Need help overclocking Q6600

[mzah]

It is probably the most oc'ed part in the world, but i still need help!! I tried googling to full extent of my patience. tried many combinations that i can think off too.

here s my specs: Q6600 G0 revision, kingston 2x2 gb of 1066mhz rams running dual channel on gigabyte EP43 S3L mobo. psu is OCZ 500 Watts

stock frequency for the cpu is 266. i can get that up to 299 with no problem. anything more than that and system doesnt boot (or receive FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4 Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file. in prime95).

tried adding some voltage, (when fsb over and/or below that 299), never managed to get a bootup.

i started to think that my cpu is the blackest sheep of its kind the most unoverclockable of all. the cursed one.

Oh, and i tried gigabyte s special C.I.A2 (auto overclocker) settings, the full thrust never boots, turbo freezes whilst loading windows, racing freezes whilst testing at full load, anything below that seems to run ok. (as it is told in the manual, racing gives a 9-11% boost to frequency)

thanks and respect to anyone and everyone who has taken the effort to read this rather long post!

 

[Ghosthud1]

hi there!

i would like too know what your cooling your q6600 with soo i can tell you how much you can push volts etc

 

[mzah]

air cooling with a regular coolermaster fan. nothing too fancy (dont know the exact model.)

atm, under high stress, only one of the cores gets over 65C

 

[Ghosthud1]

hmmm tbh that is a rather nasty temp at a 2.9ghz clock.

on a thermalright true black 120 i was only hitting 55c max on a 4ghz oc on a q6600 1.49volts, before even considering clocking a 65nm part you should get much better cooling

 

[tinytomlogan]

You dont want it going higher than that dude. You need better cooling before you do anything else.

 

[craigr1982]

Manufacturers clocking tools are rubbish.

You could try lowering the multi (to 6x) and upping the FSB. This will help you find the best FSB and you can then try upping the multi to get the desired speed.

I found my PC would boot directly at 3.2ghz (8x400) just at stock voltages with the stock intel cooler. Maybe give it a try, it would also easily match the memory speeds too. You got nothing to lose.

 

[mzah]

thx for the advice friends. i WOULD get a better cooler IF the thing would give decent clocks!

lets not stray from the original question for now. my issue isnt with temperatures atm.

i cant get past the POST (Power On Self Test) or boot up with anything higher than this limit. why is that??

 

[Ghosthud1]

where not actually straying from the question its just where trying too keep your cpu from dieing lol! 65*c is a dreadful temp and you should really keep away from that area.

back on topic?

the failed overclock could be down too numerous things

temps

memory

the motherboard been a shoddy ocer

bad chip

not enough volts

northbridge straps too memory

the list goes on and on and on....

the only way i actually understood overclocking was too go jump in by myself and never let the temps go above 60*c, best thing you can do is set everything too stock and just higher the fsb/multi/volts according too temps

forget about the ram or anything else just focus on the cpu and you should get some results.

 

[mzah]

it only goes over 60ies at stress tests.

whats important for me is gaming, and during gaming, it doesnt get that hot..

thanks for the suggestions. now, how do i diagnose to see what exactly is the problem?

 

[tinytomlogan]

Heat is your problem dude. GET A BETTER COOLER

 

[craigr1982]

it shouldn't be that hot at just 2.9ghz, especially with that low amount of voltage. Is it a new build? Did you build it yourself?

Might want to check that your heatsink is attached properly or that the fan is acually spinning.

 

[mzah]

tinytomlogan, i m not saying i dont need a better cooler, but i think the reason i cant get more frequency shouldnt be heat because when i up the voltage or freq, i cant even pass the POST. just resets itself before even i can go into bios!

if by new build, you mean revision, then yeah, it is a g0, (the better one)

fan is spinning and i ll try reinstalling it later. any more suggestions??

edit: i wouldnt clock it like crazy and kick the life out of it, if i knew i d get good clocks, then IMMEDIATELY i d get me hands on a better cooler

 

[Ghosthud1]

try these settings

fsb - 333

multi - 9

vcore - 1.25-1.3

i wouldnt personally try it on the cooling you have, but if its overclocking you want, then i cant offer anything else

 

[tinytomlogan]

when its not posting thats just a part of the fun of overclocking matey. You just need to read and follow the guides. BUT at the temps you are getting you do NOT want to be going any higher untill you find out why its so hot.

 

[craigr1982]

no by new build I mean have you only just got the pc? or built it yourself.

 

[bekrii96]

hi,

I'm new to all this, i mean posting on forums.

Your problem is not overheating at post, some boards are not built for overclocking.

I had a fatality Fp in9 what ever i done it would not O/c so it is 90% down to board.

so by trial and error i have learnt if you can software o/c you hardware o/c.

E.g use easytune 4 or above if it overclock then you play with the bios.

If you lock yourself out pull Cmos (reset) cross jumpers and try again.

 

[mzah]

craigr, i ve built this system myself; by that i mean connected every bit with my own hands...

today, first thing, i reinstalled the fan and renewed the thermal paste, not much effect..

next, tried different combinations in bios again, even when slightly overvoltaged, it fails to boot (no post).

i would think mobo is non oc friendly, but why would it have such features as c.i.a.2 (auto overclocker) or 1600 mhz fsb(oc).

one thing caused my attention, the fan has a three pin connector, therefore has to be connected to a regular sys fan slot; leaving the 4 pin cpu fan slot empty. can this be a safety precaution? (if cpu fan speed is 0, different voltages are not allowed)

another thing, my first core is usually +2 degrees over the third and fourth.

the second core runs even hotter by 2 or 3 degrees!

thanks to everyone for contributions

 

[craigr1982]

Ok, if you've only just built it then I'd suggest reseating the heatsink (which you just have).

I'd also try overclocking without adding any voltage. You could have either a non-oc freindly board as you say, but it could also be faulty, or something could.

You could try memtest, and also try your sticks of RAM either in different slots or just use one stick and try the overclock again.

Normally CPU fans are 4 pin so the board can regulate the speed compared to the heat (ie if hot then speed up), pluggin the fan into a 3pin just means it's running at full speed all the time. no problem there. The only thing you might get is a CPUFAN error at POST (basically sayign its stopped working, well obviously as nothings connected.) This can be ignored by changign settings in the BIOS.

As for temps, there always seems to be a couple of degrees difference in cores. Mine happens to be core #2 which is always +2 degrees over everythign else.

 

[mzah]

i run stable at multi 9 and fsb at 299

tried fiddling with the settings a bit more today... (thx to my recommendor cybermaniac)

i lowered the multiplier to 6 and tried various fsbs of over 300, and failed each time...

could this be a hint??

 

[Skorchio]

Try upping you NB voltage slightly Also try 310, somtimes some boards bug out at certain fsb.