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OCing a Q6600, Help?

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Dougjwjr

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
274
Well, I'm trying to learn what it would take to Overclock my Q6600 more. Right now, I'm at 3.2ghz with 8x400, and I'm interested in taking that to 3.6ghz. My problem is that I dont know how to increase voltages properly, thus I have kept everything at stock. Now, I know how to increase voltages in BIOS obviously, but I don't know how to tell when it is necessary, or how much to increase by. I know there isn't 1 answer, every CPU is different, but there has to be a way to tell what's good and what's not.

System Specs: Intel Core 2 Q6600 G0 with Arctic Cooler Pro 92mm HSF, EVGA NVIDIA 680i 122-CK-NF68 Motherboard, 4gb (2x2) Corsair Dominator PC-8500 RAM, EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT (512 DDR2), Corsair CMPSU TX650 PSU, and an Antec 900 case.

Current Settings:
CPU Freq 3200.0
FSB Reference clock: 1600.0
CPU Multiplier: 8x

SLI-Ready Memory: Expert
FSB-Memory Clock Mode: Unlinked
FSB (QDR): 1600
MEM (DDR): 800

Memory Timing Settings: Expert
tcl: 4 (auto is 5)
trcd: auto 4
trp: auto 4
tras: auto 12
command per clock auto 2t

advanced mem settings...
trrd: auto 3
trc: auto 17
twr: auto 5
twtr: auto 9
tref: auto, 7.8uS

System Voltages...
CPU core: Auto 1.40v
CPU FSB: Auto 1.4V
Memory: 2.100V
nForce SPP: Auto 1.40V
nForce MCP: Auto 1.500V
HT nForce SPP <-> MCP: Auto 1.20V

If I missed anything important, tell me. I included a lot ther and believe much of it is more or less useless


Temperatures
Idle:
Load:

Coming soon, when I get time to let it rest and stress test. Likely Monday. For Now, I'll say I believe idle is around 45C, 100% is like 62C I want to get more current temperatures here soon, but I'm pritty sure that if I want to OC more, I will first want to get a new 120mm HSF. I also want to try temps when it's relatively warm in my room, since I dont have air conditioning, I bet my room gets up to 80F over the summers, that's gotta increase the temperatures some compared to those above when it was maybe 60F in my room.


Known Issues: 9x333 3.0ghz does not seem to work for me. I would try it, it would start loading windows, then restart and bsod. However, 9x300 and 8x400 work perfectly. I don't know why this doesn't work, but as long as it'd just 9x333, I don't care, I can do other things.

Thanks for the help, and sorry if this has been done before.
 
basicly with voltage.. if the overclock fails.. raise the voltage.. theres no real science to it.. its just trying to figure out which combination works.. if increasing the CPU voltage doesnt work then you have to look at increasing the northbridge and other voltages..

but always increase the CPU voltage.. if it fails to boot all the way up to the recommended max voltage which is 1.5v for that processor.. then look at trying different voltage combinations for the other stuff..

also i notice you have ddr2 1066.. if you plan to go higher then ddr2 800 you are going to have to loosen the timing on the ram because they will not do 4-4-4-12 @ ddr2 1066 should be 5-5-5-15 or 5-5-5-18 @ 1066.. or anything higher then 850mhz..

if ya need more explained feel free to ask we will help..

also i cant remember if its the G0 or D0 or what ever q6600 stepping it is that sucks at overclocking.. so good luck..
 
The G0 chips are the good overclockers, the B3s were the bad ones, though those haven't been around for ages now.

What sirmonkey said is pretty much bang on :)
 
darn ...I must have a B3 as I can't get my Q6600 over 3ghz and still be prime stable
 
B3's were bad?

lol

There was no "Bad" Q6600 stepping, the G0 just was better. My B3 would hit 3.6 easily if my northbridge could be raised higher than 1.3 (Currently at 3.4)
 
Hmm Interesting, and there's no uh.. negative effects from having it on too low or too high of a voltage (within proper usage parameters)? It sounds like trial and error, is that not bad for it?

Also, is there some other way I should set up the ram? Right now it's unlinked, it obviously cant do linked 1:1, but there are other settings, I dont know what would be best.

Dang.. A little disappointed, stress tested to see temps, seem steady at 72, 72, 68, 68. They use to be lower, but it was also most likely around (55F dont know what that is C), currently around (70-75F). I will definitely need a new cpu hsf before continuing to OC further,
 
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theres nothing really special you have to do with the ram.. when overclocking just make sure its set to 1:1 timing with the FSB.. and then after hitting the overclock you want go ahead and raise the ram multiplier to the reference speed for the ram..

if you need to convert F to C quickly.. just go on google and type 55F to C
and it will convert it for you.. another nifty google feature.. also does it with money and math equations..

but those temps arent to bad for stress testing.. still have a little more room to go..
 
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