Q6600, 4 sticks of ram - doesn't really want to OC

F

Faldaani

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
195
Right, small overclocking issue.

I did read the stickied guide in the Intel forum, and did Google around.

Q6600 B3 stepping
Zalman 9700 HSF
Asus P5B-Deluxe
4x 1gb Corsair PC6400 sticks
8800GTX

With any 2 sticks of RAM installed in any 2 memory slots I can get the computer to POST at 401 FSB (RAM at 802mhz) with a 7x multiplier (just for testing) and run 2x Orthos all day long with temps never exceeding 60C. At standard vcore.

As soon as I use all 4 sticks of RAM the computer will not POST at any FSB higher than 315. I do not understand why. And 315*9 does not really appeal to me at all.

Tried upping every single voltage in my computer by a few steps with no result, and the vcore by a lot, yet same thing.

This same motherboard with 2gb ram could easily run a E6600 at 401*9 (3.6ghz), so I know the motherboard can handle high FSB.

(I'm sure I posted this post before, but it appears to have disappeared)
 
I've also heard of people having a problem with 4GB of ram, but being problem free with 2GB. Could it be a BIOS issue? Have you tried the latest?
 
Have you ran memtest w/ all 4 sticks in to make sure you're not pulling any errors? Because with 4 sticks I am easily hitting 400 FSB with the possibility of going higher.
 
Yes, I've run memtest for two passes on all sticks.

I will run it while I'm at work tomorrow too, but I doubt there are any errors.
 
I also have 4x1GB RAM and with all 4 my max OC is 3,45Ghz stable and with only 2 my max is 3,6Ghz stable which is not big difference

MoBo: Asus P5B-E
RAM: 4x1GB A-DATA 800Mhz
 
Same problem with me.

On my Q6600 and P35-DQ6, I get boot issues with 4x1GB. I'll set an overclock, the computer will shut off, and I'll just see my LEDs flicker. Then I have to reset the power, and boot it at default settings. With 2x1GB, I almost never get this problem.
 
4 memory modules on any board can limit your OC. The processor has nothing to do with it. Some boards are better than others in this regard however.
 
On my P5b-deluxe 1215 bios, it took the north running 1.45v and the ram running .15+ to even get the machine to post with 4 sticks of xms2 in, this is with the ram at stock timings and speed, i think the north bridge needs lots of juice because of the high fsb, ie 400fsb means around a 1600mhz fsb..... I got my oc stable in the bios and I run 8x400 with the ram locked at 800mhz with 4-4-4-12timings, with ram at 2.25v. This results in an oc of 3.2mhz and was orthos stable for 6hrs... Also i had to give my G0 1.35v to get it orthos stable. If you have a B3, it may take a lot more voltage to get orthos stable.....
 
I'm running Q6600 @ 3ghz w/ 4x1 8500 Ballistics Tracers on a P35-DQ6. No problem. I've gone up to 3.2ghz without issue as well. I suspect Dan is correct.
 
I guess I'll need to find a new HSF for the northbridge, and one of those mega-annoying whiny little fans :(
 
I'm one of the lucky ones.... On my P5K-Deluxe, I am running 4 1GB sticks of Corsair XMS2 RAM @ 4-4-4-12. I am Prime95 stable @ 3.465ghz w/ stock voltage on the RAM (2.1V) & Northbridge. :D
 
kmeson said:
I'm running Q6600 @ 3ghz w/ 4x1 8500 Ballistics Tracers on a P35-DQ6. No problem. I've gone up to 3.2ghz without issue as well. I suspect Dan is correct.
Click to expand...

It depends on the board. When I have the time and the appropriate memory modules hanging around I test this on the review boards. I just don't always get to do it.

In any case the P5K's do really well in this regard, and the P35 chipset in general does far better with 4 modules than the P965 Express chipset does. The 680i SLI however is very bad about it. Few boards do it well. The Gigabyte and reference design boards are mediocre in this regard but the ASUS' are out right terrible at it.
 
