Q6600 Overclocking (1066 or 800 RAM)

[Evilonigiri]

I can get 3.6 on my Q6600, but i need my vcore at 1.4500 so I don't use this setting. Temps are alright though, 40C idle and 68C at load. Not too bad for air I think... Well I don't like to have my cpu on 1.4500v so I have mine near 3Ghz which runs at 1.2750v.

 

[Echopark]

I read in Custom PC they got the B3 chip running at 3.3ghz but at 91c but it was runnning stable but they tried it with the G0 and got it to 3.6ghz with a £15 HSF. Which is no bad. I've just got the Asus Striker Extreme and the Q6600 G0 and hope to water cool the system. But i still need the rest of the system to do it first. So it wont be till the new year now maybe 🙁

 

[dt]

... my only problem is that i can't oc to 3.6 it stops at 3.54 for some reason.

 

[Echopark]

Well processors arnt all the same really so its all different, its pretty much luck of a the draw.

 

[sesdave]

... my only problem is that i can't oc to 3.6 it stops at 3.54 for some reason.

Whats your setup and BIOS settings. It may be the limit of the processor - it may be your setup - it may be your settings. With more info we may get it to 3.6 - or maybe not but we can but try -Lol!

 

[sesdave]

I read in Custom PC they got the B3 chip running at 3.3ghz but at 91c but it was runnning stable but they tried it with the G0 and got it to 3.6ghz with a £15 HSF. Which is no bad. I've just got the Asus Striker Extreme and the Q6600 G0 and hope to water cool the system. But i still need the rest of the system to do it first. So it wont be till the new year now maybe 🙁

The GO SLACR runs a lot cooler than the B3. Indications are that they o/c best on the P35 MB's - if you haven't opened you stricker yet see if you can swap it. Unless you have a desperate need to use water the thermalright 120 extreme or the ultima-90 are good to keep it cool with acceptable 24/7 temps for a 3.6GHz overclock or more - cheaper and easier to install. Check the extremesystem thread I posted for an idea of what Q6600 o/c like on diffent MBs. If you keep the memory 1:1 u can get some excellent performing DDR2 6400 ram for next to nothing e.g BAllistix 6400 or OCZ 6400 reapers. Both of which will happily go above 1000Mhz or else get Ballistx 8500 tracers which o/c upto 1200 with their Micron D9 chips. They may be overkill if you arent going to use their capability. Here the ramlist to help memory selection by identifing modules with best chips if you haven't already got it http://ramlist.ath.cx/ddr2/ personally I stick with RAM with Micon D9's

 

[ginbong46]

so you mean to say if you get a PC8500 ram which is a 1066mhz speed

the only way to run the ram is to get 533mhz because its a 1:1 ratio of fsb to ram right?

so even if you use the multiplier of 6 its 6x533fsb = 3198mhz clock speed for the Q600

sorry for the questions i am confused..

 

[sesdave]

so you mean to say if you get a PC8500 ram which is a 1066mhz speed

the only way to run the ram is to get 533mhz because its a 1:1 ratio of fsb to ram right?

so even if you use the multiplier of 6 its 6x533fsb = 3198mhz clock speed for the Q600

sorry for the questions i am confused..

You can run the ram any way you want but it depends what you want to achieve. High bandwidth,best speed or a combination. Running 1:1 with tight timings is as good if not better than running on a higher ratio with looser timings although with a lower bandwidth.
So a q6600 (450x8) with memory DDR900 on 4,4,4,12 is equal in response to running memory 1125 5,5,5,15 but loses a bit of bandwidth. Depends what you want - trade bandwidth for speed!. Good overclocking 6400 memory has a good chance of running tight timings upto 1066 but good 8500 with D9 chips has better chips and is more likely to run the tight timings below rated speed at these frequencies so potentially gives the best of both.
Have a look at this detailed arcticle and download the overclocking speadsheet and compare figures u want to try out. - the author knows what he is talking about. http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=195

 

[ginbong46]

