Stability Question

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Frag0Lution

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Messages
173
So I finally got my Q6600 to 3.0ghz. Everything seems stables because the shutdowns are so random. I have my voltage to the CPU Core 1.5 and to the CPU 1.4. Is this correct?

My memory is unlinked and at 1.9ghz. I run 3D Mark and the temps stays under 60 degrees, and does so when I'm gaming. Something is causing these random crashes and I don't know why. Crashes occur when I'm using Photoshop or listening to music, and it hasn't even happened when I'm gaming.

Can anyone help me out or has a similar problem? I know most hardware shuts off when it reaches a certain temp, but my temps seem very good...
 
Okay 3DMark does NOT test a system. You can use it to get results, but it is not really a test program. However if your system is real unstable, then it will fail during 3DMark.

Your voltage seems high to me for 3.0Mhz. I have 1.250core volts for 3.2 Mhz, but I'm on the low end. I think most would want 1.3 - 1.4 volts.

But your memory is 1900?? Is this the stock setting for your memory? What kind of RAM are you using??? Also, you should set ONE thing at a time. Work on your clock speed before even messing with your RAM.

If your temps using 3DMark are near 60 that seems high. Mine are in the low 50's or below running 3DMark. You should run Prime95 ver 25.5 for at least 8 hours to see if your system is stable. Monitor it for the first hour or so to watch your temps. Mine hit 58 - 59 some of the time during a Prime test and that's as high as I'm comfortable with (others will go higher, some will not go this high). Remember if you are using Speedfan, the temps are low by 15 degrees and you need to add an "offset".

So to put it in simple terms, reset all memory to stock, then work on your CPU speeds and TEST it using test program. Once you know it is stable (8+ hours of Prime95) THEN you can start playing with the memory or running your normal programs.

Overclocking is not a matter of just changing a few things and going on with your computer using. You make SMALL changes and then test them completely before moving on. Until you do this, you will have no idea what is causing the crashes because you haven't tested your system for each change you made.
 
Okay that's well within the normal range. But I would still leave the memory settings at AUTO (assuming your board has this) for now and only mess with one thing at a time....

Oh yeah, the statement "everything seems stable because the shutdown are random" seems to indicate that it isn't stable :) Unless of course you have windows problems that are unrelated to the overclocking. This is why it is not wise to use the computer in it's normal capacity while you are overclocking it till you have run the proper test and are sure it is stable.

I moved up from 2.4 to 2.6, then 2.8, then 2.9, 3.0, and so on till 3.2. At some point, it needed more voltage. So I bumped it up and kept going till I got where I wanted to be (3.2 for me), then I slowly lowered the voltage till i got lthe lowest voltage that it was still stable at. After each increase, I ran several tests and a prime95 test of at least 2 hours (in the lower ranges, once I hit 3.0, every change had an overnight test). I know this is slow, but it also saved me the problem of trying to figure out what was wrong since I knew after each change.
 
Alright, I lowered the voltage on my CPU to 1.4 and it cut the temps down 10 degrees. It "seems" a lot more stable but I am the Nvidia 6 hour stress test to see what happened. Last time it crashed after 2. :eek:
 
The logic I use is it should not crash at all. So any crash, 1 minute or 5 hours is still a crash and means it is not stable. Others may give you different info, but it's a combo of FSB, multiplier, volts, and temps. You have to control these 4 things to get your core stable at a temp you are comfortable with. If your cooling isn't adequate then that will limit your temps which will limit your volts and your max speed.

Also do you have GO a B3 model Q6600? That will also control you. The GO models overclock easier with lower voltage.

But it's pretty simple. If you crashed because you lowered your core volts, then you need to increase them to be come stable. Try small changes. I found a 1/100 of a volt makes a difference. So increase your voltage one notch (mine would be .0125 volts more) and run the tests watching the temps. I would suggest keeping the core temps under 60, but others will say 65. It's your chip, you make your own call.....

But 1.4 volts sounds pretty high for just 3Mhz, unless you have the B3 model.

Oh yeah, not to solicit another group, but the SLI forum on the Nvidia website has a lot of questions and answers on overclocking the Q6600. I would suggest reading some of the posts there also.
 
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