I'm have a NIGHTMARE with my Striker Extreme ~___~

Spent most of the day trying to OC my Q6600 G0 chip that I got the other day.

With 4x1GB OCZ Platinum Rev2, the max OC at the moment is 1450 FSB, which is 3260 MHz I believe.

This is unlinked memory @ 900 MHz 4-4-4-12 @ 2.25v

Voltage in BIOS is:
Core 1.4
HT 1.45
NB 1.55
SB 1.6
CPU VTT 1.45

It semi-posts @ 1500 FSB, I wonder if cooling the NB would help?
 
I should have said earlier that I have 4x1GB 800mhz 4-4-4-12 (stock) LED Modules, which i assume pull tons of power..... This might be the reason for it taking so much voltage...
 
I don't know if this helps and people here say it's not recommended ... but when it looks like memory might be limiting my CPU overclock, I just unlink and run memory slower or relax the timings a bit (and vice versa - I increase my memory overclock if 1:1 linking means my memory runs slower than it can...again many people say it's not recommended but I do it anyway)
 
Tried everything I can think of by now... I think I'll have to give up on OC'ing it, or throw the extra 4gb in my fileserver :(
 
Whoa whoa, don't give up. List exactly your settings and we'll see what we can do.

I have run 4x1gb PC8500 ballistix on a B3/P5B Deluxe at 3.2ghz stable for 4+ hours the first attempt. Now, I have 4x1GB PC8500 Ballistix with a G0 at 3.6 on a P35 DQ6 completely stable. Either the CPU is a dud (very unlikely), the Motherboard is having issues (not necessarily the model, but your exact part), or there is something you're missing here.

I'd give you the benefit of the doubt and assume its not user errror, so you need to give the ram the loosest timings you can give them and the highest rated safe voltage at the lowest multiplier. With that out of the way you can start to discount ram. Run memtest for at least a few hours with all 4 sticks in and see if it throws a single error.

P5B Deluxe should take 1.45v FSB termination/NB voltage before you get the 1x PCI-E issues. Give the Q6600 1.45v and put the FSB on 333. The P5B-D has huge and common FSB holes. I noticed that anywhere between 350-400 and anything from 425-475 would cause problems. Make sure your PCI is locked at 33.3mhz and your PCI-E is at 100 or 101.

Check the RAM first and make sure there are no errors, which is probably the case.

As many people have found, the Q6600 is going to find any weaknesses in your setup. Whether its the Motherboard's ability to handle the Quad and the 4 sticks of RAM, or whether its the PSU, or error-prone RAM.
 
I noticed you guys are ALL talking about OCing your rigs with 4GIGS OF RAM, I've never encountered a board AMD OR INTEL that could OC as good with four sticks as it could with two.

In this day and age though there is another issue none of you have mentioned, 32 bit operating systems dont handle more than 2gigs well and preferably on only two memory slots.

Occupying all four memory slots tends to cause OC problems as the memory can no longer handle tighter timings or overclock as high as I recall from my DDR days.

Id say if you can OC at all with 4 gigs of ram you have nothing to complain about.

Curious though on two things, what operating systems are you using and are they 32 bit or 64 bit. The other thing I am curious about is how far from stock are you pushing your rigs and how long are your processors lasting under the torture???? How much are you guys overvolting???
 
Okay, here goes

CPU Frequency: 401.
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-802mhz (Its linked to CPU freq, available choices are 802, 1003, 1203, 1337 (lol), 1604)
PCI Express: 133
PCI Clock: 33.33Mhz
Memory voltage: 1.95 (They're 1.9 by default)
Spread spectrum: Auto
CPU voltage: 1.3 right now, tried up to 1.45
FSB termination: 1.4
NB Vcore: 1.45
SB Vcore: 1.6
ICH voltage: 1.057

C1E support: Enabled
Vanderpool: Disabled
CPU TM: Enabled
PECI: Disabled
Speedstep: Disable

RAM timings by SPD, which translates to very relaxed timings.

