Worth risking 3.6Ghz on my Q6600?

[Gerr]

Right now, I have my Q6600 overclocked to 3.2Ghz (9x356) on a Asus P5K-E and I am running totally stable at stock voltage (1.264V) and I max out at 57*. I am using an Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro with AS Ceramique thermal paste inside an Antec 900 case. My memory is running fine at DDR2-854 at 5-5-5-15 (1.8v).

This is a very nice 33% overclock and my temps on the max heat setting flicker between 57* and 56* after 30 min on one core, and around 53* on the other core. While I like this OC, not sure how much further I should push it as I don't want to rick any sort of burn out.

I am trying to get more FPS from Crysis. I have an 8800GT that is factory OC'ed to 700Mhz and my 3DMark06 stock test comes out at 13330. That is up from 13182 when my CPU was at 3.0Ghz. Thus the 200Mhz I raised my CPU only resulted in a net gain of 148!. So not sure that OC'ing to 3.6Ghz will give me much of a boast, especially considering the risk.

Currently, Crysis is set to high detail at max res (1680x1050) with patch 1.1 and the Natural Mod applied, and running in DX10 mode in Vista. My FPS ranges from 18 to 26, pending where I am.

Thoughts?

 

[angry hampster]

You won't see any gains. Run in DX9 and fuggedaboudit.

 

[hypeMarked]

What do you mean by risking it by OC further? You already overclocked it, a little more won't hurt. Unless you don't want to deal with the heat.

 

[Gerr]

Ya, already researched Crysis in DX9 mode in Vista, going to try that.

As for what I mean by risking it, everyone says that a G0 version of the Q6600, which is what I got, can easily do 3.0-3.2, but going any higher than that pushes the limits of it's OC ability. I have a nice stable 3.2Ghz OC and good temps, not sure I want to risk more by taking it higher. For my purposes, are the couple extra FPS on games worth risking a $280 CPU and a $150 mobo?

 

[aigomorla]

400fsb x 8 is all you really need.

3.2ghz unless you majorly encode or fold is the sweet spot on these chips.

3.6ghz or 400fsbx9 will require your vcore voltage to be around 1.35-1.4 average. It can be lower or greater so dont quote me on that.

Now the cooling required for that kind of output is around 175-180W of heat. This range can only be cooled effectly by 2 coolers inside a case.

Tuniq tower or Ultra120 is what you need to research at if you want 3.6ghz.

However like i said, the difference to the average user between 3.6 to 3.2 both at 400fsb is almost nothing. You wont notice it with the eye in anything you do. However if you massively encode or fold, you'll see small differences. Around 1-2min faster encoding on a 1-2 hour project.

 

[JAG87]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
However if you massively encode or fold, you'll see small differences. Around 1-2min faster encoding on a 1-2 hour project.

mmm no aigo, its a bit more than that. dont forget its 400 mhz for each core. on a 1 hour encoding task you would probably gain something like 10-12 minutes. but for general use and gaming, I agree 100%, you wont even notice the difference.

 

[Gerr]

I thought Q6600's were multiplier locked? I would love to put it at 8x400 rather than 9x356, but didn't think I could do that. Also, would 8x400 be any faster than 9x356 when it comes to gaming, presuming the memory is the same speed?

 

[imported_Scoop]

It's locked upwards, you can't set the multiplier higher than 9x. But you can set it as low as 6x on the Q6600, at which it should be while idle. Your current temps are nice, my Pentium D idles at those temps . Push it, push it!

 

[Alyx]

I run my G0 Q6600 at 3.6, 400x9. I must say you're going to hit some heat once you go above 3.4, I didn't really have to increase volts to much till I hit that mark, then I had to start increasing a whole lot. I've got water cooling (120x3 radiator), and temps started to make large jumps soon as I passed 3.4. I can get stable at 3.7 but my vcore is higher than I want it to be.

I feel if you're just doing it for hopes of a few FPS in games its not worth it. Try and see if you can get stable and what kind of temps you have but I wouldn't leave it there without really good cooling.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: JAG87

Originally posted by: aigomorla
However if you massively encode or fold, you'll see small differences. Around 1-2min faster encoding on a 1-2 hour project.

mmm no aigo, its a bit more than that. dont forget its 400 mhz for each core. on a 1 hour encoding task you would probably gain something like 10-12 minutes. but for general use and gaming, I agree 100%, you wont even notice the difference.

OOPs... okey 10-12 min. :T

 

[LOUISSSSS]

u can try to push it to 3.5-3.6 as those ar the upper limits of the q6600 on air and more or less 3.7-3.9 on water. i had an af7p @ 3.55 but it hit 72C then i had my PC auto shutdown (not that it was unstable).

then i upgraded to tuniq and running at 3.58ghz right now (9x298) didn't want to bump my vcore another notch just to get 2mhz from my fsb lol.

if i were you i'd stay at 3.2ghz... you wont notice any difference in any game or general use

 

[Duvie]

With 57c at 1.26v and 400mhz left to go?????

You wont make it with that cooler.....

You need a TR-120 ultra extreme, Hiper 212, or tuniq tower for an assualt on 3.6ghz....

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: Duvie
With 57c at 1.26v and 400mhz left to go?????

You wont make it with that cooler.....

You need a TR-120 ultra extreme, Hiper 212, or tuniq tower for an assualt on 3.6ghz....

well 57C isn't that hot... he has about 15C more to go before he hits the Q6600's temp limit.. (72C)