You can run the ram any way you want but it depends what you want to achieve. High bandwidth,best speed or a combination. Running 1:1 with tight timings is as good if not better than running on a higher ratio with looser timings although with a lower bandwidth.
So a q6600 (450x8) with memory DDR900 on 4,4,4,12 is equal in response to running memory 1125 5,5,5,15 but loses a bit of bandwidth. Depends what you want - trade bandwidth for speed!. Good overclocking 6400 memory has a good chance of running tight timings upto 1066 but good 8500 with D9 chips has better chips and is more likely to run the tight timings below rated speed at these frequencies so potentially gives the best of both.
Have a look at this detailed arcticle and download the overclocking speadsheet and compare figures u want to try out. - the author knows what he is talking about. http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=195

ok let me rephrase the question, IF i bought a DD2 2x1gig kit that is PC8500 1066mhz

is it possible to run that memory at 1066mhz speed without overclocking the CPU? lets say a Q6600

because Q6600 = 9x266 or 6x400 = 2.4gig right?

so how do i set up the 1066mhz ram without overclocking the CPU IF ITS POSSIBLE..

thanks to anyone who replies..

 

[Scotteq]

You can leave the FSB/CPU alone, and simply set your memory divider up to run the individual DIMMS at 533 apiece. Just go in and adjust it: Nearly all Bios' will tell you the resultant as you make the change. 2 channel operation will take your memory to 1066, and you didn't touch your CPU or FSB. Mind your voltage going to the memory: Most 1-66 memory takes 2.1~2.2 volts to run at that speed.

{edit} Be advised that running 1066 memory on an otherwise un-overclocked system isn't likely to buy you a whole lot of extra performance. Something like 5%.

 

[ginbong46]

thanks for the reply i appreciate it..

i was just interested because for a extra $80AUD or so i can have a dominator 1066mhz pair of ram.. instead of the xms2 dhx 800mhz pair

and not your 800mhz mainstream ram as some toms article stated..

 

[sesdave]

thanks for the reply i appreciate it..

i was just interested because for a extra $80AUD or so i can have a dominator 1066mhz pair of ram.. instead of the xms2 dhx 800mhz pair

and not your 800mhz mainstream ram as some toms article stated..

If you are talking about dominator 8500C5 beware that they change the chip in v2 from micron D9's to Qimonda chips. If they are earlier revisions they should have hand picked micron D9. If not you would be better with Crucial Ballistix 8500C5 or tracer with micron D9 - you should be able to get them about the same price.
If you are not overclocking the CPU all the 8500 are going to give you over 6400's are a little extra bandwidth at 1066 and higher overclocking cabability which you are not going to use. Good 6400 running tight timings at DDR800 are your best buy(use the o/c speedsheet I posted ) - Dominator 6400C3 if you can get them cheap cos they will run CAS3. You should at least try raising the FSB to what you can do stable with stock vcore. You can do that with stock HSF and it wont kill the CPU anywhere soon cos you arent rasing vcore. .Speed for free is good!

 

[ginbong46]

thanks for the reply, i sent a pm to you

 

[sesdave]

thanks for the reply, i sent a pm to you

Have sent a detailed reply which I hope you find of use. You may also want to read this for some basic overclocking info http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=103676

 

[matezz]

Running Q6600 G0 3960 (9x410 ) on air, 1.55V. 800 RAM runs 820. Idle core temps are 44-46 for all 4 cores and under load 62 max for core #0 which running the hottest of all four. Sandra XI reports 151W power consumption under load. I was considering water cooling, but after these resuls I may do only lapping, to keep the temps safe or perhaps go for 3.8 - 3.9 GHz.
My old C2E 6800 was running hotter, had 50% of the performance and costed me 4x more than Q6600!!

 

[notherdude]

Running Q6600 G0 3960 (9x410 ) on air, 1.55V. 800 RAM runs 820. Idle core temps are 44-46 for all 4 cores and under load 62 max for core #0 which running the hottest of all four. Sandra XI reports 151W power consumption under load. I was considering water cooling, but after these resuls I may do only lapping, to keep the temps safe or perhaps go for 3.8 - 3.9 GHz.
My old C2E 6800 was running hotter, had 50% of the performance and costed me 4x more than Q6600!!

What cooler? That's quite an OC. Stable in orthos or prime 95? Those temps and that OC are quite out of the ordinary. Screen shots?

