Overclocking Q6700 to 3ghz need help

So let me start out by giving my system specs. The cpu finally arrived today and this comp will be built tomorrow

Antec Nine Hundred Gamer Case
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700
Asus Silent Knight CPU cooler
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-T1 N680i SLI
Patriot Extreme 4 gigs DDR2 4-4-4-12
OCZ GameXtreme 700watt Power Supply
EVGA Geforce 8800 GT KO
2x WD 160g 16mb cache sata 3.0gb
Windows Vista Ultimate


Ok guys, basically the reason im building a new computer is because there is so many new games coming out that i cant run. Im wondering how much effort it would take to O/C the CPU to 3.0ghz and possiably upping the FSB. Im new to O/C and not sure if and how much I can do it while having it stable and without effecting cpu life drastically. That and not sure how well it can be O/C while being air cooled. The cpu fan is rated pretty good, right with the Zalman 9700.

1. How easy is it to O/C the cpu? How should i do it?
2. Will my cpu fan be able to keep up with it?
3. How do i tell when its stable?
4. Is it worth it to o/c the FSB? How much?
5. How much performance gain should i see from 2.6ghz to 3.0ghz

Nitro said:

So let me start out by giving my system specs. The cpu finally arrived today and this comp will be built tomorrow

Antec Nine Hundred Gamer Case
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700
Asus Silent Knight CPU cooler
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-T1 N680i SLI
Patriot Extreme 4 gigs DDR2 4-4-4-12
OCZ GameXtreme 700watt Power Supply
EVGA Geforce 8800 GT KO
2x WD 160g 16mb cache sata 3.0gb
Windows Vista Ultimate


Ok guys, basically the reason im building a new computer is because there is so many new games coming out that i cant run. Im wondering how much effort it would take to O/C the CPU to 3.0ghz and possiably upping the FSB. Im new to O/C and not sure if and how much I can do it while having it stable and without effecting cpu life drastically. That and not sure how well it can be O/C while being air cooled. The cpu fan is rated pretty good, right with the Zalman 9700.

1. How easy is it to O/C the cpu? How should i do it?
2. Will my cpu fan be able to keep up with it?
3. How do i tell when its stable?
4. Is it worth it to o/c the FSB? How much?
5. How much performance gain should i see from 2.6ghz to 3.0ghz

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Very easy. Your best bet will be 333x9 which will give you a nice boost in memory through put and small boost in clock speed. Is this chip a G0 or B3 stepping?

1. How easy is it to O/C the cpu? How should i do it?
2. Will my cpu fan be able to keep up with it?
3. How do i tell when its stable?
4. Is it worth it to o/c the FSB? How much?
5. How much performance gain should i see from 2.6ghz to 3.0ghz

Click to expand...

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1) Pretty easy, though doing it safely can be a bit more challenging.
2) Not an intel stock heatsink/fan. Buy something better for sure. If you're only going up to 3.0, you won't need anything ultra expensive, but you can probably go higher with better.
3) Run something that demands a lot out of your processor. The favorite seems to be Prime95, and run it for a long time on all four cores. Overnight should be good.
4) They both accomplish the same thing. Your CPU works like this:
Hertz = cycles per second. 1 Hz = 1 cycle per second. If you had a (very crappy) processor that worked with a front side bus of 1Hz with an 8x multiplier, the CPU would do 8 operations for every cycle of the FSB. If you up the multiplier to x10, you will do 10 operations per second. However, if the multiplier went DOWN to 5x, but you overclocked the FSB to 2Hz, you get the same number of operations every second. Though Ocing your FSB will have the added benefit of overclocking your RAM.
5) For gaming? Honestly not a lot. Most games are limited purely by the video card.

Additional point:

As long as you feel comfortable enough to overclock, just get the Q6600, it will overclock just as high as the Q6700 while costing you alot less.

Well the reason i have the q6700 and not the 6600 is because i got the intel bundle. BTW hahahaha at my sig, i really didnt realize its been that long since i logged into this forum, that was 2 comps ago

what are safe temps? idle and underload?

Dude the stock heatsink is totally fine if you're only going to hit 3ghz. Any higher and you'll definately need better cooling, but back before I had my Scythe, my highest stable 24/7 OC with the stock Intel HSF was 3.2Ghz. Anything over that, I had to throw my Tornado fan on the HSF, which was insanely loud. Most people don't even try out the stock Intel HSF and just assume it can barely handle the Q at stock speeds, which couldn't be further from the truth.

The G0 is good upto 71c. As long as you stay under that, then you're fine. If I were you I'd definately get better cooling so you can crank that Quad up there with the big fellas. It can definately do it. With a Scythe infinity, Thermalright Ultra 120E or a Tunique Tower, you'll be able to get a 24/7 OC of 3.6ghz easy, as long as you have a chip that allows it. Chances are, if you have a G0, the sweet spot will be 3.6.

xilix said:

Dude the stock heatsink is totally fine if you're only going to hit 3ghz. Any higher and you'll definately need better cooling, but back before I had my Scythe, my highest stable 24/7 OC with the stock Intel HSF was 3.2Ghz. Anything over that, I had to throw my Tornado fan on the HSF, which was insanely loud. Most people don't even try out the stock Intel HSF and just assume it can barely handle the Q at stock speeds, which couldn't be further from the truth.

The G0 is good upto 71c. As long as you stay under that, then you're fine. If I were you I'd definately get better cooling so you can crank that Quad up there with the big fellas. It can definately do it. With a Scythe infinity, Thermalright Ultra 120E or a Tunique Tower, you'll be able to get a 24/7 OC of 3.6ghz easy, as long as you have a chip that allows it. Chances are, if you have a G0, the sweet spot will be 3.6.

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I got the asus silent knight so i think ill definately be fine

Nitro said:

I got the asus silent knight so i think ill definately be fine

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The silent knight is nice, and should get you to at least 3.4-3.5, not sure about 3.6, as the knight falls a little short when compared to the 120E, Tunique and Inifinity, it's all a matter of how well your chip does thermally at those speeds. I've seen a few peeps get to 3.6 on the knight without issue. Do you have a G0 or a B3? The differences are immense when overclocking these two different steppings of CPU. The B3 tends to be much more difficult to push than the G0.

If you edit video you will see massive improvements as the clocks go up, but as Worm said, for gaming, the latest games are insanely graphics card limited at this stage of the game. You will see increases though. Crysis for me gains a few FPS going from 3.2 to 3.6Ghz, but only a few. Once better graphics hardware comes out,. Crysis and games that are as intense will scale very well.

Let us know how the OC goes.

xilix said:

The silent knight is nice, and should get you to at least 3.4-3.5, not sure about 3.6, as the knight falls a little short when compared to the 120E, Tunique and Inifinity, it's all a matter of how well your chip does thermally at those speeds. I've seen a few peeps get to 3.6 on the knight without issue. Do you have a G0 or a B3? The differences are immense when overclocking these two different steppings of CPU. The B3 tends to be much more difficult to push than the G0.

If you edit video you will see massive improvements as the clocks go up, but as Worm said, for gaming, the latest games are insanely graphics card limited at this stage of the game. You will see increases though. Crysis for me gains a few FPS going from 3.2 to 3.6Ghz, but only a few. Once better graphics hardware comes out,. Crysis and games that are as intense will scale very well.

Let us know how the OC goes.

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Not really sure which g0 or b3. Whichever the Intel Bundle comes with if any 1 on here knows. How do i figure it out?

If you got a retail box, see if the product code includes SLACR at the end. That would be a G0. If not, just download and run CPU-Z.

All Q6700's are G0's.