Why cant I clock my c2d e6600 past 2.88ghz?

PESolution · 27 Jun 2009 at 21:54

So i've never been able to get my processor stable at anything above 2.88ghz. Its a c2d e6600 and people have had these pushing 4ghz and beyond. Heres cpu-z reading, hopefully im just doing something wrong, if i bump anything up much further it fails to even boot, or freezes almost instantly within windows

oh and this is my ram, which may be a problem but im not too sure. I have 4 x 1024 MB, totalling 4gb:

"The G.Skill F2-6400PHU2-2GBNR completes the choice of products of the DDR2-800 - series. It will be available as a 2048 MB dual kit (2x 1024 MB), with latency timings of 5-5-5-15. This F2-6400 memory module offers the possibility to all-round users to take advantage of the new DDR2-modules at a reasonable price-performance ratio. As always with G.Skill the visual effect is not neglected and therefore the heatspreader will be coloured in bright green"

And as above in the CPU-Z im running it all on an Asus P5W DH Deluxe Mobo, off a Tagan Modular 600watt PSU

OzZie · 27 Jun 2009 at 22:00

Appears the memory would be the limiting factor.

As you can see, it is running at 400mhz (800mhz DDR), but as soon as you increase the FSB, you'll increase the memory clock past 400mhz, which is overclocking the RAM also. To do this, you'd have to increase the voltage to the RAM, and also slacken the timings as the speed increases. However, this is usually done after the cpu overclock is complete.

In the BIOS you need to find the CPU-Memory divider/ratio, which should allow you to select another FSB-RAM ratio that will put it at 400mhz or below.

Then once you have successfully overclocked your CPU to your chosen speed, you see what ratios are available and go from there.

PESolution · 27 Jun 2009 at 22:03

Yeah i always thought it might have been that it was pushing my memory above 800mhz. Any idea what its called / where the memory divider/ratio is on the Asus P5W DH board?

PESolution · 27 Jun 2009 at 22:04

brb i guess ill go have a play in the bios

PESolution · 27 Jun 2009 at 23:17

cant boot at any higher than 3.15 without a BSOD. Lets hope this is stable

OzZie · 27 Jun 2009 at 23:23

You'll probably need more CPU voltage. Try 1.40v.

Best app for instant CPU stability is Intel Burn Test. Set it to 15 runs at max settings. If it passes, there is good chance it is stable.

PESolution · 27 Jun 2009 at 23:27

its not stable, i give up, il just buy a new i7 build in a few months or when i get bored

wnm0 · 28 Jun 2009 at 10:28

I know this may have been done but have you tried 8x 400 thats what I am running with v core @ 1.350 and for 3.4 i do 8x425 v core @ 1.375 and 8x450 for 3.6 I do v core 1.4 max temps under prime 60c and under intel burn is 70c.
memory is 1.1
mch is 1.6
memory volt is 2.1
all this on the mb in my sig...I tried for at least 4 weeks to get past 2.8 then yesterday I was reading a lot of posts on overclocking and I found 1 about my actual board, went to comp first boot never worked but second did and I took it up to 3.6 but now its @ 3.2 and happily ran prime for 6 hours..

PESolution · 28 Jun 2009 at 12:21

380 is my fsb limit i believe, i put her on 6x to find it last night and could boot passed that

SlyReaper · 28 Jun 2009 at 14:52

Just whack a load of volts through it. I've got my E2160 on 1.6v and it's happy as Larry. The E6600 is practically the same chip.

Cob · 28 Jun 2009 at 15:31

You need 1.6v for 3ghz?

Big.Wayne · 28 Jun 2009 at 16:05

PESolution said:
380 is my fsb limit i believe

I'm sure an Intel® 975X Express chipset motherboard can do better than that!

It looks like your being held back by memory? have you tried setting the RAM to run 1:1 sync?. In the BIOS advanced page have you set the DRAM Frequency correctly? i.e if your FSB (listed as CPU Frequency) is now 380MHz then change the DRAM Frequency to [DDR2-760MHz]

The BIOS always shows the full DDR2 speeds for memory so to get it running 1:1 sync you just double the FSB number and select that for the Ram speed

Examples of 1:1 sync:

CPU Frequency [333]
DRAM Frequency [DDR2-666MHz]

CPU Frequency [366]
DRAM Frequency [DDR2-732MHz]

CPU Frequency [400]
DRAM Frequency [DDR2-800MHz]

PESolution · 29 Jun 2009 at 14:46

I have tried setting it to 1.1 BigWayne but it wont boot without getting a BSOD or just not 'posting' (which i believe is the right term for not even starting to boot).

And Sly Reaper I tried upping voltages but doesnt seem to help.

Big.Wayne · 29 Jun 2009 at 17:41

PESolution said:
I have tried setting it to 1.1 but it wont boot without getting a BSOD or just not 'posting' (which i believe is the right term for not even starting to boot)

That's very strange, something is not as it seems?

Are you sure you tried this setting?

CPU Frequency [333]
DRAM Frequency [DDR2-666MHz]

If that doesn't work you may have to manually set the timings as well, I'm looking at the [SPD] data on your memory and it appears to be missing some info?

266 MHz
333 MHz < - Missing?
400 MHz