Q6600 - How hot is too hot?

[JoLLyRoGer]

Admittedly I'm not a long time overclocker. I come here with my hat in hand as just another nOOb with a cookie-cutter C2Q setup and a nice Mobo that came with tools to make the job all too easy.

So far I'm running stable at 3.2GHz but I'd like to push higher. The problem is my core temps already seem a little too high as it is. Any recommendations on how to get things a bit cooler on my setup without switching out the HSF. And, I'm getting conflicting information between Core Temp, uGuru, and SpeedFan when it comes to reporting core temps. Who's right?

I've done some reading on the voltages and I get the part about temps increase exponentially with vcore. I'm also not sure about some of the other voltages though.

I was running my ram at 1.8 and things were a little flakey past 3GHz so I went to Corsair and read that the ram is tested at 1.9 so I bumped that up to 1.9. And as far as DDR, MCH 1.25, ICHIO 1.5, CPU VTT, and ICH 1.05 go, how heavily do these voltages factor into CPU Temps?

Also, what are some good stable reference vcore voltages vs. Q6600 CPU speed. I know a lot of you guys are running similar setups as me. What are the voltages vs. speeds you're using? 1.35 seems like way overkill just to go 3.2 with a G0 Kentsfield but I looked at uGuru's stock setting (which was 1.30) and the "turbo" mode (which was 1.45) and just picked something in-between.

I've attached a screenshot with all my diagnostics running to give you guys a better picture of what I've got going on and rig specs are in my sig. Suggestions on where I can improve?

Thanks!
JR..

Screenshot

 

[SystemPlue]

3.3ghz is the sweet spot for my Q6600..... it barely passes 60C on full load using Prime95

3.4ghz i think i had to set the Voltage to 1.45 to get it stable... my cores would be 68-71C at full load =(

to me it wasn't worth it.... i could get 3.2ghz stable @ 1.3v lower then my VID of 1.325v

this is my first time overclocking so i am very happy with the outcome =)

 

[Dadofamunky]

Here are my thoughts. Others may disagree.

You have excellent air cooling. BUT:

SpeedFan is not necessarily accurate for reporting temps. You should also add CPUID's Hardware Monitor to your setup. Right now, SpeedFan shows me 23-24 degrees under load while HWMonitor shows my cores at 37-38 degrees. I trust the higher reading, myself. SpeedFan is too forgiving, in my experience.

Check the HSF seating. Your temps appear to be a little high. Also, I assume you're using thermal paste... Too much paste can actually harm cooling. At 3.2 GHz, I can't believe the CPU would be at 51C in SpeedFan. It's probably gonna read much higher in other programs. Something's funny there.

Also, check the BIOS readings for temps - it should have a page for that, Hardware Monitoring or something like that.

However, BIOS temp measurements are notoriously inaccurate. Use it at most to check against the software programs.

The RAM is definitely not overheating - in fact it's running under capacity. Have you tried running the chip at an 8 multiplier? 8x400 on that beast should be like taking candy from a baby.

I think you could *** possibly *** bump the voltage down one notch for the CPU and keep your current speed.

If 3.2 GHz is your ceiling, then heck, at least it's a 3.2 GHz quad!

 

[j0j081]

what is the max safe stable load temp for this cpu? I have a friend who has one stuck in an HP and it idles quite warm compared to some of the temps I see posted, around 47 or 48 C.

 

[flexy]

uhm....load temps is very complex subject...but short: There is no such thing as a "real" current CPU temp with the current Intel CPUs (like Q6600), what coretemp/realtemp read is actually whats called "Distance to TJMax"....whereas "Tjmax" is about the highest temp, when the CPUs start to throttle. For an Q6600 *assumed* 95 degrees.

So...every current temp program assumes a certain TJmax (Intel doesnt give out the exact info!!) and then "calculates" the so called "real temperature" from this. Eg. we have "distance to Tjmax" = 68deg, the only "real" info we get from the sensors.
Assuming that TJmax is 95: this makes (95-68==27) "real" core temp == 27. But how some programs get this number can vary. Some prgorams assume TJmax 100 degrees, some 95...etc..etc...and this explains why sometiems the calculated "real temp" can vary 5 or 10 degrees +/-.

Anyway...let's keep it simple...with coretemp (which i use as a reference) i'd say that everything below 70/core is actually fine. I always keep it below 70C.

 

[flexy]

>>>
Also, what are some good stable reference vcore voltages vs. Q6600 CPU speed. I know a lot of you guys are running similar setups as me. What are the voltages vs. speeds you're using?
>>>
this is impossible to answer since this not only varies from batch to batch, but can even be different from CPU to CPU, same batch.
Some CPUs need lower Vcore, some higher, stock even.
As a simple rule i'd say, for under air, i'd give it a max. 1.45Vcore for 24/7 operation. How high it can get then with this depends on CPU. Some need 1.5+ to come even close to3600, some can overclock 3600 with 1.2V.
VTT and the other voltages dont influence CPU temps a lot, AFAIK. I alway keep VTT a notch below Vcore. Btw. i dont think of 1.3V as overkill....as said <=1.45 is fine,in my personal opinion. I need 1.45 to go to 3537.

