2.6C owners post here!

I have a 2.6C @ 3.25GHz.... well you can see all my specs in my signature. I can't seem to get it above this without being unstable. The temp stays well below 50C when I take it past 3.25GHz, but just keeps stalling/crashing/BSOD. I have tried upping the voltage (cpu, ram, and even agp) and loosened the RAM timings, but it just won't budge. I've heard that this CPU doesn't overclock as well as the 2.4C and 2.8C. I'm beginning to see this as true. Do you folks think that this is the highest that my 2.6C will ever see? Hey, it's not a bad overclock, I just want to see something around 3.4-3.5GHz. RESPONSES PLEASE!

Surprise, surprise...
Welcome to the club (check sig).
There are some good (even some great) 2.6Cs out there, but from what I've seen most of them will get you only so far.

I'm getting a 2.4M0 to experiment with and I'm also moving to watercooling soon, we'll see if I can squeeze a few more Mhz out of this ****er.

See now, I'm not sure what the deal with all that core stepping junk is. What is the deal with that? (M0, etc)

betterlife18 said:

See now, I'm not sure what the deal with all that core stepping junk is. What is the deal with that? (M0, etc)

Click to expand...

The different steppings are different revisions of the Chip. There are currently, i believe, two steppings for the 2.4C chips. the D1 and the M0. The D1 was the first 2.4C chip out there, but incomparission with the entire P4 line, is one of the best. The M0 is a rare breed of steppings which only comes on the 2.4C and the 2.8C P-4's.. but not all 2.4C and 2.8C P-4's are M0. Overclockers generally tend to look for M0's because they have a greater overclockability on general (according to the useres which have overclocked them). The M0's are apparently just rebinned pentium EE's which didnt make it, but with the cache stripped from them. These M0's, according to intels specs on their website, also have a higher thermal spec. Also, just in case ur looking for an M0 2.4C, you will have to look on the box to find the sSpec of sl6z3.


If you want more information on the different steppings of the chips, then i suggest you do a quick search and read up on it some more. Also, Here you can find the information on the different sSpec-ed intel chips.

Now about your 2.6C, that is a realy nice Overclock! 650MHz is really nice!! But as all overclockers, we just want MORE! well, i think that your chip has reached its limits. 3.25 is a real nice speed. Well, something that you can try if u havent already is changing the multiplier... maybe u have ram that cant make its recommended speeds? and i believe that the PC4000 ram likes very loose timings, so maybe try setting them to something like 3-7-7-7? Just keep on experimenting, and then you will definately know your limit!! btw... your vCore looks kidna high... make sure you have good cooling on it!! cus we all know what high vCore can do =s

anyways
Happy Overclockin


Raven

Thanks for the info. Now I have no idea how I would be able to change the multiplier... and what good would that do? And in the BIOS I brought the timings up as high as possible (3-4-4-8) Where did you get the 3-7-7-7? It's not even an option. I also tried the Vdimm at 2.85 (highest setting) and it still crashed just after starting Return to Castle Wolfenstein. So I'm back down to my original settings (as in signature). I know this OCZ memory can do more than 500MHz, even if that's what it's rated at. Cooling is under control, always under 42C. So how do I change the multiplier???

You can't change the mult on an Intel cpu.

Yeah it is a nice overclock, but it takes the fun out of it when you know there's a definate wall.

Anyway I'm happy with mine even though I can't get the FSB high enough to run my ram at the intended speed with a 5:4. Maybe with a vdimm mod I could pull off 1:1 but I'm not ready for that yet.

I can get mine prime stable at 3.32, but anything more kills it. I guess I should be happy with this as most people can't get above 3.25

abit ic7-g with a 2.6, set it at 250 and boom 3.2. easiest oc iv ever had.

betterlife18 said:

Thanks for the info. Now I have no idea how I would be able to change the multiplier... and what good would that do? And in the BIOS I brought the timings up as high as possible (3-4-4-8) Where did you get the 3-7-7-7? It's not even an option. I also tried the Vdimm at 2.85 (highest setting) and it still crashed just after starting Return to Castle Wolfenstein. So I'm back down to my original settings (as in signature). I know this OCZ memory can do more than 500MHz, even if that's what it's rated at. Cooling is under control, always under 42C. So how do I change the multiplier???

Click to expand...

sorry.. i was just guessin at the memory timings of 3,7,7,7, i couldnt remember the slowest latency. but what i meant is for you to use your slowest settings and test your memory like that.

And as people have stated, you cannot change your multiplier on your intel CPU, unless you have an ES chip (ES = engineering sample). These chips are even rarer then the M0's, and are intel confidential. They are test chips, which intel gives out to certain people to test. The multiplier on these is unlocked so the testers can make certain modifications and tweaks. But usualy intel locks the multiplier so to prevernt us from really unlocking the power of the chip! and no there is no way yet to unlock an Intel chip because the chips are multiplier locked by a laser at the manufacturing plant.

Also, if you feel adventurous, you could do a volt mod for the memory, and then raise the memory voltage higher. This would help you if your memory was the thing that was holding you back, But, i do not think that it is atm. It really does look like your 2.6 chip is at a wall. You probably won't get much more from it, but i suggest you keep on tweaking, and truely isolate the bottleneck (if it is the chip or something else, like maybe ur PSU or motherboard etc)

Other then that, you have an awesome overclock!
Keep that puppy cool, and enjoy your comp


Raven

2.6c running at 3.3Ghz FSB254 Prime Stable. 1.575 vcore. ABIT IC7. Generic 3200 ram 5:4 ratio. Full load temp = 53c. ThermalTake Spark 7+ jumpered full speed.

Kept detailed notes on test runs, tried Everything, won't move any higher.

That's pretty good for a 2.6C.

I also have a 2.6C and can't go past 3.25Ghz stable. I believe it was from the philippines. Try to up voltage of cpu, RAM, all no luck. It seems 250FSB is the limit. I upgraded to SP-94 hoping to achieve 275FSB to go along with my Mushkin PC3500 Level 2, but it owuld not boot at all. Now the RAM is only running at 200Mhz. I don't want to spend any more money on my cpu but I just wished it could go higher than 3.25ghz.