Q6600 Overclocking with 8 GB RAM

[hydeprogrammer]

The title pretty much says it all... I have been trying for the past couple of weeks to overclock my processor while keeping 8 GB of RAM, but thus far this seems unattainable. Currently my machine is running at 3.5 GHz (stable). I have tried lowering this figure in the hopes I could use my 4 memory sticks but everything has failed. I tried increasing northbridge voltages; once again, fail (by fail I mean memtest gives me errors about half-hour into testing). These are my specs:

Q6600 G0 Rev
MSI P35 Platinum (BIOS 1.8 but also tried other BIOS)
8GB DDR2-8000 G.Skill (1000Mhz) 5-5-5-15 (tried loose timings nothing)
500W Power Supply (came with my Ultra case... this could be an issue, but I've been able to run all my hardware on it -including an oc'ed EVGA 8800GT SSC without an issue up until when I decided to OC with 8GB)

My CPU clock multipler is set to 8 I believe... The RAM is running on a 1:1 ratio with the FSB clock. Have any of you guys been able to overclock with this much RAM before? Maybe having memory modules puts way too much stress on the P35... Do you guys think I might be able to get better results with an X38/X48 board?

I feel like Anandtech and Tom's Hardware need to gives guides as to how we should go about overclocking systems with 8GB of RAM given that DDR2 is dirt cheap right now and anyone can afford 8GB.

Keep in mind I am in no way overclocking my RAM. It's running below its advertised rates (I have tried 4GB at 1000 Mhz and that worked well).

Thanks for reading this.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

What speed can you get stable with 4 dimms populated?

 

[hydeprogrammer]

I can get them to run around 800 Mhz or so...

 

[PlasmaBomb]

OK... so what is the processor...

 

[hydeprogrammer]

Just updated the specs once again... As indicated in the thread's title, it's a Q6600 G0.

 

[Gannon]

RAM is always the major problem in overclocking to the max, always use 1 or 2 slots maximum, if you're lucky 3.

The more ram I've added the more unstable the system becomes at lower frequencies, you're just going to have to live with it most likely, or reduce you ram, try reducing to one or two sticks, and compare your max fsb and slowly put more sticks in while testing each time.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

I thought it was a Q6600, but I forgot to check the title... (sorry it's getting late here, time for bed...)

The reason I was asking- A Q6600 gives you a x9 multi - if its stable at 800 mhz 1:1, the FSB would be 400 MHz. The MSI P35 Platinum won't do FSB 500, therefore you won't be able to run a 1:1 ratio and max out the memory.

What FSB are you running at the minute? Oh you have updated that bit too
So at x 8 multi FSB 438 ish?

You could try going back up to the x9 multi and dropping the FSB a bit and running the memory on a 4:5 ratio (or equivalent if you have one in the BIOS). What voltage are the dimms running at?

Running 4 dimms really does put a lot of stress on the NB, it might need more voltage or cooling. It could be that the tracelengths are slightly different on the mobo and that the timings with 4 populated don't quite work at high FSBs...

 

[PlasmaBomb]

To be fair if you can get it to run at 400FSB with 4 sticks and a x8 multi (3.2GHz) you are doing well

 

[hydeprogrammer]

Heh... I expected that to be the case... It'd be great to have access to better chipsets so I could see if it's a P35 limitation or not... How much overall power consumption would I get by having 4 sticks vs 2?

Am I the only person who thinks writing an OC guide w/ 8GB would be useful?

 

[PlasmaBomb]

The dimms only use a few watts each, so there isn't much gained or lost.

PlasmaBombs guide to overclocking with 8GB of ram - Buy 2 x 4096 MB modules, insert, have fun

I'm sure there are other examples - 8GB Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX

PS. What are you doing that needs 8GB? What OS are you running?

 

[hydeprogrammer]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb
PlasmaBombs guide to overclocking with 8GB of ram - Buy 2 x 4096 MB modules, insert, have fun

Hehehehe... Too bad those are overpriced... I'd definitely give them a try otherwise

I'm currently running XP 64-bit. I do a lot of development with VMs and stuff, so it'd be great to have the full 8GB plus some room for CPU OC

 

[Drsignguy]

I have a Q6600 and 8Gb of ram and running vista 64. There have been posts in the past on this very same subject and overclocking 8Gb with a Q6600 past 3.2 is limited. I also tried everything, had discussions, and some did just what you did, reduced the memory and went for the higher clock. I, settled for 3.0 with my 8gb and was ok with that. So, getting a 3.2 OC is pretty much it for that setup.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: Drsignguy
I have a Q6600 and 8Gb of ram and running vista 64. There have been posts in the past on this very same subject and overclocking 8Gb with a Q6600 past 3.2 is limited. I also tried everything, had discussions, and some did just what you did, reduced the memory and went for the higher clock. I, settled for 3.0 with my 8gb and was ok with that. So, getting a 3.2 OC is pretty much it for that setup.

Drsignguy do you happen to know if it is a chipset stability limitation and/or motherboard quality (traces, PCB layers, quality of voltage control)?

Would an X38 be expected to perform better than a P35, or a premium mobo with an X38 versus a discount board (such as DS3L) with p35?

 

[hydeprogrammer]

Thanks to all you guys for your replies.

Originally posted by: Idontcare

Originally posted by: Drsignguy
I have a Q6600 and 8Gb of ram and running vista 64. There have been posts in the past on this very same subject and overclocking 8Gb with a Q6600 past 3.2 is limited. I also tried everything, had discussions, and some did just what you did, reduced the memory and went for the higher clock. I, settled for 3.0 with my 8gb and was ok with that. So, getting a 3.2 OC is pretty much it for that setup.

Drsignguy do you happen to know if it is a chipset stability limitation and/or motherboard quality (traces, PCB layers, quality of voltage control)?

Would an X38 be expected to perform better than a P35, or a premium mobo with an X38 versus a discount board (such as DS3L) with p35?

This is exactly what I would like to know. I might be willing to put some money down for an X38/X48 board when Nehalem comes out.

 

[Drsignguy]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

Originally posted by: Drsignguy
I have a Q6600 and 8Gb of ram and running vista 64. There have been posts in the past on this very same subject and overclocking 8Gb with a Q6600 past 3.2 is limited. I also tried everything, had discussions, and some did just what you did, reduced the memory and went for the higher clock. I, settled for 3.0 with my 8gb and was ok with that. So, getting a 3.2 OC is pretty much it for that setup.

Drsignguy do you happen to know if it is a chipset stability limitation and/or motherboard quality (traces, PCB layers, quality of voltage control)?

Would an X38 be expected to perform better than a P35, or a premium mobo with an X38 versus a discount board (such as DS3L) with p35?

Thats A great question. I have tried different ram, and different Mobos (3) My current Gigabyte Ep35c, P35-ds3l and a 975xBx2 and got the same results. I would tend to say its the chipset stability as you can get this chip to around 3.4 fairly easy with 4Gb but as soon as you add the remaining 4, no go.

If anyone has tried with an X38 and has any input, I surely would like to hear the results.

 

[Deadtrees]

On my Gigabyte p35c-ds3r, Q6600 G0, 1x2 and 2x2Gb setup, I have no problem running it @401x8=3.2Ghz (1.275 BIOS, 1.216 Cpu-z reported V-core. Well, it does crash after a few hours of 100% CPU usage unless I overbolt it a few steps more but as I never stress CPU for that long, I just set it at that voltage)

If I up the voltage more(1.375 in BIOS), 3.4Ghz runs fine but I'm just using it as 3.2ghz.

BTW, my friend has a same setup except that he has Asus P5KC and it runs fine, too. The only difference is that his system is only stable when given 1.415 CPU voltage in BIOS.


EDIT: Ram timing/voltage is 4-4-4-12/2.1 and I use different set of memories. One is G.Skill PC2 6400 5-5-5-15, 1.9V and the other being G.Skill PC2 6400 4-4-4-12, 2.1V.

I only changed CPU Voltage, Ram Voltage and left NorthBridge and other voltages as they are.

 

[clarkey01]

Will I have the same issue as the OP??

I have 4x 1GB sticks and are buying a Q6600 today and was hoping for 3Ghz :-(

 

[PlasmaBomb]

You should be able to get 3GHz, its more the higher FSBs but the P5B-E runs well.

 

[Drsignguy]

Originally posted by: Deadtrees
On my Gigabyte p35c-ds3r, Q6600 G0, 1x2 and 2x2Gb setup, I have no problem running it @401x8=3.2Ghz (1.275 BIOS, 1.216 Cpu-z reported V-core. Well, it does crash after a few hours of 100% CPU usage unless I overbolt it a few steps more but as I never stress CPU for that long, I just set it at that voltage)

If I up the voltage more(1.375 in BIOS), 3.4Ghz runs fine but I'm just using it as 3.2ghz.

BTW, my friend has a same setup except that he has Asus P5KC and it runs fine, too. The only difference is that his system is only stable when given 1.415 CPU voltage in BIOS.


EDIT: Ram timing/voltage is 4-4-4-12/2.1 and I use different set of memories. One is G.Skill PC2 6400 5-5-5-15, 1.9V and the other being G.Skill PC2 6400 4-4-4-12, 2.1V.

I only changed CPU Voltage, Ram Voltage and left NorthBridge and other voltages as they are.

Getting to 3.0 - 3.2 with 4Gb of memory, no matter if it's 2 x 2 or 4 x 1, isn't a real big issue. But when you place 4 x 2 chips in, this is where it can get very interesting.

 

[taltamir]

with a Q6600 your default ram multiplier (called ratio in some boards) is 3x. So that means that the default speed is 266mhz, times 3 for ram speed = 798, and x4 on CPU bus, and 9x that on the CPU clock. If you lower it to 2.4x (the default used on the 1333mhz processors, like wolfdale) you can use 333mhz as base, which OCs your Q6600 from 2.4ghz to 3.0ghz.
If you want to OC beyond the 3ghz mark you could lower the ram multi to 2x (aka, 1:1 ratio) so at 333mhz your ram will be @ 666 @ 2x aka 1:1, and at 400mghz (400x9 = 3.6ghz) your ram will be running at 800mhz (400x2).

