Q6600 troubles :(

CaptainFail! · 9 Apr 2010 at 22:59

Hey guys/gals

Well, today I offically retired my trusty E6600 which has been running nicely overclocked at 3.5Ghz without a hitch for 4 years or so. I bought a G0 stepping Q6600 to give my rig a little boost for another year or so but I'm having trouble getting it past 3Ghz :confused:

I have it stable at 3GHz but it refuses to go any further

I've got my Core voltage at 1.425 in BIOS, which drops to 1.360 during Prime95, but it passes no trouble. I then decided to go a little further because i've read a lot about these CPU's being able to handle decent overclocks. However when I come to try 3.2GHz it boots up fine, loads the Windows log in screen, but upon entering my password it almost instantly resets itself and boot ups again :confused:

I've tried various core voltages but it doesn't seem to like any of them, i've gone up way past 1.5 volts (BIOS volts) which i've read is still within the safe zone for these chips

I've checked my RAM voltages/speeds etc, boosted my Northbridge voltage and I'm getting a little annoyed with it all now! I'm beginning to think maybe my motherboard isn't up to the task, which would be a right pain in the balls to get a new one

and more money! Beginning to think i should have just gone i5 haha

Can anyone help? I'd appreciate it

lcg · 9 Apr 2010 at 23:34

I have the same problem. I started overclocking my Q6600 today, and at 3.2GHz I get a BSOD shortly into a Prime95 test, but at 3GHz the Prime95 test is good. I'm sorry this post isn't of any help, but it's just that we seem to be in the same position.

CaptainFail! · 9 Apr 2010 at 23:39

What voltage are you using for 3.2GHz? I can't even get into Windows before the PC resets

lcg · 9 Apr 2010 at 23:50

CaptainFail! said:
What voltage are you using for 3.2GHz? I can't even get into Windows before the PC resets

I tried it at 1.375v and 1.4v.

CaptainFail! · 10 Apr 2010 at 00:00

Damn, I tried mine even higher than that and still nothing, what's even more annoying is the fact I can't fire up Bad Company 2 anymore, which was one of the reasons I got the quad in the first place

so much for an effortless upgrade!

Ast3r · 10 Apr 2010 at 00:16

It could be the mobo that is holding you back.Even at the time when it was released it was known as a budget mobo and average overclocker.If you plan to buy a new mobo for it go for a P45 mobo....those are the best overclockers when it comes to quads.

CaptainFail! · 10 Apr 2010 at 11:29

I'm going to give reinstalling Windows a try just in case that's the issue, but I've got my eye on 2 P45 motherboards just in case I may have to shell out some more cash

Justintime · 10 Apr 2010 at 11:38

Never had one of those, but 965 boards, especially earlier revisions + Quads are terribly bad at overclocking. My old 965P DS3 Rev 1 could just about do 357Mhz with a Q6600 whereas it ran a E6600 at 430Mhz, same Q6600 did 3.6Ghz on 1.35v on a P5K-E. Try upping your chipset voltages .1 or so.

Diggsy · 10 Apr 2010 at 12:06

Yeah, as above, not a great chipset, but you need to work on a lot more than just Core voltage. Chipset voltages, NB, SB etc all need tweaking too once you start going over 3ghz.

CaptainFail! · 10 Apr 2010 at 14:04

Diggsy said:
Yeah, as above, not a great chipset, but you need to work on a lot more than just Core voltage. Chipset voltages, NB, SB etc all need tweaking too once you start going over 3ghz.

Yeah I knew it wasn't the best chipset, which is why i'm considering getting an Asus/Gigabyte P45 board because intend to run socket 775 for quite a while yet. I have tweaked the other voltages but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I got it running at 3GHz using 376*8 multiplier and with 333*9 and both ran prime95 stable with 1.4250 core voltage, NB +0.1/0.2 and RAM at 2.1v. (RAM is at stock speeds or close enough at 3GHz)

It boots up at 3.2GHz using 400*8 but resets after putting my password in to get into Windows. It gets into Windows fine with it set to 356*9. It runs prime for a while using the 9 multiplier but I was losing patience so didn't run it for more than 15 mins but it got no errors. BIOS voltage was set to 1.5+ for 3.2 for both settings mentioned :confused:

I tried playing Bad Company 2 and it just randomly resets itself :mad:

How can that happen after prime giving it a good rogering for a while?

