OCing for 680i - Step by Step - Please Correct if Incorrect

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Kinyin

n00b
Joined
Dec 31, 2006
Messages
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Okay, since I am an OC virgin I have been taking this seriously for the past couple days and have tried to find as much information as I can on the topic.

So far, just for the CPU, I have the following information and I wanted to run it by you all to see if I am going in the right direction.

My particular system setup will be at the bottom of this page.

This thread isn't supposed to be a guide to anyone, but more of a chance to correct something if I have been misinformed so that I can get my first stable OC ever.

1)
a. CPU Thermal control - disabled
b. C1E Enhanced holt state - disabled
c. Intel Speedstep - disabled
d. Reboot

2)
a. CPU Spread Spectrum - disabled
b. HT Spread Spectrum - disabled
c. PCIe Spread Spectrum SPP - disabled
d. PCIe Spread Spectrum MCP - disabled
e. Sata Spread Spectrum - disabled
f. Reboot

3)
a. CPU Core: 1.45V
b. CPU FSB: 1.5V
c. nForce SPP: 1.50V
d. Reboot

4)
a. SLI-Ready Memory - disabled
b. FSB - Memory Clock Mode - Unlinked
c. MEM (DDR) MHz - Change to Reflect Current Memory Speed
d. Reboot

5)
a. Increase FSB in 40 MHz Increments
1. Reboot to Windows after Each Increase
2. Fall Back to Last Increment when Unable to Boot into Windows
b. When 'Stable' FSB is Achieved:
1. Download Orthos and Run CPU Stress Test
i. Ideally stay below 70C

6)
a. Reboot
b. Start Lowering Voltages and Running Orthos after each to Lower Temperature until a Stable OC is Achieved.

Overclock Complete

Questions:
1. For the E6600, what would be the ideal temperature for load and idle while OCing?
2. Have I missed anything? If so, please explain what it is I have made a mistake.
3. For the best OC results, what kind of PSU is best? What kind of rail setup? Currently planned PSU listed below.

System Setup:
Asus P5N32-E SLI (Striker Extreme w/o Bells and Whistles - Exact Same)
E6600 Core Duo /w Tuniq 120 Heatsink
Enermax Galaxy 1000W (Four Rails I Believe)
 
given i have been on the AMD side for a little bit, but that looks like a lot to raise the FSB each time. i mean maybe things are different now, but back on my old 3.0C and even now on the AMD side, i go at MAX 10mhz at a time.
 
Not sure... I got the information from OCing information for 680i motherboards.
 
yeah 40 is a little high. I own an evga 680i and E6300, i went in 25MHz incriments.

anywho, one thing to be aware of. Sploches of non-oc zones on this board!.

This is my first time on an intel system too. i was very paranoid for a while that id fry my ram. Anywho, I was going up in 25MHz incriments, (starting from 1100). I didnt boot to windows everytime. but I was done, at 1650MHz fsb. The little LED stalls at 11 whenever i've got an FSB thats too high "well thats a little... dissapointing" I thought to myself, and I got to work squeezing every MHz outta my ram I could.

but when I realized I had only hit 2.8GHz, and eveyrone was saying 3.0 is easy, I thought maybe it was just a small OC wall. So i pushed for 1700, nothing. 1750, nothing, 1800, nothing, 1850.... " C1... C3... A1... B4... 11.............................................. FF" FF is POST cleared, begin Boot sequence. So now im on this island. A 1.45V, wont go 10MHz up or 10MHz down, island.

Im gonna start tinkering with settings to see if I can push for anything higher.

One Intel conspiricy theory that my buddy came up with is that Intel does NOT want its E6X00 procs doing anywhere near 333MHz, because they plan on releasing versions (supposidly to be called E6X50's) that have a 333MHz bus speed, or 1333MHz FSB speed. So, 333MHz might be a troubled speed, but as you can see, my overclock was way past that when it failed to post.
 
few tips and things of note.

first, youll want to make sure and give your memory the correct voltage. do this while setting the voltage of the processor.

