E6600 overclocking badly..

[crumble114]

Quite dissapointed with OC results..

I am quite a newbie when it comes to overclocking, but I did expect greater things from my E6600, first of all, here is my rig:

Windows XP Pro
C2D E6600
Thermalright Ultra-120
4GB PC2-6400
ATI X1900XT
ENERMAX 535W
320GB HDD
ASUS P5W DELUXE WIFI

Temps @ 3.1Ghz -
Idle -
CPU: 26
CORE 0: 35
CORE 1: 37

Load (prime 95)
CPU: 33
CORE 0: 42
CORE 1: 42

It's running prime 95 Small FFT's test as I type this and seems fine at the moment, but haven't been running for long. I will be watching a few films in my room and letting this run, while checking to see how it goes every so often.


I just started overclocking and got myself up to 3.1Ghz on the E6600, vcore - 1.35V, all other voltages are on auto, all power savings / unnecesary things all disabled. PCI-E Frequency - 100Mhz, PCI Clock Synchronization -33.33Mhz, these are basically all what I was told to set. Now, my RAM is running in 1:1, so is currently at 345.5Mhz, which later on I'll definetely want to get back up to 400Mhz+, and the timings are extremely bad at the moment, but I'll fix those later: 5-6-6-18 (btw, where do I find the settings in the bios to adjust timings?)
Anything past 3.1Ghz and my system just wont POST, so I can't even test if it would work, it will just keep rebooting itself until I change it lower and I have found that this is the highest I can get to without it not POSTing.
OK, I was wondering what I need to do to get my overclock higher, as I have heard many people reaching MUCH higher with just stock COOLING! and originally I was hoping to get up to and even beyond 3.6Ghz with a 1:1 from my 400Mhz RAM (PC2-6400). What do I have to do to increase my overclock without it not POSTing? I know I'm quite a newbie to this, is it just me being a newb or is this the highest physical overclock I can reach? (I doubt this though) I'm actually guessing it's most likely that because all my voltages apart from vcore are on auto and not set well?
So, please help me reach a good overclock speed with my E6600 and my RAM, I'll greatly appreciate any help/tips or anything.

 

[CompuTronix]

I'm running the same MB and C2D. Check my sig. So what do you need to work on next? In a word, Vcore. Read the Overclocking section in my Temp Guide. You've got about 300 Mhz left to go before you max out your rig.

Understand there are no solid state devices 100% identical. Every piece of silicon is unique, and as such, has different properties of electronics which include resistance, capacitance, inductance, impedance, and transconductance. Although two consecutive serial number CPU's from the same fabrication, with the same stepping codes may appear identical, they're yielded from different location on the silicon wafer from which they're manufactured, and like diamonds, each has it's own unique flaws.

Even though their dynamic operational characteristics may be very similar, no two CPU's will overclock to exactly the same stable maximum speed, at the same Vcore, at the same temperature. Additionally, in a muli Core processor, one Core will always become unstable before another. The overclock ceiling for the E6600 is typically 3.4 to 3.6 Ghz at 1.5 Vcore with top-of-the-line air cooling.

It's impossible to predict at what clock speed the Cores you have will become unstable as you increase Vcore, but don't feel apprehensive about increasing Vcore when overclocking a 6600. These processors are quite robust, however, do not exceed 55c Tcase / 70c Tjunction during Load testing with Orthos, and 60c Tcase / 75c Tjunction with TAT.


Hope this helps,

Comp

 

[crumble114]

Thanks, but I don't really understand it, I'm no good with all this tech stuff. If I was to go for 3.6Ghz, what Vcore do you reckon I will need to use? Also, will it work? As last time I tried it with my Vcore as auto and it wouldn't POST.
Also, should I keep my rig testing for longer or try and overclock further?

 

[crumble114]

Wow.. I just tried the 5 following set ups and none of them would even POST, let a lone start up windows ready for testing..