I'm just about to try overclocking it again, i've just reinstalled Windows to rule out Windows not liking the new CPU, I'm updating it and then I'll try getting some clocking going and see if I can get any different results

I've got a feeling it's not going to have made any difference but it's worth a shot, I may have to retire my motherboard after 4 years of abuse

lcg · 10 Apr 2010 at 15:06

CaptainFail! said:
It runs prime for a while using the 9 multiplier but I was losing patience so didn't run it for more than 15 mins but it got no errors. BIOS voltage was set to 1.5+ for 3.2 for both settings mentioned I tried playing Bad Company 2 and it just randomly resets itself How can that happen after prime giving it a good rogering for a while?

You should run Prime95 for at least 12 hours, imo. I recommend 24 to make sure everything is okay.

Ast3r · 10 Apr 2010 at 15:38

Its not necessary to run prime for 12 or 24 hours.6-8 hours is enough to guarantee a perfectly stable PC.12 hours of prime is good for those who plan to use they're PC for heavy benchmarking.For gaming and everyday use 2-4 hours is enough.

toM123 · 10 Apr 2010 at 17:50

Sounds like you could be having trouble with the PCI Express Frequency.

Have you updated to the latest BIOS? The Gigabyte P965 boards had trouble with this setting, only the later BIOS locks the PCI Express frequency.

If you don't fancy updating the BIOS (do not use Gigabytes windows utility @BIOS!) try changing the PCI Express frequency from 'auto' to 102 or 105.

Edit: F14 is the latest BIOS for your board - http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2457&ver=#anchor_os

Have a look here for a great o/c guide for the Gigabyte boards - http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/gig...erclocking-general-bios-tweaking-guide-26112/

CaptainFail! · 10 Apr 2010 at 20:23

toM123 said:
Sounds like you could be having trouble with the PCI Express Frequency.

Have you updated to the latest BIOS? The Gigabyte P965 boards had trouble with this setting, only the later BIOS locks the PCI Express frequency.

If you don't fancy updating the BIOS (do not use Gigabytes windows utility @BIOS!) try changing the PCI Express frequency from 'auto' to 102 or 105.

Edit: F14 is the latest BIOS for your board - http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2457&ver=#anchor_os

Have a look here for a great o/c guide for the Gigabyte boards - http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/gig...erclocking-general-bios-tweaking-guide-26112/

I'm current using the F13 BIOS on my board, which I presume would still be okay to use?

I've never used auto for the PCI-E frequency because I like to set things how I want them. I've tried various PCI-E frequencies such as 100,101 and 105. I've just ran Prime95 and it failed at 3GHz after 1hour 40 mins. Pretty safe to say my board really doesn't like quads

looks like this cheapish upgrade just got expensive!

P45 motherboard here I come by the looks of things!

Thanks for the o/c guide I appreciate it

I'll give it a good read now and see if I can spot anything I'm doing wrong.

SteveB · 10 Apr 2010 at 21:28

You can turn off the auto restarts to read the error messages. Probably not that helpful but you never know.

Windows 7:
Control Panel\System and Security\System > Advanced system settings (on left) Advanced Tab > Startup and Recovery Settings > untick 'Automatically restart'

Justintime · 10 Apr 2010 at 23:04

Ast3r said:
Its not necessary to run prime for 12 or 24 hours.6-8 hours is enough to guarantee a perfectly stable PC.12 hours of prime is good for those who plan to use they're PC for heavy benchmarking.For gaming and everyday use 2-4 hours is enough.

A stable pc is one that does everything it did at stock speed, not one that is 'good enough'. 24hrs for me is a good indication of stability.

kopking · 11 Apr 2010 at 22:40

Have you tried 378x9 multiplier?

kopking · 11 Apr 2010 at 22:52

Also have you updated your bios?

CaptainFail! · 12 Apr 2010 at 16:00

kopking said:
Have you tried 378x9 multiplier?

kopking said:
Also have you updated your bios?

378x9 would give me 3.4GHz, I can't even get it stable at 3.2GHz

it seems the limit with this motherboard is around 3Ghz, which isn't too bad but I'd like more because I'm a fussy git!

I'm using the F13 bios at the moment, there is an F14 bios but I can't see the point updating it as all it says it does is add support for Xpress BIOS rescue, somehow I doubt that'll help it overclock more

kopking · 12 Apr 2010 at 16:56

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR Intel P45 (Socket 775) DDR2 Motherboard

This is my mobo, if you have the spare cash i recomend it, i originally wanted the Asus p5q deluxe but at £120 notes a bit too expensive.

When i got the Gigabyte i left it to settle in, ( i heard that sometimes is a good thing to do ) updated the bios, then clocked my 6600 to 3.2 straight away, it held fine no problem, so upped it again to 3.4 and again it liked that speed no probs at all.

As you said it seems your mobo doednt like anything past 3, which is a good speed but no cigar!!!

Good luck mate.