Overclocking q6700 issue

[cpusuck]

I have an issue ocing my computer.
Q6700@3.1 GHz(1260MHz fsb)
evga 680i mobo
pny xlr8 pc1066@1080.233MHz@2.2v/ 5-5-5-15 unlinked
evga 8800 ultra
tuniq tower 120
thermaltake armor extreme
enermax galaxy 1000watt psu

Friend of mine told me to ask you folks so here it goes. At idle my cpu runs at 44C and at load around 54C to 60C. When I try to push the cpu past 3.1 things get unstable. 3.2 is the highest ive gotten it without it rebooting or locking up, but that doesnt last long once the load hits it, it will shut down after 5 minutes of bioshock at 3.2.
My question is, am I screwed with a cpu that just cant hack it, or did I fail to use the artic silver correctly, and this tuniq is working as efficiently as it should. Or am I just an idiot whose missing something big? I read everyones setups on here that are close to mine and everyone with a tuniq tower seems to have way better cooling, leading me to think I did something wrong there? Should changing the cpu multiplier do anything better than were I'm at? Thats all I can think of. And the computer runs great at 3.1(it does get hot though), I just cant handle being at 3.1 whether I need it or not. I got the itch to go further. Please help.Please.Please.

 

[TC91]

did you try upping the voltage a little? i think u might be on stock voltage still.

 

[cpusuck]

I'm sorry, I should have paid more attention to what I was writing. I've uped the voltage all the way to 1.5v. The only resonse I've gotten is more heat then I already have. I lowered it back to 1.4v and the system reacts exactly the same as it did at 1.5v, only less heat. Not by much though, maybe 1 or 2 degrees C. In my endless search I read along the way somewhere that over 1.45 is getting a bit dangerous, so I stressed that one out a bit. Not saying that I believe everything I read, I'm just not sure what to expect. This is my first real attempt at getting serious about clocking. I was thinking about investing in a coolit freezone. Any suggestions on that either? I talk too much.

 

[Sled]

You have 680i and i have 965P chipset but i think there'll be some similarities (since i don't know exactly how's the BIOS structure in 680i). There's an option in BIOS to upping the FSB voltage and/or Northbridge voltage. Try to find this and give more voltage on them. They can give more stability. And start to take care Northbridge temperature.

1.5 is kind of high for this CPU, it's better to keep it less than 1.4. Here's what you can do, lower the multiplier, punch up the FSB.

 

[Don66]

Could be the mobo.
The 680i mobo is know to have overclocking issues with the quad core line.

 

[Sled]

Originally posted by: Don66
Could be the mobo.
The 680i mobo is know to have overclocking issues with the quad core line.

Any source for that statement ?

 

[cpusuck]

I'll start by trying to lower the multiplier. I dont really understand how that works, or how its beneficial. Can someone explain that to me?
I played with the voltage a little on the north bridge and the FSB. Heres where they sit:
FSB: 1.3v
HT(SPP-MCP):1.3v
PCI-E:1.3v
Northbridge:1.5v
Auxillary( dont know what this is for):1.5v
Which ones should I try first and what is the highest they should go?

 

[Don66]

Originally posted by: Sled

Originally posted by: Don66
Could be the mobo.
The 680i mobo is know to have overclocking issues with the quad core line.

Any source for that statement ?

Yeah do a google search or do a search here or Hardforum, EVGA forum, and any number of enthusiast boards..

I also had an EVGA 680i that wasn't stable with my QX6700 and overclocking.

 

[Acanthus]

Motherboards without cooled mosfets tend to overheat when OCing quads.

 

[cpusuck]

O.K. here we go. I pushed the FSB up to 1.4v, no change. I changed the multiplier from 10 to 9 and uped the FSB till it was running 3.1 and it blue screened on me. I changed the multiplier to 8 and it blue screened at 2.8. While I did this I pushed the cpu voltage to 1.45 and it only made things more unstable. The only thing positive is that I kept my cpu/ memory unlinked and uped the memory from 1080MHz to 1100MHz and that made things a little faster according to 3DMARK07. All the while the temps got 3 or 4 degrees C higher. Im guessing thats why its so unstable, I think its just cooking the cpu. It hits about 60C and things shut down. Also, will it help to up the northbridge southbridge bus speed or is that a futile effort? Any suggestions? Does anyone think that this thing is running too hot with a tuniq tower 120 on it? I still think I might have used too much artic silver. Anyone try the coolit freezone?

 

[Acanthus]

Do you have any air moving across the mosfet heatsinks? (the thin black ones around the CPU socket)

From your temps and cooling i think its safe to say you have a B3 stepping?

 

[Shimmishim]

i haven't messed around with a 680i board in a while but...

some obvious questions that people are missing...

which version of the board are you using? A1? AR? etc...

A1/T1 should be better for o/c-ing quads than the AR/TR versions (assuming you have the full 680i and not the LT version)

too much voltage can actually hurt you sometimes due to extra heat being generated. For a Q6700 at a mild 3.2 ghz o/c, i would think you wouldn't need anything more than 1.35 volts.

for now, try to isolate your issue to the cpu. run your mem/fsb linked so you're doing 1:1.

stick with the 10x mult for now. lower mult = higher fsb = more stress on the motherboard.

try increasing your fsb voltage to 1.4, HT to 1.45, NB to 1.45 (or less - 680i chipset boards generate a lot of heat off the NB),

 

[cpusuck]

OK, to start, the board is an A1. I returned the multi to 10 and locked the FSB/MEM at 1:1. It only made it to about 2.9GHz before the system refused to boot. My memory makes it to about 1200MHz at 2.2v before it refuses to cooperate any longer. I also played with the voltages as you said. The cpu actually did much better at 1.35 temp and performance wise at 3.1GHz. The overall system did alot better uping the voltage to the HT, FSB, and the northbridge. Strangly its running 2C cooler on the northbridge now and scored about 175 points higher on 3Dmark 07. But, somewhere there is still a problem, the cpu still idles at 42C at 3.1 and shoots to around 58C under load. At 3.2, it will run and do meager tasks well, but as soon as I try to start gaming or running 3dmark, it makes it about 5 minutes, blue screens, and reboots. I bought the cpu about a month and a half ago, I dont know if that says anything about what kind of stepping I might have, so hows the best way to find out? I cant tell you guys how much I appreciate the help. Any other suggestions? By the way, this was my first time actually applying the thermal paste myself and Im not sure if I used too much or not. I can guarantee that I didnt use to little though. Think it might help to redo the paste a little thinner?

 

[bryanW1995]

60c isn't hot at all for a quad. try prime 95 on all 4 cores at 3.1 and see what temps do. If you're getting into high 60's then temp is your problem, if it's closer to 60c then there is another problem.

I've seen a LOT of posts here about 680i mobos and quad overclocking problems. I seem to remember reading several AT articles when p35 first came out that mentioned this, too, which is one of the main reasons that I went for p35. Gary Key writes a lot of the AT mobo articles and infact just co-authored the DFI article that showed up today. Maybe you can contact him and get his opinion.

 

[cpusuck]

Ill try that. Ill run prime 95 while I'm at it. The reason I mention the temps is because none of the problems I have happen when the temps stay below around 56C. After that temp, things go wrong. I know that isn't a very high temp, but it makes me want to try something....anything to drop the temp. Ill try Gary though. Thanks a bunch, Ill post how the prime 95 goes.