OC Q6600@3.6 I want MORE

[chevmaro]

So as my CPU is aged I am really wanting to upgrade. But I cant afford it right now. So instead I want to squeeze out every last bit of life this thing has left. Longevity is less of a concern now because I see myself upgrading when the new chips come out. I have been running it 333x9 at stock volts and have been happy with it for the last two years. Over the weekend i pushed it up to 400x9 at 1.45 volts. Running around 55C under load. What is the max volts and temps recommended for this cpu?

Setup
MOBO: Asus P5Q-E
CPU : Q6600 G0, 1.325 VID
Ram: Cheap DDR2
Video: 4870x2
PSU: Antec Quattro 1kw

 

[Seero]

So as my CPU is aged I am really wanting to upgrade. But I cant afford it right now. So instead I want to squeeze out every last bit of life this thing has left. Longevity is less of a concern now because I see myself upgrading when the new chips come out. I have been running it 333x9 at stock volts and have been happy with it for the last two years. Over the weekend i pushed it up to 400x9 at 1.45 volts. Running around 55C under load. What is the max volts and temps recommended for this cpu?

Setup
MOBO: Asus P5Q-E
CPU : Q6600 G0, 1.325 VID
Ram: Cheap DDR2
Video: 4870x2
PSU: Antec Quattro 1kw

Anything under 1.5 is, in theory, safe. If longevity is not of concern and your setup is capable of spreading heat ...

 

[chevmaro]

Failed Prime. I'll have to play with it a bit more. How much heat is too much?

 

[TurtleCrusher]

You're not going to get much higher than that without a good increase in voltage, which I would advise against.

3.6ghz is a great OC on air for that quad. How could you ask for more than a 50% overclock in a quad? Look at just about every other 65nm quad and hardly anyone tops that.

 

[MichaelD]

Speaking of "longevity..." I need to update my sig but my Q6600 ran at 3.2GHz@1.40v for years. It got flaky about 6 months ago. System would just freeze up and/or BSOD. Replaced the PS with a Corsair 1Kw and tried increasing CPU voltage...no go. OK, so I put it back to stock speeds. Ran great for about 5 more months. Then, the system started to not boot every time from a cold start or restart. It's gotten worse; now I'm afraid to reboot b/c it might not come back up. CPU or MB? Dunno, but I think I killed it/them good.

B/C DDR3 is so expensive, and b/c I already have 8GB of good DDR2 I'm buying a decent LGA775 MB and a Q9550.

Overclocking is like any drug; addictive and harmful in the end. If you're willing to deal w/the consequences, go for it. I'm not too pleased ATM. :'(

 

[Acanthus]

Sig, on water.

 

[Acanthus]

Speaking of "longevity..." I need to update my sig but my Q6600 ran at 3.2GHz@1.40v for years. It got flaky about 6 months ago. System would just freeze up and/or BSOD. Replaced the PS with a Corsair 1Kw and tried increasing CPU voltage...no go. OK, so I put it back to stock speeds. Ran great for about 5 more months. Then, the system started to not boot every time from a cold start or restart. It's gotten worse; now I'm afraid to reboot b/c it might not come back up. CPU or MB? Dunno, but I think I killed it/them good.

B/C DDR3 is so expensive, and b/c I already have 8GB of good DDR2 I'm buying a decent LGA775 MB and a Q9550.

Overclocking is like any drug; addictive and harmful in the end. If you're willing to deal w/the consequences, go for it. I'm not too pleased ATM. :'(

Age is an issue in your case if you have been running that Q6600 since launch.

Abit does not use solid state caps (or didn't, they are gone now). I would look for bulging or leaking caps on the motherboard. The fluid is usually brown. It is fairly unlikely that you CPU needs replaced or that overclocking is at fault.

3 years is the line on cheap caps.

 

[MichaelD]

Hi Acanthus,

I agree about age being an issue; I bought this Q6600 (new) specifically b/c it was a certain stepping known to be a great OC'er. I never got to 3.4GHz, but was very happy with 3.2. It was so fast that I saw zero need to move to i7.

I was inside my computer case probably a month ago and didn't notice anything wrong w/the MB. Also, the IP35 Pro uses all solid caps. It was a pretty expensive MB when I bought it. http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=IP35+Pro&fMTYPE=LGA775

So I don't think it's a cap problem. Do you really think it's my MB and not the CPU? It would be nice to just buy a cheap MB and have a good system again.

Age is an issue in your case if you have been running that Q6600 since launch.

Abit does not use solid state caps (or didn't, they are gone now). I would look for bulging or leaking caps on the motherboard. The fluid is usually brown. It is fairly unlikely that you CPU needs replaced or that overclocking is at fault.

3 years is the line on cheap caps.

 

[Acanthus]

Hi Acanthus,

I agree about age being an issue; I bought this Q6600 (new) specifically b/c it was a certain stepping known to be a great OC'er. I never got to 3.4GHz, but was very happy with 3.2. It was so fast that I saw zero need to move to i7.

I was inside my computer case probably a month ago and didn't notice anything wrong w/the MB. Also, the IP35 Pro uses all solid caps. It was a pretty expensive MB when I bought it. http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=IP35+Pro&fMTYPE=LGA775

So I don't think it's a cap problem. Do you really think it's my MB and not the CPU? It would be nice to just buy a cheap MB and have a good system again.

My mistake on the caps issue.

I have never seen a CPU fail in my life that wasnt abused beyond belief. Either a user running a CPU without a heatsink or at voltages in excess of 20% over the makers quoted "safe ceiling."

