Q6600 3.2GHz - High Voltage requirements

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astralsolace

Junior Member
Dec 3, 2007
23
0
0
I'm in the process of trying to find the best balance between overclocking speed and temperatures. My computer build is as follows:

Q6600 overclocked to 3.2GHz (8x400), 1.46V. [1.350VID, highest I've ever seen.)
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB 120mm CPU Cooler
Abit IP35 Pro
4x1GB Corsair XMS2 PC-6400, running at 1:1 DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12, 2T.
Corsair VX550W power supply.
GIGABYTE GV-NX88T512HP 8800GT-512MB.
WD Raptor X 150GB SATA HDD.
Alienware case (ATX, not sure which version, 2 intake fans on the front, 1 intake fan on each side, 2 exhaust fans in rear and also the power supply exhaust in rear)
---------------

My temps are about:

Idle:
37
38
37
39

Load:
58
58
58
60.


My load temps are a little higher than I'd like and I want to avoid lapping the heatsink/chip if possible. But any attempts to run the Q6600 at less than 1.46v result in Prime95 errors or even BSODs. At 1.46v, it's perfectly stable.

Is there any way I can get the voltage down and up the other voltages? ICH/Northbridge/etc? I've been hesitant to touch them because, quite frankly, I don't know what their limits are or what they really affect.

I've reseated the Tuniq tower--I'm sure it's on perfectly, and I used Arctic Silver 5. (Around 160 hours ago). Besides lapping the chip, do I have any other alternatives, if I can't lower the voltage?

Thanks for any and all advice.
 
T

The-Noid

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2005
3,117
4
76
Some chips clock better than others.

Also depends on how the voltage/drive is to the chip from that board.

Anything <70 is fine though. I wouldn't worry too much.

Some chips have a built in drive by Intel that is higher and a lower VID.

VID has become aterm by overclockers to put an intrinsic value on overclocking that can't be put on.
 
S

SanDiegoPC

Senior member
Jul 14, 2006
460
0
0
My setup is the same, save for the Tuniq Tower. I am using the stock HSF on a Q6600 with G0 Stepping.

I'm still running 1.3V to the CPU and have no issues yet.

My system:

Abit IP35-Pro
Q6600 @ 3.2 (400*8)
Corsair PC6400 (1:1 = factory RAM spec)
Ram Voltage 2.125
GE Force 8800GT
(2) 500MB Western Digitals
(5) 80mm Case Cooling Fans

Four of my case fans are in the front of the case, blowing over the hard drives. The last one I have in the side of the case also blowing inward, right over the CPU. The only exhaust fan on mine is the Thermaltake 750W power supply at the moment.

What happens when you have the CPU at lower voltage? Completely unstable? what about when you run 333x9 for 3.0G? I've had mine there for days until today, when I upped it to 3.2
 
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astralsolace

Junior Member
Dec 3, 2007
23
0
0
I figured out my problem. I went to buy a PCI card that I configured so it would blow air up at the tuniq tower.. and noticed that my two intake fans on the front had been unplugged when I installed the tuniq tower.

My old temps were without air coming in the front--only the two side fans. Heh.

Well, with the PCI fan and enabling both front fans, my new temps are, at 3.2GHz @ 1.46V:

Idle:

35c
33c
30c (occasionally dropping into the 20s!)
33c

Load:

46c
45c
44c
47c

Huge difference. With this, I'm thinking I can push it to 3.4GHz and see how that works out. Quite a relief.
 
G

Gomeler

Junior Member
Jan 12, 2008
9
0
0
There you go, those are pretty good temperatures. As said above just keep the load temperatures below 70C and you'll be fine. 3.6GHz should be possible, especially with a TT120. NB volts tend to help with memory overclocking, ICH sometimes helps with high PCIe frequencies, but Vtt and VFSB will help with clocking your quad if you hit a wall. Just increment them slowly, I typically run ~1.5v on both under sub-ambient cooling but on air I've never needed to raise them above the default settings.
 
Quiksilver

Quiksilver

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2005
4,725
0
71
Something you didn't specify was what stepping Q6600 you have(B3 or G0). With how much voltage you have to pump into this thing it sounds like you go yourself a B3 stepping or your motherboard has a horrible vDroop, then again I could be wrong.
 
I

Idontcare

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
21,110
59
91
Originally posted by: astralsolace
I'm using a G0. How do I measure vDroop? I've read vDroop isn't actually a bad thing.
Click to expand...

Download CPU-Z. Install, launch.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

On the "CPU" tab you will see "Core Voltage". This is telling what the CPU's Vcore is at the moment.

Note the value when your system is at idle.

Then load Prime95 and launch the torture test for "Small FFT".

Let it settle into iteration 3 (takes ~3minutes) and note the Core Voltage reading in CPUz. This is called your "Vcore at load".

Subtract Vcore at idle from Vcore at load, this value is your Vdroop.
 
T

Tempered81

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
6,374
1
81
cpu-z is like the standard for measuring volts aside from a digi mm. LOL you can try coretemp speedfan everest cpuz any of them.
 
X

XBoxLPU

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2001
4,249
1
0
Originally posted by: astralsolace
Read here on the forums that CPU-Z isn't a good prog for measuring volts. But in response to XboxLPU, using a VANTEC SP-FC70-BL. I reversed the fan blow so it blows up on the Tuniq Tower.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835888112
Click to expand...

Thanks I had to reverse the fan direction on my AFC7 when I installed the GB-DSL3 so now it is facing towards the video card instead of the memory and temperatures are hotter than before.

How did you reverse the fan flow?
 
A

astralsolace

Junior Member
Dec 3, 2007
23
0
0
I unscrewed the panel, flipped it the other way and screwed it back on. Voila, airflow flowing up.

However..


I noticed that my BIOS, for some reason, had reset to defaults. My previously reported lowe temperatures were because the chip was running stock frequencies--2.4GHz.

I put the settings back where they should be, and even with the front fans now running, I'm getting the same temps: high 30s idle, high 50s load (core 4 gets up to 60-62, though.)

I'm virtually 100% certain the heatsink is seated properly. The tuniq tower is on there unbelievably tight, and I very carefully applied the AS5 exactly as the instructions said.

Is it possible the chip itself is incorrectly seated? When I installed it, I heard an odd crunching noise--I was afraid I was damaging the chip by misaligning it, but it works perfectly and checking google shows other people have heard the weird crunching noises. None of the pins are bent/damaged..

I'm at a loss. Maybe I just have to accept that my chip hotter than most.
 
I

Idontcare

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
21,110
59
91
The crunching noise is normal, that is the small needle like pins in the socket sliding just a tad on the landing pads on the backside of your CPU.

If you had installed the CPU wrong in any way, even slightly skewed, the system would not post no matter what. So the fact you are posting and getting into windows is plenty of proof your CPU is installed correctly into the 775 socket.

Now if I understand your posts correctly, you are running high 50's to low 60's with small FFT in Prime95 at 1.46V and 3.2GHz. Correct? If so then I got to tell you this is nothing to be unhappy about.

I have 5 G0's here, VID range from 1.2625 to 1.2825 and they all hit 3.3GHz at ~1.35-1.40 Vcore. I cool them with Tuniq's and AS5. The temps are 65-68C on small FFT. So not much different than your situation.

Yes you did get a high VID, the highest Intel spec's actually, but you seem to be doing just fine despite that.

One thing you can do is lap your IHS and HSF. I lapped one of mine and it dropped the load temps about 5C. Did not increase my OC though as I am FSB limited on the mobo.
 
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