My Q6600 G0 took unreasonable amounts of voltage past the 3ghz mark... at 3.3ghz it was already too much for comfort, but at exactly 3.0ghz I was able to undervolt it. So i was overclocking it from 266mhz x9 = 2.4ghz to 333 x9 = 3.0ghz and undervolting at the same time. And the 333mhz base allowed me to set a 2.4x ram multi for a nice neat DDR2-800 operation speed.

So basically from all of that... the only time you need ram greater then DDR2-800 is if you OC past 3.6ghz

 

[GundamF91]

Interesting. I have Q9450, but I'm running P45 board, Asus P5Q-Deluxe, and also 4 sticks of DDR2-800 memory for total 8GB.

So far without trying too hard, I've had my chip at 3.2Ghz, and it's slightly undervolted @ 1.21v when factory VID is 1.25. So I think it's true that 4 sticks puts more pressure on NB. I have problem with it getting stable at 3.6Ghz. I may try 3.4Ghz but we'll see how it goes. I am tempted to pull 2 sticks out and see how it affects things. BUt then again, I intend to run Vista 64bit and use all 8, so it would actually cause me headaches if I had to choose higher FSB or more memory.

 

[Deadtrees]

Originally posted by: Drsignguy

Originally posted by: Deadtrees
On my Gigabyte p35c-ds3r, Q6600 G0, 1x2 and 2x2Gb setup, I have no problem running it @401x8=3.2Ghz (1.275 BIOS, 1.216 Cpu-z reported V-core. Well, it does crash after a few hours of 100% CPU usage unless I overbolt it a few steps more but as I never stress CPU for that long, I just set it at that voltage)

If I up the voltage more(1.375 in BIOS), 3.4Ghz runs fine but I'm just using it as 3.2ghz.

BTW, my friend has a same setup except that he has Asus P5KC and it runs fine, too. The only difference is that his system is only stable when given 1.415 CPU voltage in BIOS.


EDIT: Ram timing/voltage is 4-4-4-12/2.1 and I use different set of memories. One is G.Skill PC2 6400 5-5-5-15, 1.9V and the other being G.Skill PC2 6400 4-4-4-12, 2.1V.

I only changed CPU Voltage, Ram Voltage and left NorthBridge and other voltages as they are.

Getting to 3.0 - 3.2 with 4Gb of memory, no matter if it's 2 x 2 or 4 x 1, isn't a real big issue. But when you place 4 x 2 chips in, this is where it can get very interesting.

I thought(think) the problem was about populating 4 dimm channels. In my case, I populated all of 4 channels and that was the point. 2x2, 4x1 that you mentioned only populates 2 and 1 dimm sockets thus not stressing north bridge much, if not at all.

 

[Drsignguy]

Originally posted by: GundamF91
Interesting. I have Q9450, but I'm running P45 board, Asus P5Q-Deluxe, and also 4 sticks of DDR2-800 memory for total 8GB.

So far without trying too hard, I've had my chip at 3.2Ghz, and it's slightly undervolted @ 1.21v when factory VID is 1.25. So I think it's true that 4 sticks puts more pressure on NB. I have problem with it getting stable at 3.6Ghz. I may try 3.4Ghz but we'll see how it goes. I am tempted to pull 2 sticks out and see how it affects things. BUt then again, I intend to run Vista 64bit and use all 8, so it would actually cause me headaches if I had to choose higher FSB or more memory.

It is interesting, as I too have my Q9450 @ 3.4 with my 8Gb of ram at 850Mhz.......But wtih my Q6600 on this very same board, could NOT get over 3.2 with 8Gb of ram..Got it to 3.4 with 4Gb....As I said earlier, there have been others that had the same problem with the Q6600 with 8gig.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: Drsignguy
It is interesting, as I too have my Q9450 @ 3.4 with my 8Gb of ram at 850Mhz.......But wtih my Q6600 on this very same board, could NOT get over 3.2 with 8Gb of ram..Got it to 3.4 with 4Gb....As I said earlier, there have been others that had the same problem with the Q6600 with 8gig.

Do you think it's safe to categorize this more generally as a Kentsfield vs. Yorkfield difference or do you feel it is more likely due to specific SKU's (Q6600 vs. Q9450).

On a related note, do you think you'd see similiar issue using Cloverfield vs. Harpetown Xeons (the LGA775 versions) on your exact same setup?

That extra XEON screening/qualification has to count for something, shouldn't it?

 

[Dadofamunky]

Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb
To be fair if you can get it to run at 400FSB with 4 sticks and a x8 multi (3.2GHz) you are doing well

I don't have a 45nm chip (yet) but the system in my sig has been running like a tank at the stated settings. My board's FSB wall with 4x2GB appears to be 440. In theory (and we all know what good that's for), having a 9X multi 45nm should give me another boost. I WAS able to get a pretty strong rock-solid OC with 8 GB on the e6750.