Help m overclock my Q6600

Help me overclock my Q6600

Hi I'm kinda to new to overclocking and I've been reading a lot of guides and forums.

I'm trying to get my Q6600 from 3.0 to 3.6. I was able to get Vista to boot and start prime 95 but worker 4 stops running within a minute. So it still needs some adjustments.

Below are my specs.

Motherboarsd: AsRock P45TurboTwins2000 (has FSB jumpers for default, 1066, 1333 and 1600). Currently set to 1333.

CPU: Q6600 Stepping B with G0 family I believe. I'm at work typing this.
CPU VID: 1.2375V
Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120

RAM: 2x2GB DDR3 1333 OCZ Intel Extreme RAM set to 7-7-7-24 1.77V at 1333 in BIOS

Case: NZXT Zero 2
Fans: 7x 120mm and 2x80mm

My motherboard has AUTO, LOW, Middle, High and Highest for NB, SB, SB 1.1, VTT, GTLREF.

I set all these to HIGH and CPU Voltage to 1.56xxx which is read as 1.46-1.50V in CPUID.

Running Vista Ultimate x64.

Question is, is it ok to get my voltage near 1.6V? I don't run my pc 24/7 like some people. I use it for 5 hours straight daily the most.

Any help would be appreciated. I would like to get it 3.6 stable and run Prime95 with no problems.

SPREAD Spectrum disabled and intel speedstep disabled.

At 3.6 with 1.56xxV temps are 42-45C idle on all cores and around no more than 70C full load.

dont really have much time today but 1.6 is probably an early death for a Q66 the dye is made to handle up to 1.50v and thats still not good news.
note. a good few Q66 wont do 3.6 anyhow.
70C at full load is killing it for sure, naughty naughty
maybe aim for 3.2 - 3.3 should get that with a bit of luck.
I set to 1.50v for a short while to see what it could do but then took it down as low as possible and still be stable.
theres also other features in bios you can disable why you find your way.
I think your thrashing it at the moment with no luck by the sounds of things, please be carefull.
doesnt sound like your motherboards a great candidate for clocking either.
sorry but im out of time to help here... got to go do stuff
someone should be along to help out soon.
go steady until other people fill you in on the details... got to go for a couple of hours, then i`ll check in on your progress
later...

BobbyBubblehead said:

dont really have much time today but 1.6 is probably an early death for a Q66 the dye is made to handle up to 1.50v and thats still not good news.
note. a good few Q66 wont do 3.6 anyhow.
70C at full load is killing it for sure, naughty naughty
maybe aim for 3.2 - 3.3 should get that with a bit of luck.
I set to 1.50v for a short while to see what it could do but then took it down as low as possible and still be stable.
theres also other features in bios you can disable why you find your way.
I think your thrashing it at the moment with no luck by the sounds of things, please be carefull.
doesnt sound like your motherboards a great candidate for clocking either.
sorry but im out of time to help here... got to go do stuff
someone should be along to help out soon.
go steady until other people fill you in on the details... got to go for a couple of hours, then i`ll check in on your progress
later...

Click to expand...

Thanx. I will try 8x 400 at 1.425V when i get home in 5 hours from now and I'll update on the progress.

I know I should of gotten a better motherboard but this will do fine for 3.2-3.4 for now until i get a X58. Thanx.

good stuff mate I need a breather tonight was gonna PM you but apparently your stats are `johnny nobody` #Laughs#

few friends of mine have lost there mother today and its been hard work so im on me time basically.

take it easy with the overvolting and have some fun mate.

later...

BobbyBubblehead said:

good stuff mate I need a breather tonight was gonna PM you but apparently your stats are `johnny nobody` #Laughs#

few friends of mine have lost there mother today and its been hard work so im on me time basically.

take it easy with the overvolting and have some fun mate.

later...

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that mate.

Here's the settings that worked for me so far.

In BIOS:

CPU Frequency: 405
Multiplier: 8
CPU Voltage: 1.48750V (shows as 1.352V in CPUZ)
NB: High
SB: High
SB 1.1: High
VTT: High
GTLRef: 0.67 x VTT

RAM: DDR3 1348
Timings: 7-7-7-24
DRAM Voltage: 1.77V

So far Prime95 tests are going and I need more time for it to go. I'll leave it where it is at 3.2Ghz for now and continuw testing it because 3.6 just fails prime even with cpu voltage of 1.6 in BIOS.

