Basic Guide For Overclocking Q6600 on Asus P5K-E (and similar) Motherboards

[bbasra]

yesterday, i was getting more BSOD's and high temps so i lowered the FSB from 389 * 9. As follows:

PASSED - Prime Small - Run for 35 Mins Temps 65/66
[C1E Support] Disabled
[Prime95 - Round Of Checking under AdvOptions] Enable
Ratio CMOS Setting] 9
[FSB Frequency] 379
[FSB STRAP to NB] 333mhz
[PCI-E Frequency] 101
[DRAM Frequency] DDR2 778
[DRAM Command Rate] 2T
[DRAM Timing Controls] 5-5-5-23
[CPU Voltage] 1.3875v
[DRAM Voltage] 2.10
[CPU Voltage Dampener] Enabled
[North Bridge Voltage] 1.55
[FSB Termination Voltage] 1.3

PASSED - Prime Small - Run for 35 Mins Temps 63/65
[C1E Support] Disabled
[Prime95 - Round Of Checking under AdvOptions] Enable
Ratio CMOS Setting] 9
[FSB Frequency] 379
[FSB STRAP to NB] 333mhz
[PCI-E Frequency] 101
[DRAM Frequency] DDR2 778
[DRAM Command Rate] 2T
[DRAM Timing Controls] 5-5-5-23
[CPU Voltage] 1.3750v
[DRAM Voltage] 2.10
[CPU Voltage Dampener] Enabled
[North Bridge Voltage] 1.55
[FSB Termination Voltage] 1.3

FAILED - Prime Small - run 10 Mins Temps 62/63 then BSOD
[C1E Support] Disabled
[Prime95 - Round Of Checking under AdvOptions] Enable
Ratio CMOS Setting] 9
[FSB Frequency] 379
[FSB STRAP to NB] 333mhz
[PCI-E Frequency] 101
[DRAM Frequency] DDR2 778
[DRAM Command Rate] 2T
[DRAM Timing Controls] 5-5-5-23
[CPU Voltage] 1.3625v
[DRAM Voltage] 2.10
[CPU Voltage Dampener] Enabled
[North Bridge Voltage] 1.55
[FSB Termination Voltage] 1.3

I've now gone back to [CPU Voltage] 1.3750v. Is '65' temp too high????

I'm guessing i should lower the FSB even more now as i doubt it'll pass Prime Small Test for 8 + Hours.

I'll keep you posted. A bit disapointed in my OC speed tbh.

 

[sepulchre]

3.4ghz is nothing to be sniffed at m8

65C is OK on these chips, I tend to go for 70C max in prime and I believe thats safe as these chips don't throttle until 100C. You have to keep in mind your CPU will never in everyday situations hit 70C, mine primes at 59C all day long and only hits around 50C whilst gaming. If its a new rig you have then the temps should drop whilst your TIM settles in.

How are you controlling the CPU fan speed out of interest? I was using the bios and never found it spun my CPU fan up high enough.

 

[bbasra]

3.4ghz is nothing to be sniffed at m8

65C is OK on these chips, I tend to go for 70C max in prime and I believe thats safe as these chips don't throttle until 100C. You have to keep in mind your CPU will never in everyday situations hit 70C, mine primes at 59C all day long and only hits around 50C whilst gaming. If its a new rig you have then the temps should drop whilst your TIM settles in.

How are you controlling the CPU fan speed out of interest? I was using the bios and never found it spun my CPU fan up high enough.

I'm letting the BIOS do it. It SpeedFan reading 2616 RPM. It's always around this figure. Whats the best way to control the fan?

 

[sepulchre]

I let speedfan ramp the speed up, I found the Bios (how I had it set) either never ramped up high enough or was always going at full pelt, at least with speedfan it can be set to do both so its quite when not doing much

 

[bbasra]

Maybe that will have an effect on my Cooling and be able to over clock more. So far, i'm regretting buying the AC7 Pro and should have gone for the Tuniq Tower 120. Not much dearer either.

 

[sepulchre]

dont give up yet m8, the AC7 in a 900 keeps my Q6600 @ 3.5Ghz under 60C when priming so its not too bad

 

[bbasra]

dont give up yet m8, the AC7 in a 900 keeps my Q6600 @ 3.5Ghz under 60C when priming so its not too bad

You lucky compared to me.

After testing, I can't get pass 379*9 (3.4) and my temps reached 67 using Prime for 8 Hours at full load (small ftt's). If i lower the Vcore anymore, i get BSOD.

My CPU VID is 1.3125v (Crap chip i guess).

Idle temps are around 39.