As I said, 2gb @ 401 (802) = fine, 4gb above 315 (630) = boom.
 
Faldani -- What kind of RAM are you running? I'm assuming from your original post that it is Corsair XMS2. If it is I would start by uping the voltage to the RAM. They are rated at 2.1V, so don't be shy to take them there to start....
 
Yeah, they are.

I'll try that.. I don't understand why though. They're at their default speed, why on earth would they need more juice?
 
conghelach said:
Curious though on two things, what operating systems are you using and are they 32 bit or 64 bit. The other thing I am curious about is how far from stock are you pushing your rigs and how long are your processors lasting under the torture???? How much are you guys overvolting???
Click to expand...

Running Vista x64 here. At 3ghz I run slightly lower voltage than stock. I didn't think of this till I read graysky's excellent post on OC'n quads. At 3.2 I must boost slightly (to 1.3v) but still within spec.

As of this writing I've been running @ 3 for over 2 months (Q6600 B3). I expect the processor will outlive it usefulness to me.
 
I was under the assumption that the default PCI-e clock is 133...

Some googling has led me to believe that it is 100. Weird though, its been that since I bought my 8800GTX, it doesn't seem to mind. Going to reset that back to 100 though.
 
conghelach said:
I noticed you guys are ALL talking about OCing your rigs with 4GIGS OF RAM, I've never encountered a board AMD OR INTEL that could OC as good with four sticks as it could with two.

In this day and age though there is another issue none of you have mentioned, 32 bit operating systems dont handle more than 2gigs well and preferably on only two memory slots.

Occupying all four memory slots tends to cause OC problems as the memory can no longer handle tighter timings or overclock as high as I recall from my DDR days.

Id say if you can OC at all with 4 gigs of ram you have nothing to complain about.

Curious though on two things, what operating systems are you using and are they 32 bit or 64 bit. The other thing I am curious about is how far from stock are you pushing your rigs and how long are your processors lasting under the torture???? How much are you guys overvolting???
Click to expand...

My temps aren't breaking 60*C at 3.6 now that I turned the temperature down in my house to 80F. 1.375v Bios, 1.39v actual. Running cooler than stock with a stock HSF I have my RAM at 1000mhz effective and the FSB at 400. RAM tests stable at 1066, but I don't want to lower my CPU speed for higher RAM speed. This sounds like an issue with the OP's motherboard, especially if he isn't getting any errors in Memtest. Vista x64 runs faster than XP with these specs.
 
conghelach said:
I noticed you guys are ALL talking about OCing your rigs with 4GIGS OF RAM, I've never encountered a board AMD OR INTEL that could OC as good with four sticks as it could with two.

In this day and age though there is another issue none of you have mentioned, 32 bit operating systems dont handle more than 2gigs well and preferably on only two memory slots.

Occupying all four memory slots tends to cause OC problems as the memory can no longer handle tighter timings or overclock as high as I recall from my DDR days.

Id say if you can OC at all with 4 gigs of ram you have nothing to complain about.

Curious though on two things, what operating systems are you using and are they 32 bit or 64 bit. The other thing I am curious about is how far from stock are you pushing your rigs and how long are your processors lasting under the torture???? How much are you guys overvolting???
Click to expand...

Running 4Gigs RAM on Vista-64. At 3.6 Ghz, I'm at 1.45 vcore 24/7 so that's as stable as you get. Vcore may be a bit higher than others, but my CPU is an old one and that's what it takes to get it 100% stable. All other voltages, including memory, set to 'minimum' except for FSB (+.1).

(Although I don't run my memory at 1:1 so maybe some perfectionist may not like my settings. Someone tell me what the big deal is with this 1:1 link and synch setting...)
 
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