40mhz a jump is fine for a C2d chip. for a kents i would say 30 till 3.4ghz then 20hz jumps. depending on cooling youll want to stay in the mid 50's low 60's for a loaded temp. 70's if for sure not ok. i should know cause thats where im at. im also currently looking into a peltier.

id take it slow as far as disabling certain features in the bios. there are some features that when disabled will cause the board not to boot. dont know why really. they shouldnt but i know if i disable the added BS in my evga board it wont boot. all the people at nvidia and evga will say is blah blah whine cry it shouldnt do that. meanwhile no solution is offered. just saying dont be surprised if you disable one thing and the board wont boot.

the new speedfan beta has everything you need to watch the temps carefully. also coretemp is another good program while your testing to run in the backround. i find speedfan beta to be more accurate at this time as coretemp is a bit on the highside. at least on my kents it is.

hope any of this helps.
 
dayofpain said:
first, youll want to make sure and give your memory the correct voltage. do this while setting the voltage of the processor.
Click to expand...

I hadn't planned on OCing the memory, so can I not just leave the voltage for it left on Auto after I unlink it?
 
I've learned that I don't need to have the FSB or CPU voltage nearly as high as what you have listed. I'm running my E6600 in an EVGA 680i board at 3.1Ghz (1378) and I have the FSB at 1.30v and the CPU is 1.275v running very stable with idle temps at 32-34c and load 44-48c.
 
grogers said:
I've learned that I don't need to have the FSB or CPU voltage nearly as high as what you have listed. I'm running my E6600 in an EVGA 680i board at 3.1Ghz (1378) and I have the FSB at 1.30v and the CPU is 1.275v running very stable with idle temps at 32-34c and load 44-48c.
Click to expand...

yea but, no offense, thats a tiny overclock. the magical numbre for an fsb seems to be 2000. thats what your shooting for.
 
You may want to leave you voltages on auto except for ram for starters just to see -the 680i are very good at adjusting to the load + (lower temps). Maybe start out with the ram linked (auto then sync.) and keep notes on you progress and ratios (cpuz) then try unlinked / ram timmings.
 
Kinyin said:
I hadn't planned on OCing the memory, so can I not just leave the voltage for it left on Auto after I unlink it?
Click to expand...


every single 680 board i have seen isnt smart enough to put the ram voltage where it needs to be. (bfg, evga, foxcom, striker, normal asus.)

on my dominator pc8888 it thinks it should be 1.9 volts. WRONG. these bad dawgs need 2.4volts to hit their advertised speeds. not to overclock 1 single mhz. check your ram rated voltage on the manufactures website. that will clue u in as to if you mobo is doing what its supposed to.
 
I appreciate the help, everyone.

As for the voltage I had listed for the OC, if you read the instructions for the OC I laid out, it says that you lower the voltage back down later on until it is stable and cool.

If you have any other tips, please let me know!
 
MrWizard6600 said:
yea but, no offense, thats a tiny overclock. the magical numbre for an fsb seems to be 2000. thats what your shooting for.
Click to expand...

None taken. This is my first try at overclocking and thought I'd play it safe for a while before pushing. And from what I've read I'm not going to hit 2000 fsb with air cooling and I don't plan on doing any watercooling with the setup. I'm happy. I've gotten my $310 CPU over the stock speed of the $900 version. ;)

Update. I've gone to 3.2Mhz but when I try and go to 3.3Mhz when I save changes and restart it takes a long time to come back up and it resets the fsb to stock speed for the CPU. I've upped the voltage but that didn't help. I'll see if changing the memory timing helps it's at 5,5,5,15 now (Corsair 6400C4D 2 gig).
 
P5N32-E SLI or Striker Extreme:

If, for some reason because of the different BIOS and results, hit a max for your vcore, can you up the BIOS voltage to 1.6 in order to raise vcore some more? (Due to mis-reportatings)
 
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