Q6600 OCUK OC guide blue screens in Prime instantly

Hey guys,

I bought an OC bundle from OCUK a while back which contained an abit ip35 pro xe, intel q6600 G0 stepping and 2x1GB OCZ PC-8500 to which I added another 2 sticks to take it to 4GB.

I hadn't used the OC guide that came with it before because the case it was in had really poor ventilation so I figured it wouldn't be good but that's changed now 'cos I've got a coolermaster 690 II advanced. I've just tried the instructions that came with the guide and it booted fine but as soon as I went into prime and started on the tests it blue screened so I was wondering if anyone could help.

Non OC cpu temps are idling about 40-45 when the room is warm and when I OC'd it with the guide it was about 45-50 on idle at same room temp.

Here's what I changed:

CPU Operating Speed from 2399(266) to User Define
External Clock from 272MHz to 367MHz
DRAM Speed (CPU : DRAM) from Default to 1:1.25(DDR2-918)
PCI-Express Clock from 100MHz to 101MHz

Voltages Control from Auto to User Define
CPU Core Voltage to 1.4550V (instructions say to change to 1.4525V but increments of 50 are only available in BIOS)
DDR2 Voltage to 2.2V
MCH 1.25V Voltage to 1.37V
CPU VTT 1.2V Voltage to 1.27V
ICH 1.05V Voltage to 1.15V
ICHIO 1.5V Voltage to 1.55V

C1E Function set to Disable
EIST Function set to Disable

DRAM Timing Selectable from Auto to Manual
CAS Latency Time to 5
RAS# to CAS# Delay to 5
RAS# Precharge to 5
Precharge Delay to 15


Cheers for any help.

As your running with all memory slots populated you would probably need to reduce the overclock as this puts extra stress on the system.

What memory did you purchase.

Hey RJC,

The memory is just another 2x1GB sticks of OCZ PC-8500.

Drop the memory divider to 1:1 to check if its the memory thats causing issues.

Hey Justintime,

I dropped it to 1:1 and prime is now failing with:

FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4

This is on all 4 worker threads.

Any ideas?

What are your load temps? In my experience rounding is usually cpu related, possibly try a little more vcore if temps are acceptable right now.

Okay, I ran an inplace large FFTs test instead of a blend test for maximum heat and it's working but hitting out at about 71C and a small inplace FFT test maxed out at about 77C after about 10 minutes or so. I'm not too crazy about those temps so was thinking about dropping the external clock down to 340Mhz to get a 3GHz CPU speed and see the temps at there. Would there be anything else I'd have to change or should just dropping the external clock be enough?

Drop the vcore down a notch or two. The clockspeed reduction alone wouldn't reduce temps that much, though to be honest the temps you have there aren't horribly bad, not the best but still workable.

I run a very similar system at 3.6Ghz with 4x 1GB modules. Needed 1.5v to get stable under load, was unable to achieve this due to high temps until I got better cooling. 77c is too hot, Intel rates this chip up to 70c.

What's the VID on your Q6600?

Some of your voltages are completely wrong - too high mostly (notably MCH and CPU VTT are too high). Also I found that running 4 sticks of RAM in the IP35 Pro that I have required running the RAM at 800mhz.

Here are my settings for 3.6ghz (system in my sig, my chip is a 1.3 VID)...

External Clock - 400
Multiplier - 9x
DRAM Speed - 1:1:25 (DDR2-1000)
PCI-E - 100

CPU - 1.52v (1.42 or so under load)
DDR2 - 2.0v
CPU VTT - 1.23v
MCH - 1.29v
ICH - 1.05v
ICHIO - 1.5v
DDR2 REF - 0%
CPU GTL 0+2 - 67%
CPU GTL 1+3 - 67%

Limit CPUID MaxVal - Disabled
C1E - Auto
Execute Disable Bit - Enabled
Virtualisation - Disabled
EIST - Auto

RAM - By SPD

...you will need to watch the PWM temps. My board is bolt modded and I have a 60mm fan hovering above the PWM area keeping them cool. You may well need the bolt mod if it's not already done.

I also have 2x 40mm fans on the Northbridge, as it can get pretty toasty too.

Bear in mind that the above setting was when I was running 4gb RAM. I am still at 3.6 with 8gb, but have to run the memory on a different divider so that it runs at 800mhz. Any more was too much for the board to cope with.

EDIT - for what it's worth I found that anything above 1.3 for the MCH would cause instabilities. For some reason my board prefered the MCH to be kept fairly low.

bainbridge said:

77c is too hot, Intel rates this chip up to 70c.

Click to expand...

Tcase is rated to 71.3 or whatever, Core temps reported are not Tcase, which is the temp at IHS, usually 10-15C lower than core temp value.

I tried it at your values Diggsy and it was too hot, idling about 50-55C and load of nearly 80C so I've dropped it down to 3GHz and it's idling at 38-45C and load of about 61C after about 20 mins on prime. Seems like a good compromise of fan noise and temps as I'm sure I won't notice a huge difference going to 3.2GHz or above.

Here's the specs for my 'stable' OC, can you take a look and see if there's anything wrong with it?

Ext clock - 336
Multiplier - 9x
DRAM - 1:1.50 (DDR2-1008)
CPU Core- 1.3050v
DDR2 - 2.000V
CPU VTT - 1.23V
MCH 1.25v - 1.29v
ICH - 1.05v
ICHIO - 1.50V

Limit CPUID MaxVal - Disabled
C1E - Auto
Execute Disable Bit - Enabled
Virtualisation - Disabled
EIST - Auto

RAM - By SPD

Cheers for all the help guys, much appreciated!

bainbridge said:

What's the VID on your Q6600?

Click to expand...

