kind of anger really... It's the fact that I literally feel like a spectator at the will of my motherboard, doing whatever the hell it wants to.
 
Hehe, in that case I just hope nothing happens to my board... At least, I'm not experiencing any of those inconsistencies you are talking about but then, I'm not pushing it... just yet.. with stock cooler, it doesn't hurt to be a little more cautious :D
 
my strikers died. think it may have taken my cpu too. stear clear of the striker.
 
TehQuick said:
Hehe, in that case I just hope nothing happens to my board... At least, I'm not experiencing any of those inconsistencies you are talking about but then, I'm not pushing it... just yet.. with stock cooler, it doesn't hurt to be a little more cautious :D
Click to expand...

the gloves came off on this build for me.. I'm hell bent on getting the OC I want.. and not just settling like I do most of the time. I'm very happy that my water cooling setup is performing so well, I would have never expected a peak load temp of 45c on a 3.5GHz stable clock... that just seems almost questionable. I had hoped the 8800GTS would perform better than it has, but I really have yet to push it hard.. first I'm working on this motherboard issue. It appears I will be able to grab that ever so delicious 4.0GHz I've been salivating over... but it appears I won't be doing it with this motherboard. Given it's impressive heat and voltage requirements, I will try with my current water cooling setup, if I'm unable to keep load temps down, I will switch over to my phase setup... but I'd trying to avoid it for the moment as it's a pain to deal with, and I'm almost concerned heading to lan parties with it.
 
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