Q6600 stuck at 3.1GHz

KillerDr3w

KillerDr3w

KillerDr3w

Associate
Joined
20 Dec 2007
Posts
67
Hi Folks,

I have the following gear:

Motherboard: Abit QuadGT
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 SLACR
Cooler: Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme with an 120mm Sharkoon 2000 fan
Memory: 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (This is being swapped later this month for PC-8500 memory).

I was able to run at 3.0GHz with the voltage on auto detect, but after that I am having problems. I currently have the system running stable at 3.1GHz, but I had to up the voltage from auto detect of 1.325 to 1.335.

The system gets past POST and normally gets the the Windows Vista loading screen, but it reboots a the same point every time (normally when my G11 keyboard lights up). I have booted to safe mode once at 3.4GHz, but haven't been able to get a normal boot so far.

Ideally I want to be running at 400MHzx9 with my memory at 400MHz. I think I have the cooling to get there, but i don't know if my CPU will make it.

I have read the guides, but I don't seem to be getting anywhere... Can anyone give me some tips at how to get either 3.4GHz or 3.6GHz from my CPU? Should I jump straight to 1.405v and work the voltage down? Do I need to worry about the voltage of my memory?

Has anyone else got a similar setup to me? What settings worked for you? (I know everything system is different).

Thanks in advance!
 
1.33v is low so don't worry about putting more through it.

What are your temps like idle and under load?

I'd start by upping the Vcore in 0.02 increments i.e. 1.35,1.37,1.39 etc. Also don't forget that you may need to up the DDR2 voltage as well, also the MCH and CPU VTT volts in small steps if those options are on your board.

Good luck
 
Havent got all the same components as you but when i was clocking my q6600 i found (still do) it hard to overclock using the 9x multiplier for the higher clock speeds. I am running mine now at 3.2ghz for everday use using the 8x mulitplier and a fsb of 400. This also will get your ram to the rated 800Mhz. Have managed to get up to 3.5Ghz (8 x 437) stable but cant get this using the 9x multiplier although i think its either my psu or motherboard holding me back so may be worth a try?
 
TIMUH! said:
1.33v is low so don't worry about putting more through it.

What are your temps like idle and under load?
Click to expand...

My temperature is about 28 when idle. I have seen it as high as 37, but never higher. My fan is constantly at around 780RPM which is controlled by uGuru.

When I built my system I was worried about heat as I am having two PowerColor 3870X2's and I wanted to overclock, all in a midi-tower case. I put two 120CM Sharkoon fans in the case, another one on the TRUE and a Corsair memory cooler in the system, and it keeps it nice and cool, although I don't have the 2nd 3870X3 in it yet.

TIMUH! said:
I'd start by upping the Vcore in 0.02 increments i.e. 1.35,1.37,1.39 etc. Also don't forget that you may need to up the DDR2 voltage as well, also the MCH and CPU VTT volts in small steps if those options are on your board.
Click to expand...


I think its the DDR2, MCH and CPU VTT voltages that I need to increase - but what I don't get is how to find an order to up them in? Is there a rule of thumb, like:

Up the vcore until you get to 1.405 if its not stable then:
Up the CPU VTT until... if its not stable then:
Up the MCH until..

If you get my meaning...
 
I've got mine on 3.4 but on 1.44v giving 70 degrees on max load. Try putting your ram on 2.1 as this is what i forgot.
 
Ajwilson20 said:
Havent got all the same components as you but when i was clocking my q6600 i found (still do) it hard to overclock using the 9x multiplier for the higher clock speeds. I am running mine now at 3.2ghz for everday use using the 8x mulitplier and a fsb of 400. This also will get your ram to the rated 800Mhz. Have managed to get up to 3.5Ghz (8 x 437) stable but cant get this using the 9x multiplier although i think its either my psu or motherboard holding me back so may be worth a try?
Click to expand...

Can i just ask, waht is your voltage and HSF?
 
I'm using a tuniq tower, the voltage is set at 1.4v in bios but i see about 1.32v in windows, get bad vdrop and vdroop on this board, may be due to a cheapish psu though.
 
KillerDr3w said:
I think its the DDR2, MCH and CPU VTT voltages that I need to increase - but what I don't get is how to find an order to up them in? Is there a rule of thumb, like:

Up the vcore until you get to 1.405 if its not stable then:
Up the CPU VTT until... if its not stable then:
Up the MCH until..

If you get my meaning...
Click to expand...

That unfortunately is something of an intuitive process.