I started off with a long shot;
400FSB
800Mhz RAM
5-5-5-12
2.1V RAM
1.4V vCore

Then I tried the following:
375FSB
800Mhz RAM
5-5-5-12
2.1V RAM
1.4V vCore

365FSB
800Mhz RAM
5-5-5-15
2.1V RAM
1.4V vCore

350FSB 800Mhz RAM
5-5-5-15
2.1V RAM
1.4V vCore

I just got fed up after these and went back to what I was on before, however I did change the RAM timings, upped the vCore and the RAM voltage, I'm stuck for ideas now.. What do I do? You said I could get at least 300Mhz more, what's going on then?

345FSB
5-5-5-12
2.1V RAM
1.4 vCore

I'm currently running the FFT tester as we speak still..

 

[CompuTronix]

I was editing when you posted, so read my text above. Never use auto settings when overclocking. Manual settings only. Keep in mind that overclocking is best approached methodically and meticulously, similarily to a scientist conducting a controlled experiment. Keep track of your steps and take notes. Only make one change at a time, then re-test. It's extremely time consuming, so be prepared to invest dozens of hours in tweaking and testing, because there's no quick and dirty way to achieve your highest stable overclock, however, your efforts will be well worth it in the knowledge, understanding and experience you gain, as you learn which tweaks produce which results. Don't take shortcuts by making several changes at once, because you'll never know which CPU or memory or motherboard tweaks resulted in a stable overclock, and you'll never understand what you're doing. If you get stuck, read...read...read. At some point you'll need to tweak Vmch (Northbridge) to increase your FSB and remain stable.

Have you read graysky's Overclocking Guide? http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide

Also, I wrote "You've got about 300 Mhz left to go before you max out your rig." The operative word here is MAX, not AT LEAST! Understand that your particular E6600 may not have the potential to reach 3.6 Ghz, and this is likely, since you're unstable above 3.1 Ghz at 1.35 Vcore. I predict that you'll max out at 3.4 Ghz, but I hope that you can prove me wrong. You'll need 1.5 Vcore, and at that much Voltage, you'll have a hard time trying to maintain safe temperatures, even at 22c Ambient. Re-read the Overclocking section in my Guide!

Comp

 

[crumble114]

Thanks for the help! I really do appreciate the time your taken to share some of your knowledge with me.
What about the other temperatures apart from RAM/vCore? Shall I keep them on auto as I have no idea what they do / control?
Is the RAM voltage completely seperate from the other voltages, for example if I can't run 800Mhz @ 5-5-5-12 at 2.1V RAM, does this mean I'll never be able to run that unless I put the voltage up? Seeing as my maximum is 2.2V however, I don't think it's a good idea! How do I make my RAM 800Mhz if it doesn't come up in the list due to the clock speed not being 1:1?
Finally, how long do you think I should typically test each time I find a stable speed and what increments do you find best when you are pushing the clocks up?

Again I want to thank you for the help!

 

[crumble114]

I just tried another few combos and they all FAILED to POST, apart from the last one which is basically what I had before, I am now testing this one though:

380FSB
570Mhz RAM
2.1V RAM
1.475 vCore

370FSB
570Mhz RAM
2.1V RAM
1.475 vCore

360FSB
570Mhz RAM
2.1V RAM
1.475 vCore

They all failed, this is the one I'm running on now:
350FSB (+5 from before)
700Mhz RAM (+10 from before)
5-5-5-12
2.1V RAM
1.45 vCore

I really am stuck now..

 

[CompuTronix]

One thing at a time. Downclock the RAM to remove it from the equation of Variables, (so it's not a stability issue), and focus on working with the CPU Vcore and Motherboard Vmch. Again, please read graysky's Overclocking Guide. You must be patient, and take a methodical approach if you expect to produce favorable results.

Comp

 

[perham3d]

computronix...whats ur temps on ur e6600 at 3.7?

is it cpu-z verified? and whats ur settings for that oc. im at 3.3 on my e6600 with msi-neofr2(stock voltages). my ram is whats holding me back but posting ur settings may help a few people. namely crumble

 

[crumble114]

Perham, what is the stock voltage for vCore?

I've had this running overnight and it's stable, here are the settings I'm using at the moment:
345x9 = 3105Mhz
864Mhz RAM
5-5-5-12
2.15V RAM
1.4V vCore

Super PI: 16s

Here is a picture of a few tests I ran and my temperatures idle:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa158/crumble114/overclocking/untitled-2.jpg

I am now really stuck on what to try next, do I put the RAM speed and timings down or keep them the same? Anything that I go to above 345FSB wont even POST for me, is this because I'm not giving it enough voltage? Should I set the voltages at auto to different things? (all apart from RAM/vCore are at auto) Someone give me a hint.

