Considering overclocking my Q6600 GO...

[mvbighead]

So what little research I did, most people seem to think this chip should overclock quite easily. What I would like to to check is the remainder of my components, and to see what I should shoot for.

Asus P5Q SE/R MB
RAM is Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 (2 x 2 GB)
Antec Neo Modular PSU 430 watt PSU
XFX 4870

I am still running the stock fan, and assume that would have to change to reach the types of OCs most refer to.

Also, will OC-ing affect the software RAID on my motherboard? I've heard that OC-ing can screw with your PCI timings and throw other things off. I am a total newb to overclocking, but figure if I can get 3 GHz or better out of this CPU, why not. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[spdfreak]

The easiest way to get 3GHz out of your Q6600 is to just set the FSB to run at 1333. Since that is a standard FSB ratio you should have no problems with PCI or memory timings. Most MB's let you lock those in the bios anyways. You will probably need a better cooler though. I can run my Q6600 at 2.8 on the stock cooler with no problems but at 3.0 and above, the stock cooler cannot keep up.

 

[jaggerwild]

So what little research I did, most people seem to think this chip should overclock quite easily. What I would like to to check is the remainder of my components, and to see what I should shoot for.

Asus P5Q SE/R MB
RAM is Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 (2 x 2 GB)
Antec Neo Modular PSU 430 watt PSU
XFX 4870

I am still running the stock fan, and assume that would have to change to reach the types of OCs most refer to.

Also, will OC-ing affect the software RAID on my motherboard? I've heard that OC-ing can screw with your PCI timings and throw other things off. I am a total newb to overclocking, but figure if I can get 3 GHz or better out of this CPU, why not. Any help is greatly appreciated.

You will need a good after market cooler,(Prolimatech Megahalems) plus it is advised(PSU) to have more than enough power(StealthXStream OCZ700SXS). Those are just suggestions, always good for you to pick your own.My thinking is you'll be doing more than just that set up if you get the required results.
The PQ5 is a good over clocking mother board though I have heard that it has many feature, witch leaves many options for over clocking. Best advise when over clocking is have a pen and note pad handy, write down what you are doing I.E. increasing the north bridge voltage to raise the FSB. It is better to only change one thing at a time in the bios, so if the OC fails you have a good idea of what it is(changing several will leave you confused) as to why the failure.

As my dad always said " DO YOUR HOME WORK" anything in this life that you may ever do is worth doing right, always remember google is your friend! In other words READ READ READ, the Buffalo Bills went to four super bowls in a row (HOW? you may ask) practice practice and more practice!!
The temperatures will dictate what kind of OC you will be getting so the better CPU cooler the higher your over clock will go. I advise you to back up your OS as I have torn through many OS's by simply raising the voltage on the motherboard. A good shadow copy tool is very hand and can safe you hours of headaches, Norton ghost is one of many.
You memory will over clock but if your looking for big FSB'S then I'd suggest getting higher ratted memory(there very cheap now too as DDR3 is out).
There are several ways to cooler things(CPU, GPU, case, etc..) Air is the first and simplest, then water cars using liquid cooling systems and so do computers(always be careful). If you are then as long as you don't put voltage to a wet component, you will be fine. I've had to dry out a few items after spilling water on them(no biggy). And finally liquid nitrogen( better known as LN2) witch is the most extreme of all the cooling but will yield the greatest results more times than not, if you go this way here is some good reading
http://www.xtremesystems.org/ .
Also read the stickies in this forum up top http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=47089
More than anything is remember to always have fun, keep your expectations low and you will not be disappointed! Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Netopia]

Just FYI.

A couple day ago I decided to OC my Q6600 G0, (8 Gigs DDR2 800) and all I had to do was raise the FSB to 400 and change the memory multiplier so that the memory stayed at 400. No bump in core voltage, stock heatsink.

Been running stably in a work environment (no gaming or the like) for about a week now. From 2.4 -> 3.2 instantly. If you're gaming and such, you will probably need better cooling, but if your G0 is like mine, it should be very easy.

Joe

 

[RussianSensation]

Netopia, Q6600 has a multiplier of 9x. So 400 FSB x 9 = 3.6ghz. It's unheard of for Q6600 to overclock to 3.6ghz on stock voltage. You must have a golden egg!

 

[yuchai]

I actually think that the stock HS/F is sufficient for 3.0Ghz if you have good case cooling. I've done that myself without any issues.

 

[SanDiegoPC]

Just FYI.

A couple day ago I decided to OC my Q6600 G0, (8 Gigs DDR2 800) and all I had to do was raise the FSB to 400 and change the memory multiplier so that the memory stayed at 400. No bump in core voltage, stock heatsink.

Been running stably in a work environment (no gaming or the like) for about a week now. From 2.4 -> 3.2 instantly. If you're gaming and such, you will probably need better cooling, but if your G0 is like mine, it should be very easy.

Joe

Yeppers. I have one that's been running with factory HSF ever since they came out, at 3.4GHz. It is a great machine and almost as fast as this one I'm typing on (in my sig).