When I clocked mine I wanted to get to 3.4ghz which I did thankfully. The first thing to do is overclock as much as you can on stock volts. I think I got to about 2.8-3.00ghz on stock volts to start with.

up the Vcore first and also check to see what your memory should be running at as some boards will undervolt memory by default. I think my final volts were 1.43vcore, 2.1DDR2, 1.27 CPU VTT and 1.33 MCH. Load temps 54-56c.

CPU VTT helps with the Vdroop so the more vcore you have the higher you want this, also the MCH is for the northbridge I think so a little extra juice at higher FSB's will help the stability.

I find changing just one or two things at a time the best way and also keeping a record of all I had done.
 
I'm running mine at 3GHZ and my temps are about 1°C lower. Nice to know temps are similar. Not that ever going to max out cpu using programs.

I actually had to increase to 1.405V Vcore (bios) till it was completely stable. Although in windows it is only 1.76V
 
Last edited:
TIMUH! said:
That unfortunately is something of an intuitive process.

When I clocked mine I wanted to get to 3.4ghz which I did thankfully. The first thing to do is overclock as much as you can on stock volts. I think I got to about 2.8-3.00ghz on stock volts to start with.

up the Vcore first and also check to see what your memory should be running at as some boards will undervolt memory by default. I think my final volts were 1.43vcore, 2.1DDR2, 1.27 CPU VTT and 1.33 MCH. Load temps 54-56c.

CPU VTT helps with the Vdroop so the more vcore you have the higher you want this, also the MCH is for the northbridge I think so a little extra juice at higher FSB's will help the stability.

I find changing just one or two things at a time the best way and also keeping a record of all I had done.
Click to expand...

This may be a total newbie question, but is the voltage droop constant, or does it only droop when the system starts to become loaded? The reason I ask is that my system seems to be fine up until the point that the USB devices would normally power up - so I was thinking there may be a slight droop in the voltage at this point and the CPU crashes. Windows starts to load, but then fails.

Thats just me theory with no knowledge of how electronics work :)

I am looking at my CPU tonight, I auto-tuned my PowerColor 3870X2 last night and got a 3dMark06 of 15640. Once I have the real PC-8500 memory rather than the 6400 thats in the system and I get my CPU to around 3.4/3.6GHz I hope to be able to break the 16K or 17K mark.

I am getting a second 3870X2 next week too :) I needed this kit as I am playing on a 37" 1080P TV... The 3DMark06 doesn't really bother me, its the real-world FPS's that I am interested - I am getting above 50FPS on almost all my games, but I get a bit of stutter when the hard disk is accessed at the moment.
 
mp260767 said:
no point going for the 8500 memory with the q6600.
Click to expand...

Oooh - Why is this? I have been waiting for ages for the memory I wanted to come in stock! I didn't order the memory from OC, I went to XXXX, purely as I can pick up on the way home (I buy from OC and XXXX normally, depending on what I am getting) - OC are getting my 2nd 3870X2 order on Tuesday :)

mp260767 said:
vdroop only occurs under load.what psu are you using ?
Click to expand...

I have a CoolerMaster M700 - so its 700W. After looking around I thought this would cover me with about 50W spare when its not at peak. I plan to upgrade to a 1kW eventually.

This makes sense then, I think as the system powers the USB devices on and the drivers load I am getting vdroop and the CPU is crashing.
 
Last edited:
Its not neccaserily (sp?) the power of the PSU you wanna look out for, the cheaper ones tend to not have enough juice on the different rails. Generally speaking with PSUs the more you spend the better.

Naud
 
KillerDr3w said:
Hi Folks,

I have the following gear:

Motherboard: Abit QuadGT
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 SLACR
Cooler: Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme with an 120mm Sharkoon 2000 fan
Memory: 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (This is being swapped later this month for PC-8500 memory).
Click to expand...

I have been testing all night, and have managed to get my system stable at 3.24GHz. I was hoping to get to 3.4GHz tonight, but have failed so far :( I have been able to boot to Windows, but I get a crash straight afterwards.

My current settings are:

360MHz x 9
1:1 DDR2 720

CPU VID : 1.4250
DDR2 Voltage: 2.1
CPU VTT: 1.33
MCH: 1.33

Everything else is default.

The temperature under load is still very low, I haven't seen the CPU go above 47.

My 3870X2 GPU's are set to 866MHz and the memory is set to 840MHz and I am getting a 3DMark06 score of 16307. I am fairly happy with this and I can see a difference when playing games. I might try and get to 3.4GHz tomorrow, but I don't know what else to try now!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom