Q6600 Overclock fail.

[NeilV]

Hi all,
I've just had my faith in this forum totally confirmed by the answer to my previous post so I've decided it depends on if you ask the correct question :lol:

Can anyone tell me, how do I find out in Windows 7, what the Hardware was that failed when I get a BSD and a hardware failure message. The BSD & corresponding dump is to quick to see!

I'm trying to find out which part is failing when I OC my FSB by too much. I don't get a heat related shutdown as my temps are OK and It doesn't just go blank! I normally get a crazy pattern on the screen, similar to the crashes of old on the spectrum and commodore (if anyone is old enough to remember those. ) but without the hideous noise!

If I can find this info will it tell me which voltage I need to change?

You've probably all seen the details of my system around and about but just in case;

Q6600 G0 Stock 2.4 Ghz
ASROCK 4Core1600Twins-P35 MOBO (with 4 DDR2 & 2 DDR3 slots)
http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview. [...] 0Twins-P35
8 Gb G.Skill ripjaws DDR3 1600 (2x4Gb)
Sapphire HD 4890 1Gb (850Mhz stock) 890Mhz clock
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 Tb 32Mb cache
Arctic Freezer 7 CPU Cooler
Windows 7 Ultimate

I used to have an E6550 OC'd well past a FSB of 330 but I can't get the Q6600 stable past 320 so I'm thinking DRAM volts although I had the same problem with the old 4 Gb of DDR2 that I had, or IS it possible that my Q6600 is duff, I did buy it 2nd had but @ stock it passes Prime95 with no problems!

All contributions greatfully accepted!

 

[geekapproved]

Likely when your raising your fsb, your raising your memory speed too much which causes overclock to fail.

Unlink your fsb/dimm ratio or set the ratio so that your memory is running at or below it's rated speed, not over.

 

[clonazepam]

Here's the correct link for the OP's motherboard -

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?model=4core1600twins-p35

NeilV, please add more details about what voltages you are using for the cpu / ram. What multiplier are you using for the Q6600? 8x or 9x? What memory ratio are you using? What ram timings? Have you successfully overclocked the cpu at all and at what speed / settings?

Edit: When I was looking for a stable overclock on my q6600 / ddr2 ram, I first booted up Memtest86+. From there I would run test #5. If it successfully completed that test, then I would let it do all the tests, and then finally boot into Windows to see if it passes the typical tests like a 30 minute run of prime95, 3dmark vantage, pcmark vantage, and any game benchmarks.

 

[geekapproved]

I had better luck overclocking my Q6600 using a 9x multiplier instead of 10x.

 

[NeilV]

Here's the correct link for the OP's motherboard -

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?model=4core1600twins-p35

NeilV, please add more details about what voltages you are using for the cpu / ram. What multiplier are you using for the Q6600? 8x or 9x? What memory ratio are you using? What ram timings? Have you successfully overclocked the cpu at all and at what speed / settings?

Edit: When I was looking for a stable overclock on my q6600 / ddr2 ram, I first booted up Memtest86+. From there I would run test #5. If it successfully completed that test, then I would let it do all the tests, and then finally boot into Windows to see if it passes the typical tests like a 30 minute run of prime95, 3dmark vantage, pcmark vantage, and any game benchmarks.

Thanks for correcting my link Cut & Paste is not always your friend

Here is my CPU-z settings;

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2005073

Shame it doesn't show all the voltages I will try to get other screen shots. My RAM timings are WAY out, possibly as a result of the JUMPER settings on my MOBO but I can't set them correctly in the BIOS as it doesn't go that far! I'm sure they should be 9,9,9,15 or something like that!

I'm using a 9x multiplier as I wanted to keep the FSB as low as possible & it's locked so it wont go higher!

Thank you both for your interest. I know the MOBO isn't great but I'm not going to change until I can afford an i5 or similar

 

[clonazepam]

This might be the issue. According to ASRock's motherboard specs:

Supports Dual Channel DDR3 1333 (2 x DIMM slots) with max. capacity up to 4GB and Dual Channel DDR2 1066 (4 x DIMM slots) with max. capacity up to 16GB

 

[clonazepam]

I missed that before. Try running with just the 1 memory stick.

 

[NeilV]

This might be the issue. According to ASRock's motherboard specs:

Supports Dual Channel DDR3 1333 (2 x DIMM slots) with max. capacity up to 4GB and Dual Channel DDR2 1066 (4 x DIMM slots) with max. capacity up to 16GB

Hi clonazepam,
Thanks for your interest I actually emailed ASROCK support on this issue because I thought it was a bit strange to support 16Gb of DDR2 & only 4Gb of DDR3 and they replied saying that the chip makers only Gaurantee 4Gb but they have a member of their team running 8Gb on that board with no problems & sent me a screenshot of the same (which I can't now find. ). Of course he may not be running a 1066 PCU or overclocking it :lol: :lol:

I've heard it's more difficult to OC, the more sticks of RAM you have so maybe current draw & voltage drop may have something to do with it, maybe if I find a decent peice of monitoring software, I should up the DRAM voltage!

