Q6600: Overclocking Diary

[lopri]

Hopped on the quad-core bandwagon thanks to recent price drop on Q6600. I should admit that it was an impulse buy since I was semi-high when I pushed the 'place order now' button, but it's already delivered to me and there is no going back. My original plan was to wait till Barcelona's debut or Intel's August price cut (Q6600 for $280?) - Although I purchased a quad-core at this time, my desktop usage just doesn't warrant the need for a quad-core. (except Virtual PC 2007, and I think the OS and HDD/VHD are more often the bottleneck than the CPU power in virtualization on my system) So yeah I don't really need a quad-core right now but I just had to buy one. I guess it's a part of the endless road to my 'Dream Machine' that we all have.

Enough of digressing, on to the topic.

Day 1:
Received the package and checked the batch # but didn't have time to install. (L640F179)

Day 2:
Installed and attemted to boot @3.60GHz (9x400) at first try. Failed miserably so tried 9x350. Again, failed. 9x333, no-go either. Gave up and reset the BIOS to default. Boot to Windows fine (2.40GHz, stock) The highest I could go was something like 2.45GHz. lol. And even that was flaky in that the system became jerky although stress tests ran fine.

It wasn't until too late that I found my board just isn't meant for FSB overclocking with a quad-core. Memory controller on the chipset seems fine in that it behaves similarly to a dual-core. (1T, 4GB, etc.) It's a known issue with the board (680i original reference board) but still disappointing. I was kinda hoping to lucked out. Called EVGA and requested a replacement for a new revision.

Until the new board arrives, it seemed like only thing I could do was undervolting. (as far as overclocking is concerned) And that's where the bright side slid in. So far, I could go as low as 1.06~1.08V (Idle: ~35C, Load: ~45C) for the stock speed. (2.40GHz)

1. Quad Prime95 Running
   Stopped

I changed my HSF also. Kinda tired of worrying about hot CPU socket area on the motherboard, for the first time in 2 years I switched to push-down HSF from the popular L-shaped HSF (Ninja, Tuniq, Ultra-120, etc.) It's this:

1. 
   Andy

I think this HSF will be quite popular in near future. I found this one by accident and decided to give it a shot. I replaced the 1200RPM stock fan with an 1800RPM Thermaltake fan, and the results are very satisfying. It might let your CPU run 2~3C higher than the No.1 HSF, but it makes me feel more comfortable because I know there is some sort of air-flow on the hottest spot of the board. Definitely No.1 HSF among this type of HSFs. (better than Big Typhoon IMO)

Day 3: Encouraged by the low voltage/temps to run Q6600 at its stock frequency, I took the fan off the HSF and ran quad-Prime95! Only moving fans are: NB fan / SB fan / Video card fan. Load temps stabilized just under 60C after 15 mins of LargeFFT run.

1. Fanless 1
   Fanless 2

But at this point I should let everyone know that my setup isn't inside a case yet. :laugh: Still, the ambient air is at normal room temp. Here is the setup for the screenshots above.

1. Naked

Back with the 1800RPM fan, I ran some benches with Q6600 @2.40GHz (stock speed)

1. Cinebench
   3DMark06 (GPU = 8800 GTS 320)

Day 5: Received the new board. I love EVGA. This company's customer service is the best (by far) that I've experienced. I thought BFG was decent (they are) but EVGA is even better.

So anyway after some cleaning up and moving parts (NB/SB HSF) I started testing. The first boot was 8 x 400 which I'm aiming with this chip. Everything was set to auto except disabling Spread Spectrum, etc. No voltage changes, no memory tweaking.

I will let the pics do the talk.

1. 
   Happy 1
   Happy 2

Needless to say I am thrilled right now.

 

[MarcVenice]

sounds like you were to high to buy a decent motherboard -_- With money to burn I'd go buy a decent one right away

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
sounds like you were to high to buy a decent motherboard -_- With money to burn I'd go buy a decent one right away

You don't think a ~$300 (at that time) motherboard is good enough? Which would you have suggested he buy, then?

