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***The Official Q6600 Overclocking Thread ***

Ah right, I'll go google some on voltages on the northbridge. Check what it is currently using auto using the hardware monitor (think its under power options), should tell ya.

You never know, you might hit 3.6ghz on 1.5v

Mine needs about 1.55v to get to 4ghz... didn't do a full stress test on it though, cos the temps were getting quite toasty :)

edit:

Googled around.. you should have options on the northbridge voltage from 1.25v up to 1.7v according to what I've read.

try giving it 1.45v if you can.. should be more than enough for 400 FSB I woulda thought.
 
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Tried the northbridge voltage with the RAM OC, did nothing. Think they RAM i got jsut won't OC, there's simply no setting that makes a difference, timings, voltages, anything. Great, bet my GTS will blow up next, its the only part of this ~£900 machine that hasn't messed up!

Will see if the northbridge voltage has an affect on my CPU OC though. I can start windows @ 3510mhz, with 1.485 vcore, but fails small FFT's straight away, blue screen (im sure thats memory related).

Edit: Stuck Northbridge on 1.40v, dunno if it'll help anything.

Just got my highest stable clock (in Small FFT's) Seems to peak at 69C for Core#0, my hottest core. Thats:

384x9 - 3456Mhz. That's at 1.4875v. I don't think i'd dare go higher lol, and the temps are roughly max. IF the dam RAM would sort itself out, i'd easily hit 3.6ghz as i wouldn't need near that vcore. I'll just order some 1066mhz RAM, geil black dragon maybe or ballistix, which so happens doesn't sell at the retailer i got my current parts from, which is handy :p
 
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How do you handle the RAM lads, how do you stop it from being overclocked along with the CPU when you increase FSB? I've seem some people say that the geil can sometimes go to 900Mhz but only if you are lucky:confused:
 
From what i read tyranus, it shoukl go over the recommended frequency (in my case 800mhz), by simple setting it that way, though if you go much more than a little over it, you must relax your timings.

And unfortunately mate, i wish you could do that, as i'd be peeing over 3.6ghz now, but you can't have FSB higher than 1:1 RAM, i.e. 400 fsb, 800 ram, 333 fsb, 667 ram, etc. Thats the lowest the ram will sit in relation to the FSB.

My max. in theory at 1:1 is 400/800, as my RAM refuses to OC. However, at a x9 multi, my CPU also refuses to OC unless i fill it with serious voltage. Lower the multi, and the vcore needed plummets, but it means OCing the RAM. I hate you corsair lol.
 
At 8x multi you'll hit 3.2ghz on 400FSB.. so obviously you need lower vcore.. if you got the FSB high enough, then your vcore would limit you again at you approach the 3.5/3.6 clocks you're having problems now. So it isn't just your RAM holding you back.

I'm suprised your ram won't go much above stock with completely relaxed 2T timings (Try 5-5-5-18 2T?)
 
uZi said:
At 8x multi you'll hit 3.2ghz on 400FSB.. so obviously you need lower vcore.. if you got the FSB high enough, then your vcore would limit you again at you approach the 3.5/3.6 clocks you're having problems now. So it isn't just your RAM holding you back.

I'm suprised your ram won't go much above stock with completely relaxed 2T timings (Try 5-5-5-18 2T?)
Click to expand...

Yeh, 400x8 is completely stable and seems faster than 3.4ghz to be honest, but i'm still limited by the 800mhz RAM, at 1:1, 3.2ghz is the highest i can go with x8 multi.

Yeh i agree on the vcore, needs to be higher to hit 3.5/3.6, but it's at 1.4825 now in BIOS. on 384x9, giving me a 3.45ghz clock speed, and around 768mhz RAM. Did the 30 min OCCT test, hit 57C under full load and passed. I'm not a fan of small FFT's, they are designed to create more heat than you'd EVER create,meaning i get about 65C on that.

Of course that's a very nice clock considering my VID is 1.325v, but i can get much higher FSB, in the realm of 500mhz, but the multi x9 doesn't allow it.

Yeh tried those timnings, still doesn't boot, shuts off and on, then instead of POST, i jsut get a black screen with fans going mad (would suggest overheating of RAM?)

Edit: Quick summary for clarity: CPU unstable with x9 multi past 3.45mhz (384 FSB), RAM unstable past 820mhz (410x8 - 3.28ghz). It's a complete wall, though i'll try and psot all my BIOS settings as there's obviously a voltage issue here, as loosening timings @ 2.1v should see me hit 900mhz (my case is ICE cold)
 
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Proof:

Same Spec Guy

Guy has same CPU, with same VID, with same motherboard (P5K-E is identical) and same speed RAM. His OC's to 1000mhz+ using the stock 5-5-5-18 2T timings, just an increase in voltage to 2.3v. He even tighened his timings to C4!. He has a ratio of 2:3, the FSB could go much higher, and with that RAM at 1:1, with x8 multi, he'd get surely higher speeds.

settings34.jpg



I'll try 2.2v now, see if it yields any results: Nope, nor with 5-5-5-18 2N aswell.
 
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Knock your multi down to x6 and see what the ram can take on a divider maybe?

good luck with it anyway, I gotta go to uni ;)
 
Ok, thanks for the help mate.

