Help! Overclocking Q6600 not working!

[shodan21]

I have no idea why, but my Q6600 refuses to overclock. I set the FSB manually in BIOS (to several numbers, including 1080, 1333, and 1600), but when I boot up the machine, a check of /proc/cpuinfo (I'm using 64-bit Gentoo) says 2400.001 (@1600), 2399.998 (@1080), and 2400.000 (@1066) for the CPU Speed (in MHz). I have not messed with voltages other than to set them manually to their default values (instead of leaving them on auto), and I tried it with the RAM unlinked (I have 8GB DDR2-800 RAM). I looked around a few places first and tried the suggestions for disabling NVIDIA GPU Ex, all Spread Spectrums, and manually setting the MCP-SPP reference clock (to 200MHz), but to no avail. This is my first time overclocking, and it's getting to be frustrating.

Also, once I initially put in an overclock, the BIOS decided to quit POSTing except after a press of the reset button. Rebooting from the OS doesn't work, and neither does a cold boot. I have no idea if this is related (I suspect it is), but it works normally after using the reset button.

My specs:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (stock 2.4GHz)
ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus (650i NB + 570 SB)
64-bit Gentoo Linux (2.6.23-gentoo-r3)
8GB (4x 2GB) A-DATA DDR2-800 RAM @ 5-5-5-15-1T
128MB MSI GeForce 7300LE
768MB PNY GeForce 8800GTX
2x 160GB 7200RPM Hitachi SATA-II Hard Drives (RAID 1)
Samsung SATA-II DVD/CD Burner
850W Antec True Power Quattro PSU
Antec 900 Case
Tuniq Tower 120 HSF
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste

For those of you who are interested, my temps are 28-28-22-22 idle and 45-44-34-37 under full load (cpuburn on all four cores).

Any help would be much appreciated!

Edit: I'm not sure if this is the proper forum to post this in (it might be better suited for the help forum), so if this isn't the right place, please tell me.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2057083&enterthread=y

 

[shodan21]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2057083&enterthread=y

I've already read that, and it doesn't help in this case. My problem is that even though I set the FSB higher in BIOS and BIOS says the FSB is overclocked, the CPU isn't. For some reason it's just not taking, and I have no clue why. It doesn't even stick at a QDR FSB overclock of 14MHz (1066 -> 1080).

Basically, either the CPU Speed = FSB x CPU Multiplier formula is breaking, or BIOS is lying to me. Or /proc/cpuinfo is lying to me, but considering my thermal monitors showed no increase in temperature going from 1333MHz FSB to 1600MHz (3.0GHz to 3.6GHz), I don't think it is, unless I have a beast of a chip.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

you don't happen to dual boot, do you? cpuz would be very helpful, but i don't know if there's a linux equivalent.

in the bios, is there a setting (should be near cpu multiplier setting) to switch multiplier to manual? if left on auto, it will downshift the multiplier as you crank up the fsb.

 

[xj0hnx]

I'd say that whatever you are using to read clock speeds isn't reading actual clocks, but just the CPUs information. I haven't messed with Linux in a long time, but there has to be something like cpu-z for it.

Edit: Looks like you can run CPU-Z in Linux under Wine v 0.9.20

http://frankscorner.org/index.php?p=cpuz

 

[shodan21]

Originally posted by: xj0hnx
I'd say that whatever you are using to read clock speeds isn't reading actual clocks, but just the CPUs information. I haven't messed with Linux in a long time, but there has to be something like cpu-z for it.

Edit: Looks like you can run CPU-Z in Linux under Wine v 0.9.20

http://frankscorner.org/index.php?p=cpuz

I thought about running CPU-Z in Wine (I emerged Wine for that purpose, actually, but found some Linux utilities that looked like they worked, but didn't, and I had other stuff to do), but /proc/cpuinfo gave slightly different values for different FSB speeds (although they didn't vary while the computer was on, as CPU speed readings usually do), and I find it quite strange that there was no difference in thermal readings between 3.0GHz and 3.6GHz, and I've kept the voltage at stock 1.28125V (I think that's what it's at, I don't have physical access to the machine at the moment). Anandtech's review of the P5N32-E SLI Plus with a QX6700 couldn't push the board past 360MHz FSB as I recall, and yet I could get it to 400MHz with no voltage change and no increase in thermal output? I find that remarkably strange.

