Q6600 G0 advice needed

[darrylb]

First off, apologies for another Q6600 G0 thread on overclocking. I have read around a lot and various guides to try and aid me but I still can't get a happy result.

My setup is:

Q6600 G0 with TRUE 120 + Scythe 1600RPM Fan + AS5 paste
Asus P5K-E WiFi Ap
OCZ GameXT 600w PSU
4x1gb OCZ Platinum Rev2 Ram 4-4-4-15 (currently at 5-5-5-15)
NZXT Lexa Blackline Case with 4 Fans
8800 Evga 512mb GTS (g92)

My room temp I would estimate at 15 (student house so no heating 😀 For example, u can see your breath in the living room lol). I have a probe on the top of the HS base that reads 30-33 at load. This sounds too low if the cpu is at 68-74?

To measure I am using Speedfan(with+15), CPU-Z, coretemp, and Prime95 latest versions.


The best I can seem to get is 3.4ghz (9x378) at 1.49v on load (1.6v in bios - vdroop feature enabled). I am happy with this speed but this voltage seems, A) too much of a difference between bios and load, and B) too high in general. I know the limit is 1.5v but a lot seem to be able to get 3.4ghz-3.6 with a much lower voltage/temps. The temps are too high for me. Around low 40s for idle and at a full prime test im getting 75-74-68-68 - which clearly shows the TRUE isnt getting good contact on one side (I will lap this tonight hopefully). If I can get 68 on all 4 cores and get 3.6ghz I would be happy even at 1.49v.

I have set all the settings in BIOS according to the main guides. The one area I need help with though is GTL settings as I have not experimented with them yet but plan to after work. The RAM is relaxed for now to 5-5-5-15. I have tried setting the NB voltage up a notch or 2 (sorry i dont have exact figures as im in work).

What ratios should I use. I seen ratios for CPU and NB voltages (figures around x6801 or something). I tried auto and I tried one of them but couldn't really notice a difference.

I have tried to get 3.6ghz stable but can only get it running longer than 2mins with 1.6v which is crazy so I stopped it instantly. My voltage in the BIOS at 1.6 gives 1.49 in load, at 1.6125 or whatever the next step up is it gives 1.6 in load. If I could get a low 1.51 or 1.52 in load I could probably get the 3.6 stable.

I have also tried remounting the heatsink to get a better contact but it didn't seem to make any difference. My fan is on the Ram side of the HS and it is blowing air through the HS. There is an 80cm fan taking air in from the roof of the case to blow over the ram and im assuming this is the main air that gets blown through the HS alongside the air from the 120mm fan on the window (there is a 120mm fan at the front also but due to drives etc not much of this air seems to get in). There is then a 120mm fan taking air out of the case at the back about 10cm away from the other side of the HS, and the 120mm PSU fan taking air up and out.

So has anyone any comments or pointers? As I say my aim is 3.6ghz and I assume load temps of <70 and idle around 40 would be ok. I know every chip is different etc etc but its hard to see other people getting 3.8 with lower or similar temps and lower voltage. Am I expecting too much and being unrealistic? >3.6 would be a dream and I don't expect to get that stable with acceptable temps/voltage.

Also, how much difference is it going to make roughly to the power consumption / bill running at this kind of voltage over say 1.2 or 1.3?

I can post more detailed information when I get home as to exact settings but as I say I followed the guide on here as regard to the other motherboard settings.

And sorry if some of my questions / assumptions etc are on the noob side as this is my first proper overclock attempt Hopefully I am doing something stupid and with some guidance can get much better performance.

Thanks in advance and any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[darrylb]

I also appreciate that having 4x1gb is probably holding me back a bit too? Would dropping to 2x1gb in one channel and 1x1gb in another help? Since my Vista32 only recognizes 3366 even with PAE and remapping enabled then I could drop a dimm easily. If however someone could point me in the way of a good water-cooling system for £80-£150 that could help me reach 4ghz then I would be happy to make this investment, but im not sure how possible this is given my setup?

 

[the great beast]

hey Darryl,

just gonna answer with respect to watercooling - there's a couple of pretty good swiftech kits in that price range here http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=193&sortby=nameAsc&subid=&mfrid=286

whether or not they'll get you to 4Ghz is another question, but swiftech are recognised as a good brand.

 

[vagetaqtd]

Your voltage is too high. I'm currently running at 1.362v @ 3.4Ghz 425x8 on a similar board as you, P5k Premium. Rite now with the colder weather my idle temps are 35-39, load is 60-65C. Its been prime stable for over 8hrs.

Are your rams PC8500? I have mine rated at 5-5-5-15 but running at 4-4-4-12 with 2.3v. Check out my sig.

 

[darrylb]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the replies.

I agree that my voltage is too high especially for this speed as it should be atainable at a lower voltage like you have managed. I am going to try this now however I have an update as I just lapped my heatsink. I couldnt get hold of anything over 600 in B&Q! So i made do with 200-400-600. My first ever lapping attempt.

Ok before I was:
75-74-68-68

Now with Lapped HS:
63-59-57-57

😀

Ok good and bad here. Good - Dropped an average of nearly 12 degrees C. This is alot and I am very happy with this The bad? Still got a large difference between core 0 and cores 1-3. Clearly one side of the heatsink still has poor contact in comparison to the other side. I would blame my lapping but at least i lowered the gap from before hand lol

My Ram is rated at PC6400 800mhz 4-4-4-15 and I have it at 1:1 so 378x2. I will overclock this after I find a happy CPU point.

As for watercooling thanks for your suggestions. I will look into it however now that I managed to lower these temps even at a high voltage I think I can tinker with it without needed water.

Cheers, Any more pointers or tips from anyone would be greatly appreciated - particularly on GTL and NB/CPU ratio settings.

Thanks

 

[cnumartyr]

For the people saying the voltage is too high:

It is going to vary from chip to chip. Some of us have good chips some of us don't.

If it is STABLE at that voltage start lowering it until it is unstable, however if it takes that much to be stable that's just life.

As far as vDrop (BIOS to Windows) that is a board feature and has nothing to do with the chip.

You don't need to mess with GTL Refs, Or CPU PLL, or FSB Term. I can do 440 MHz FSB on stock volts for all of those. You are going to need more juice in the Northbridge for more RAM though.

 

[darrylb]

Ok I think I have finalised my overclock which I plan to use 24/7.

CPU: 3500mhz 389x9 @ 1.5v
RAM: 778mhz, 1x1, 4-4-4-12
Load Temps: 68 - 66 - 60 - 60. MB: 35-40

I'm pretty happy with this I have ran it for 3 or 4 hours I am going to run it for 8 tonight to confirm its fully stable. Due to the new bios and not being able to turn speedstep off, this is with it enabled and the other power saving features in the bios. I was having problems with the northbridge heating up to 45 degrees but I was able to drop the voltage and still keep the overclock stable.

The lapping of the heatsink helped a lot and I know by lapping the processor I could drop cores 1 and 2 down to 60 to match the other 2 cores. I dont think I will though, these temps seem fine to me and I cant get this speed with any less voltage.

I could probably go higher but Im happy with these results and don't really want to exceed 1.5v. I tried tightening the timings further but with no joy. Now to fine tune the GPU overclock and im sorted.

Atm everything is running very nicely so im very pleased

Thanks guys.