Yeh been doing more research, a lot of people have the RAM at those speeds NOT at 1:1, so maybe there's an FSB cap at 1:1 of 400. Good idea, i'll take the CPU out the equation.

Edit: Seems to be a ratio problem. My RAM doesn't like 1:1 at all above its recommended 800mhz. At 5:6 i got 396x7 fsb, 950mhz RAM. How odd. my vcore works at a low at 1.375 (due to the multi probably).
 
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Update:

3563Mhz @ 1.4875v (396x9)

FSB:RAM ratio = 5:6 (5-5-5-18 timings,2.1v)

Idles at hottest core = 33C

Have yet to stability test this yet and 1.475 did crash during windows, but fine idle.

So to anyone with My mobo/Ram having OC problems, it seems one of the two doesn't like a 1:1 ratio over the recommended RAM speed, yet a higher ratio works fine. I assume this is a northbridge issue (mines set to 333mhz), as maybe getting a high 1:1 ratio requires overvolting it past 1.55v.

Anyway, thanks for everyones patience and help, very much appreciated. :D :D

Any queries on my BIOS settings just ask, as i've seen quite a few people struggle getting past 3.4ghz.
 
What strap are you using? I'd say you should be using the 400 strap to get your ram as low as possible, which would keep it out of the equation. I know what you are saying about small ffts but if it passes that, you know it's going to be rock solid.

Update on my Q6600 overclock - got it running at 3.6 stable on small ffts (only did half an hour - it was late). That's with vcore at 1.35 in the bios. idles at 31, and hits about 65 on small ffts. I'm going to give it a longer stress test tonight, then I think i'll push for 3.8!

I did a quick 3dmark 06 and got about 14300 which I thought wasn't bad :)
 
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Lasted 15 mins on OCCT @ 3.5ghz, 1.5v before i got an error, though the error pics don't help at all, the temp didn't pass 57C,hmm..

Apparently our motherboards work best at 333mhz regardless, which is what im using, but will try the 400mhz strap. Dunno why OCCT crashes, ain't running hot, no blue screen, just throws up an error.
 
V3g3tto said:
From what i read tyranus, it shoukl go over the recommended frequency (in my case 800mhz), by simple setting it that way, though if you go much more than a little over it, you must relax your timings.

And unfortunately mate, i wish you could do that, as i'd be peeing over 3.6ghz now, but you can't have FSB higher than 1:1 RAM, i.e. 400 fsb, 800 ram, 333 fsb, 667 ram, etc. Thats the lowest the ram will sit in relation to the FSB.

My max. in theory at 1:1 is 400/800, as my RAM refuses to OC. However, at a x9 multi, my CPU also refuses to OC unless i fill it with serious voltage. Lower the multi, and the vcore needed plummets, but it means OCing the RAM. I hate you corsair lol.
Click to expand...

So am I right in thinking that 333FSB = 3Ghz on a x 9 multi, which is still below the RAM's 800Mhz? So in theory I shouldn't need to touch it?

And that its 400/800 due to DDR2?

(Sorry, total n00b!:o:o)
 
Yeh, 3ghz shouldn't be a problem, infact 3.6ghz shouldn't be a problem, it's all down to voltage. As my stock vcore is much higher than most peoples, i have to up the vcore real high to get it to run at higher clock speeds. @ 3.5, i have 1 core that gets a round-off error on small fft's. That needs 1.51 vcore to get there though for me, which is beyond thinking for most, but i don't go near overheating :O.

In theory, the only thing restricting your voltage is your cooling.

Yeh its 400/800. At 1:1 i found that's the max i can go with the RAM, else it doesn't even start.
 
Running at 3.55Ghz @ 1.5v.

Runs Prime95, to be fair it doesn't even get hot, however, 1 of the worker threads always fails even if i drop the speed, namely worker thread #2. This is on all tests. Seems to me i have a weak core somewhere...annoying.

Oh quick tip: For stability, lower the multiplier to say, x8. This requires much less Vcore to run, thus a lot less heat. However, it requires you to OC the RAM, as you're having to up the FSB speed to make up for the lower multiplier. My RAM won't pass 1000mhz. In theory, if i get faster RAM, i'd hit 3.6Ghz easily.
 
I really don't think higher speed ram would get you anywhere.. I'm sure your cpu is the bottleneck... although if the ram is having problems at 1:1 above stock speeds then you could try them in the other pair of ram slots?

Also have you updated your bios to the latest (or most recommended)?

You could try playing with some of the other voltages, although it is probably your cpu causing most the problems.
 
Lowering the mult would only result in lower vcore due to the lower cpu frequency. I don't think that 8x450 would need less vcore than 9x400, for example. By using a lower mult, you're actually stressing the system more, because you need a higher fsb to reach the same speed. If your cpu tops out at 3.6, and you can run at 450fsb, then you'd be better doing this, and running an 8x mult, because performance would be slightly higher due to the higher fsb, and (possibly) higher ram frequency. CPU vcore is directly related to it's frequency, and higher temps is a result of higher frequency, vcore, or both.

If you've got to 3.55 and it's fairly stable, apart from one core, why not try doing some real world stress testing, like playing games, encoding dvds etc. If it's ok with them, then you might be able to get away with running at 3.55.
 
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