Hardware Analysis - Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Mike Conner — 2008-03-20T04:24:36-05:00

I don't know how seriously people take the Vista Performance rating system, but I just re-ran it to see if it changed. The processor was at 5.9 (Vista's current upper limit on the scale), so of course it still is. But the memory went up from 5.6 to 5.9, even though it's running at 680 instead of 800. I guess it's the increase in processor speed that did it.

Miggy, the Thief

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Tam the Bam — 2008-03-19T06:39:35-05:00

Cool, now you just need to keep stable, and y'll get that with tweakin the volts.
Keep at it

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Mike Conner — 2008-03-19T04:04:00-05:00

Here's what I think I ended up with.

FSB of 340, which gives almost 3.1 gig speed. Anything more, and I get BSODs even with the memory lowered to 533 and extra voltages.

I still have the memory at 533 and after the o/c it's around 680 (of course). Putting it up to 667 causes it to overshoot 800 by about 60 or 70. I had it on that at one point, but think FSX crashed one time. After I keep it at the current settings for another week, I might raise the memory to see if it causes any problems.

Miggy, the Thief

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Mike Conner — 2008-03-14T16:01:21-05:00

I'm going to leave it at 3 gig for a little while and see how that goes. Then I might begin again with trying to raise it a bit.

Am I to assume that the system not POSTing means that FSB just can't be used? And that to get the lower FSBs (340, etc) that will POST to be stable in Vista I might have to raise the voltages?

Is this the correct procedure? Raise the FSB to say, 340. Slowly raise the voltage until it becomes stable. Do you know anything about the Enhanced Power Slope setting? It says it allows extra current to go to the CPU. It's disabled now. Could that be why it's not letting the FSB go above a certain level?

Miggy, the Thief

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Tam the Bam — 2008-03-14T07:04:13-05:00

3.60GHz might be too much for your MoBo. But check ur voltages for both CPU & RAM.

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Mike Conner — 2008-03-14T04:07:26-05:00

I thought I was on to something! But I did accomplish one thing.

Tam, I re-read your message and something hit me. Setting the memory down to 533 and then raising it back up with the FSB might allow for more of a CPU speed increase.

I first tried FSB 333 to get 3.0 gig and it's stable this time. Memory runs at 666 Mhz. instead of 800. So I tried for 400 to get the memory back to 800 and hopefully have 3.6 gig. But still got not POST. Something else is stopping it.

I tried for 340, but that got a BSOD.

It's set at 333 (3 gig) now, and that is a noticeable improvement, but what else can I try to get above it? If I can't, can I set the memory at 667, and maybe get it back to 800?

Miggy, the Thief

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Mike Conner — 2008-03-14T01:41:45-05:00

Well, I couldn't find anything like that in BIOS and after doing some research, I have learned that the multiplier on a Q6600 is locked. I probably heard that before, but didn't pay much attention to overclocking issues.

Am I at a dead end, then?

Miggy, the Thief

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Tam the Bam — 2008-03-14T00:26:10-05:00

I have the ASUS Commando.

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Mike Conner — 2008-03-14T00:01:41-05:00

I'll look... but I don't recall seeing anything like that in there.

What board do you have? I have an Intel 975XBX2KR.

Miggy, the Thief

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Tam the Bam — 2008-03-13T23:11:35-05:00

Look in BIOS for MODIFY RATIO SUPPORT that's how you unlock the multiplier.
That's what it's called inmy BIOS. Should be the same for you. Once you unlock this,
then your ram timmings become available. example 5-5-5-15 or 4-4-4-15, etc.

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Mike Conner — 2008-03-13T22:58:14-05:00

Thanks for the info, Tam.

First, a minor update. I had to lower the FSB again - this time to 300 - when I determined that the o/c was causing Flight Simulator X to lock up. That program is particularly memory intensive, as it's constantly unloading and reloading new terrain as you're flying.

Before I even try to get into what you were detailing, I should add that my multiplier is locked at 9X. Does that mean I'm totally out of luck, or can I follow a modified version of your suggestions?

Miggy, the Thief

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Tam the Bam — 2008-03-13T22:48:50-05:00

Each mother board & model & make is different. Start over with setting your CPU
to 266MHz, and your RAM to 533MHz, set Multi to x8, then up your CPU Freq another
amount. say 290Mz (Note: and FYI by setting your 266cpu to 533mhz, your setting the ratio to1:1 ie: [syncing the cpu to ram]).

Note: 290MHz is just off the top of my head, a reference number.