@Boston, no I don't have a dual boot setup, but as john suggested, I'll run CPU-Z in Wine. As for the multiplier, there's no auto setting, only manual (between 6 and 50... oh how I would love to put a C2X in there and have fun with the multiplier...), and it's set to 9. That does sound like a reasonable explanation for what it's doing, but unless BIOS is lying to me about the multiplier, it isn't doing that.

Anyways, I'll run CPU-Z in Wine on it tomorrow morning and see what it says. Thanks for the suggestions so far! I'll keep this updated with whatever CPU-Z tells me tomorrow.

 

[aigomorla]

Well i dont know much about linux but i know hardware.

If worse comes to worse, find a copy of a bootable knopsis. (Did i spell that right?) and run cpu-z under it.

Its like a windows safemode on CD. It should tell you if your overclocked properly.

 

[spinejam]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Well i dont know much about linux but i know hardware.

If worse comes to worse, find a copy of a bootable knopsis. (Did i spell that right?) and run cpu-z under it.

Its like a windows safemode on CD. It should tell you if your overclocked properly.

"knoppix"

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Shodan1 listed this configuration spec:

"ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus (650i NB + 570 SB)
_______________________________

I thought there was a variant of this that used the 680i chipset. [I can't keep track of all these nVidia-based boards.]

First, which BIOS version are you using? When was it released?

We've discovered that with my ASUS Striker Extreme 680i board, BIOS versions after July 2007 do not play well with C2D and C2Q processors that were designed to run at 1,066 Mhz FSB (versus the 1,333 Mhz FSB spec for processors like the Q6850, QX9650, and the anticipated Wolfdale Penryns.)

These later BIOS revisions for the 680i (only thing I can speak to with certainty, but you'd best pursue this as a possibility) -- seem to anticipate Penryn processors, and are touted by ASUS as " . . . improving over-clocking for FSB-1,333 processors."

When we re-flashed BIOS revisions released before August, 2007, the over-clockability of our motherboards was suddenly "restored" to good health -- or to what seems to be maximum potential for the processors we are currently using -- such as the Q6600 Kentsfield.

You'd best go to the ASUS web-site BIOS download page for your motherboard and see if you might flash your BIOS with a revision coinciding with these earlier Conroe and Kentsfield processors -- even those with G0 stepping -- which were designed to run at stock FSB of 1,066.

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Shodan1 listed this configuration spec:

"ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus (650i NB + 570 SB)
_______________________________

I thought there was a variant of this that used the 680i chipset. [I can't keep track of all these nVidia-based boards.]

First, which BIOS version are you using? When was it released?

We've discovered that with my ASUS Striker Extreme 680i board, BIOS versions after July 2007 do not play well with C2D and C2Q processors that were designed to run at 1,066 Mhz FSB (versus the 1,333 Mhz FSB spec for processors like the Q6850, QX9650, and the anticipated Wolfdale Penryns.)

These later BIOS revisions for the 680i (only thing I can speak to with certainty, but you'd best pursue this as a possibility) -- seem to anticipate Penryn processors, and are touted by ASUS as " . . . improving over-clocking for FSB-1,333 processors."

When we re-flashed BIOS revisions released before August, 2007, the over-clockability of our motherboards was suddenly "restored" to good health -- or to what seems to be maximum potential for the processors we are currently using -- such as the Q6600 Kentsfield.

You'd best go to the ASUS web-site BIOS download page for your motherboard and see if you might flash your BIOS with a revision coinciding with these earlier Conroe and Kentsfield processors -- even those with G0 stepping -- which were designed to run at stock FSB of 1,066.

Interesting. I've had issues OC'ing my Q6600 on the P5N32-E SLI Plus. even at 2.6ghz I can't even get Windows to boot before it hangs. My plan is to pull the motherboard out and re-mount it with some new mounts as the ones I used were from an old computer (long story) and I'm worried perhaps there's a grounding issue. After I do that, if I still have no luck, perhaps I'll try downgrading the BIOS.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm not tech-savvy enough to know the ins-and-outs of BIOS programming as addressing chipset design and processor design, but the empirical experience I've had with these BIOS versions is just too robust and significant. "Can't get beyond 2.8Ghz with BIOS v.1305, but v.1101 to 1303 gets me to 3.2 Ghz?!"

So we'd add to our list of Anandtech CPU-overclocking forum platitudes and principles:

"New BIOS is not the best way,
"If your processor was made yesterday."