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq355/c0rnel/test.jpg

http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq355/c0rnel/test2.jpg

Just remember you need to put more voltage in to your nb-sb

set the q voltages at 1.45 and set it to 3.3 then do prime watch your voltages

Chase007 said:

Just remember you need to put more voltage in to your nb-sb

set the q voltages at 1.45 and set it to 3.3 then do prime watch your voltages

Click to expand...

So at 405x8 it turns out Small FFT Prime95 testing goes fine for over 30 minutes but Large FFT tends to have a worker not running within a few minutes.

I'm gonna try putting NB, SB and VTT to Highest and put cpu voltage to 1.45V and test that.

I believe this motherboard isn't great for overclocking quads like others told me so I'll try not get take it higher than 3.2Ghz.

Problem is, finding that stable spot and right voltage combination so prime95 will pass.

I would suggest using the 9x multiplier with a lower FSB. I know you'd like to run your memory as fast as possible, but the higher FSB puts added stress on the board. Besides, most of the performance benefit comes from overall CPU speed, not higher FSB. In other words, it's definitely not worth sacrificing CPU speed just to run a higher FSB.

That being said, my G0 Q6600 couldn't quite hit 3.6 GHz on air, at least while running voltages with which I felt comfortable. I settled on 3.4 GHz, which I could run with just a slight bump in voltage, and it has been running strong for over a year.

KillrBuckeye said:

I would suggest using the 9x multiplier with a lower FSB. I know you'd like to run your memory as fast as possible, but the higher FSB puts added stress on the board. Besides, most of the performance benefit comes from overall CPU speed, not higher FSB. In other words, it's definitely not worth sacrificing CPU speed just to run a higher FSB.

That being said, my G0 Q6600 couldn't quite hit 3.6 GHz on air, at least while running voltages with which I felt comfortable. I settled on 3.4 GHz, which I could run with just a slight bump in voltage, and it has been running strong for over a year.

Click to expand...

K. I'm gonna try 378x9 at 1.3 like your setup or 1.4 and 1.45V tonight and ill try setting the ram to 800, 1066 and 1333Mhz and see if I can get it stable.

I think I should leave the FSB jumper set to 1600FSB instead of 1333 cause it's closer to 1600. Thanx.

OK. So below are my different trials and errors and it seems that it's more stable at the 3.4Ghz mark 380x9, ram at 800 Mhz, auto timings and highest for nb, sb, vtt and gtlref. So for now i'll leave it here and continue testing.

3420.x25 (380.03x9.0) up to ~1.42V for the cpu won’t boot into Vista and Blue screens. NB, SB, VTT, GTLREF= All on High, ram at 1333Mhz

3420.x25 (380.03x9.0) at 1.45000V in BIOS - get in Vista but fails Prime95 large test and BSOD.
NB, SB, VTT, GTLREF= All on High, ram at 1333Mhz

3420.x25 (380.03x9.0) at 1.50000V (1.44 in CPUZ) in BIOS - get in Vista but blue screens with 10 seconds of larget ftt test in prime95. NB, SB, VTT, GTLREF= All on Highest, ram at 1333Mhz

3420.x25 (380.03x9.0) at 1.53125V (1.464 in CPUZ) in BIOS, set ram to AUTO timings and 760 MHZ – boot into Vista, prime95 seems to run fine 45C idle, 60C load , NB, SB, VTT, GTLREF= All on Highest


3420.x25 (380.03x9.0) at 1.53125V (1.392 in CPUZ because of ram change?) in BIOS, set ram to AUTO timings and 1013 MHZ – boot into Vista, prime95 says worker 4 stopped 45C idle, 60C load , NB, SB, VTT, GTLREF= All on Highest

3420.x25 (380.03x9.0) at 1.53125V (1.47 in CPUZ because of ram change?) in BIOS, set ram to AUTO timings and 1066 MHZ – boot into Vista, prime95 says worker 4 stopped 45C idle, 60C load , NB, SB, VTT, GTLREF= All on Highest

3602.81Mhz (400.31x9.0) at 1.53125V (1.47V in CPUZ) in BIOS, set ram to AUTO timings at 800Mhz, - booted into Vista but blue screened in prime95 and worker 4 stopped rightaway

3602.81Mhz (400.31x9.0) at 1.60000V (1.53V in CPUZ) in BIOS, set ram to AUTO timings at 800Mhz, booted into Vista. Idle 50C. Worker 4 stopped but no blue screen in Prime95 while running larget ftt test.

Im also new clocker and ofc i hit my head to problems. I notized max bus speed i can set is 370 which is weird. 371 causes doubleboot and bluescreen. Max speed i get is 3330.2 MHz. I tried many different combinations with volts but i didnt succeed. Can u tell where are possible problems in my computer/settings:

That set works.
Extclk 370
Core V 1.3750 (tried up to 1.4850V)
Cpu Vtt 1.20 (tried also 1.23V)
DramSpeed Default (DDR2-1080*)
MCH 1.25
ICH 1.05
ICHIO 1.50
DDR2 Ref 0%
CPUG... both are defaults: 67%

= 3330.2 MHz

I tried to set more volts but it didnt work in anyway. I tried bus speed up to 400 without good result. Always double boot and/or bluescreen. I tried also different dividers for dram (1:1, 1:20, 1:25) I have chatted with guys who uses their system with bus speed 500 MHz and got 4.4 GHz out with same processor, mobo and cooler what i have. Means with air cooling! Not 24/7 stable tho. Highest 24/7 stable was sharp 4.0 GHz. Stressed with Orthos.

*) Why that value changes when changing bus speed value? It changed up to 1800, and is there max value i should not exeed?

Few pics to see: (coretemp and cpu-z both show different value for frequency. Why is that? Enemy Territory runs on background.)

Your MCH (NB Voltage) seems a bit low, try raising to about 1.35-1.38.

Also your Vcore is dropping off, disable intels vdroop.

Your processor is dropping to 1.33V under load, and I highly doubt getting 3.4+ at that voltage.

Not knowing what your VID is, I will just assume its 1.325, that means at stock voltage 1.325 you should be running at 2.4 GHz.

Vdroop lowers voltage as the processor is under load.

I recommend reading the sticky for over-clocking quads.

I tried to find answers why I cant go over 370x9 but I didnt quite find it. VID is 1.325. If i disable that vdroop thing doesnt that mean my computer runs all the time with high speed? Well I dunno is it so bad.

Is it cuz of wrong/too low voltages I get bluescreen if I set fsb over 370? Then I read some post about setting higher mhz to processor using core voltages. It has a list like:

x.xx = 3.0 ghz
x.xy = 3.1 ghz
x.xz = 3.2 ghz

etc up to 3.9 ghz

I really dont get it cuz when i set more voltages to cores it stays at 3333 mhz? I can set higher mhz only when i set higher fsb. There must be something i didnt understand.

EDIT:

I dunno what i did different at this time cuz now i can set higher fsb. Not much higher but some. From 370 to 380.

New corespeed 3420MHz@380x9. Rated FSB 1520MHz

Voltage Values
CPU Core 1.38 V (in bios 1.4250. I didnt disable energy saving thing yet)
DDR2 2.100
DDR2 Speed 1:1 (DDR2 - 776) CPU-Z: DRAM Frequency 380MHz
CPU VTT 1.23 V
MCH 1.29 V (almost 1.3 as u suggested
ICH 1.09 V
ICHIO 1.50 V

If I set any of voltages lower or higher that gives a bluescreen so everything isnt ok yet? It is game stable atleast. I didnt run Orthos yet but I played 3 hrs ET with max graphics and nVidia settings was set to max. The game was smooth like a babys butt. Anyways do u see any oopsies in my settings?

Temperatures (load)
Motherboard 26 °C (79 °F)
CPU 36 °C (97 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 45 °C (113 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 31 °C (88 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #3 37 °C (99 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #4 35 °C (95 °F)
PWM1 39 °C (102 °F)