When you get closer to 3GHz or over, then start ramping the Volts up.
On my board, i had the 3.60GHz (CPU 400mhz by RAM 800MHz) and the
volts on CPU was 1.56v and the ram was at 2.05v.

3.60GHz at x8 multi was (CPU 450MHz by RAM 850MHz), and the volts was
roughly the same, as well as the RAM.

What you need to do is get say for example, 3.0GHz stable, and work out what you
want to push, and then amount of volts you need to tinker with. On your MoBo,
maybe (for arguments sake) when you hit 3.20GHz, your system, will become unstable,
then the volts on your CPU & RAM need to be adjusted. If you get it stable at 3.20GHz
with the volts you set, then you can figure out how much more you wanna push.

Your fluctuating CPUZ is a setting in your BIOS. I can't remember of the top of my head
what it's called again, but i disabled it. It's an option where when your pc is idle, say on
desktop, the OC will go back to near stock levels to save power. And when you start
a game or an app, the clock will shoot back up again.It's nothing to worry about.
Check your manual on how to disable this on BIOS.

Again, it's just a bit of time and pateinceto get an OC especially a high one stable.
It takes practice and perserverance. Stick at it,and within days, you'll get to grips
with it. It sounds to me that you're totally unfamiliar with your Hardware's capabilities
and stability. So don't ramp up to full OC straight away. Do it bit by bit or chunk by chunk
lol. And you'll soon unlock ur potential.

Tam...

Also, when you get to an extreme high OC, things get tricky. On boards like mine,
I have tiny increments for RAM Volts & CPU volts which helps makes things easier.
On other boards that are not designed for extreme OC'ing, the incrememts maybe much
larger, and that's a problem with in itself.

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Tam the Bam — 2008-03-13T22:31:38-05:00

Set to x8 on the multiplier. I use this to get to 1600FSB or higher. I've also used
x9 multi to get 1600FSB but my board handles it.But using x8 will get you better
results.

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Mike Conner — 2008-03-13T21:40:55-05:00

Well.....

I had played Crysis for an hour when I had settled on 336. After I posted the findings here, I loaded up Bioshock. It gave a BSOD after 5 minutes. Knocked it down to 335, same thing. I currently have it on 333 and just got through playing the first level.

Am I stuck here, or is there a way to up the CPU without the memory?

Miggy, the Thief

Re: Q6600 and Intel board OC settings

Mike Conner — 2008-03-13T20:15:20-05:00

It's Thursday, and I've gotten to do some O/C testing. Here are the results.

FSB set at 350 or above will not POST. "BIOS has detected an unsuccessful POST...."

FSB set at 340 will POST, but gets an immediate BSOD when Vista tries to start.

Highest that I got to work was 336, and here's what CPU-Z has to say:

Core#0 - Corespeed 2019 Mhz, Multiplier X6, Bus Speed 336.5, Rated FSB 1346
DRAM Freq. 504.8, FSB: DRAM 2:3

One small point to make here is that Corespeed and multiplier change briefly upon first starting CPU-Z, and it does this no matter what FSB I am testing. In the example of FSB 336, it changes briefly to 3028 X9 and then back to 2019 X6. I know the figures correlate and is just the speed expressed in terms of multiplier or 6 or 9. And I've not used CPU-Z before, so maybe this is normal. I just thought I'd point it out.

Now for reference, here is what it says on the stock 266 speed:

Corespeed 1600 Mhz, multiplier X6, Bus speed 266, Rated FSB 1066
DRAM Freq. 400, FSBRAM 2:3

If my reading into OC guidelines is correct, the raising of the FSB is also overclocking the memory. Thus, the raise from stock of 400 to 504. And therefore, I'm limited in the CPU overclock because the memory doesn't have as much room. I imagine that is what's causing the BSODs when the memory goes too high. I can't find anything to set the ratio of FSB to DRAM to 1:1, so 3028 Mhz CPU (336) might just be my ceiling. But for reference, here's what I can find in BIOS that I can change:

CPU Voltage Override: Currently set to DEFAULT. Choices are 1.6000V down to 1.2875
Enhanced Power Slope: Currently set to DISABLED. Choice is to ENABLE it.
Front Side Bus Voltage Override: Currently set to 1.250. Choices are 1.500 down to 1.200
MCH/ICH Voltage Override: Currently set to 1.525. Choices are 1.700 down to 1.500
Memory Reference Frequency: Currently set to DEFAULT. Choices are 333 Mhz. down to 133
Memory Frequency. Currently set to 800 Mhz. Choices are 800 down to 400.
Memory Voltage: Currently set to 1.84. Choices are 2.80 down to 1.80.

Miggy, the Thief