Q6600 will not overclock no matter what.

[neondiscokittens]

People might say they have had this issue before but I've tried every result I've found on Bing and Google at this point. I'm one of those guys with a core 2 quad desktop and It's been the best PC I've used at this point. I built it in 2009 with a Gigabyte MOBO and Q6600. It outlasted my Asus ROG?(can't remember what it was) i7 laptop (made in 2011 i think) and beat it in a few games.
But I need more performance so I'd like to OC it. I came across this issue when I built it but didn't think much of it until now. I cannot seem to OC my Q6600.
The overclock tool in this motherboard is the MB Intelligent Tweaker. And everytime I increase the FSB to something above stock, it will restart and revert back to stock speeds. It's not the cooling. It's a coolermaster air cooler that keeps it at 40c under full load. But I guess it could be?
And on the rare chance BIOS actually recognizes it to be clocked at 3.2 Windows never does and CPU-Z doesn't notice any FSB change. Bios is not updated, I can't find F10 bios for the board but it does exist.
Any help?
Thanks.

 

[Jwpanz]

When you change the multiplier you may be telling the chip to overclock it’s maximum boost frequency. Trying firing up a game or a stress test while using HWMonitor (or whatever tool you want) to watch the clock speeds on your chip.

 

[Jwpanz]

There are ways to force your chip to run at an overclocked speed 24/7 regardless of usage. However, my guess is that you are simply changing the multiplier to something higher and expecting to see that speed at all times. In fact, the chip will overclock up to the multiplier you set when the conditions call for it (games, stress tests, etc.)

 

[BFG-9000]

There is no boost frequency or Turbo on those, the default speed (which is a multiplier of 9) is the maximum speed. There is a power-saving feature called Speedstep which you can think of as de-Turbo, it has a multiplier of 6.

FSB overclocking is most analogous to BCLK overclocking, and in this case the memory speed is linked to the FSB so may be limiting. If you have at least DDR2-667 then make sure the memory multiplier is set at 2.0 before trying to overclock.

 

[william p]

If your MB supports 333/1333 FSB CPUs ( might need a BIOS update) then a 3GHz OC is just a piece of tape away.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2125877/tape-mod-bsel-mod-intel-q6600.html
There were 2 different Q6600 the older B3 stepping SL9UM runs hotter and needs more Voltage than the newer G0 SLACR chip. The SLACR usually goes 3GHz on stock Voltage. If you can bump Voltage for a few bucks a Q6700 will go 3.33GHz the same way. They're all G0 stepping

 

[neondiscokittens]

There are ways to force your chip to run at an overclocked speed 24/7 regardless of usage. However, my guess is that you are simply changing the multiplier to something higher and expecting to see that speed at all times. In fact, the chip will overclock up to the multiplier you set when the conditions call for it (games, stress tests, etc.)

That wasn't it, but I know what you are saying. I should've added that to the post too, just didn't think about it when writing it. That was one of the first things I looked for. When using Prime95 for running DOOM with an OC the speed didn't change. It stayed stock the entire time. Thanks anyways.

 

[neondiscokittens]

If your MB supports 333/1333 FSB CPUs ( might need a BIOS update) then a 3GHz OC is just a piece of tape away.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2125877/tape-mod-bsel-mod-intel-q6600.html
There were 2 different Q6600 the older B3 stepping SL9UM runs hotter and needs more Voltage than the newer G0 SLACR chip. The SLACR usually goes 3GHz on stock Voltage. If you can bump Voltage for a few bucks a Q6700 will go 3.33GHz the same way. They're all G0 stepping

Yeah, the BSEL mod might be what I turn to.
I think I've got the newer SLACR chip because of when I purchased it but I'm not sure. I'll look for a Q6700 on Ebay but I might just go the Xeon route if I get a new chip.

 

[neondiscokittens]

There is no boost frequency or Turbo on those, the default speed (which is a multiplier of 9) is the maximum speed. There is a power-saving feature called Speedstep which you can think of as de-Turbo, it has a multiplier of 6.

FSB overclocking is most analogous to BCLK overclocking, and in this case the memory speed is linked to the FSB so may be limiting. If you have at least DDR2-667 then make sure the memory multiplier is set at 2.0 before trying to overclock.

My memory multiplier is at 2 usually, just thought I'd change it a few years back and just never put it back at stock speeds. That didn't change it but you got me thinking. Could it be something to do with PCI-E lanes causing a limit? I feel like I read something like that somewhere a while back but I'm probably wrong...

 

[BFG-9000]

No, unless you are running an ATI chipset, PCIe clocks can be locked at 100-103MHz on both Intel and nVidia chipsets so will not be limiting. Both ATI and nVidia chipset boards were terrible overclockers though, especially with quads.

With an Intel chipset it should be as easy as changing vCore to up to 1.55v and MCH +0.2v, then cranking FSB as high as it will go, usually 367 to 400. That would put ~200w through the chip though, which requires some very large and effective cooling. That's why most people stopped around 3.3-3.4GHz and 1.4625v for everyday use--any higher would've required some exotic cooling, plus the Q9650 was released the very next year and only uses ~125w @ 3.6GHz

And that's why even now on eBay the Q9650 is still $45, while the Q6600 has been under $10 shipped for years.

 

[william p]

The 3GHz Q6600 won't perform nearly as well as a Q9650. The Q6700 @ 3.3GHz should just about equal it. many chipsets don't support Xeon swaps.
https://www.delidded.com/lga-771-to-775-adapter/

 

[Ilijas Ramic]

Maybe you are getting into high memory rate. And timings dont allow you to go above stock speeds of ram or maybe you just cant overclock the ram. First rise the FSB and lower the memory to default range and try to boot if you cant add some voltage 0.005+

 

[william p]

The BSEL mod just makes the MB think there's a 1333fsb CPU there. The RAM will run at it's normal rated speed.

 

[BFG-9000]

I tested that long ago--Gigabyte 775 boards ignore whatever you do to the BSEL pads. The VID pads do change the default voltage though.

 

[william p]

There were a couple different BSEL mods around long ago. Also some BIOS may not have had 333fsb updates long ago. If that MB can run 333fsb CPUs that pin is the one that tells it to do so. I would try it.

 

[Jmurph01]

Does your motherboard have a Hardware Watchdog? It prevents overclocking on LGA 775 motherboards. If you don't know what that means, then we can work to disable it.

 

[william p]

Some PLL chips have a TME bit set so the FSB can't be increased. If it's locked at 266fsb there's not much you can do.