Stability issues Q6600

[Pandi]

Currently running the following:

Q6600 G0 1.325 VID @ 8x425 for 3.4 GHz
1000 Watt Galaxy PSU
2x 8800 GTS 512 Mb (stock to check for cpu stability issues)
XFX 780i
Soundblaster X-Fi
4 Gb OCz DDR3 1600 (at stock atm)
BlackIce GTX 480 (w/8x 230 cfm fans [PUSH,PULL]
D'tek Fusion V2 Cpu Block
DDC 5 Liang Variable Speed Pump

Voltages:
Vcore: 1.4
FSB: 1.4
NB: 1.3

Everything else is still on auto.

Temps at above specs:

IDLE: 32\34\27\30
LOAD: 37\39\34\36
CASE: -5
NB: 36\46 (Idle,Load)

So obviously temps arn't a issue here. I can run all day long with no problems at 3.4 the problem comes when I go for 3.6.

I bump up all the voltages to their greenzone maxes, except Vcore at 1.55 and FSB at 1.5. I load vista fine, but after a few minutes of being idle or whatever I do, I get screen freezes, bsod's coantaining nvidia issues. It leads me to think somehow my PCI slots arn't getting enough power. Anybody have any idea's.

On a less important note, for some reason 9x 400 = 3.6 GHz in windows, but 8x 450 = 4.05 GHz, but not important I don't think. I've tried the 9x 400 and I have same stability issues, so I doubt its my fsb cap.

 

[freeagent]

maybe the board doesnt like running your cpu that fast? ive always been under the impression that nvidia boards were sub-par when compared to intel boards. ive been out of the loop for a few months, so i could be just talking out of my ***

 

[CGR]

Freeagent may be right, I know the previous nvidia boards were bad OCers, I am not sure about the newer ones though..

What about your memory? You may need to set a dividor, or up the voltage there as well.

 

[Anubis_386]

Do you have a 780 or 790i board? You've listed 780i but then put DDR3 ..

 

[baditude_df]

No, It's not the board, unless you got a defective one. It will be a BIOS or CPU issue, assuming the rest of your components are working within spec. I've made it to 3.6GHz without so much as a hiccup, with two separate Q6600's on both 680i and 780i boards. Both were stable for months. They both received BIOS flashes though. In my case the latest BIOS was the best BIOS. Hell, I even made it to 4.0GHz on the 680i long enough to do some quick benches.
Some results posted in this thread:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=569050

When people say that Intel Boards are superior to Nvidia based boards, they are true in some respects(I now use an Intel Chipset),but not to the extent many would have you believe. With FSB overclocks of 450 or less, I could find no stability issues whatsoever.

 

[CGR]

No, It's not the board, unless you got a defective one. It will be a BIOS or CPU issue, assuming the rest of your components are working within spec. I've made it to 3.6GHz without so much as a hiccup, with two separate Q6600's on both 680i and 780i boards. Both were stable for months. They both received BIOS flashes though. In my case the latest BIOS was the best BIOS. Hell, I even made it to 4.0GHz on the 680i long enough to do some quick benches.
Some results posted in this thread:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=569050

When people say that Intel Boards are superior to Nvidia based boards, they are true in some respects(I now use an Intel Chipset),but not to the extent many would have you believe. With FSB overclocks of 450 or less, I could find no stability issues whatsoever.

I think you are part of the few who ddidnt have problems with nvidia chipets and OCing. I have seen many more posts with issues than successes.

 

[Lukee]

I've had issues with my Evga 790i Ultra SLI board when it comes to OCing, but then again, I have heard that if you fill all 4 memory slots that has something to do with the instability.

Btw, I have it for sale if anyone is looking for a 790i board.

I bought an Asus P5Q3 Deluxe/Wifi and managed to get the FSB to 435 with all voltages on auto so I am a happy with the change.

 

[baditude_df]

I think you are part of the few who ddidnt have problems with nvidia chipets and OCing. I have seen many more posts with issues than successes.

It's possible. I think on the most part you're right. It's also possible that people either didn't spend enough time with their boards, or had all of their problems b4 the better BIOS's were released, or one of a thousand other things,gave up and posted crap about them. I'll tell ya though, two seperate processors on two separate boards and nothing but success tells me that they're certainly not as bad as their reputation would suggest.
Also, how many of those issues were because the user was an NVidia noob. I know I've made all kinds of posts with problems and questions with this x48 BIOS. I was completely lost at the start, it was like learning greek compared to the NVidia BIOS. Turns out every problem was fixed either by a BIOS update, or learning what the settings were for and tweaking them.
Let's not forget the many posts made every week by people having issues with Intel Chipsets also.
Regardless, the consensus in the overclocking community seems to be that Intel>Nvidia. Doesn't really matter to me.

I've had issues with my Evga 790i Ultra SLI board when it comes to OCing, but then again, I have heard that if you fill all 4 memory slots that has something to do with the instability.

Btw, I have it for sale if anyone is looking for a 790i board.

I bought an Asus P5Q3 Deluxe/Wifi and managed to get the FSB to 435 with all voltages on auto so I am a happy with the change.

You need a few more posts in the forums to sell stuff here, and even then, it would need to be done in the classifieds.

If you put it on Ebay, I'll throw in a bid though.

 

[Pandi]

Thnx for the help guys, I tried out removing one of my 2 of ram sticks and playing around with oc'ing it just seems like my board doesn't want to hit over 3.4 and be a good board about it. Sorry for the typo yes its a 790i, its wierd though, when I bought this board I read the reviews about ocing, and heard that it has a lot of stability issues. I bought it because like the above post my 680i did stable 3.6 for the longest time. When I upgraded the onlything I switched out were the ram sticks. Is it possible to overvoltage your pci slots, I think I'd be willing to give it a try, oddly enough If I hook up a second psu, and jump it to just my cards, I don't seem to have the bsod's.

 

[baditude_df]

Hmmm, interesting.

I know that this board has been having all kinds growing pains, but that's the same as the 680i when it first came out. By the time the better BIOS came out, the board was already a generation old.
That being said, I also know there are people on these forums having good luck with the 790i.
Anyhow, not sure about PCIe voltage adjustment in that BIOS. I know I can adjust it in my Gigabyte Intel BIOS, and have already done so.

 

[Pandi]

I managed to figure it out, even though the bsod errors were nvidia, they were infact cpu errors, I was just playing around with voltage settings, turned up the Vcore a tad more, and walla no more issues, its at 1.65 but thats what I get for a 1.325 VID. Im still trying to figure out why putting the cards on a second psu managed to stabilize it?

 

[Anubis_386]

It sounds like your PSU simply isn't supplying enough juice .. If adding a 2nd to power the GPUs stops the BSOD's then that's proably your problem ..

Stability with 4 DIMMS (especially at speeds 1600+) and overclocking to higher FSBs with a Quad are pretty common with 790i boards. I had a lot of trouble .. Something that usually solves it is to set the SPP to 1.45v and the MCP to 1.65v, if this doesn't help things then you're goingto need to lower the speed of your RAM and loosen up the timings a bit.

The 790i chipset is a great clocker although it is riddled with problems .. Benching it under LN2 really makes it shine