Trying to Overclock my Q6600!

[XenatR]

hey guys, im trying to overclock my Q6600 and i am not quite sure how.. ive read a lot about reference frequencies etc but i dont know what is best for my setup...

Q6600 cpu
Intel XBX2 mobo
G.Skill DDR2 800 ram (the black sticks)

where do i start? i have done the bios jumper trick and disabled watchdog and e1s (or whatever it is)

so far i have managed a stable overclock of 334Mhz FSB (1.375 Vcore, 1.5 MCH, 1.35 FSB) i havent changed the memory bios timings.


in cpu-z it shows 1:1 memory and 334.1MHz 5-5-5-12-17

where can i go from here?

[Hondacity]

can't do 350fsb? 400fsb?

[XenatR]

can't do 350fsb? 400fsb?

im not sure, i tried to get it over 3.2 before and it was super unstable no matter the voltage it seemed, but it may be something to do with the memory setting... any ideas what my ref memory etc settings should be?

[DrTeal]

try lowering your CPU multiplier and see how high you can raise the FSB/memory frequency so you know if you're being limited by your motherboard or ram. also is your q6600 G0 or B3 stepping?

[XenatR]

try lowering your CPU multiplier and see how high you can raise the FSB/memory frequency so you know if you're being limited by your motherboard or ram. also is your q6600 G0 or B3 stepping?

B3, is this any good? i dont think i can lower the multi btw

[Hyperhorn]

B3 is the older stepping (gets warmer), that means it offers a lower overclocking potential than a G0 CPU on an average.

[Computurd]

yup, but still a great proc, the Q6600 is a workhorse

[DrTeal]

With a B3 its going to be hard to get above 3.2-3.4 stable. Your memory timings should be fine, just make sure your RAM voltage is at whatever the manufacturer said (probly 1.8V?). You should be able to lower the CPU mult in the bios though... I recommend dropping down to 6x and seeing how high you can get your FSB stable.

When you talk about stability are you talking about boot? prime? LinX? I'm just wondering how close you are.

I think your motherboard is probably whats holding you back. You'd have better success with a p35/45 board or an x38/48 I think to hit a higher FSB.

EDIT: Also, how are your temps? I have a pretty high VID q6600 (1.3125V) so I ended up having to do some work to keep my temps in check (proc and hs lapped, washermod true 120 w/ pushpull)

[GripS]

Ah yeah. A B3 Q6600 can be a bit difficult to get decent clocks on especially if you are on air. Trying to get another motherboard for a decent price that is better suited for clocking a Q6600 is going to be a challenge as well. Might be time for an upgrade for you if you were contemplating that. The newer chips are so very easy to overclock and most will give you at least 1ghz over stock without much effort.