 

[MikePHD]

I would try unlinking your ram to see if that's what's holding you back.
By the way, what are you using for cooling?

 

[bojangles34]

Hey crumble I have the exact same issue. I can't get past ~3.1 GHz as well.

I was thinking it was my chipset: Nvidia nForce 590 Intel edition.

I am going to try lowering my timings and increase the Northbridge voltage to see what happens.

Here are my specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.0 GHz @ stock voltage.
ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium
OCZ Platinum DDR2-800 RAM 5-4-5-15 (I think)
WD Raptor 150 GB
Sapphire Radeon X800 Pro
SB X-Fi Fatal1ty
Zalman CNPS9700 with zalman STG-1 compound.


That's probably more than you need to know about my setup.

 

[crumble114]

I would try unlinking your ram to see if that's what's holding you back.
By the way, what are you using for cooling?

What does unlinking my RAM mean? I'm using a Thermalright Ultra-120 heatsink with a Zalman ZM-F3 on it. I also have 1X 90mm Zalman ZM-F2, another ZM-F3 exhaust fan and a stock fan from my case cooling the HDD. I have a Soprano case, can't remember the make.

 

[MikePHD]

Theres some settings in your bios that will let you run the ram at a slower speed. Instead of running 1:1, try running at (someone correct me on this) 2:3 or something like that (i forget the numbers off the top of my head).

Some people would have you believe that there is something magical about a 1:1 ratio, but for finding out your max OC, I don't see any problem with it and it should give your RAM some more breathing room.

BTW, I missed your RAMS default specs, can you list that.

 

[crumble114]

I have 2GB "OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Special Ops Edition" which is at 5-5-5-12, link to it is here:
http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_special_ops_edition
and the other 2GB is of "Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400C5", which is the same timings as the OCZ. They both have a max voltage of 2.2V IIRC.

 

[crumble114]

Why does my multiplier keep changing from x9 to x6 for no reason sometimes, all my power saving options are off.

 

[MikePHD]

either you missed an option, or its thermal throttling

 

[crumble114]

Do you think this is a good idea to try next:
375FSB
750Mhz RAM
6-6-6-15 RAM timings
2.1V RAM (is this enough?)
1.45V vCore (is this enough?)

I also need some suggestions on what to set the other voltage settings to as I don't even know what they actually do, could someone tell me/help me out here?
Thanks.

 

[crumble114]

I got this error when I ran Orthos Blend:

"Using CPU #1
Beginning a continuous self-test to check your computer.
Press Stop to end this test.
Test 1, 4000 Lucas-Lehmer iterations of M19922945 using 1024K FFT length.
FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.49609375, expected less than 0.4
Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.
Torture Test ran 1 minutes 24 seconds - 1 errors, 0 warnings.
Execution halted."

 

[MikePHD]

Run small ffts or large ffts options, they will tell us if its the memory or the cpu

 

[crumble114]

It failed on the RAM test, this came up when running it:

Using CPU #1
Beginning a continuous self-test to check your computer.
Press Stop to end this test.
Test 1, 4000 Lucas-Lehmer iterations of M19922945 using 1024K FFT length.
Test 2, 4000 Lucas-Lehmer iterations of M19922943 using 1024K FFT length.
FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4
Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.
Torture Test ran 1 minutes 42 seconds - 1 errors, 0 warnings.
Execution halted.

 

[crumble114]

I need help guys! Please!

I found this set of results on another overclocking forum and they looked quite feesible, so I will definitely try something along the lines of:

AI Tuning: Manual
Nvidia GPU Ex: Disabled
LinkBoost: Disabled

FSB - Memory Clock Mode: Unlinked
x FSB - Memory Raio: N/A
FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1600 (means 400FSB)
Actual FSB (QDR), Mhz: 1600
MEM (DDR), Mhz: 800 (means 400mhz speeds)
Actual MEM (DDR), Mhz: 880.2

Vcore Voltage: 1.525 set (1.42v bios/1.41v windows idle/1.39v windows load)
Memory Voltage: 2.100v
1.2v HT Voltage: 1.3v
NB Core Voltage: 1.4v
SB Core Voltage: 1.55v
CPU VTT Voltage: 1.4v
DDRII Controller Ref Voltage: AUTO
DDRII Channel A Ref Voltage: AUTO
DDRII Channel B Ref Voltage: AUTO

Would these voltages be OK do you think for my system however?

