is it worth it?

[Crosshairs]

So I'm sitting here contemplating my next move.
I'm running a Q6600 on an EVGA 6801 A1 board.....
I have an Abit IP35 pro sitting right next to me NIB....

My dilemma is this:
I'm really looking to push this quad as far as I can and this 680i just wont cooperate....it maxes out at about 3.2, but its not even stable there...I get random reboots every few days or so...it will run at 3.0 , but its still shaky...2.7 is about all I can get stable... and no amount of volts will help.....

The chip is watercooled and temps are great, I have a fan on the NB and SB..so im pretty sure they are OK....

I have removed the heatpipe asy and cleaned up the nice mess that EVGA thought would pass for acceptable.
Reattached it with nuts and bolts, using AS5 instead of that goo that came with it.

My PSU is a PCP&C 750 quad, so I'm pretty sure thats not an issue....I have run my ram unlinked all the way up to 500Mhz for days on end with the CPU at 2.4...so the ram is not the issue...

So I guess I'm looking for answers from anyone that went from a 680i to an IP35......was it worth it?
Did your chip clock better?

I realize I can just install the board and find out for myself, but being its watercooled, its quite a bit of work that I would rather not do unless I'm convinced its worth it..

what say you oh guru's of overclocking


EDIT: The quad is a GO stepping... I had a B3 for a week also, and got the same shitty results, so I sold it and got the GO....Still no love..

 

[Tazman2]

Running atleast the p30 bios? Its suppose to help quad overclocking!

PS: Did you do the voltage regs too? Theres even less "putty" under there then the sb/nb!

PPS: Use ceramique as its non conductive and what not!

 

[Crosshairs]

Running at least the p30 bios? Its suppose to help quad overclocking!

PS: Did you do the voltage regs too? Theres even less "putty" under there then the sb/nb!

PPS: Use ceramique as its non conductive and what not!

I'm actually running the P31 BIOS...tried them all..all the way back to P28..
I redid the Vregs too, and have a 40mm fan on them....The heatsink stays cool to the touch with the fan on...gets a bit warm without it...

This board clocked my E6600 to 3.6 24/7 stable ..so I'm kinda pissed it wont do the quad the same way..

Thanks for the reply.

 

[vanilla_guerilla]

i had the 680i a1 for around 10 months. overclocked the e6600 great, just wouldnt do it with my q6600. had fsb holes, and wouldnt run much higher than 3300. swapped in the ip35 pro and got 3800 with same cpu, ram, and psu. hopefully, the 780 and/or 790 boards will oc the quad better, i am really wanting to go back to sli.

 

[Crosshairs]

i had the 680i a1 for around 10 months. overclocked the e6600 great, just wouldnt do it with my q6600. had fsb holes, and wouldnt run much higher than 3300. swapped in the ip35 pro and got 3800 with same cpu, ram, and psu. hopefully, the 780 and/or 790 boards will oc the quad better, i am really wanting to go back to sli.

Thats what I want to hear..