*Official Retail G0 Q6600 Overclocking Thread*

[Jor3lBR]

I apologize, your first post shows your temps at 56c and that is why I was confused. I don't run my fans at 12v either, I suppose I could and that would lower the temps a little, but I prefer the near silent operation too.

Anyway, if your temps are around 43c then thats great. I am thinking I will have to do some sort of chiller to get mine down to that range, but we will see after I do some tweaking.

Good overclock, since you have such low temps you should try for 4Ghz if you haven't already.

Utnorris

No problem mate, temps are tricky and depend in a lot of factors!

I see you have a BOWED Apogee and mine is original. Every time I unmount the block I see poor contact between them. I think the past we are using is a factor too, I used to like MX-2 but I think I'm changing it.

You could try to unmount the block and see if you have a perfect contact also.

I got 4000Mhz with my old Q6600 (even 4050Mhz wPrime stable) but it was too hot and needed 1.50v to do so.

With this new one I'm moving slowly I will let it "burning-in" Prime95 for a week or so and baby step it up till I reach 4005Mhz (445*9).

Good luck with yours too!

[Prozzac]

I see that alot of people her is whining about how bad their CPUs are, but i would kill to ged a Q6600 that got up to 3.6 at 1.55 volts.
Mine isn' prime stable at 3.2 if I go under 1.55 volts!
My CPU is the sh1t!

[Semicycle]

Thought I'd share my results with everyone. I got this motherboard and cpu from newegg earlier in the week

Q6600 - L743A944 (pack date 12/20/07)
DFI LP LT X38-T2R
Tuniq Tower

Highest I've been able to boot into windows is 3.8Gz, but system freezes and temps idle in the 60s. It also took 1.58v to get this.

I was able to run a tests at 3720Mhz (picture below), but the system isn't stable and load temps reach 75-77c. I believe the CPU Voltage was set around 1.42-1.46 for this test.

I'm currently running at 3600Mhz (1.37v) and all seems stable. Ran a load test last night and the system stayed up without problem. Load temps are hitting 69-73 (depending on core), but the system idles between 48-54 depending on the core. Anyone have any tips for me? I just recently upgraded from my trusty Athlon X2 4200 system I had for about 18months. This is my first Core based cpu system and I haven't mastered everything yet.

Also, Should I be worried about the 4-6 degree difference in the highest to lowest cpu temp readings?

[Shocky]

Thought I'd share my results with everyone. I got this motherboard and cpu from newegg earlier in the week

Q6600 - L743A944 (pack date 12/20/07)
DFI LP LT X38-T2R
Tuniq Tower

I'm currently running at 3600Mhz (1.37v) and all seems stable. Ran a load test last night and the system stayed up without problem. Load temps are hitting 69-73 (depending on core), but the system idles between 48-54 depending on the core. Anyone have any tips for me? I just recently upgraded from my trusty Athlon X2 4200 system I had for about 18months. This is my first Core based cpu system and I haven't mastered everything yet.

Also, Should I be worried about the 4-6 degree difference in the highest to lowest cpu temp readings?

http://members.cox.net/semicycle/pic1.JPG

http://members.cox.net/semicycle/pic3.JPG

Simalar temps to mine with an Ultra Extreme, same volts too, other then lapping the heatsink or CPU i'm not sure theres much else to do.

[Semicycle]

Thanks for the feedback all. Pretty satisfied with the core I have now.

[kberguy1]

Thought I'd share my results with everyone. I got this motherboard and cpu from newegg earlier in the week

Q6600 - L743A944 (pack date 12/20/07)
DFI LP LT X38-T2R
Tuniq Tower

Highest I've been able to boot into windows is 3.8Gz, but system freezes and temps idle in the 60s. It also took 1.58v to get this.

I was able to run a tests at 3720Mhz (picture below), but the system isn't stable and load temps reach 75-77c. I believe the CPU Voltage was set around 1.42-1.46 for this test.

I'm currently running at 3600Mhz (1.37v) and all seems stable. Ran a load test last night and the system stayed up without problem. Load temps are hitting 69-73 (depending on core), but the system idles between 48-54 depending on the core. Anyone have any tips for me? I just recently upgraded from my trusty Athlon X2 4200 system I had for about 18months. This is my first Core based cpu system and I haven't mastered everything yet.

Also, Should I be worried about the 4-6 degree difference in the highest to lowest cpu temp readings?

I guess my first comment is that the temps you are getting is inline with what I used to see myself with air cooling. furthermore, that 4-6 C diffrence in core temps is normal. my old B3 stepping Q6600 got within 2 C of each other after lapping, but doing the same with my new G) stepping did nothing. Intel seems to have a bit of an issue with IHS contact with their CPU cores. Having said that, I have a few ideas for you to try.

First, the Tuniq Tower has a removable fan in the middle, and the factory fan is just not as good as some aftermarket units. When I used my Tuniq Tower, I upgraded to a Scythe S-Flex SFF21F, which pushes 60+ cfm without being too loud. it lowered my temps by about 2-3 C, but had an even bigger benefit with PWM temps, which dropped by about 5 C because of extra airflow.

Next, I would focus tuning your GTL levels. Doing so allowed me to lower volts down to 1.275 vCore in BIOS for 3600 MHz, and also lowered my temperatures by about 4 C. Your results may vary, but the right GTL settings make the whole system more efficient.