I can't promise you that the motherboard is the issue, but in my experience it is far more likely the culprit than the CPU.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks very much, Acanthus. I can tell you I've never been above 1.41 volts, it's never been run w/o a HSF and my case has excellent cooling. That just stinks that a $250 MB died like that. Well, let me rephrase; it's not dead, but dying. I guess I could buy a cheap LGA775 MB and see how that works. Much cheaper than a MB+CPU. Thanks again for the help.

 

[soccerballtux]

My mistake on the caps issue.

I have never seen a CPU fail in my life that wasnt abused beyond belief. Either a user running a CPU without a heatsink or at voltages in excess of 20% over the makers quoted "safe ceiling."

I can't promise you that the motherboard is the issue, but in my experience it is far more likely the culprit than the CPU.

IP35's are known to develop attrocious vdroop. Most likely the OP's chip is getting less voltage under load than it used to. OP, use CPU-z to monitor the voltage at idle/load. Put the multiplier at maximum (IE, disable SpeedStep) and tell us the voltage. Then tell us the voltage when you load all 4 cores up with Prime95. My bet is it's dropping a lot.

edit: oops, OP doesn't have IP35 board, that's someone else.

OP, I experienced the same problem as you on my IP35-E (same power electronics as the Pro), noticed that my voltage under load in CPU-z had dropped from 1.48 to 1.46ish at times. Bumped the voltage up a notch and I was fine.

 

[MichaelD]

@Soccerballtux: Thanks for the tip. Would the voltage be drooping at stock speed though? I currently have everything in the BIOS set on AUTO...far cry from my OCing days, but thats' the only way this system is semi-stable (seems to be).

ps
Sorry for the thread hijack.

 

[MichaelD]

C1E and EIST are disabled. I'm not sure what the idle voltage is supposed to be (can't remember that far back) but at idle it's 1.31. With P95 TT running I get 1.27. How bad is it?
Should I manually set the CPU voltage to something higher? Like what? This stinks, but I sure appreciate the help!

 

[MichaelD]

Bump.

 

[Caribbean Geek]

I also agree with Accanthus, to kill a CPU it requires quite a lot of effort and mishandling. Try to increase your Vcore a bit having your CPU temps in check. I used to have a QX6850 which is basically an unlocked Q6600 G0 stepping and I had to increase the Vcore up to 1.45V to make it run stable at 3.60GHz. Try to increase the Vcore in small steps until you reach a good stability point. You could buy the Asus P5Q series if your mobo is dying, they have solid capacitors and overclocks well, don't buy the standard P5Q which comes with only 1 PCI-E 16x, buy from P5Q PRO and above.

 

[Acanthus]

Raise your vcore slightly above whatever the board is doing by default (the CPU assigns that value through the VID). .025v should be enough to do it if droop is the problem.

 

[dbcooper1]

You might also want to get some additional cooling on those MOSFETs around the CPU as that's probably causing the problem and will likely continue to degrade otherwise. An overclocked 65nm quad draws a bit of current and stresses them so some air and/or heatsink might help you out.

 

[MichaelD]

In the BIOS, I currently have the voltage set to Auto and C1E/EIST disabled. I don't know what the stock voltage is supposed to be, so I don't know what the MB "thinks" it's setting the voltage at. I.E. I don't know how much droop I have, so I don't know what I'm supposed to raise it to in order to compensate. I hope that makes sense. :\ I know the CPU is a Step B0 if that helps. Advice?

 

[dbcooper1]

CPU-z should tell you what voltage should be going to the CPU.

 

[Acanthus]

CPU-z should tell you what voltage should be going to the CPU.

This.

 

[MichaelD]

Doesn't CPU-Z report the voltage the CPU is receiving, not what the voltage is supposed to be? The voltage it's receiving might not be what the CPU is spec'd to receive. I.E. exactly what's happening in my case. Thanks.

 

[soccerballtux]

@Soccerballtux: Thanks for the tip. Would the voltage be drooping at stock speed though? I currently have everything in the BIOS set on AUTO...far cry from my OCing days, but thats' the only way this system is semi-stable (seems to be).

ps
Sorry for the thread hijack.

yeah it'll droop under load at stock, too.

 

[soccerballtux]

You might also want to get some additional cooling on those MOSFETs around the CPU as that's probably causing the problem and will likely continue to degrade otherwise. An overclocked 65nm quad draws a bit of current and stresses them so some air and/or heatsink might help you out.

I disagree. Power mosfets are rated for 125C. I doubt his are getting that high.

 

[soccerballtux]

In the BIOS, I currently have the voltage set to Auto and C1E/EIST disabled. I don't know what the stock voltage is supposed to be, so I don't know what the MB "thinks" it's setting the voltage at. I.E. I don't know how much droop I have, so I don't know what I'm supposed to raise it to in order to compensate. I hope that makes sense. :\ I know the CPU is a Step B0 if that helps. Advice?

If you've got it at auto and without load it's at 1.31v, then the motherboard is probably giving it 1.3125 or 1.325v. Then under load you're dipping to 1.27v. So, if you set your voltage in your motherboard to 1.3625v, then you should have about 1.35v in CPU-z before loading, and 1.31v after.

 

[soccerballtux]

Doesn't CPU-Z report the voltage the CPU is receiving, not what the voltage is supposed to be? The voltage it's receiving might not be what the CPU is spec'd to receive. I.E. exactly what's happening in my case. Thanks.

I think you can figure it out with the processor unloaded-- ie the proc doesn't use much current/power when it's not doing anything/when it's just idling.