What am I doing wrong!

[journalofthewhills]

OK, I'll try to make this easy for you guys.

I have a Q6600 cooled with a Zalman CNPS9700 HS/fan
ASUS maximus formula mobo
4x1GB Patriot DDR2 DRAM

I've read forum after forum on people who have OC'd with this set up to 3.6GHz on air. I've tried 3.3Ghz and I'm still unstable. At 3.3Ghz, I ran memory test, thinking it was the RAM, and caught a few errors, so I bumped the DRAM voltage, and didn't help.

Anywho.. I don't wanna type up a novel here... SO if there is anyone out there with a set up similar that can help me out here... that would be awesome! I'm not looking for a maxed out OC here... just something moderate.

Thanks a ton guys!

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: journalofthewhills
OK, I'll try to make this easy for you guys.

I have a Q6600 cooled with a Zalman CNPS9700 HS/fan
ASUS maximus formula mobo
4x1GB Patriot DDR2 DRAM

I've read forum after forum on people who have OC'd with this set up to 3.6GHz on air. I've tried 3.3Ghz and I'm still unstable. At 3.3Ghz, I ran memory test, thinking it was the RAM, and caught a few errors, so I bumped the DRAM voltage, and didn't help.

Anywho.. I don't wanna type up a novel here... SO if there is anyone out there with a set up similar that can help me out here... that would be awesome! I'm not looking for a maxed out OC here... just something moderate.

Thanks a ton guys!

need some bios settings. what are your timings at on your ram? voltages for CPU, NB and ram? What FSB/multiplier are you going for? what memory ratio are you using?

 

[DSF]

After you raised the RAM voltage, did you test the memory again?

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: journalofthewhills
OK, I'll try to make this easy for you guys.

I have a Q6600 cooled with a Zalman CNPS9700 HS/fan
ASUS maximus formula mobo
4x1GB Patriot DDR2 DRAM

I've read forum after forum on people who have OC'd with this set up to 3.6GHz on air. I've tried 3.3Ghz and I'm still unstable. At 3.3Ghz, I ran memory test, thinking it was the RAM, and caught a few errors, so I bumped the DRAM voltage, and didn't help.

Anywho.. I don't wanna type up a novel here... SO if there is anyone out there with a set up similar that can help me out here... that would be awesome! I'm not looking for a maxed out OC here... just something moderate.

Thanks a ton guys!

Memtest+ also catches L2 cache errors on the CPU.

Make sure you have your memory clocked as low as possible (1:1, DDR2-734 if your are doing 9x367 for CPU at 3.3GHz) and set the timing as loose as possible (5-5-5-15, etc) to minimize the chances that memories errors are from the DDR2.

If you fully relax the DDR2 as above and memtest+ still gives errors then I'd be suspicious that you have too little voltage on the MCH (NB voltage) or too little voltage on the CPU (Vcore) and possibly too little voltage on the FSB.

This assumes of course that you thoroughly tested your memory for memtest+ errors when the CPU and ram are all at STOCK. You don't want walked wounded components in your box when trying to debug failed overclocks.

 

[batmang]

Originally posted by: journalofthewhills
OK, I'll try to make this easy for you guys.

I have a Q6600 cooled with a Zalman CNPS9700 HS/fan
ASUS maximus formula mobo
4x1GB Patriot DDR2 DRAM

I've read forum after forum on people who have OC'd with this set up to 3.6GHz on air. I've tried 3.3Ghz and I'm still unstable. At 3.3Ghz, I ran memory test, thinking it was the RAM, and caught a few errors, so I bumped the DRAM voltage, and didn't help.

Anywho.. I don't wanna type up a novel here... SO if there is anyone out there with a set up similar that can help me out here... that would be awesome! I'm not looking for a maxed out OC here... just something moderate.

Thanks a ton guys!

Your expectations are too high. Not EVERY Q6600 is going to run 3.6GHz on air. Luck of the draw. If your stable at 3.2GHz, that is a 800MHz overclock. That is awesome!

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: batmang

Originally posted by: journalofthewhills
OK, I'll try to make this easy for you guys.

I have a Q6600 cooled with a Zalman CNPS9700 HS/fan
ASUS maximus formula mobo
4x1GB Patriot DDR2 DRAM

I've read forum after forum on people who have OC'd with this set up to 3.6GHz on air. I've tried 3.3Ghz and I'm still unstable. At 3.3Ghz, I ran memory test, thinking it was the RAM, and caught a few errors, so I bumped the DRAM voltage, and didn't help.

Anywho.. I don't wanna type up a novel here... SO if there is anyone out there with a set up similar that can help me out here... that would be awesome! I'm not looking for a maxed out OC here... just something moderate.

Thanks a ton guys!

Your expectations are too high. Not EVERY Q6600 is going to run 3.6GHz on air. Luck of the draw. If your stable at 3.2GHz, that is a 800MHz overclock. That is awesome!

Actually getting up to 3.6 is pretty common, of course not every chip will go that far but the OP didn't mention if it's a B3 or G0 stepping, B3s have a lower limit although they can achieve the same overclock with a large voltage bump.

 

[Markfw]

well, I have 5, 2 B3's, the slowest is 3.2, and 3 G0's, the slowest is 3420. I would say for G0's (like his) 3.4-3.6 is the range for 99% of the chips. I have heard bad things about OC's using that motherboard though.

 

[journalofthewhills]

First off.... remember I'm a complete noob...

haha

I have the voltages set on auto. I figured it was ok to do so. I believe the timings for my ram are at 5 -5 -5 15, but they are rated at 4 -4 -4 -12 at 2.2v. I'm going for a x9 multiplier and a 400 FSB which would bring it to 3.6 Ghz. I will settle for 3.3 but I'm such a noob at knowing all the parameters and settings.

HELP!!!

 

[Imported]

Try running 1 or 2 sticks of memory, instead of all four. I think my voltage is at 1.35 for 3.3GHz for my Q6600. I haven't pushed it further though. I'm content with it at 3.3GHz.. for now.

 

[Drsignguy]

Journalofthewhills, first things first. There are many things to look at here and the first thing is to pace yourself. Dont rush. You want to make sure you are stable as you work your way up. Voltages remember, create heat so gradually upping the voltages is the best thing to do. There are great minds in here that I have learned from and the best thing you can do is to be patient, and have fun doing it. Pretty much follow what they are saying and piece everything ( all comments ) together to get to your goal. Hope you do!