Thinking of OC'ing soon

Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2011
Posts
4,450
Location
London
Hey guys,

Thinking of overclocking my Q6600 soon. It currently runs at 2.4Ghz, but the CPU cooler that came with my Dell is just a bog standard one.

So, before I start overclocking that son-of-a-gun, has anybody got any recommendations of a new CPU cooler to buy before hand?

I'm looking at spending tops about £30. Also, i'm assuming most if not all coolers come with thermal paste. But, recently when installing my new PSU and graphics card I had to remove the heatsink in order to run the new power cables to my HDD and graphics card. When doing so I noticed that there was thermal paste obviously dried out on the CPU socket case and on the underside of the heatsink. When I put a new heatsink in, do I need to remove this dried out paste from the CPU socket case or should I just put more paste over the top of it?

If I have to remove it, how do I go about doing so?

Cheers guys.
 
Yeah don't buy a new heat-sink before you check out the BIOS, it's probably locked down to stop you from tinkering, and even if it is accessible the motherboard may not be conducive to over-clocking.

As for the dried paste, just have a search for some Isopropyl Alcohol, should be easy to grab a small bottle online, that will be the best option.
 
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DELL will not let you overclock - tight cheeky sods they are :p

Isopropyl Alcohol is very good, and the Akasa kit even better (but higher premium!)
 
I've read a little on BSEL mod that a few people with XPS's seem to have done, but does anyone else know anything about this?

If I can't do it through BIOS then this may be my only other alternative until I save up and build a new rig.
 
Come on, less of this DIY stuff. I got bought my XPS 420 back in 2008 as a birthday gift from my parents. And it's this PC which had made me interested in overclocking and top end graphics cards etc.

In time I will build my own, but as a poor student its not viable yet. So, anyone know anything about BSEL/pin mods?
 
I've read a little on BSEL mod that a few people with XPS's seem to have done, but does anyone else know anything about this?

If I can't do it through BIOS then this may be my only other alternative until I save up and build a new rig.

i think they go through a lot of bios flashes till they find one that works..

i wouldnt recomend it tho.. not unles you know what ur doin

i looked at it for my old pc (bios was locked down to) n yea bios flashes = bad news if you do it wrong :p
 
if its a decent q6600 you should get 3.4 with no problems

1.35 - 1.47 volts, 9x multiplyer

3400mhz / 9 gives 377 FSB

so tank your fsb to 377 increase the multplyer to 9x and voltage to 377

then go down the cpu ratios and try and get the one that fits the speed on your ram perfectly

like if i had 800mhz ram i would change the ratio till the ram speed was at 800
 
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