Third, if you haven't done so, try remounting HSF with a better grade thermal paste (I have used Arctic Silver 5, but am currently using arctic Cooling MX-2). Follow the directions for putting thermal paste on Intel quad core CPU's as outlined on Arctic Silvers website.

[ZenEffect]

i got this pm from a guy who doesnt accept pm's so if you are reading this dude, here you go

Hi,

I noticed in one of the posts you have mentioned that you are willing to share the BIOS and all the settings for Maximus + Q6600 L745A*** batch.

Would you point me to where you have or willing to post those as I have the same mobo and CPU with exact same batch.

I'd really appreciate your help. This will be my forst OC with those quiet expensive toys so, any help is viable.

Thanks,
Mike

my current settings, as im still using this cpu till this weekend, are... (bear with me im doing this all from memory but its accurate)

Extreme Tweaker
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9
FSB Frequency : 437
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 400
PCI-E Frequency: 120
DRAM Frequency: DDR2-1165
DRAM Command Rate : AUTO
DRAM Timing Control: AUTO
DRAM Static Read Control: ENABLED
Ai Clock Twister : STRONG
Transaction Booster : ENABLED 0

CPU Voltage : 1.481 (the one right above 1.475 flat)
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.61
North Bridge Voltage : 1.51
DRAM Voltage : 2.26 (my mem rated to 2.35)
FSB Termination Voltage : 1.54
South Bridge Voltage : 1.10
Loadline Calibration : ENABLED
CPU GTL Reference : .63
North Bridge GTL Reference : .67
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : AUTO
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : DDR2_REF
SB 1.5V Voltage : 1.5

NB LED Selection : NB Volt
SB LED Selection : SB Volt
CPU LED Selection : CPU VOlt
Voltiminder LED : DISABLED

CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled

Advanced CPU Configuration
CPU Ratio Control : Manual
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 9
C1E Suppport : Disabled
CPU TM Function : ENABLED
Vanderpool Technology : Disabled
Execute Disable Bit : Disabled
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled


USB Configuration
USB Functions: Enabled
Legacy USB Support : ENABLED

hope this helps, the maximus likes to over volt so watch your cpu ppl, ram, north bridge, and fsb term voltages.

-Effect

[saint-francis]

So these chips have been out for a while now and I'm wondering how they are holding up for people with 24/7 overclocks? I have mine stable with reasonable voltages and temps and my cooling can handle more but I'm only interested in 24/7 settings. Are people seeing any degradation of their performance (needing more voltage than before, lower FSB than before, etc.) with speeds like 3.8 Ghz and higher? I'm assuming I can get to 3.8 with just over 1.4v and keep the load temps still in the mid 50's but I'm not going to do this if it's going to make my system perform worse somewhere down the road.

[highoctane]

So these chips have been out for a while now and I'm wondering how they are holding up for people with 24/7 overclocks? I have mine stable with reasonable voltages and temps and my cooling can handle more but I'm only interested in 24/7 settings. Are people seeing any degradation of their performance (needing more voltage than before, lower FSB than before, etc.) with speeds like 3.8 Ghz and higher? I'm assuming I can get to 3.8 with just over 1.4v and keep the load temps still in the mid 50's but I'm not going to do this if it's going to make my system perform worse somewhere down the road.

I've been running my G0 24/7 at 9x400 1.6vcore for 6 months now, temps max around 65C and it took 1.6 to get over 48hrs quad prime stable.

I may not have gotten a low voltage super clocker, it seems I got one tough vcore loving sob.

[Shocky]

Next, I would focus tuning your GTL levels. Doing so allowed me to lower volts down to 1.275 vCore in BIOS for 3600 MHz, and also lowered my temperatures by about 4 C. Your results may vary, but the right GTL settings make the whole system more efficient.

[Utnorris]

If you haven't gotten a Q6600 yet and it is going to be a few more weeks, I would just wait for the new Quads to come out. You can already get the Q9300 from Tiger Direct and it should overclock better than a Q6600, IMHO. Of course if you have a Microcenter near you it is hard to justify paying $100 bucks more for the new one when you can get the Q6600 for $200. But if you are going to be paying between $225 - $250 I would just go ahead and get the new one, again, just my opinion.

Utnorris

[Utnorris]

No problem mate, temps are tricky and depend in a lot of factors!

I see you have a BOWED Apogee and mine is original. Every time I unmount the block I see poor contact between them. I think the past we are using is a factor too, I used to like MX-2 but I think I'm changing it.

You could try to unmount the block and see if you have a perfect contact also.

I got 4000Mhz with my old Q6600 (even 4050Mhz wPrime stable) but it was too hot and needed 1.50v to do so.

With this new one I'm moving slowly I will let it "burning-in" Prime95 for a week or so and baby step it up till I reach 4005Mhz (445*9).

Good luck with yours too!

Yeah, I need to check the contact this week. I can get it to boot to windows at 4Ghz, but it crashes under any type of load, That's at 1.6v (which is actually 1.55v on my board) so that also runs the temps up. I would kill to be able to get 4Ghz at 1.5, that would be awesome. Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that I can run at 3.6Ghz with ease, just want to be able to go to the xtreme,

Utnorris

[Utnorris]

If your cores are showing a different temp on each one and its a pretty good spread (like 5c) then you may not be getting a solid contact between your heatsink and chip. You can try adjusting the mount by tightening the corners and see if that closes the gap or you could lap both the cpu and heatsink so that the fit flat against each other. Lapping usually will lower your temps 3-5c, but it does void the warranty.

Good luck,

Utnorris