Some advice on how to OC Gigabyte EP45 DQ6 with Q6600?

I'm quite new to overclocking & just bought a new board (Gigabyte EP45 DQ6).
My other gear is:
Intel 2 core Q6600 2.4
Mushkin Extreme DDR2 2 x 2G 1066 (5-5-5-15)
FX Quadro 5600
Zalman fanCNPS 9500CU
250GB Hard Disk

I'd appreciate it if anyone could advise me on what timings & voltage to use. I'm thinking of just upping the CPU to 3Ghz. I'm a novice at the moment but can't risk frying my board in case I make a mistake. Looked everywhere on line (easy to find OC Q6600), but I can't find any info on EP45 DQ6 & a Q6600 together. Thanks.

Don't sweat trying to find stats for board+chip. All you need is info on the chips general voltages from othe rpeople and try to match them on your board. Monitor your temps and in general if you're going more than 20% more than the stock voltage for any setting then its not worth it.

Have a good read through this HERE, and if you have any questions then let us know.
You should have no problems getting to at least 3.0GHz with little or no altering of various voltages at all.
2 quick things what is the VID of your chip and what are your ambient temps.

dicko555 said:

Have a good read through this HERE, and if you have any questions then let us know.
You should have no problems getting to at least 3.0GHz with little or no altering of various voltages at all.
2 quick things what is the VID of your chip and what are your ambient temps.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much for all the valuable info, it'll come in great use!

Only thing I'm worried about is damaging the bios 'cos the last MB (X38 DS5) I had, I made a few mistakes & of course there were some dodgy, delayed boot ups & in the end, I wasn't able to even flash the bios, never mind download it from Gigabyte.

If I get some dodgy/delayed boot ups & the bios goes back to the default F5, what do I do? Do I clear the CMOS immediately or do I keep on trying to proceed with the OC? Is there a limit of how far the bios can go with constant failed posts?

One last thing - on my P45 DQ6 mb, there are 3 buttons at the bottom, I don't understand what the 'Reset' button is for & If I have to press 'Clear CMOS' button, do I do this when the comp is switched off? Doesn't mention anything about this in the user's manual.
Cheers.

Sunburn74 said:

Don't sweat trying to find stats for board+chip. All you need is info on the chips general voltages from othe rpeople and try to match them on your board. Monitor your temps and in general if you're going more than 20% more than the stock voltage for any setting then its not worth it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice.

Only press clear cmos when system is off and powered down to be safe.

Alien432 said:

Only press clear cmos when system is off and powered down to be safe.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Sunburn74 said:

Don't sweat trying to find stats for board+chip. All you need is info on the chips general voltages from othe rpeople and try to match them on your board. Monitor your temps and in general if you're going more than 20% more than the stock voltage for any setting then its not worth it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I've hardly upped the CPUV core - just 1.31875V & DRAMV 2.08000V. Seems to be ok at the mo, temp around 36/37º at idle, but I'm just gonna be patient & decrease CPUV core bit by bit until it gets as cool as poss before getting unstable. I reckon I could get it below 1.3! Used bios version F12 but it sometimes started to shut down with the horendous blue screen warning, then changed to F11 which seems to be flawless at the mo. Running on Windows 64, which blows away Vista!

dicko555 said:

Have a good read through this HERE, and if you have any questions then let us know.
You should have no problems getting to at least 3.0GHz with little or no altering of various voltages at all.
2 quick things what is the VID of your chip and what are your ambient temps.

Click to expand...

Hi, my VID is 0.85V – 1.5V & ambient temp is around 20º - 23º, but summer is around 30º - 35º).
I've hardly upped the CPUV core - just 1.31875V & DRAMV 2.08000V. Seems to be ok at the mo, temp around 36/37º at idle, but I'm just gonna be patient & decrease CPUV core bit by bit until it gets as cool as poss before getting unstable. I reckon I could get it below 1.3! Used bios version F12 but it sometimes started to shut down with the horendous blue screen warning, then changed to F11 which seems to be flawless at the mo.