Can't get my E6600 past 3.0ghz stable :(

Howdy, first my specs:

Mobo = EVGA 122-CK-NF67 680i LT SLI
Processor = Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
HSF = Tuniq Tower 120
Memory = 4 GB PC6400 Corsair XMS2
Vid Card = Geforce 8800 GTS 640MB
OS = Vista Ultimate 64bit

Here's the problem that I'm having. No matter how hard I try, I cannot get my E6600 past 3.0 ghz stable. I have the CPU unlinked and have the clock at 9x and all I've been trying to do is raise the FSB and the voltage, but 3.0 at stock voltage is the best I get stable. I was able to hit 3.2 by raising the voltage up to 1.45 and it seemed to be stable, but random reboots after 24 hours would prove otherwise.

I've tried lowering the clock speed, and raising the FSB more, I've raised the voltage as far as 1.5 but nothing. Just can't get past 3.0ghz stable. I know that temperature is not an issue because I have temperature monitors running and idle, the PC sits at 42C and the highest it's gone on load after running Prime 95 for hours is 60C with my Tuniq 120 Tower.

Anyone have any suggestions? Am I missing something in my overclocking adventures? Any suggestions welcome.

I too am having similar problems, rig is in sig. Either way I run it I can not hit above 3.0Ghz on my E6600 either on the 8x or 9x multi's. Attempted 385x8 and 345x9. Boots, but when I run ORTHOS blend it shuts off.

E6600 at 3.0Ghz with a 8x375 and 9x333. Both settings are stable 15+ hours with ORTHOS Blend. I'm currently running 375x8.

*Note Both are actually running at 374.8 and 332.8, so the 9x multi should be under the 333FSB strap.

Idle: ~31C
Load: ~45C
CPU: E6600 with Zalman 9500 and AS5
RAM: G.Skill 800Mhz at 5-5-5-15 at 1.9V [1.8V - 2.0V rated]
Motherboard: Asus P5B
PCI-E: 101Mhz
PCI: 33.33 Mhz
CPU Voltage BIOS: 1.3625
CPU Voltage Windows: 1.328
CPU Voltage Under Load: 1.280

I am honestly beginning to think that we have some not so great CPUs this batch of e6600s. My setup is basically identical to yours (OP) except I'm running 2GBs of OCZ PC8500 RAM. In any case, I was able to coerce my CPU to 3.2 stable at 1.475V in BIOS. I'm running at 400x8, RAM synced/linked at 1:1. I have 2.2v going to the RAM right now also.

Let us know if you figure something out...

Oh I can't believe I forgot this... My CPU is a 44G

Hazaro said:

Oh I can't believe I forgot this... My CPU is a 44G

Click to expand...

Yeah I have a 46G

Still at least you can hit 3.2, but with a ultra that's not too impressive.

I have clocked up a few EVGA 680i (AR) + E6600's and the clocks were not impressive.

Ah yeah my bro bought 2 e6600 and a e6420. I dont know stepping but they were newer ones after price drop. He had a prior one before the drop that clock at over 3.6. I think he got it up to 3.8 stable on air at 1.5v. He tested all three of them and he had to run 1.55 to get one to 3.2ghz stable and the other e6600 he had problems getting it past 3.0ghz. He said the best one was the e6420 because he got it to 3.2ghz only but the voltage he used was like 1.4 so..the new ones suck.

I wonder if it's 4GB. I had a similar issue with DS3. I could not get past 3.0Ghz with an e4300 at 7x and 8x multipliers. Ditto with my e6300. No matter what I tried it would not boot at 3Ghz. I was giving them a lot of voltage too (stopped at 1.5V). So I went back to 2x1GB and guess what, the e6300 was on 3.4Ghz air at 1.34V, +0.1mch, +0.1fsb. Memtest ran for 6 passes on test #5 then it hung. Definitely heat issue and perhaps required more tweaking. I only have Big Typhoon, low RPM fan and my fans are controlled by BIOS so not optimized for OCing. With better cooling I'm sure I could get to 3.5 +/- stable. Thinking it might be the number RAM sticks, I bought 2x2GB Patriots and board would not boot past 3.0Ghz. It's definitely something to do with total size of the RAM.

I also notice that with 4GB there is a sweet spot. For an e6300 I was able to OC to 2.8Ghz fairly easily all stock voltage except for VDimm (set to manufacturer recommendation). For an e4300 the sweet spot was 2.7Ghz. Any more for either chip required a lot of voltage across the board (it seemed exponential) to get to 3.0Ghz which to me isn't worth overvolting so much to squeeze out 0.2Ghz.