These are my final stable settings :

[C1E Support] Disabled
[Prime95 - Round Of Checking under AdvOptions] Enabled
Ratio CMOS Setting] 9
[FSB Frequency] 379
[FSB STRAP to NB] 333mhz
[PCI-E Frequency] 101
[DRAM Frequency] DDR2 758
[DRAM Command Rate] 2T
[DRAM Timing Controls] was 5-5-5-23 now changed to 4-4-4-12
[CPU Voltage] 1.3750v
[DRAM Voltage] 2.10v
[CPU Voltage Dampener] Enabled
[North Bridge Voltage] 1.55v
[FSB Termination Voltage] 1.30v

I'm considering getting the Tuniq Tower 120-LFB to lower my temp and may get to 3.5, not bad price at the moment too.

 

[Morrey360]

lol atleast you got a better vid than me 1.325 tuniq works well in that case get about 22 22 18 18 on the cores Idle

 

[crazyDAJT]

you have a very similar VID to me, let me got get my settings

link

EDIT: it is the same VID, thought so.

settings are:

378X9=3402MHz
1.392Vcore in CPUz

ram is running at 907.2, at stock timings


8hr+ small FFT stable
8hr+ Bend stable

so i think you need to keep upping that Vcore. so you might want to upgrade your cooling

 

[sepulchre]

My CPU VID is 1.3125v (Crap chip i guess).

Exactly the same as mine lol.

How long have you had the rig built for? mine took a couple of weeks before the TIM had settled in, initially though I was getting about the same temps as you are now.

lol at least you got a better vid than me 1.325 tuniq works well in that case get about 22 22 18 18 on the cores Idle

What are you measuring that with? Those temps seem impossibly low if your running your PC in a normal room and if so I'm assuming that will be with an ambient temp of around 20C. tbh I'm guessing your using the current release of speedfan or some other application and your actual core temps are around 15C higher than those you quote, or I'm wrong and your running your rig in a very cold room or outside in your garage

 

[bbasra]

@Morrey360, thats some low temps!

@crazyDAJT, if i up the vcore, my temps reach 65 straight way and will go even higher. If i increase the FSB, BSOD. I'm leaning towards the Tuniq Tower 120 with Led to improve cooling.

@sepulchre, Rig been built for 3 weeks now (and 2 days to be precise lol). I originally had messed up the Thermal Grease on the AC 7 Pro as i put it the wrong way so had to remove it, clean it, and reapply the Thermal Grease. (Used Zalman Super Thermal Grease).

 

[sepulchre]

I just left the thermal pad on the AC7, its MX-2 anyway so pretty good stuff tbh. Maybe you could try using some MX-2 or AS5 grease instead of the zalman stuff, see if that makes any odds? Out of interest how did you apply the grease?

Don't expect to see the kind of idle temps with a tuniq that morrey is quoting as they are too low tbh, maybe 28-32 is a more achievable temp at idle with a tuniq, but its really the load temps where the tuniqs are good, I think I could knock a good 5C of my temps with one, halfway tempted myself lol.

 

[crazyDAJT]

wait for your thermal material to bed in, i saw a 10C drop in load temps after a week

 

[sepulchre]

wait for your thermal material to bed in, i saw a 10C drop in load temps after a week

His rigs been built for 3+ weeks now, TIM should have settled in I'd have thought?

 

[bbasra]

Out of interest how did you apply the grease?

Don't expect to see the kind of idle temps with a tuniq that morrey is quoting as they are too low tbh, maybe 28-32 is a more achievable temp at idle with a tuniq, but its really the load temps where the tuniqs are good, I think I could knock a good 5C of my temps with one, halfway tempted myself lol.

The Zalman Super Thermal Grease comes in a bottle with a brush, like tipex. I applied it to the CPU using the brush evenly, enough that you could not see the CPU details anymore. I did it near enough edge to edge on the CPU.

I'm going to take the plunge and get the Tuniq Tower 120 with Led and go for the Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g). I'm not going to change OC settings once i get it so that i can compare the temps.

 

[sepulchre]

look forward to seeing how you get on

 

[bbasra]

Ordered! This computer is costing me more and more. My budget was only £500

And Shipping: £8.00

I'll keep you posted!

PS. Not sure if this also makes a difference, i removed the internel Fan Adapter for an additional fan from inside of the case to make more room for cables.

 

[crazyDAJT]

His rigs been built for 3+ weeks now, TIM should have settled in I'd have thought?

missed that, thought it was a new build, woops

 

[Morrey360]

Exactly the same as mine lol.
What are you measuring that with? Those temps seem impossibly low if your running your PC in a normal room and if so I'm assuming that will be with an ambient temp of around 20C. tbh I'm guessing your using the current release of speedfan or some other application and your actual core temps are around 15C higher than those you quote, or I'm wrong and your running your rig in a very cold room or outside in your garage

Will get some screenies up tomorrow of my temps currently using CoreTemp Version 0.96.1. I have my fans on my 900 on full whack plus no central heating in the attic so its pretty cold.

 

[sepulchre]

ah so it is a very cold room