 

[lopri]

The board was purchased some time ago. (January I think Edit: Oops, it was last November) It wasn't exactly the smoothest ride to toy with this board (I actually didn't bother to touch this board for like 2 months - been busy with business and personal matter - and just used my main rig), but the performance and overall stability improved dramatically with BIOS revisions, as seen in this thread.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=2031658&enterthread=y

I hated it at the beginning but eventually grew to like it over time. I think I would still buy a 680i board over P965 today (with the exception of DFI P965-S). Anyway, yeah I know this CPU is very expensive by today's standard but remember we used to pay ~$300 for X2 3800+ just a year ago. (or $500 for an E6700 only days ago)

 

[lopri]

BTW my goal with this chip is to achieve 3.20GHz with DDR2-800 / 3-3-3-1T (8x400, 1:1). I know it won't be easy especially with air-cooling but I try to remain optimistic!

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: lopri
BTW my goal with this chip is to achieve 3.20GHz with DDR2-800 / 3-3-3-1T (8x400, 1:1). I know it won't be easy especially with air-cooling but I try to remain optimistic!

Heck..you have great "luck" skill overclocking these cpu's ..I have no doubt you will 3200

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: lopri
BTW my goal with this chip is to achieve 3.20GHz with DDR2-800 / 3-3-3-1T (8x400, 1:1). I know it won't be easy especially with air-cooling but I try to remain optimistic!

Then you're gonna need one of these, most likely: Monsoon II. Duvie was able to get his QX6700 to 3.3 Ghz with that heatsink.

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: lopri
BTW my goal with this chip is to achieve 3.20GHz with DDR2-800 / 3-3-3-1T (8x400, 1:1). I know it won't be easy especially with air-cooling but I try to remain optimistic!

Then you're gonna need one of these, most likely: Monsoon II. Duvie was able to get his QX6700 to 3.3 Ghz with that heatsink.

Hmm..a $150 air cooler vs Tuniq Tower..at least by AT review Tuniq did as well

although the Monsoon got 60mhz more...blah

If I am spending a $150..spend a bit more and buy a PA120.3 rad/pump and cpu block and cool on the cpu...you wil lget better temps
$140 rad
$65 cpu block
$100 DDC2/petra top

well...ok it cost 2x more for water but you require less watts...you may need to upgrade a power supply to use the Monsoon underload idle Monsoon overclocked setup need 260w..load required 375w..that is 50w more than stock HSF
http://www.vigorgaming.com/reviews/review-020607-6.html

and noise is much greater....
http://www.vigorgaming.com/reviews/review-020607-7.html

 

[lopri]

Monsoon II is a bit too over-the-top for my taste. And like Neal says at that point water-cooling might make more sense - but unfortunately water-cooling has always been intimidating to me and it will probably be in the future.

I want 3.20GHz with plain air-cooling!

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: lopri
Monsoon II is a bit too over-the-top for my taste. And like Neal says at that point water-cooling might make more sense - but unfortunately water-cooling has always been intimidating to me and it will probably be in the future.

I want 3.20GHz with plain air-cooling!

dude F that monsoon vigor.

Anandtech reviews shows a ultra120 clearly beating it.

Less engery requirements, cheaper, more efficient.

dont get into the TEC hype. Theres only 1 real way to use tec's and thats with water on the DIE directly. Not using some cheap CoolIT TEC watersetup. Or the vigor monsoon.

Monsoon users who think your cooling is as good as water, BITE ME

And lets not get into how badly it would lose to a decient water setup.

I just cant stand people who recomend these things. They SUCK, their LOUD, highly inefficent. And there are better cheaper solutions:

1. Tuniq Tower
2. Thermalright Ultra120 and Extreme
3. Thermalright IFX-14
4. Coolmaster Gemini

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/coo...thermalright-ultra-120-plus/stress.png

Scale of Air HSF. Watch the Vigor which uses more electricity <60W tec + controler>GET OWNED by a thermalright Ultra120, which uses 0 electricity except the FAN that cools it.

Your chip is doing good for a quad. However, keep in note, the stock output of a Q class is 130W. Once you overclock your core to 1.4V, which is sucidal on a Q class on AIR, you effecitively double the heat output on the chip.