 

[mvbighead]

Another question is should SpeedStep be turned off? I would suspect that it down-clocking when idle would be good for heat/stability, so it would only get stressed while gaming or doing some heavy processing. I just don't know if that down-clocking would be too much of a variable in the clocking of the CPU that would throw things off...

Thanks to all for their input thus far.

 

[Netopia]

Netopia, Q6600 has a multiplier of 9x. So 400 FSB x 9 = 3.6ghz. It's unheard of for Q6600 to overclock to 3.6ghz on stock voltage. You must have a golden egg!

Mea culpa! My bad.... I reduced the multiplier to 8x and forgot to mention that. the 3.2Ghz is the correct speed that I'm running at.

Joe

 

[mvbighead]

Tried last night for a brief few minutes to push it up to 3.0. I'm guessing I need to bump up the voltage on the CPU, as I was keeping the RAM at stock 800 speeds. Is this a correct assumption, or might I have something else wrong? (System locked up booting into windows. Crashed during the Windows audio that plays just before you get to the desktop.)

 

[RussianSensation]

Ya, push the Vcore if necessary to 1.312-1.34 (or so). Should be good enough for 3.0ghz.

 

[mvbighead]

Thanks, I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

 

[ljtatej]

You also might need to put the memory divider to 1:1 to eluminate ram problems until you get it stabilized. Then bump it up if you are under 400 fsb

 

[mvbighead]

You also might need to put the memory divider to 1:1 to eluminate ram problems until you get it stabilized. Then bump it up if you are under 400 fsb

From what I understand in my motherboard's BIOS, I can configure the RAM speed separately from the CPU FSB increase, so the RAM stays at stock speeds. I believe it autoconfigures the divider to do this, but I am a noob to OCing so I could very well be incorrect. I just know when I boot, the BIOS tells me the memory is running at DDR2-800 speeds (or there abouts). I did notice on one boot that it read 837 or some such speed, but I got back in and adjusted it to set the RAM back to 800 speeds. Thanks for the tip, and please let me know if you think I am incorrect in my assessment.

 

[yuchai]

From what I understand in my motherboard's BIOS, I can configure the RAM speed separately from the CPU FSB increase, so the RAM stays at stock speeds. I believe it autoconfigures the divider to do this, but I am a noob to OCing so I could very well be incorrect. I just know when I boot, the BIOS tells me the memory is running at DDR2-800 speeds (or there abouts). I did notice on one boot that it read 837 or some such speed, but I got back in and adjusted it to set the RAM back to 800 speeds. Thanks for the tip, and please let me know if you think I am incorrect in my assessment.

You have to be careful about the settings. A BIOS setting of 800 does not necessarily mean that it is auto adjusting the divider to fix the speed at 800Mhz. On my board, choosing that setting with a 266 FSB CPU (like the Q6600) means that the memory is running a 3:2 divider regardless of the actual FSB that is being set, as it always assumes that FSB is at stock value. So, if I choose FSB 333 with 800 memory speeds, the actual speed that the memory is running would be 1000Mhz.

Might be worth verifying actual memory speeds by using CPU-Z.

 

[mvbighead]

You have to be careful about the settings. A BIOS setting of 800 does not necessarily mean that it is auto adjusting the divider to fix the speed at 800Mhz. On my board, choosing that setting with a 266 FSB CPU (like the Q6600) means that the memory is running a 3:2 divider regardless of the actual FSB that is being set, as it always assumes that FSB is at stock value. So, if I choose FSB 333 with 800 memory speeds, the actual speed that the memory is running would be 1000Mhz.

Might be worth verifying actual memory speeds by using CPU-Z.

I can certainly see your point. The one thing I noticed when first tinkering with the settings was that the memory speed would be reported by the BIOS as what appeared to be its current running speed. So my first adjustment to the FSB of the CPU did result in the memory being listed as something different than 800 (like 833 or something similar). Went back in and specified 800 on the RAM, rebooted, and the ram showed as 798 or something much closer to 800. I am assuming that it is adjusting the divider, but haven't yet confirmed with CPUz because it crashed before it booted up.

I just couldn't find anything that was listed explicitly as a divider, so I can only assume that the MB is doing the math to get the memory as close to the specified speed as possible.

 

[yuchai]

I can certainly see your point. The one thing I noticed when first tinkering with the settings was that the memory speed would be reported by the BIOS as what appeared to be its current running speed. So my first adjustment to the FSB of the CPU did result in the memory being listed as something different than 800 (like 833 or something similar). Went back in and specified 800 on the RAM, rebooted, and the ram showed as 798 or something much closer to 800. I am assuming that it is adjusting the divider, but haven't yet confirmed with CPUz because it crashed before it booted up.

I just couldn't find anything that was listed explicitly as a divider, so I can only assume that the MB is doing the math to get the memory as close to the specified speed as possible.