ETA Ah, did you mean to write 3690 or 3960? 3690 obviously. Still thats a tough number to run stable. How have you tested it?

 

[matezz]

I am not sure, what to do with prime95. And yes, it supposed to be 3690 😛
New stable freq with 1.60Vcore is 3762 - idle temps you can see on the pic, under load they are around 70C

 

[notherdude]

Thats a great OC. What model heatsink you using?

 

[matezz]

ZALMAN CNPS9700 and zalman provided thermal paste. Got the cpu trough clubit - they let you choose G0. MB is ASUS P5K DW.

 

[sesdave]

ZALMAN CNPS9700 and zalman provided thermal paste. Got the cpu trough clubit - they let you choose G0. MB is ASUS P5K DW.

You need to run Prime95 v25.5 http://www.freewarefiles.com/downloads_counter.php?programid=19638 which will run a test against all four cores. That screenshot looks like a single instance of an old version of Prime95 which isnt going to fully stress the CPU/Memory and prove the o/c stability. If it was a single instance you need to check you HS seating - When you run the latest version which initiates individual tests on all 4 cores these temps are going up and quickly! You really want them below 70c on prime with air. Course if I am wrong and that is latest Prime95 version running 4 tests ignore all this-lol! PC Wizard http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php is a nice tool for monitoring the coretemps and more - similar to everest ultimate but neater. Minimise after it starts and it displays in screen.
Check to see if your CPU IHS/HS are flat and even with a razor before doing lapping. Not much to gain if they are already flat. Try MX-2 thermal paste - it is equal to or better than AS5 and doesnt need to cure.

 

[JayLove]

I'm in the middle of overclocking my q6600 on an ASUS P5E3 WiFi-AP (x38) with G.Skill DDR3-1333. I'm air cooling with a thermalright ultra-120 extreme, and so far I'm up to 3500 MHz (9x389) with the DRAM at 1167 and the CPU core temp is only at 54C during the torture test and 38C at idle (the Vcore is still at stock: 1.36.-1.38). This is stable with 4 Prime 95's running at 10 hours - one for each core.

The ultra-120 Extreme is really getting the job done. Since I'm still fairly new to overclocking, I was too hesitant to try watercooling (besides, my wife said no way!) I'm very pleased with this air cooler so far.

With seeing these other posts, hopefully I can get it the q6600 up to 3700-3800. I'll put up a screenshot soon & keep y'all updated

 

[nukemaster]

Q6600 3.0 load 57, fan speed is what ever the board needs to keep that, average 1100(depends on room temp)

and yes speedfan and core temp read the same with the new beta(no more 15c offset needed)

 

[bm]

Mine (Asus P5E3 Deluxe, Q6600, DDR3 1333, 8800 Ultra, ect..

Good Temps (Idle 26 - 34 C) Using Bigwater 760

 

[dashbarron]

Why use 1066 instead of 800 RAM?

 

[sesdave]

Why use 1066 instead of 800 RAM?

Did you read the thread befoe asking this question?

Memory choice is all about how hard you want to overclock and how good is your CPU and whether you are really bothered or not about a second or 2 on superpi 1MB test. If you are not overclocking then DDR2 6400 memory will meet your requirements. No need to buy higher spec if you are not going to use its full capabilities.
lHigher FSB will give you higher bus speed and and run the memory to its best capability at 1:1 . If you run a q6600 say at 450x8 (or 9 if you are so lucky) then running DDR800 memory slightly o/c to DDR900 with tight timming will give good performance/speed. That said I have Ballistix 1066 memory that I run at 1128 on good timming to get a slightly higher bandwidth -depends on what you are looking for. If you run FSB above 450 your 6400 memory may not be capable of o/c to run 1:1 opr higher so you get 1066 memory - its all so cheap now why not just get the 1066 which you know is going to clock higher than the 6400 mermory. If its good quality o/c chips it will also run tight timmings at lower speeds.
Check the article I posted in a previus post re the techrepository o/c quide . It gives a detailed expanation on maximising FSB/BUS etc and a o/c speadsheet where you cen see what the actual speed /CAS response gains would be or not.