Edit: 68 at only 1.3 and 3200 *is* high...anything wrong with your cooling?

 

[Ratman6161]

Mine will go to 3.6 Ghz at 1.4 volts and run completely stable. The problem for me at that speed/voltage is that the fan spends a lot more time running at full speed and its just too noisy for my taste. So I have stuck with 3.0 Ghz. I noticed that if I set the vcore to Auto on my particular board/cpu combination, the bios and CPUz say its running at 1.28v. At 3.0 Ghz its completely stable at that voltage so I decided to try to unvervolt it to see it I could make it cooler and quieter. But no luck. If I take it out of Auto and set voltage manually, the lowest setting available it 1.325 - which still results in 1.28 in the bios and cpuz. So it looks like the 1.28 is as low as it will go.

Temperatures at those settings are about 32 sitting at idle, about 36 - 37 sitting here web browsing, and top out at about 60 under load testing. This seems like a pretty good place for me to be. It would definitely go a lot higher if I was willing to put up with the fan noise (at 3.6 it topped out at about 66 under load) but I like the quiet.

 

[felang]

Well, I got a q6600 G0 off of newegg about 6 months ago and it turned out to be a really bad chip. The VID on my chip is 1.3 volts, and although I can get to 3.6 i need to feed it 1.55 volts in bios (a little less than 1.5 idle according to CPU-Z). The temps go over 70 with OCCT with my fan running at max rpm. I settled at 3.2 ghz with 1.35 in bios. Can't really notice any difference during everyday use to tell you the truth, and temps rarely go above 50 full load.

I guess I should of bought the retail package instead of OEM... never making that mistake again!

 

[Ratman6161]

Originally posted by: felang


I guess I should of bought the retail package instead of OEM... never making that mistake again!

There is no difference between the retail and OEM cpus themselves. The retail chips come with a warrantee from intel which is longer and a cooler (which you will toss in the trash if you are overclocking it).

 

[KIAman]

My Q6600@3.6 load is 71-72 degrees each core.

Seems hot to me but stress test stable so I ain't sweating it.

 

[The-Noid]

<70 degrees is fine. Core temp.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: Ratman6161
Mine will go to 3.6 Ghz at 1.4 volts and run completely stable. The problem for me at that speed/voltage is that the fan spends a lot more time running at full speed and its just too noisy for my taste. So I have stuck with 3.0 Ghz. I noticed that if I set the vcore to Auto on my particular board/cpu combination, the bios and CPUz say its running at 1.28v. At 3.0 Ghz its completely stable at that voltage so I decided to try to unvervolt it to see it I could make it cooler and quieter. But no luck. If I take it out of Auto and set voltage manually, the lowest setting available it 1.325 - which still results in 1.28 in the bios and cpuz. So it looks like the 1.28 is as low as it will go.

Temperatures at those settings are about 32 sitting at idle, about 36 - 37 sitting here web browsing, and top out at about 60 under load testing. This seems like a pretty good place for me to be. It would definitely go a lot higher if I was willing to put up with the fan noise (at 3.6 it topped out at about 66 under load) but I like the quiet.

dude, why don't you just manually adjust your tuniq to the speed that you want? Then you can have a better oc and not get punished by the noise if you're ok with the slightly higher temps. I'm at 51/51 right now running seti@home on my e6750 with my tuniq running at only 1440 rpm in a warm (26c) room. I can easily drop that temp 3-4c by cranking the tuniq up higher but obvioulsy 51c load is very livable. When I drop in the X3350 I'll shoot for less than 70c at max (so 67ish on all 4 cores when room is hot like this) and adjust the fan speed accordingly.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Yoxxy
<70 degrees is fine. Core temp.

QFT. I have several over that even....(B3's)

 

[Dadofamunky]

Originally posted by: Ratman6161
Mine will go to 3.6 Ghz at 1.4 volts and run completely stable. The problem for me at that speed/voltage is that the fan spends a lot more time running at full speed and its just too noisy for my taste. So I have stuck with 3.0 Ghz. I noticed that if I set the vcore to Auto on my particular board/cpu combination, the bios and CPUz say its running at 1.28v. At 3.0 Ghz its completely stable at that voltage so I decided to try to unvervolt it to see it I could make it cooler and quieter. But no luck. If I take it out of Auto and set voltage manually, the lowest setting available it 1.325 - which still results in 1.28 in the bios and cpuz. So it looks like the 1.28 is as low as it will go.

Temperatures at those settings are about 32 sitting at idle, about 36 - 37 sitting here web browsing, and top out at about 60 under load testing. This seems like a pretty good place for me to be. It would definitely go a lot higher if I was willing to put up with the fan noise (at 3.6 it topped out at about 66 under load) but I like the quiet.

Dadgum, a 50% OC on a Q6600? That's sweet.