Some overclocking help needed

Associate
Joined
25 Feb 2007
Posts
2,062
Location
Bedfordshire
Hi Guys

I'm looking to overclock my q6600 to around 3.2 Ghz and i am not to sure how to go about it. I have never overclocked a cpu before (until last night) and am in need of some advice. I have read over the sticky at the top of this page and have looked round at some stuff on the net.

At the moment i have my CPU set at 300 x 9 so 2.7Ghz. This idles at 37~39 *C and up to 53 *C when i start SETI@Home running. I left seti running last night only to find that my comp had crashed out so i don't think it is to stable atm. I haven't altered any of the voltages yet and i am guessing i am going to have to to get a higher speed.

I have also seen on the net some people lowering the multiplier down to 7 or 8. Why is this? So the FSB can be increased more without affecting the chips temp as much?

Also when i was in the bios i could choose between linked and unlinked overclocking. Now i think linked clocking increases the RAM FSB, however is it wise doing this as mine is only rated at PC6400 speed.

On the subject of RAM mine is rated at 4-4-4-12 according to CPU-Z

cpuz1.jpg


But is only running at 5-5-5-18

cpuz2.jpg


How would i go about changing this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Thanks

Wiz
 
Firstly... check you memory is on the correct voltage

Secondly its probably best to see what FSB you board can do so you no what you have got to play with... unlink your RAM from the FSB and lower the multiplier on you CPU to 6... and keep raising you FSB until the machine wont boot... that will give you an idea of what you have to play with..

3.2 can be got with the following combinations:
Multiplier 7 / FSB 457/8
Multiplier 8 / FSB 400
Multiplier 9 / FSB 356

For 3.2 I would try for a multiplier of 8 and FSB of 400... then your ram @ 1:1 ratio at its rated 800mhz (400FSB)

To test the CPU and setup you will need to download Prime95 and Coretemp, both of which can be found in the useful applications sticky...

Now you shouldnt have any problems hitting 3.2ghz on stock... might run a little warm you might need a little bump on the vcore... really trial and error... but keep an eye on your temps... anything up to 70c in prime95 loading is ok.
 
Unlink the memory and set it to 800mhz. You can worry about the timings when you've finished the CPU overclock.

And I wouldn't touch the CPU multiplier til you've finished clocking the CPU either. Lowering it and upping the FSB to match 3200mhz will be slightly faster, but use the default multi til you can get 3200mhz stable.

Try setting the FSB to 356mhz or 1423mhz depending on your boards settings. 1.4v will probably be enough for that.
 
Ok, i now have the cpu running at 3 GHz (333 * 9) with 1.37 volts and it seems to be stable (if it is still going in the morning then it is fine :)). Temps seem to be ok, around 40 *C idle and 57 *C load. How high can a q6600 B3 go on air?
 
on a prime95 load 70c is my max, some people say a bit higher or lower... you CPU's heat protection will step in at 100c and it will start to throttle
 
on a prime95 load 70c is my max, some people say a bit higher or lower... you CPU's heat protection will step in at 100c and it will start to throttle

You running with a Tuniq 120?
I have the Artic Freezer @ 3.3 and get about 64'C load and of course I want a higher clock. :rolleyes:
 
Ok i have it running stable at 3 GHz with 1.4 volts. However when i put my RAM at 4-4-4-12 with 2.1 volts it all goes to pot and crashes all the time :(
 
Give the northbridge voltage a boost. That should help.

Tho i'm not sure how good the Striker is with 4 sticks.
 
Back
Top Bottom