Q6600 help

marc69

marc69

marc69

Associate
Joined
29 Dec 2007
Posts
1,296
Location
Birmingham
Hi guys,

I've been running my Q6600 at 3ghz since I bought it a while ago. I'm trying to up the clock speed to 3.2ghz which I've seemingly done so far, it runs without issues and seems stable. My only issue is that in the bios the ram is running at like 1068 instead of 1066. I'm guessing the reason I can't get it to match is because of the DRAM:FSB ratio?

I'm using the asus P5KC and there doesn't seem to be an option to change the ratio, unless it's called something completely different, I've even searched the manual.

I just don't like the idea of the ram running at over rated speeds, even though the motherboard shouldn't support past 1066 afaik.

Any help is apreciated,

Cheers
 
Thanks for the reply.

I know it's probably not too much of an issue but it would be good to be able to understand either why it's doing this or how to stop it. I won't be able to get over 3.2 without being able to sort this :)

Thanks again
 
Cheers for the reply mate. I only seem to get options to change that actual speed of the ram, which inturn changes when I up the FSB.

I've got the latest BIOS as well :(
 
Yep, with some BIOS you don't get to see the dividers, only the results.
Like most things with PC's and software these days, it's dumbing down a bit. You can't see the mechanics, just the results. If you up your BUS speeds a bit, you'll see there should always be an option that closely matches your RAM.
 
Thanks for the reply Slug.

I can only seem to get it to run at 3.2ghz because if I up the bus speed anymore then the ram speed is way off. It's only 2mhz over at the moment so it's probably no biggy. 3.2ghz should be adequate for the time being I guess :)

Another question: The max speed the ram can run at on this board is "1066mhz" so even if I set it to higher, it wouldn't be able to go that far as it's not supported, so would it just not boot?

Thanks :)
 
1066Mhz is the guaranteed speed, should be able to get more out of decent RAM.
Most people on this site are running voltage or speeds over the recommended settings, my CPU is 2.9GHZ but it's running stable @4.0Ghz, just push it as far as you can and then back it off when you reach the edge. That's the fun of overclocking, enjoy.

EDIT: It's a balancing act between multiplier and bus speed, you should be able to mix and match the two to give you the CPU speed you want with an approximate RAM speed. Just play about with the settings to your hearts content, nothing changes until you save and exit BIOS.
 
Last edited:
Ah I see, so maybe if I lower the multiplier and up the FSB I can get it to balance?

I never thought about that.

Cheers mate, helpful information :)
 
You got it, and if you want to push the cpu further but the ram is holding you back, try upping the dram voltage, or if it's the fsb that's being pushed over its limit, raising the northbridge (MCH) voltage can help there too. My 800MHz RAM is running at912MHz right now without any issues so you should have some leeway to work with.
 
That's right marc, within reason. Just little increases every time and you'll find where it starts to get flakey. If you keep your RAM speed below the rated speed while you overclock your CPU you'll know it's your CPU that's reaching the edge. When this happens you can try feeding it a little more VCORE (fuel) to keep up with it's new workload (little at a time again)or it will flake out when it tries to work hard. You may want to check around for other user's recommended VCORE but I'd have thought up to 1.40v is nothing to worry about. Just keep an eye on the temps as you torture test it!
AFter you find a nice speed for your CPU, you can up the RAM to somewhere near it's normal speed.
 
Last edited:
I had a little play with what you said but I'm having no luck. If I drop the multiplier to 8 and then adjust the FSB the ram speed still climbs.

It seems it will be impossible to OC past 3.2 if I can't actually adjust the ratio :(
 
Last edited:
You will have to set the ram speed to 800 then, this will give you some overclocking headroom.

As a result of running the ram slower than its rated speed you might be able to tighten the timings.
 
yuou mention earlier you dont have a "DRAM frequency", only different ram speeds, those different ram speeds are your dividers :) what you can see is the ram speed at each divider with your current FSB speed. when your overclocking your core, just select the lowest speed option and ramp up the fsb, like the chap above said get your cpu limits done, then when finished just select the nearest ram speed divider to your rams spec, a little up or below the rated spec is fine, for instance i have 800mhz spec ram in but its at 901, no biggy, i just upped the ram voltage by 0.1v and all was fine :)


hope this clarify's the issue, my last chip was a q6600 and with 800mhz ram i was able to get to 4ghz+ so ram dividers should pose no problem to overclocking as long as you drop it down :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom