Hello, this is my first post, and thank you for all for your help in advance!
I have the exact hardware as the OP does (with the exception of the PSU), and I'm wondering about overclocking as well. I read a few articles having Googled "overclocking for newbs" among other things and came across article:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=263753
From the article, I figured I could do at least the following (with sufficient cooling) without any real problems:
Because the Q6600 (stock speed is 2400MHz) has an FSB of 1066MHz (according to Newegg), and because modern Intel CPUs utilize a "quad pumped" FSB, then theoretically I should be able to set the Abit Ip35 Pro clock speeds to a comfortable maximum of 266.5Mhz x 9 multi, that gives 2.4Ghz and since 1066/4 is 266.5.
The speed at which is the MCH (FSB) runs is the speed at which the RAM runs. Therefore, a DDR2800 module should be able to run comfortably at 400Mhz since it's double sided.
This means I can OC the system "comfortably" by bringing the FSB to a maximum of 400Mhz, manipulating the multiplier, CPU+mem+MCH voltages, and of course, getting rid of heat. If i'm wrong about anything, or my chain of thought is wrong, please let me know
If i'm right, then my question is: after a successful OC and boot into windows, a stress test says the system is unstable. therefore I need to adjust the voltages. which one do i change first?
My aim is 3.2-3.6Ghz. Thanks again, and happy holidays (and overclocking!).