Coretemp reporting it at 1.2750v

That all looks pretty good now. Just make sure to check your temps with CoreTemp or HWMonitor or Open Hardware Monitor, as these will give you pretty accurate temps for each core.

Also HWM and OHM will let you monitor the PWM temps, which can get very toasty on the IP35 Pro.

What is your case/cooling setup? Can you provide pics of the insides of the case? Sounds like you are having some issues with airflow.

Oh and for what its worth, don't worry about temps on the cores hitting 70c or maybe even a little bit more with Prime95, they will never hit that high with normal usage.

Hey diggsy,

Yeah, i've been monitoring the temps throughout with coretemp and hwmonitor. They seem stable now.

My setup is a coolermaster 690 II advanced with 140mm fractal fan at front, 140mm fractal fan at top, 120mm fractal fan at back, arctic freezer 7 pro on the cpu, and a coolermaster 140mm fan on the side. I've cable managed it pretty well considering I don't have a modular PSU and everything is pretty much hidden behind the back. I've only got an iphone 3g which takes pretty crappy pics of black so I can't really provide a proper pic of the setup but I don't think airflow is an issue. I might add another 140mm fan to the top and replace the coolermaster on the side with another fractal because it can get a bit noisy. All the fans except the side one are running at 780RPM and above even at idle so I think the air is getting shifted around. The room I'm in is quite small but doesn't get overly hot. I'm happy enough with the 3GHz OC at the moment, like I said before the noise is quite key for me as my old case was shocking and used to sound like a jet engine

I appreciate the help.

Ah, okay, your setup sounds pretty good actually, but there is one major weakness - the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.

Almost without a doubt it is holding you back. They were a great budget cooler, and okay up to around 3 - 3.2ghz with the quad (although they do get noisy when clocking that high) but for anything higher you need a new cooler.

Rather than spending any more money on fans for the case, I would suggest getting a new CPU cooler, something along the lines of a Thermalright Ultra Extreme (TRUE), Megahalems, or Noctua would be high end coolers.

Apparently the Akasa Venom is pretty good too, or you could always stretch the budget and go for a Corsair H-50.

If you're happy with the 3ghz OC and current noise levels, then leave it as is of course

The only other thing you could do which won't cost anything is to play around with the direction of the case fans. You have 1 front, 1 side, 1 top and 1 rear. What way are they all facing - intake/exhaust?

I would suggest the front and side as intakes and either the top and rear as exhausts, or possibly even try it with the top as an intake and just the rear as an exhaust. This will create positive air pressure in your case and can actually work very well depending on the case design. It actually works really well in my Fortress case, although it was designed for positive air pressure.

Diggsy said:

Ah, okay, your setup sounds pretty good actually, but there is one major weakness - the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.

Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking too mate!

Diggsy said:

Apparently the Akasa Venom is pretty good too, or you could always stretch the budget and go for a Corsair H-50.

Click to expand...

I've been toying with the idea of getting the H-50 as it's going to be a huge upgrade whilst still keeping noise levels down (attach a different fan rather than the stock and you're laughing - or so i've heard!) but I just can't justify spending the 70 notes....yet

Diggsy said:

If you're happy with the 3ghz OC and current noise levels, then leave it as is of course

Click to expand...

I really am quite happy with it. I think the CPU isn't causing any bottlenecks and would rather upgrade to an SSD before I take it past the 3GHz as I think my 10,000RPM raptor has had the best days out of it and that's going to be the biggest bang for buck speed wise.

Diggsy said:

The only other thing you could do which won't cost anything is to play around with the direction of the case fans. You have 1 front, 1 side, 1 top and 1 rear. What way are they all facing - intake/exhaust?

I would suggest the front and side as intakes and either the top and rear as exhausts, or possibly even try it with the top as an intake and just the rear as an exhaust. This will create positive air pressure in your case and can actually work very well depending on the case design. It actually works really well in my Fortress case, although it was designed for positive air pressure.

Click to expand...

I've got the front and side on intake and the top and rear on exhaust. The front and top exhaust fractals don't shift masses of air but do the job well enough to keep everything cool and quiet. I'm pretty happy with 40C on idle and i've not seen it go past 60 even after p95 has been on it for over 30 mins so I don't think there's much to worry about in the real world department. The only thing is getting some cooling to my gfx which is why I've used the coolermaster 140mm fan on the side as intake but it's very noisy compared to the fractal's, it's about on par with my CPU at 1800RPM when it's maxed! I'll swap it with a fractal pretty soon I should imagine and I've got one spare 3-pin fan connector on my mobo so I might attach another exhaust to the top or another intake on the side. Another thing, does anyone know how the fractals should be attached to the case using the rubber mounts? Is there any way to stop them from poking out the back/side of the case. I'd like to see if they make a difference vibration/noise wise on the case.

I shouldn't have got a new case, it's made me want a modular PSU, H-50, SSD, and some more internal storage! haha!

Can you not just pull those rubber mounts through the case (outside > inside) then through/into the fan frame?

Oh and you'll always want something new in this game, no matter how good your setup is

Yeah diggsy, it was just me being retarded about how to install them I don't think they really made a difference when I tried it though. Ah well! Worth a go.

My PSU seems like the noisiest thing in my system now!

Sierry said:

I really am quite happy with it. I think the CPU isn't causing any bottlenecks and would rather upgrade to an SSD before I take it past the 3GHz as I think my 10,000RPM raptor has had the best days out of it and that's going to be the biggest bang for buck speed wise.

Click to expand...

DO IT!!

Also running a Q6600 @3.2Ghz. Idle temps are @25 deg when browsing the net etc, using an Arctic Freezer 7. I went from a 36Gb Raptor to an OCZ Vertex 2E 60Gb last month and the overall system performance has been quite staggering. Best thing I've bought for the PC for ages. Highly recommended.