Best OC Speed for the 6600

[fx2236]

Hi
i wanna OC my Q6600 , so i just wanna know what is the most performace speed i can get with it , is it @ 3.0 GHz or 3.2 Ghz ....
and please can u post the Voltage i should use
thx

My system Spec :
Motherboard : EVGA nForce 780i SLI FTW
RAM : CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB 1066
CPU : Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0
Graphics Cards : EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SC
CPU Cooler : Zalman Ultra Quiet (CNPS9700LED)
Power Supply : Ultra X3 ULT40071 800-Watt

 

[razor512]

when overclocking theres no one size fits all clock speed and voltage. asus tried to do that and with you use their bios overclock tool, you wind up with like a 5% overclock before becoming unstable

2.8-2.9 GHz is a safe overclock as many of them can hit this easily with minimal voltage increase.

what you want to do is use stock voltage, then push the clock speed up 25-50MHz at a time and run prime 95 for like 30 minutes each time

when you get to the 2.7GHz range, run prime 95 for a hour at a time after each increase.

if at any time you fail the prime 95 test but windows is running ok enough to to not blue screen, then start increasing the voltage and running prime 95 for like a hour or 2.

the higher the overclock, the longer you need to run prime 95

when you get to a point where voltage increases are not helping, then you reached the max overclock, then turn the overclock down by like 20MHz

then run prime 95 for at least 8 hours

when I built a system for people with a q6600, I do a overclock to 2.7GHz, then run prime 95 for 1.2 days


just make sure your monitoring your temperatures from time to time to make sure there not too high.

and also keep in mind that those temperatures may go 15-20 degrees hotter in the summer so make sure you have some head room for those temperatures

 

[fx2236]

thank you very much , it was really helpful , but i meant whats the best clock speed i can get with max performance ,i can can notice the performance when i get it to 3GHz , but will i get better (noticeable) results ( or FPS as im a gamer ) if i got it to 3.3GHz or 3.6GHz or it will just be the same ?

 

[Alein]

I have my machine at 3.6 with little ease. I even had it up to 3.8 with prime running stable for 8hrs but I noticed with some programs they would crash all the time. Oh ya I am also running a watercooled machine.

 

[JuiceJones]

Any clock speed increase will continue to scale in any program that fully utilizes it, i.e. CPU dependent areas in games or encoding of any kind.

The "best" OC speed is the highest speed you can get it without sacrificing too much memory performance or stability. Depending on your chip's overclocking ability/VID, 3.2~3.4 is a reasonable expectation on good air cooling.

 

[jsc]

Speaking for experience ...

When I built my newest box, benchmarking with 3DMark using a 640 MB eVGA 8800GTS (G80 core), going from 2.4 GHz to 3.2 GHz, I noticed a mostly linear increase in frame rates. At 3.3 Ghz, the increase pretty much leveled off. 3.6 GHz gives me more CPU power, but does not measurably affect graphics performance.

At 3.6 MHz, vcore in BIOS is overvolted to 1.45 volts, drooping to 1.425 volts. Core temps after 24 hours of Prime95 is 61 C - 65 C.

The first thing that will determine how well YOUR Q6600 overclocks is the stepping (version of the CPU). The latest stepping is G0. The previous version was B3. If you bought yours recently, it's a probably a G0. (How Intel jumped from "B3" directly to "G0", I do not know. I would have thought that they'd call it "C0".)

The second thing that will ... is the VID. The VID is the stock voltage YOUR Q6600 runs at. This can vary. Lower is better. "Standard" VID is 1.35 volts, I think. Mine is 1.2625 volts. I got a pretty good one.

The third thing that will ... is the HSF you are using. As you run faster, you will need to run a higher CPU voltage. This generates heat. Heat is BAD. The better your HSF, the more heat you can get rid of. Water cooling is a whole 'nother thing.

The fourth thing that will ... is you choice of motherboards. Some motherboard are simply better overclockers than others. This is more of a "model" thing than a "brand" thing.

The fifth thing that will ... is your choice of case. Some cases are better at moving air through them than others. I have an Antec 900. 900's have many flaws but they are excellent at moving air.

The sixth thing that will ... is the air temperature (called "ambient temperature") around the PC. Air at 25 C will cool a PC better than air at 35 C.

The stock Intel HSF is actually pretty good. Assuming a decent case with good air flow and a G0 CPU, you should be able to reach 3.0 GHz. with the stock HSF. With something like an inexpensive Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro, you should be able to hit 3.2 to 3.3 GHz. Any higher will require topgrade cooling - ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme, the newer Xigmatek HDT-S1283, or something similar and a motherboard and PSU with good, stable power.

Overclocking can gain you a substantial increase in performance, but it is not "free" performance.

Overclocking since 1978 - TRS80 Z80 from 1.77 MHz to 2.01 MHz

 

[FatFunkey]

Also make sure you check your Core Temps with Realtemp or Coretemp, keep then (in general) below 71C is the best rule of thumb

Of course i know some guys that yea it might hit 74C but thats after 12+hrs of Prime95, kinda expectable in my book..

 

[Video_freak]

If this helps, I've been running a Q6700 with a high VID of 1.325v at 3.5 GHz (I need it set at 1.475v to pass stress tests, but leave it on 1.45v whenever not testing). I see the biggest difference in CPU dependent games, such as GTA IV. In games like Crysis, however, my GPU (and most others) bottleneck the CPU, so it doesn't matter how fast I clock the CPU.

 

[fx2236]

first , thank u guys for ur great help
and i have GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 SC , i dont know if my CPU will bottleneck my GPU , thats Y i need to OC it to a limit where i have the Best Performance stability ratio with my whole rig