Try setting it to 533 and see if you can then boot into windows? I think that 3 Ghz should really be no sweat for a G0. Also, check that the HS/F is mounted properly (hate those pushpins!!)

 

[solofly]

My Q6600 is a little devil. I'm running it at 3ghz heavily undervolted. Loads into Windows at 3.6 defualt voltage no problem...

 

[solofly]

Netopia, Q6600 has a multiplier of 9x. So 400 FSB x 9 = 3.6ghz. It's unheard of for Q6600 to overclock to 3.6ghz on stock voltage. You must have a golden egg!

I'm very close. My Q6600 loads windows at 3.6 at stock voltage though I didn't do anything more than that...(that's with quiet air cooling btw)

 

[RussianSensation]

I'm very close. My Q6600 loads windows at 3.6 at stock voltage though I didn't do anything more than that...(that's with quiet air cooling btw)

That's an amazing chip. I settled at 3.4ghz and that's with mid 60s temps on Tuniq Tower 120 at the time. 3.6ghz required > 1.4V and temps skyrocketed into the 70s, which I didn't think was worth the 200mhz increase in speed at the time. You still using the Q6600? You should sell this gem!

 

[VirtualLarry]

That's an amazing chip. I settled at 3.4ghz and that's with mid 60s temps on Tuniq Tower 120 at the time. 3.6ghz required > 1.4V and temps skyrocketed into the 70s, which I didn't think was worth the 200mhz increase in speed at the time. You still using the Q6600? You should sell this gem!

I only require 1.325v LLC enabled on my DFI X48 mobo with my Q6600 G0 to get to 3.6Ghz, but with a Tuniq Tower 120 as well, my temps can get up to 90C during OCCT:linpack. Prime95 only gets to like 75C.

I can do 3.3Ghz on stock voltage (1.25-something?) and temps get to like 60C.

 

[TDHELLER]

Very Noob question here this is my first OC on this chip...
And I cant get a Q6600 -GO above 2.6ghz stable no matter what I try?!
It Posts and boots OK at 9X289 but anything more and
"Overclock or overvoltage Failure enter setup" message.
Tried the most conservative ASUS "AI Overclock" in the BIOS setting at 10% oc for a conservative test and still failed.
I don't think 8GB of Ram is the issue, I've seen posts here with that much and no problem. I have maxed the Memory at 2.25v and throttled down to 887mhz, but still no post above 289. CPUv is at 1.25 stock and FSB was not boosted-is that the prob?
Do I just have a bad chip clock or am I missing something very basic??
Like Lapping the CPU Heatsink??
Any advice from the pros here is appreciated.
BTW I have screenshots of CPUZ and Sandra if they would help.
Thanks for your help
Tim

RIG:
ASUS-P5WDH deluxe - Intel Q6600@2.7Ghz - Zalman ps9700 Cooler - 8GB OCZ DDR2 - Antech NEO 850 PS - Thermaltake Mozart TX Maxi-Tower Case - Asus GTX260 Video - HP2207 display(1680X1050) - 4 various sized Seagate Hdd - Lite-on CDR/W - Lite-on DVD R/W - 3.5FDD(?) - Vista-64 Pro -Office 2007 - Opera 10.10

 

[Athadeus]

The Asus AI overclock tool sucks, if you haven't tried manually, that is your problem. I had an 775 Asus board with a P4 2.8C and it couldn't even do 10% stable with that feature, but I was able to get 25% pretty easily with good cooling and manual settings.

I'd go for a reasonable yet more common value like 333, should be fine with that cooler. If that OCZ is rated at 2.1-2.2v then I guess you have to keep it around that high, but I don't enjoy that (I just have 2x1Gb Corsair 1.9v). Try locking your RAM at whatever speed it is rated for now. Check your temps in the bios first thing after setting that higher FSB just encase your chip is poor, and if Windows boots, run a test and let us know your temps.

 

[TDHELLER]

Thanks Athadeus. Yes I kinda know about the ASUS tools being junk but that was just a Last Resort try without success.

I've tried locking the Ram at 837(?) since that was the one setting in the drop down box I thought looked reasonable, or as close to 800 as possible (DDR2 800 RAM) I hope that was right? OCZ Forum recommended 5-5-5-18 and 2.2v so that has been it most often. Also noted MRBIGHEADS advice above and see in CPUZ I am running 4:5 divider but cant seem to find that in BIOS.

BIOS Version is AMI 2704 could I get more flexibility with a newer or different BIOS?
Seems like it should work since it was most stable available when I last tweaked it.

Last point, I have tried 333 and 334 but has NEVER posted at this speed let alone boot.
Ive tied to include screenies of the tools but I'm having a problem with size.

Thanks for the Ideas I'll get back.

 

[Modelworks]

333 is a tricky setting to get to boot on some motherboards. I have a gigabyte p35-ds3l that wouldn't do it until a bios update fixed that. My Q6600 will run at 3.2Ghz if I up the chipset voltage by .1 and the memory by .1