 

[systemlord]

"The Northbridge Vcore has the biggest impact on overclocking success." When I was about maxxed out on my OC I upped the NB Vcore to 1.55 and was able to get a higher OC. I'm at 400 fsb now but have tested using Orthos at 467 fsb and pasted, but my temps weren't to good. Its my PC case thats bad for cooling so I am going to get a better case so I can run at 467x8 = 3.7GHz. Don't go to the highest NB Vcore setting without a 60mm fan on top of your NB.

Asus P5B Deluxe:
CPU Vcore 1.54v
NB Vcore 1.55v
FSB termination voltage 1.4

 

[crumble114]

Well, I don't have a fan on it as such, but I have fans all around it, one 90mm on the side of the case, that's mostly going into the Thermalright Ultra-120 and an exhaust 120mm just to the side of the Ultra-120, however doesn't the P5W DELUXE have special cooling system for the NB? If I do infact have too bad cooling to put the NB voltage up, where abouts would you say I put it?

Thanks for the help system lord, a few more questions for you if you don't mind:
-What heatsink are you using and what are your temperatures idle/load? (if you don't mind)
-Should I leave the other voltages and just focus on these 3 plus the RAM voltage then?

 

[CompuTronix]

crumble114, I've been traveling this week, but I'll be back aboard my boat this evening, so if you'll be patient a bit longer, I will give you my settings for the Asus P5W DH Deluxe / E6600 at different FSB / CPU / Memory clock settings. During the many dozens of hours of stability testing I've done while overclocking this MB / CPU / BIOS combination on several different high end overclocked rigs I've built, I've carefully documented settings and performance benchmarks. Understand that this Motherboard uses the 975X Northbridge / ICH7 Southbridge Chipsets, so if you attempt to use settings from other Motherboard / Chipset / BIOS combinations, they are invalid. As I said in an earlier post, not all CPU's are created equal, and although 3.4 to 3.6 Ghz is typical for the E6600, some chips just won't get there, so "typical" doesn't mean that your chip came with any gaurantee to even reach 3.4 Ghz. You're dealing with nano electronics, and no two pieces of silicon are identical.

Also, keep in mind that some C2D's are unresponsive to certain FSB / Memory strapping combinations, and manifest this unresponsive behavior as a virtual overclocking "wall" which can "sometimes" only be overcome by reducing the multiplier to 8, and increasing the FSB (Front Side Bus) clock. The P5W DH Deluxe is typically an excellent match for the E6600, however, it lacks the ability to reach the higher FSB settings of the 965 or the newer P35 Chipsets. The P5W DH Deluxe is known to seldom reach stable FSB settings above 425 Mhz. My particular board max's out at ~ 417 Mhz, so at 3.7 Ghz (9 X 411), FSB stability is dictated by a normal Ambient temperatue of 22c which affects all temperatures inside the computer case, an MCH (Northbridge) voltage setting of 1.75, and an FSB Termination voltage of 1.4, if I recall correctly.

As systemlord pointed out, FSB cooling is critical for stability at high FSB / VMCH settings, so in my sig you see "Cooling Mods", which means I have carefully removed the rediculous (but decorative) shiny heat sinc covers from the Northbridge and Southbridge heat sincs, and attached a 40mm Cooler Master fan to the Northbridge. This is available as a boxed fan / heat sinc kit, which is on the shelf at Comp USA for ~ $10.00. I simply discarded the heat sinc from the kit, and used the fan and the screws included to attach the fan. It's a perfect fit, and the 3 wire connector allows the fan RPM to be monitored by utility software. I strongly recommend performing this easy little modification on this Motherboard, since I've been able to prove that it enhanced my FSB stability, and extended the clock range while requiring less voltage.

Hope this helps,

Comp