How much farther do you think I can push my Q6600?

[Gerr]

I have a G0 revision of the Q6600 that I currently have running at 3.0Ghz (333 FSB) at stock voltage (1.265V) using a Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro with Arctic Silver Ceramique thermal compound on an Asus P5K-E mobo inside an Antec 900 case. My current temps are...

Load:
58/58/54/54

Idle:
36/36/32/32

I think I can push my CPU a bit further, would like some recommendations on how much higher I can/should push it with my CURRENT hardware. I am NOT buying another HSF, so don't even suggest it. Also, I wouldn't feel comfortable if my temps pass 65* at load.

 

[Nurn]

I'm running 9 x 350 at stock volts, and my temps only went up a couple of degrees from when I was running 9 x 333, so give that a shot. Otherwise, it's just a trial and error process, picking a FSB and cranking up your volts gradually in small increments until you get stable.

 

[Quiksilver]

If your not experiencing any slow downs right now why would you even bother? Just be happy you have 3Ghz.

 

[Gerr]

I am happy with 3Ghz at my temps, but what overclocker is ever happy when they know the item they are overclocking can be pushed farther...=P

 

[Quiksilver]

Yeah true, but it's not going to whole a whole lot farther without replacing the heatsink or switching to water cooling. If it were me i'd rather have the temps under 60C than have an extra 1-3% OC added on...

 

[Gerr]

Well considering the stock Intel HSF usually keeps the CPU at load at around 65*, I presume anything at or under that value is totally acceptable, so I do have a little room to play with.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Try for 3.2!

 

[MadScientist]

What is stock voltage for the Q6600? Does it differ with the MB? MY Abit IP35-E sets it by default to 1.2375vcore at 272 FSB x 9 = 2.448 Ghz. My Q6600 can run stable at 365 x 9 = 3.285 Ghz at my stock voltage.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

up that vcore and go for 3.2ghz. temps r fine as long as u dont hit 72C and vcore max is 1.5volts

 

[MadScientist]

The answer to my question. Q6600 VID (stock voltage) varies with each chip.
Here's a Q6600 VID poll that Graysky did on Bleedingedge's forum. Link My Q6600 VID is 1.2375vcore at the default speed that my Abit IP35-E MB sets it at, 272 FSB x 9 = 2.448 Ghz. The Abit IP35-E has a vdroop between 0.03 - 0.05V. So in CPUZ my 1.2375vcore in bios reads 1.192v idle, 1.160V load. I read on one of the forums that the newer Q6600 batches have low VIDs, making them easier to overclock. It's the luck of the draw on what chip you get.

 

[Idontcare]

Any particular reason you are using AS ceramique verus AS5?

Just curious as it caught my attention. I use ceramique on my vapor phase cooled setup since it is designed to operate at lower temps. But I use AS5 for anything >0°C since the technical specs for AS5 (thermal conductivity, etc) are superior to ceramique.

Am I missing something?

 

[Gerr]

I read a couple of reviews that say Ceramique is a little better than the regular Silver-5 by about a degree or two.

The stock voltage on my Q6600 is 1.265V.

 

[Idontcare]

Fair enough, my own research into using AS5 versus Ceramique wasn't exactly "deep in data" either.

Was asking more so to educate myself perchance you had some info for me to soak up.

Have you seen this thermal paste review at MadShrimps (came out Dec 13)...it is pretty sweet and the dude really took his time to cover the basis. Ceramique is in there.

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=635

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Check again, but I think the thermal specs across the board and between steppings for Conroe or Kentsfield processors are nearly the same.

The temperature to watch is TCASE. If TCASE goes over 60C, you either need to worry about cooling some more, or you should back off in your over-clocking ambitions. With TCASE @ 60C, the core temperatures will be at 70C or higher.

So if you find your peak core value at load is 64C with room ambient of 80F, I wouldn't worry too much.

But the cooler, the better.