Can't sleep/speedsep while overclocking.

VaderDSL

VaderDSL

VaderDSL

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Hi. Got a slight query here. I can overclock my Q6600 / IP35 Pro to 3.2ghz easily, albeit at 1.425v core with some Noctua heatsink. Probably gets to mid 60's temp wise running prime95.

But recently I've been wanting to tone it down so I wanted to use speedstep to lower the clock while idle, sadly this does not work no matter what I try. Granted it's probably due to the way the voltages are lowered along with the multiplier which is crashing the machine while running my overclock.

As far as I can see running at stock = speedstep and the ability to sleep the machine. However running any overclock above stock causes the machine to crash when it idles and sleep doesn't work. It simply never comes out of sleep.

Am I pretty much resigned to having either an overclock and no sleep/speedstep or stock but with the 2 features mentioned?

Cheers,
 
I doubt you'll get speedstep to work. As a workaround, there's probably some software you could use to change the speed and use it as a manual speedstep, just turn it up when you know you'll need it.

I suspect Sleep can be resolved (manual speedstep might solve it). I suspect something just needs a voltage tweak.
 
SpeedStep has always worked properly on any of the motherboards/CPUs I've ever used it on whilst overclocked. That's a long list, so your problem seems strange. Your vCore is high - is it a B3 stepping Q6600 by any chance? Are you running the latest BIOS for your board?
 
G0 I think, although the stepping is B. It has a high VID 1.35ish, not got the latest BIOS iirc but if I try and enable speedstep etc and boot into Windows at my current clock it BSODs straight away whereas without speedstep etc it is solid.
 
VaderDSL said:
G0 I think, although the stepping is B. It has a high VID 1.35ish, not got the latest BIOS iirc but if I try and enable speedstep etc and boot into Windows at my current clock it BSODs straight away whereas without speedstep etc it is solid.
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That's very strange, I have no issues at all with Speedstep enabled @ 3.6ghz on the same board.

I have a feeling your CPU is either not fully stable, or another setting is not right.

Whats your full spec?
What are your bios settings?
 
If the stepping is B then it's a B3, not a G0 irrc. Are there any other more tenuous power saving features on your motherboard that could be affecting the SpeedStep e.g. C state controls? I ask because I was getting similar problems with my i7 @ 4.2ghz; the individual C-State limits were causing instability. But obviously your CPU is quite different to an i7.
 
reflux said:
If the stepping is B then it's a B3, not a G0 irrc. Are there any other more tenuous power saving features on your motherboard that could be affecting the SpeedStep e.g. C state controls?
Click to expand...

Thats just the way CPU-Z reports it. It will show a revision (G0) and a stepping (B) but its definately a G0 chip.
 
I've taken some pics of my BIOS settings, can't see any more power saving features.

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Whats your system spec?

EDIT - oh and reduce the ICH to default 1.05v.

Also is there any reason why you are running your RAM at 2.250v? Seems very very high.
 
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Q6600 G0 (settings as above)
Noctua NH-U12P + 120mm Scythe S-FLEX 1600RPM
2 X OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB
Abit Air Pace PCI-E X1 wireless card
Xonar D2 PCI Sound Card
Corsair HX620 PSU
Antec P182 SE
HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
 
Okay that explains the memory voltage then.

With regards to your overclock, I have a feeling its not Prime stable. How long did you run Prime to test it?

If your VID is 1.35, then thats normally what the CPU needs to operate reliably at its default speed (2.4ghz) so when overclocked to 3.2 it will likely need more, and sometimes a lot more.

The problem with the IP35 Pro is it suffers from a lot of vdroop. So whilst you have 1.415 set as your vcore in the bios, chances are under full load that will be dropping to anywhere between 1.33 - 1.37, hence the instabilities.

Can you fire up Prime with uGuru running and see what your voltage is dipping to under load? May just be a simple case of increasing the vcore a little to get stability.

EDIT - If you can't run uGuru for whatever reason, try HWMonitor (free) to keep an eye on voltages/temps... http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php
 
I've ran Prime for 30 hours in the past with no issues.

VID is 1.325V but increasing the volts from 1.4v to near 1.475v didn't help in terms of speedstep. I found 1.415v plenty for a 3.2ghz overclock.

Would speedstep be having issues? Like not being able to lower the multiplier but being able to lower the voltages? That might account for the crashes? The Q6600 runs at a x9 multiplier normally doesn't it?

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The volts are fairly low as you say but having tried an increase which yielded no better results I think I may just resign myself to having the overclock.
 
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Hmm I think not the latest one.

A **** it I'm bored now lol I was on revision 14, have updated to 17, can't overclock anymore with any of the same settings, it's winding me up so before I put my foot through the damn mobo I've just left it at stock for the mean time.
 
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Well I've got the overclock working again at 3.2 (8X400), I think I wasn't putting enough volts through the northbridge.
Have the CPU voltage on 1.4550 and shows 1.370v in HWMonitor. Temps stable at 65C. Have been running Prime for over half a day so far with no problems but still as soon as I enable speedstep it crashes on windows load. So I've decided not to bother with it anymore. I'll just stick to 3.2ghz :)
 
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