Trouble with Q6600 OC..

G

GINTER

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Long time HardForum reader, first time poster.. Love this site.

A bit of history and my rig. Gigabyte N680SLI-DQ6 mb, 2 gig Detonator 8500 C5D ram (2 more gigs are on RMA to Corsair), liquid cooled: CPU, North Bridge, South Bridge, and 8800GTX (yes, all 4).

Using an E6600 I was able to OC to 3.2 GHz, safely, massively stable. Ran like a tank for 6+ months. I just popped in a Q6600 and I can't even get 3.0 out of it. My Q6600 has stepping of BG0, week L730, code B613. Manufacture date 11/20007.

I have successfully OC'd it to 2.83 GHz, vcore 1.50 stable, but can't go any higher. 380x8, 3.42 GHz, 1.55 vcore - the pc boots, but Vista 64 has issues, with memory, video, network, et al.. At 423x9, or 3.8 GHz, varying vcore settings, it either powers off after a while (during post), or locks at boot. I couldn't get it to post with too many other speeds (it's weird, but from 2.83 and 3.42 it posts and LOCKS). When it did post, at various speeds, it never booted. It never posted higher than 3.8.

I can OC the NB and SB, meaning increase the voltage, but that doesn't seem to help. Ram is 1.8 + .250 volts stable @ 1066 MHz.

Any suggestions?
 
Why are you starting with the Vcore nearly max'd out?



Boot it at stock everything (speeds and voltages). After insuring everything is working right, i.e. updated BIOS etc, then go back in and try 9x333 (3.0) and 8x400 (3.2) with the voltage on Auto. Make sure your RAM is staying at stock speed or lower, and loosen the timings. Review graysky's Q6600 OC thread stickied.

Give us some more information, such as what other settings you've tried...
 
Why are you running the RAM at 1066Mhz right away? Take it easy and start with 1:1. Find out your CPU overclock before you go crazy with the ram.

Also, why are you trying 3.8GHz when you can't even get it stable above 2.83 Ghz!? I mean logic says that if you can't get a stable overclock just after 2.83Ghz then trying your luck with 3.8Ghz isn't the most sensible thing to do.

I suggest you take it easy, and overclock in a gradual, systematic way. Read an overclocking guide as suggested by rainman.
 
Apologies for not explaining myself eloquently enough. I guess I was too passionate about clocking this one with, at least, the same expectations as the E6600. I did not start with the vcore maxed out. I actually started @ auto, then 1.4, and higher.

I initially OC'd the Q6600 in much smaller steps. Yes, I tried 9x333 (POST, but lock) and 8x400 (no POST) using default (auto) voltage settings. My E6600 was @ 8x400 stable (1.45 vcore).

Just now, as you suggested, I am taking baby steps, with mixed results. I am taking it very easy on the voltage settings and the CPU. I did read the OC guides (prior to any overclocking). I also followed the Arctic Silver instructions on how to properly use the thermal compound on the Q6600. Right now, @ 2.92 I am stable with a 1.4 vcore (cpu-z says 1.36) and temps 32, 32, 24, 24 C. Stressed, the cores run 51, 51, 47, 47 C.

I'd like to really find the sweet spot of this CPU, and hope it's somewhere between 3 and 4 GHz. I'll post my results as I keep trying. Thanks for your suggestions.

BTW, a quick question, both of you clock your Q6600 @ 3.6 - may I inquire as to what settings you have? Meaning, vcore, NB, SB, ram voltage, timings, etc?
 
First I'd check for an updated BIOS for your board. We have different boards, but I'm sure some settings and actions of boards are similar.

Second, a G0 stepping Q6600 is not always a guaranteed overclock to any speed, but you can be sure they do something at least.

To ensure stability for your system and isolate the overclock of the CPU, I'd take RAM out of the equation. That means making sure that your ram is at it's default timings, it's voltage range and at or below it's max speed.

On my board I've found that if I try to set the "DDR speed" within the BIOS it doesn't POST. It's an option that has settings like DDR 1066 DDR2 1600, DDR2 1800 etc. I leave that at AUTO.

What I control of my RAM is the FSB speed, the base timings and the voltage. That's it. Keep it simple. In a lot of cases, auto is the preferred setting.

For voltages, I haven't had to touch NB voltage, SB voltage or anything.

For the CPU, I ensure I have the voltage dampener on. This is a setting of particular interest to you as if you have a similar setting, it will keep voltage stability for your CPU. With it off, I set 1.50 in the BIOS, I get 1.46 at idle, and 1.42 under load. With it on, I set 1.46 in BIOS, get 1.42 at idle and keep 1.42 at load. It could very well be that you are hitting major vdroop.
 
I set my memory to 1:1 meaning it is 800 or "lower", much slower than what you have it on. I also make sure PCI speed is locked at 100 and all proprietary "turbo-boost" (etc.) options are off.

Every chip is different, but for 3.6, my FSB voltage is around +.125 above normal, northbus is +.1 above normal, vcore is set to 1.42 in bios and around 1.39 in CPU-Z (I admit I like quoting the lower number but the right number is the bios figure). No other voltage changes.

However, your results at 2.9Ghz are a bit strange. I suggest you sort that out before looking at 3.6. For example, to get to 3Ghz, I vaguely remember doing... "nothing", other than following the basic steps of fixing the PCI speed to 100, ensuring my memory was set to 1:1, and turning off all speed boosting features. After fixing all voltages (i.e. not auto), I ended up with no changes to anything other than the vcore, which I "undervolted" to 1.225 in the BIOS to achieve 3.0Ghz (24/7 prime stable). Considering I undervolted below stock to get a higher overclock, I'm surprised that you have to pump in 1.4 vcore to get 2.9Ghz.

Rather than trying to just pump in more voltages, I suggest having a look at your bios settings and see if you have speed boosting features on, or memory running too fast, or PCI speed not fixed, or other settings that scale when you increase the FSB (etc. etc.). Also, you're running an nVidia 680i board, which is not as good for overclocking as the Intel boards so that could also contribute to a poor overclock.
 
Did you try and give your mem a bit more voltage?
Really small steps up helped enormously over here.
That and core voltage. Next to that I disabled every other feature as spectrum, dram boosters, vanderpool technology (except if your running 2 operating systems or something) c1e, execute disable bit, etc.
Almost all the voltages are on auto, except for my core voltage, set to 1.425, pll at 1.6, NB and SB are set to something but I think i set that fixed on the same voltages he put it automatically and the mem, that's set at 2.125 instead of 2.0, in the hardware monitor of the bios he then tells me it's near the 2.19 volts, which I'm fine with. My mem is actively cooled, I wouldn't worrie about that. Next to that it can function under 1.85 to 2.5, my mem that is. Look up what the range of voltages are for your mem and try adjusting that, maybe that'll help ya.
What about the mem timings? Do you have them set to auto too? 3.5 works at 4 4 4 12 here but if i go any bit higher i need to set the timings to 5 5 5 15 or auto.
 
Hey if that is a 680i mobo, make sure you try BIOS P30. P31 is the latest as far as I know, but from the various post (at least on the EVGA site), people seem to have less trouble with the P30 with the Q6600.

Good luck.
 
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