At 1.45V a Q class is capable of bringing a heavy class watersystem to idle at high 30's to low 40's.

So keep a close eye on that die temp. Not mobo temp. Use coretemp and messure out your temps carefully on the dies.

i believe the thermal shutdown on Q's are around 100C.



Also i highly recomend you watercool that kents. The fun on a C2D begins once you pass that 3.6ghz mark

 

[lopri]

What do you mean by a 'Q' class? Are you referring to quad-core CPUs in general?

I don't meant to discredit AT's HSF reviews, (actually Wesley is one of the handful of journalists that I trust and respect) but HSF reviews in general should be taken as an 'example', IMO - Wherever you read them. There just are too many (un)controllable variables. If I just nit-pick a few just out of my memory,

1. Obviously Wesley has a very special X6800. (3.90GHz load temp 43C.. )
2. Using nTune to monitor/measure temperatures. We know CoreTemp reads each core's temp via digital sensor. I have no idea how nTune calculates the two values into one and I have observed highly varying values. For example, sometimes it reports higher value than those from CoreTemp and sometimes lower. It's just not reliable enough. Ideally you'd want to use a hardware equipment for HSF comparisons.
3. The fans being utilized are not only @different quality, but also @different RPMs. (!)
4. Comparing apples with oranges. Even in highly controlled environment, you can't just compare two HSFs that are serving distinctively different purposes. Let's say we compare Ninja and Infinity in an exactly same condition (same ambient, same fan, same everything). Would it give us an agreement on one's superiority? Not really. Because those two are meant for different interest groups. My educated guess tells me if an 1000RPM fan was used, the Ninja would perform better, but with an 2000RPM fan, the Infinity would excel. In general, the higher the density of fins, faster spinning fans will give lower temperatures. And that's why I replaced my 'Andy' HSF's stock 1200RPM fan with a 1800RPM fan. Ideally I'd like to use a 35mm Panaflo with 1600~1800RPM fan, but unfortunately the mounting clips don't support 35mm thick fans.

Anyway, I really hope I can do 3.20Ghz without going past 1.40V.. or even 1.45V..

 

[dirky2000]

I got to 3.4 Ghz at 1.425 on my first attempt with a E6600. It booted right up, ran cool and was prime stable. I haven't pushed it further but probably could go further. This is with a Scythe Ninja Rev B. I'm happy with 3.4 though.

edit- oops, just saw this was for a quad core so my OC is irrelevant.

 

[lopri]

My board won't be here till tuesday so there isn't much to do about this rig from my sidel. if anyone wanst to see certain benches or has a question regarding anything - feel free to request. I will run whatever benches you want (whithin my reach) for you/everyone.

 

[stevty2889]

Mine is pretty much stuck at 3.1ghz, it's been running stable for 37 hours now at 100% load with folding@home. Running at about 70c coretemp with water, should get the rest of the parts to upgrade my water cooling tommorow. I need 1.4v for 3.1ghz, but any higher than that I get reboots.

 

[The-Noid]

Tuniq Tower for me, Fan @ full speed.

QX6800 ES @ 380x9 (3420) 1.5000 (vdroop mod) on Commando. Core temps around 65c (Ambient is 75f) in a lian-li 25th anniversary case. Runs WCG 24/7 for the last week or so. Pretty good box.

Tuniq seems to be able to get the heat away from the core pretty great on quads possibly even better than a lot of water cooling. Highly recommend you buy a Tuniq if you are looking for a high overclock. Hopefully other quad ES's come in soon so I can get other office computers crunching for some major points. Hello QX6850 ES .

 

[LittleNemoNES]

it was an impulse buy since I was semi-high when I pushed the 'place order now' button

good god!

 

[lopri]

Happy 1
Happy 2

:wine:

 

[lopri]

It's running right now and I'm going to stop it once it gets to 2 hour mark. I'd like to know what else this thing can do!

Edit: Q6600 @3.20GHz Quad-Prime95 for 2 hours (interim test) with 1.36V (BIOS auto).

http://img381.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3200adc0.jpg
http://img381.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3200btm4.jpg

 

[n7]

Very nice