I did create the screenshots of the rest of the info panels on CPU-z but forgot to upload them

Thanks again for taking an interest!

 

[NeilV]

Here are the reading from CPU-z, I can't alter my RAM timings in the BIOS cos they don't go that far

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/readings200911.png

Hope this helps.

 

[rubix_1011]

I had better luck overclocking my Q6600 using a 9x multiplier instead of 10x.

Same here. Even better control/stability with 8x and FSB bumps.

 

[jsc]

I had better luck overclocking my Q6600 using a 9x multiplier instead of 10x.

I am sure you did - especially since the Q6600 internal multiplier is locked to X9.

Neil, several things:
Speaking from experience, the upper limit of a Q6600 with an ACF7P is 3.2 -0 3.3 GHz depending on the CPU's VID.

Second, make certain that the memory clock is twice the FSB freq. Trying to run the memory faster can lead to instability and limit the overclock.

 

[clonazepam]

I am sure you did - especially since the Q6600 internal multiplier is locked to X9.

I was just going to let it be, and snicker at the thought of someone slamming their keyboard trying to change it to 10.


How's this all working out for you? I couldn't get my Q6600 past 2.8ghz until I swapped boards. All that time I thought my processor just sucked, but it turned out to be the board. The stable overclock was 3.6ghz at 1.45v (to compensate vdroop).

 

[NeilV]

Thanks clonazepam, I am in the same situation as you, because I bought the Q6600 2nd hand, I wasn't sure if the processor was worth swapping the board for! and with the added complication of the RAM not being able to be set @ 1:1 I just didn't know what to work on

I'm stable @ 2.8 with a RAM ratio of 2:3, I was stable @ 2.94 with the ratio of 5:6 but I think the RAM was not quite coping cos I used to get jerky mouse responce.

Thanks everyone for your interest & input

NeilV

 

[clonazepam]

Thanks clonazepam, I am in the same situation as you, because I bought the Q6600 2nd hand, I wasn't sure if the processor was worth swapping the board for! and with the added complication of the RAM not being able to be set @ 1:1 I just didn't know what to work on

I'm stable @ 2.8 with a RAM ratio of 2:3, I was stable @ 2.94 with the ratio of 5:6 but I think the RAM was not quite coping cos I used to get jerky mouse responce.

Thanks everyone for your interest & input

NeilV

It's just too bad that the cpu needs vary so much from application to application, and game to game. The stock clock of 2.4ghz is plenty for a game like Crysis 2 (dx9, low-med 1080p settings), with a decent graphics card like a GTX 260. However, when you try to play RTS games or big sand box games like GTA IV (poor coding included), you really feel the crunch. I guess the importance of it all really comes down to how you use it. Will you care if it takes 40 minutes or 25 minutes to rip a dvd? All depends on you.

 

[NeilV]

It's just too bad that the cpu needs vary so much from application to application, and game to game. The stock clock of 2.4ghz is plenty for a game like Crysis 2 (dx9, low-med 1080p settings), with a decent graphics card like a GTX 260. However, when you try to play RTS games or big sand box games like GTA IV (poor coding included), you really feel the crunch. I guess the importance of it all really comes down to how you use it. Will you care if it takes 40 minutes or 25 minutes to rip a dvd? All depends on you.

In my case it's things like New Vegas & Oblivion which my 4890 should be able to cope with @ 1650 but seems a bit laggy in places. Also I notice some of the newer games coming out recommend Core2Duo 3Ghz or higher & if they're not fully multi processor enabled then 2.8 x 4 might not be good enough!

 

[NeilV]

I was just going to let it be, and snicker at the thought of someone slamming their keyboard trying to change it to 10.


How's this all working out for you? I couldn't get my Q6600 past 2.8ghz until I swapped boards. All that time I thought my processor just sucked, but it turned out to be the board. The stable overclock was 3.6ghz at 1.45v (to compensate vdroop).

Well you were spot on clonazepam, I bit the bullet and bought a 2nd hand Gigabyte EP43T-USB3 and once I'd made sure all the drivers were installed & everything was working, I used their tuning tool and going for the middle option, achieved 3.2Ghz which seems stable in prime with temps of around 55C

Just goes to show how much depends on your MOBO and how underrated the choice of MOBO is.

Thank you everybody for your help & comments. Mission accomplished.