If anybody has a board that overclocks well with 8GB (4x2GB) and has drivers for Vista x64 please reply.

How do I tell if my e6600 is a good one or not? I just bought it, its still in the box. It says BATCH# : L649G984. Is this good or bad?

You have several things going against you. Those Nforce chipsets are fussy to O/C, the more RAM you have the harder it is to O/C, 64-bit is more challenging to O/C, and recently Intel is apparently cherry picking (binning) the best cores for higher end processors.

Nugzy said:

How do I tell if my e6600 is a good one or not? I just bought it, its still in the box. It says BATCH# : L649G984. Is this good or bad?

Click to expand...

If your CPU will run stable at the rated 2.4 gig speed, then you have a "good" processor. Just because it don't O/C quite as much as you had hoped, don't make it "bad" CPU. There are many other factors that influence your O/C, which I named a few in my last post.

A 49 should be "good".

Hazaro said:

I too am having similar problems, rig is in sig. Either way I run it I can not hit above 3.0Ghz on my E6600 either on the 8x or 9x multi's. Attempted 385x8 and 345x9. Boots, but when I run ORTHOS blend it shuts off.

E6600 at 3.0Ghz with a 8x375 and 9x333. Both settings are stable 15+ hours with ORTHOS Blend. I'm currently running 375x8.

*Note Both are actually running at 374.8 and 332.8, so the 9x multi should be under the 333FSB strap.

Idle: ~31C
Load: ~45C
CPU: E6600 with Zalman 9500 and AS5
RAM: G.Skill 800Mhz at 5-5-5-15 at 1.9V [1.8V - 2.0V rated]
Motherboard: Asus P5B
PCI-E: 101Mhz
PCI: 33.33 Mhz
CPU Voltage BIOS: 1.3625
CPU Voltage Windows: 1.328
CPU Voltage Under Load: 1.280

Click to expand...

I want to go faster, it's bugging me. I have a need... for... SPEED!

Will pumping more volts into RAM, CPU, NB help me?

Bump
I'm working on the problem and looking at this simple 2 picture guide, kind of worries me. Is setting your NB, SB, and FSB Termination that high safe/hot?

RAM is now at 2.0V still at 5-5-5-15

NB SB and FSB Term voltage is only needed for higher FSB not overall speed. Try testing your max FSB with a lower multi like 6x that will minimize the CPU as the limiting factor.

I'm on it

*Wait then why am I at a 333 wall (tried up to 340) for my 9x multi?

Maybe the CPU just isn't up to it That's why you need to test with a lower multiplier to see if the board itself can't handle the FSB, or do some adjustments to chipset voltages to get it stable at a given FSB. *Then do the same at a higher multi to get your CPU up to speed. Also there may be a FSB 'hole' before 400 FSB. Try 401*6 which is near stock speed on the CPU but higher for the motherboard.

Also make sure your Ram isn't running on an up divider which could push it out of stable speed range.

Ahh ok I was wondering about that! (The RAM)
So it's booted into Windoze at 6x400 no problem, I'm going to run ORTHOS Blend on it and see what happens. Temps are 30C idle now.

Do you think 5 minutes blend stable would be enough to test the FSB?

*Load is 44C
**Pic
***Ok, so here's what I got so far.

[2.4] 400x6 = 5+ minutes ORTHOS Blend stable
401, 405, and 410 FSB at 6 multi all do not even boot up to the screen. I have to power off the PSU and reboot to even get into BIOS. RAM was set on "auto" since otherwise would have gone up with the settings. "Options at e.g. 333FSB are (Auto, 667, then it keeps going up)

[3.0] 375x8 = 18+ hours ORTHOS Blend stable
[3.0] 333x9 = 15+ hours ORTHOS Blend stable
[3.08] 385x8 = Rebooted after 10 seconds of ORTHOS Blend
[3.15] 350x9 = Rebooted after 10 seconds of ORTHOS Blend

BIOS settings are this with ratio at 8, and this with Memory at 2.0V, CPU at 1.375V, RAM at 750 and rest of voltages on auto.

My FSB is stuck at 369. The OC I have now is the highest I can get it. 370 and above will not post no matter what I set the voltage or multi to. Someone said it's a motherboard wall because I can hit 3.3 at 9x but I can't hit 3.3 with a lower multi/higher fsb so I'm screwed.

Think a vdroop mod will help? I really want to get 3.6!