Can I safely O'C my Q6600 any higher?

[stickmania]

Right, my Q6600 @ 3ghz idles at just under 40 degrees.
However as I am an overclocking noob I have no idea how hot this really is for a Q6600 at 3ghz or more importantly if I have any headroom for further overclocks. If anybody can give me a rough estimate of how much I can push it further it would be very helpful. Also for future reference what are the temp and voltage limits I should not go above with a Q6600?

Thanks a lot, any responses will be greatly appreciated.

 

[jerreece]

Thermal Maximum for the Q6600 is like 70 or 72 Celsius. As long as your 100% load temps never reach that you'll be okay.

Personally, I like to limit my max temps to like 65C, because I don't EVER want the chance of running to hot and not realizing it.

Best thing you can do, is run Prime 95 to max your CPU usage, and monitor temps for several minutes. Make sure your maximum temps never get that high. If you still have some room, you can try higher overclocks.

 

[CompuTronix]

From the Sticky at the top of this Forum:

Core 2 Quad and Duo Temperature Guide - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/221745-29-core-quad-temperature-guide


Section 6: Scale

Scale 2: Quad
Q9x50: Tcase Max 71c, Stepping E0, TDP 95W, Idle 16W
Q9x50: Tcase Max 71c, Stepping C1, TDP 95W, Idle 16W
Q9400: Tcase Max 71c, Stepping R0, TDP 95W, Idle 16W
Q9300: Tcase Max 71c, Stepping M1, TDP 95W, Idle 16W
Q8x00: Tcase Max 71c, Stepping R0, TDP 95W, Idle 16W
Q8200: Tcase Max 71c, Stepping M1, TDP 95W, Idle 16W
Q6x00: Tcase Max 71c, Stepping G0, TDP 95W, Idle 16W<--Q6600 G0

-Tcase/Tjunction-
--70--/--75--75--75--75-- Hot
--65--/--70--70--70--70-- Warm
--60--/--65--65--65--65-- Safe
--25--/--30--30--30--30-- Cool


Tcase = CPU temperature
Tjunction = Core temperature

Vcore Max is 1.5 in CPU-Z at 100% workload using Prime95 Small FFT's.

Hope this helps,

Comp

 

[jsc]

How far you can push an OC depends on a lot of things: vcore, CPU stepping, HSF, case.

40C sounds high for an idle unless you are using the stock Intel HSF. My G0 Q6600 hits 50C under full load. But that's with a very good HSF and in a very good case.

So, what kind of HSF and case?

 

[stickmania]

How far you can push an OC depends on a lot of things: vcore, CPU stepping, HSF, case.

40C sounds high for an idle unless you are using the stock Intel HSF. My G0 Q6600 hits 50C under full load. But that's with a very good HSF and in a very good case.

So, what kind of HSF and case?

Um an antec 1200 case and an aftermarket cooler from arctic cooling that cost me £15 and had some good reviews but I can't remember the exact name of it 😛

 

[CompuTronix]

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro? - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

 

[stickmania]

Oh and I have just rechecked my temps using core temp and they are more like 35/36 degrees at idle. Unfortunately I can't find a working link for 64 bit prime so I can't give you load temps right now.

 

[stickmania]

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro? - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Having just glanced in the window of my case I can confirm that that is the one. Thanks.

 

[CompuTronix]

The ACF7 Pro is a solid mid-range cooler, but is better when lapped. A high-end cooler is needed to achieve the highest overclock on a Q6600 while still maintaining safe temperatures on Prime95 Small FFT's.

The following Prime95 link is contained within the Temp Guide, the link to which I've already posted above. The 64 bit download is located about half way down the page - http://mersenne.org/freesoft

■What is your VID?

■What is your ambient?

 

[iluvgillgill]

the ACF7 Pro cant get the Q6600 to anything higher then 3.2Ghz. i had personal experience on that setup. i lapped the heatsink knocked off couple degrees at load but still no more then 3.2Ghz.