Can't get past 400x8 and Vista reports 2.13Ghz?!

[tomglenn]

Hey all,

Just got my new rig setup this afternoon, and got Vista Ultimate 64bit installed and a few bits of software (Like drivers, anti-virus etc).

So I decided I wanted to overclock my Q6600, since I have an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro for it and thought I might as well put it to good use!

The trouble is, I have been having a tremendous amount of trouble getting it to boot on overclocked settings...

I have finally managed to get it to boot into Windows at FSB 400x8 (3.20Ghz) but Vista reports it as 2.13Ghz?! Also, CPU-Z fluctuates constantly... telling me my multiplier and clock speed are constantly changing...

Where can I find out what I am actually running at (Other than the BIOS at startup which DOES correctly say its running at 3.20Ghz)...

Please see picture:

Also... Are there any guides for overclocking a Q6600 on a P5E3 Premium... I can't help but think 3.20Ghz is a lame OC for this chip, as I have seen people get it into the 3.5Ghz mark on air with ease...

All help is much appreciated!

 

[tomglenn]

I've had to change it back to default settings as I got a BSOD!

I have now changed it all back, but this time changed AI Overclock Tuner from Manual to X.P.M (or X.M.P.. cant remember).

Looks like im back to being normal again until I or someone can figure this out

 

[Hassan]

Make sure that your floppy drive is enable in your Bios

Seems stupid, but in my case it actually worked, I was trying so hard to overclock, but Vista always reported it as stock and after enabling that it seemed to have worked

 

[tomglenn]

Hi Hassan, I will give it a go... But I don't even have a floppy drive :S

 

[Silentsnake]

i dont know much about them boards, but there are usually settings that constantly change your CPU speed to match what you are doing these kind of settings need to be turned off

 

[tomglenn]

Where are they located under your BIOS?

 

[Silentsnake]

ok i think i found what im talking about! turn these off

• C1e Support
  
• Vanderpool Technology
  
• Max CPUID Value LIMIT
  
• Intel SpeedStep Tech
  

Try that i know for a fact that the vanderpool and the speedstep should be disabled try it and let us know

any1 want to confirm what i just said?

EDIT: these are found under advanced CPU Settings

 

[Silentsnake]

found in advanced CPU settings i think

 

[Hassan]

Hi Hassan, I will give it a go... But I don't even have a floppy drive :S

Yeah I know I didn't either. You will see in the bios where there is an option on something about floppy.

 

[tomglenn]

Couldn't find an option to enable Floppy drive so I didnt do that.

I did however, turn off all but one of the options under advanced (something about bits).

CPU-Z now reports 3200Ghz @ 400x8.

No problems yet, but that doesn't say anything, as it was working fine like this last time before it BSODed when I tried to install COD4!

What programs can I download to test stability?

Edit: Downloaded Prime95 and running a torture test.

 

[Silentsnake]

Couldn't find an option to enable Floppy drive so I didnt do that.

I did however, turn off all but one of the options under advanced (something about bits).

CPU-Z now reports 3200Ghz @ 400x8.

No problems yet, but that doesn't say anything, as it was working fine like this last time before it BSODed when I tried to install COD4!

What programs can I download to test stability?

Edit: Downloaded Prime95 and running a torture test.

Orthos is a gd one! Also what kind of temps you getting?

 

[tomglenn]

Torture Test stopped with the following error:

FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4

Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.

Everest is reporting a CPU temp of 30 celcius.

 

[tomglenn]

Orthos caused a BSOD after about a minute on 400x8 (3.2Ghz - though it was reporting it as 3.6?!)

Gone back to default (2.5Ghz) again...

Am I just extremely unlucky and got a chip that doesn't like to be OCed?

 

[Silentsnake]

Orthos caused a BSOD after about a minute on 400x8 (3.2Ghz - though it was reporting it as 3.6?!)

Gone back to default (2.5Ghz) again...

Am I just extremely unlucky and got a chip that doesn't like to be OCed?

Nah just seems like we are forgetting something, what is CPU-z reporting clock? and everest? are they the same?

 

[tomglenn]

At the moment it is back to default 267x9 (2.4Ghz), CPU-Z and Everest both report the same.

I have another lead... I have just read that I should be using the two BLACK Ram slots for overclocking as these are set to be high performance... I currently have my two 2GB modules in the ORANGE slots on my motherboard...

3 You have to use the black slots, these are designated A2 and B2. The reason for this is they have been tuned for high frequency use.

I am just downloading the latest BIOS update and will swap my Ram over and retry once ive flashed the BIOS.

 

[tomglenn]

Flashed BIOS from 0104 (I think) to 0505 and switched my RAM modules to sit in the Black slots.

OCed to 400x8 (3.2Ghz)

Orthos has been running for over 10 minutes now and still no problems... I hope i've found the problem!

Edit: Going to try a higher overclock. I had trouble getting it to even POST at anything higher than 3.2 before... let's see what happens now!)

 

[tomglenn]

BSOD @ 410x8(3.3Ghz) after 1 minute of Orthos again.

Surely there is something I am doing wrong if I can't get passed 3.2?

Do I need to be messing with voltages or FSB to NS Bridge settings etc?

 

[tomglenn]

A little update.

I am currently at 400x8 (3.2Ghz) and ran the PRIME95 torture test last night for 5 and a half errors with no warnings or errors.

I'd hazard a guess that it should be pretty stable? I'd still like to be able to OC it more though, but I guess until someone can point me in the right direction, 3.2Ghz is still a good speed.

 

[!TIMMY!]

You will have to add more vcore and maybe NB if your ocing your ram at the same time. Do it in small increments. My Q6600 seem to not like going any higher than 3.3ghz and I have water cooling.

 

[Silentsnake]

when i had my Q6600 i couldnt even get it on 3.0 stable using an asus p5n32-e

Are you voltages on auto? or have you set them your self?