Most Cost-Effective but Good Board to Maximize the Power/Overclock of the Q6600 Quad Core?

[Alvin777]

Hello Overclokers friends, the system is overclocked at the moment but the current budget board can only do 10% from 2400Ghz (overclocked to 2600Ghz only) but I'd love to optimize or maximize the Q6600 in the near future for a client for a little as possible (will find a used board but in good condition or new, as in newly designed or new old stock).

What's a good to great but the most affordable board upgrade (the current board would have been alright, had they added a CPU voltage adjustment)that'll push the old but legendary Q6600 quad core w/ an Enermax 460w PSU, budget Kingston DDR3 1600 (4GB x 2).

Or perhaps the CPU itself should be the one to be replaced w/ an unlocked quad core that's good or better than the Q6600 but the most affordable. I will then software overclock it using Throttlestop (w/ voltage adjustment and all that, the Q6600 doesn't show the voltage settings, being locked) so there's no need to replace the current Asrock G41C-GS to keep costs down and whichever is good or better but more cost-effective (they should be replacing the whole system but the budget/financials is the negative almost).

The heatsink is capable & huge (performance equivalent or near to a Cooler Master Hyper 212). They run Windows 11 Pro (22H2, the latest).



Thank you. God bless, Rev. 21:4

 

[EarthDog]

At this point, any overclocking board is good... including the one on offer in your other thread. If you're interested, PM the user (as discussing sales outside of the classifieds section is against the rules).

There aren't any 'new' boards for that old chip. You'll want to stick with P45 chipset (it's been so long, I don't recall others it may work with offhand, sorry).

But buying an unlocked processor for this platform isn't money well spent IMO. Save for a new system as even a new $300 laptop or cheap desktop will smoke the Q6600, even overclocked.

 

[Evilsizer]

if you can still find them, Abit IP35 Pro. The other option cheapest really if you have a motherboard that supports 1333fsb cpus, pad mod. Do you know what Sspec the Q6600? You want the SLACR!

 

[Alvin777]

if you can still find them, Abit IP35 Pro. The other option cheapest really if you have a motherboard that supports 1333fsb cpus, pad mod. Do you know what Sspec the Q6600? You want the SLACR!

Hi. I believe this Q6600 is a G0 version. Thanks. The huge cooler just arrived (it was a grueling weeks to days of research to choose that, I hope it's a hidden gem), God willing I get to really overclock it above 10% which is it's current overclock w/ the current board settings (I found someone who has a better BIOS setting on the same board), our RAM's voltage is the same just different models but same brand (I hope I can copy his RAM settings as well) but I only need to bring the FSB such that that my RAM DDR3 1600 is at 1332 (the next goes to 1334 but the board can only do 1333 on the manual, unless that's 1hz is ok. How much can the RAM go anyway if it's a DDR3 1333 board?)

He used a Xeon CPU though which has a TDP of 80w, vid range of 0.850V-1.3500 (my Q6600 has a TDP of 105w, the new cooler says it can do up to 135w but it may be more than 135w or 28% from the 105w TDP) but with a stock cooler.

His 1st video netted him a 3.2 Ghz (from Xeon's 3Ghz, so just 6%) but in the part 2 video it was 3.9Ghz or 30%


Do I need to cool the chipset with a fan (I don't have anymore 3 pin fan connector and will need to buy a fan and a splitter)?

If I get to make it work with that videos settings at 3.2Ghz w/ a lower FSB (I'm ok with mine being 3Ghz or 25% overclcoekd and the RAM at as a DDR31332 or 1334 (if 1hz above board specs won't damage the board but more is better) as a stretch goal, do recommend a setting that'll improve his BIOS settings w/ my more beefier cooler in mind so it can be faster still, as maximized as possible but stable (I use Aida64 and Heaven for the GPU stress test).

By the way his PCIe is overclocked w/ 4hz more, what's the advantage of that using just MSI Afterburner or another GPU software overclocking app?

If things don't work, I love this HSF for its price, I won't have it refunded but will keep it for future modern CPUs and board (maybe all Intel to celebrate Intel's foray into the GPU focused on ray tracing for ray tracing work and for starting all these CPU revolution- games just on sundays after work. Intel everything: MB, CPU, GPU, RAM, case, PSU if they make those too

Thank you in advance.

 

[EarthDog]

Do I need to cool the chipset with a fan (I don't have anymore 3 pin fan connector and will need to buy a fan and a splitter)?

Nope! Not needed.

By the way his PCIe is overclocked w/ 4hz more, what's the advantage of that using just MSI Afterburner or another GPU software overclocking app?

I don't recall a lot of benefits from overclocking that. You'll get more significant gains actually overclocking the GPU.

 

[Alvin777]

Nope! Not needed.


I don't recall a lot of benefits from overclocking that. You'll get more significant gains actually overclocking the GPU.

Hi. Thanks again. It's currently stable at FSB 285 x 9.

I would guess the next is to increase the voltage of the RAM (may initial goal is to overclock it to reach the board's maximum of DDR3, 1332Mhz or DDR 3, 1333 ). I've tried 1.55v on the RAM (auto for the NB voltage, GTLRef and VTT voltages) but that didn't work.

