Overclock or not?

Guest2

Guest2

Guest2

Soldato
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6 May 2009
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I have been running a Q6600 for quite a while and last week my computer failed to start. I tested everything and it all passed but sometimes wouldnt start, it got worse and worse to the point it didnt start at all.

I took everything out the case and eventually worked out two stick of RAM had died (4x1gb) Im now running 2x2gb but back at 2.4ghz instead of 3.6ghz.

A year or so ago I had the q6600 running at 3.6ghz for over 3 years, no problems. I tried for 3.6ghz with the new memory a couple of days ago but it wont do it, maybe because I forgot some of the voltage settings and the ram has looser timings.

Should I just leave it at 2.4ghz on all default settings as its working fine anyway. I dont really play games now but thought I would install Crysis yesterday - It plays without much lag in 2560x1440 resolution

I might give F1 2011 a try and if that also plays ok then I will probably leave it
 
paradigm said:
Why not go for a mild overclock instead?

3.0-3.2 should be pretty easily obtainable?
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Would you keep it at that speed constant or have the speed step etc turned so its only goes to 3ghz when required? I cant even remember these settings from when i had it overclocked a year ago.
 
Leave speedstep/EIST/C1E enabled so that it can clock down when not under load.

When only pushing it to 3GHz you shouldn't have any stability problems with those enabled.
 
paradigm said:
Leave speedstep/EIST/C1E enabled so that it can clock down when not under load.

When only pushing it to 3GHz you shouldn't have any stability problems with those enabled.
Click to expand...

I forget, when leaving those options enabled, do I need to put voltage up to 1.550/1.556250 or do I leave the voltage on auto aswell?
 
You will need to manually set the voltage. For 3.0Ghz though, 1.5V+ what your talking about is wayyy too much.

I ran 3.6Ghz for around a year at 1.48V (still high compared to others) Anyway... one reason led to another I now run at stock and I also like yourself don't game. I don't do anything intensive and I haven't noticed a difference in what I do now. So... It's upto you if you feel you will benefit from an overclock. I wouldn't personally, so just leave it stock to get as much life out it as possible.
 
Just to answer your question before. If you do overclock, just set the ram timings manually as well as the voltage. Play around with the voltage (CPU) to see which works best for you. It's different for everyone on different boards and each chip is unique bla bla.

Start with a higher number and work your way down if it's stable (check with IBT) Keep going until it becomes unstable. Then bump it back to what it was stable at. You don't want to be pumping 1.5V through it if it only really needs 1.3V... get it?

Obviously keep an eye on your temps when playing with this. You don't want it getting too hot. Coretemp is perfect for monitoring temps.

Overclocking is fun. However I just don't do anything intensive enough these days to merit it. I'm just as glad, blue screens and stability testing isn't terribly fun.
 
Its a Gigabyte P45 DF3P motherboard. It has masses of Vdroop, I could run it close to 1.6v (1.57500 i think) and it would be a lot lower when overclocked on cpuz

I realised that it was used for internet, movies and music and that was about it so went back to stock settings. You are correct Buchanan0204 - overclocking is boring, however im also entrigued to see what the different memory can do :o
 
Its just at 3.4ghz now and cpuz is reporting 1.440 V core voltage at load.

Core temp Tj max is 100c and high temps are 77c!

Is something not right here, seems a bit high to me

I'm using an H50 and 2x Noctua NF-P12 in push pull

edit - I have the H50 pump plugged into the motherboard PWR header and the fans both plugged into the CPU header
 
Last edited:
Guest2 said:
Its just at 3.4ghz now and cpuz is reporting 1.440 V core voltage at load.

Core temp Tj max is 100c and high temps are 77c!

Is something not right here, seems a bit high to me

I'm using an H50 and 2x Noctua NF-P12 in push pull

edit - I have the H50 pump plugged into the motherboard PWR header and the fans both plugged into the CPU header
Click to expand...

Either it's not mounted tightly enough or too much thermal paste was used. Usually the main culprits of high temps. Then again, I doubt you would make those mistakes.
 
Buchanan0204 said:
Either it's not mounted tightly enough or too much thermal paste was used. Usually the main culprits of high temps. Then again, I doubt you would make those mistakes.
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Ill re-paste with a tiny amount tonight

The joy of having an H50, it only takes 5 mins to re-paste the cpu
 
Buchanan0204 said:
The pumps definitely working? Not making any weird noises or anything similar.
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No weird noise, how would i know if it wasnt working? When the machine is turned on, if i press my fingers on the pump slightly its got a slight vibration. I always thought this was how it works though
 
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