Q6600 "GO" processor system build

[Hans Gruber]

I selected the MSI P35 Neo2-FR LGA 775 Intel P35 motherboard with the GO version of the Q6600. I have a Thermaltake Soprano case and will be cooling the quad core with arctic silver 5 and a Tuniq 120 Tower.

I have OCZ Platinum Revision 2 4GB (4X1GB) DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-15 Dual Channel memory.

I will be assembling all this stuff this weekend. My question is what should I expect for a stable overclock? Is 3.6Ghz asking too much for this processor?

I have a C2D E6400 2.13Ghz processor running rock solid stable at 3.2Ghz on a Gigabyte 965P-DS3 board. I only had to up the voltge to 1.375v for stability.

I'm hearing people who have their Q6600's running at 3.6-4.0Ghz.

I have both MSI and Gigabyte motherboards so the $15 rebate friom MSI sealed the deal.

Does anybody else have the above motherboard and processor? Any tips or suggestions would be helpful.

 

[jeffw2767602]

I dont have your mobo but I would imagine any p35 mobo would overclock about the same. From the reviews ive read that seems to be the case. Mine will do 3.6GHz easy at 1.43v with temps hovering around 60c during Prime95. 3.6GHz is not asking too much from this chip, however, it isnt the sweet spot for this chip either. After running mine a 3.6GHz for a couple weeks and seeing no stability problems whatsoever, I decided to lower the multiplier to 8x and that allowed me to drop the vcore to 1.26v and the heat down to 45c load and 30c idle. In my opinion that is the sweet spot for this chip, but once again I had no trouble with 3.6GHz, i just prefer less heat.

 

[Hans Gruber]

If I back off the multiplier by 1x down to 8x then my ram will need to run at 450fsb. Should I divide the memory to keep my timings at 4-4-4? I assume the OCZ ram will run 900mhz at 5-5-5 for sure.

I will give it a shot. Thanks for the tips. I had no idea lower the multiplier and raising the ram speed would lower core temps.

 

[jeffw2767602]

I think you misunderstood, and i didnt really explain it that well either. I lowered my multiplier to 8 and kept my fsb at 400mhz, so im only running at 3.2GHz. It would be impossible to get 3.6GHz with a 1.26vcore....so I apologize for leaving that out. Anyway, lowering your multiplier and raising your fsb wont create less heat, I just decided to go with 8x400 as opposed to 9x356 so i could run my ram at its rated speed. At 3.6, 9x400 will create just as much heat as 8x450. In fact, 8x450 may create more heat because you will have to raise your fsb and northbridge voltages.

 

[Hans Gruber]

I got it, you're running at 3.2Ghz. Did you ever get up to 3.6v with voltage increases or was that a mistake?

My OCZ ram is supposed to hit 1000Mhz at 4-4-4. 950Mhz as well at 4-4-4 timings. The board and Q6600 arrive tomorrow.

 

[Hans Gruber]

I don't have a clue how to overclock the Q6600 on this MSI board, but I'm at 3.0Ghz with no voltage adjustments.

The biggest problem for me so far has been Vista Ultimate 64bit. Microsoft still hasn't figured out how to make Vista 64bit usable. Everything has to have a signed driver.

 

[Hans Gruber]

Hello, myself.

I'm now stable at 3.2Ghz with stock timings and 4-4-4-12 at 980Mhz. I'm the best!

 

[drakore]

Gigabyte boards are much better btw...

3.2 is decent.

 

[PAPADOC]

I have my Q6600 G0 running at up to 3.87 Ghz 430 FSB, it's not Orthos stable but i can do all my windows stuff so it's ok.

at that speed i have the chip running with 1.6v

MOBO --> Gigabyte P35-DS3R rev. 1.0

 

[Hans Gruber]

I was only posting my stock voltage overclocks. I just added 2 more GB's so I'm up to 4gb. I also have a Gigabyte 965P-DS3 motherboard. Considering I have both MSI and Gigabyte, I don't really care which is better. Both run C2D's at 3.2Ghz.

 

[Hans Gruber]

Ok, I'm up to 3.3Ghz with stock voltage at 1.25v I turned up the northbridge to 1.425v and the FSB Vtt to 1.3v. I've got OCZ 1GBx4 running dual channel 4-4-4-12 at somewhere around 880Mhz. On Super Pi 1M i got a score of 15.900 seconds.

These numbers are using bios version 1.1 I have heard 1.2-1.3 are terrible and there's a beta 1.4 bios out there somewhere.

What's the best overclock for the Q6600 without raising the Vcore on these GO processors?

I didn't think I would get 3.3Ghz at 1.25v