The RAM is currently at 571Mhz at DDR3 1149 (the other choice is 420 at DDR3 856)

The RAM for some reason is divided into two choices: If I bring the FSB using the 571 RAM the start point, to bring it the RAM to 665Mhz DDR 1332, the FSB would be at 332 (it would exceed the board's 1333 limit by 1hz if I used FSB 333, unless that's still ok w/ just 1hz above board specs). At this setting the CPU would be overclocked at almost 3Ghz.

If I bring the FSB using the 420 the RAM start point, to bring the RAM to 667Mhz DDR 1333 (exact 1333) the FSB would be at 443 (which'll overclock higher at almost 4GHz)

What're your recommended voltages for the RAM, NB, GTLRef and VTT to reach DDR 1333 or very close to it?

(this is in a way good practice w/ overclocking come to think of for later, more modern setups for other clients)

 

[Evilsizer]

i am not sure on the options in the bios you have. if i recall nearly all the G0's can run the 1333 fsb with no voltage increase. on the other side with your ram, said it was 1333 so on a 1:1 ratio the ram will be in spec. for you the G41 chipset is going to be the major factor holding you back. if you get a Abit IP35 pro, post here, i will have to go through past posts. there is a certain bios for that board i would use for overclocking the Q6600 G0. i dont know the exact changes but even though a earlier one supported the cpu the overclocking was horrible. then they did a few new ones, the last one for that board is just trash for that cpu.

overclocking is alot of trail and error, imo the core 2 and 1st gen I's were the best for overclocking(as being able to really get your hands dirty tweaking). only other time before that is the intel P3's, i never used amd so i can not speak for them.

 

[Alvin777]

i am not sure on the options in the bios you have. if i recall nearly all the G0's can run the 1333 fsb with no voltage increase. on the other side with your ram, said it was 1333 so on a 1:1 ratio the ram will be in spec. for you the G41 chipset is going to be the major factor holding you back. if you get a Abit IP35 pro, post here, i will have to go through past posts. there is a certain bios for that board i would use for overclocking the Q6600 G0. i dont know the exact changes but even though a earlier one supported the cpu the overclocking was horrible. then they did a few new ones, the last one for that board is just trash for that cpu.

overclocking is alot of trail and error, imo the core 2 and 1st gen I's were the best for overclocking(as being able to really get your hands dirty tweaking). only other time before that is the intel P3's, i never used amd so i can not speak for them.

Thanks again. This is the motherboard

By the way is it more stable and safer to increase the multiplier or the FSB frequency?

For example if I wanted 3Ghz (from 2.4Ghz) is it safer and more stable to set the multplier low at 6 and the FSB to 500? Or 332 x 9 multiplier.

Also is there a calculation for determining the voltage relative to the increase in the Mhz?

 

[Evilsizer]

you can not raise the multiplier on the Core 2, so you have to raise the fsb. there is no calculation, every cpu is different on what voltage it needs. it is going to be trail and error.

 

[JLK03F150]

The 6, 7, & 8 multipliers are used by Intel SpeedStep (EIST) to allow lower clocks, power consumption, & thermals during idle or light use. Generally, always try to use the highest available multi.
Disable Speedstep while you are trying to find your maximum overclock, then re-enable it once you have found the max CPU clock. How far did you get on the G41 board?

 

[Alvin777]

The 6, 7, & 8 multipliers are used by Intel SpeedStep (EIST) to allow lower clocks, power consumption, & thermals during idle or light use. Generally, always try to use the highest available multi.
Disable Speedstep while you are trying to find your maximum overclock, then re-enable it once you have found the max CPU clock. How far did you get on the G41 board?

Hi, I got it to be stable at 285 FSB x 9, the RAM is around 500Mhz+ DDR3 1000+ (this DRAM frequency is on manual. the RAM installed is a DDR3 1600)
At first the NB voltage was at 1.3v, the DRAM Voltage was at 1.65v and the VTT was at 1.2v but it won't post more than 285 FSB x 9, so I brought everything back to Auto (including the RAM, except the DRAM frequency). Most are on Auto.

I used 3DMark's Time Spy (coz' it records the clock and temp of both the GPU and CPU), the temp is usually at 53C+ but there is a spike at that makes it go up 98C in a scene there but it didn't crash. I'm going to flash the its BIOS from version 1.4 to version 1.4C (it says Beta) which say it has better RAM compatibility (should I flash it, will that help?).

I don't understand though, Time Spy's graph shows that in one scene the CPU clock is at 4.1Ghz (I believe that where the CPU's temp was at 98C but it's just a spike, a brief moment) how'd that happen, some scenes it's at 3Ghz, even though I've overclocked it only to 2.6Ghz in the BIOS? I don't think this CPU has Turbo Boost.

 

[JLK03F150]

I'm guessing that Time Spy is glitching due to the age of the hardware you are running. The Q6600 definitely doesn't have Turbo boost. If I'm benching old hardware I try to use benchmarks that match its age. For example, I'd run 3dMark Vantage or 3dMark11 on your setup for testing purposes.

Futuremark Legacy Benchmarks

Download legacy versions of 3DMark, PCMark, and other Futuremark benchmarks for free.

benchmarks.ul.com

 

[Evilsizer]

dont for get maybe the most used 3Dmark 01SE, maybe it was just me still using it LOL

 

[notarat]

I used the P5Q Pro Turbo back in the day and liked it a lot. I was able to overclock very well with it and it was very stable.