So I've decided to do this Q6600 overclock

datter · March 8th, 2009, 17:52

This isn't going so well. I oc'd to a meager 2.7, but on reboot it failed the post. Second reboot started ok, and temps were of course fine. I can't get it to pass the POST on anything higher and ended up chickening out and resetting factory defaults. Still looking into it.

harleyman · March 8th, 2009, 18:06

Not bad for a first attempt...

go post on the forums of the link I dent you in the intel area...tell them what settings you have and ask for advice,, They will help you...

datter · March 8th, 2009, 18:13

HAH, got 3ghz.

Just booted in so things may still crap out on me, but idle temps on the four cores are between 36 and 43.

I changed my FSB to 333 (well, the number entered is x4 on my bios) and left voltages to auto. No boot. So I went back and changed vcore to 1.4 and got partial boot... as in it passed the POST, but froze on loading windows. I then went in and set my memory voltage to 2.1, which is what my mem needs apparently.... and here I am. I left the memroy timings to auto this time. The first time I tried this I set them to 5-5-5-18, but got nowhere.

EDIT: and yeah, going to go post there now and see what they say

**txnetcop** · March 8th, 2009, 19:19

Datter I'm up to my eyeballs in stuff right now, but if you can hold on I will get with ya on this by mid week. You can easily OC to 3.6 and FSX runs just great there.
Ted

harleyman · March 8th, 2009, 19:21

Get Down Datter....I knew you could do it.........:woot::woot:

Next you will be like most OCers and continue to push for more...

You will see a noticible improvement in FSX from 2.4 to 3.0 for sure....

BTW Great temps...Just remember they need checked undel load too later....

datter · March 8th, 2009, 19:43

Originally Posted by txnetcop

Datter I'm up to my eyeballs in stuff right now, but if you can hold on I will get with ya on this by mid week. You can easily OC to 3.6 and FSX runs just great there.
Ted

Hey, I'd appreciate any help at all but trust me when I say I know how life can be. I can't even find my eyeballs at some points, so no worries. I'd love to pick your brain about this stuff, but only as your schedule allows and I'm always around here so, just as you can find the time.

Originally Posted by Harleyman

et Down Datter....I knew you could do it.........:woot::woot:

Next you will be like most OCers and continue to push for more...

You will see a noticible improvement in FSX from 2.4 to 3.0 for sure....

BTW Great temps...Just remember they need checked undel load too later....

Yes, I'm impressed and I must admit thought I'd do some "load testing" by flying for awhile. Noticeable difference from 2.4 to 3.0 for sure, smoother... absolutely no blurries, higher FPS. Just "better".

That said, you're right I want MORE!! lol

If I can hit 3.4 even I'll be thrilled. That said, it seems I need 1.45v on the vcore to get to 3.0ghz so and after flying around awhile I find my temps at max are hitting maybe 64deg or so, which is fine though I told myself in advance I'd not let 'em get any higher than 65deg.

Not sure how to go about pushing past this 3.0ghz level. I thought I might be able to clock the FSB to get me to 3.4 without changing the vcore volts so I tried that and was horrified to find that although the system got past the POST, it just sat at the BIOS logo screen. I could see the words "press delete to enter BIOS" but it was hung there. I must have restarted the system a dozen times just hoping it would sort itself out somehow, but it always hung there and wouldn't let me into the BIOS. Now I know a simple clearing of the CMOS would reset it and get me back in, but I was horrified because on looking at my mobo I find the jumper I need to switch to clear the CMOS is hidden behind one of my two video cards. In order to clear it I was looking at moving some wiring that was in front of the card, then pulling the card... swapping the jumper... replacing the card... starting up and resetting the BIOS... then pulling the card... swapping the jumper etc etc. Holy I was not happy about that.

I resigned myself to it though, and started pulling the box out from it's hiding spot by my desk and thought on a whim, let's hit the on/off ONE more time and if Jesus Christ himself had walked in and offered me a ham sandwich I wouldn't have been any more surprised. The damn thing booted and I got into my BIOS without having to do all that CMOS pain. WOO. HOO.

That did however scare me a bit about pushing farther as I really don't want to have to go through all that jumper crap. So, until I find some decent advice to get a noob overclocker up to speed I think I'll sit at 3.0ghz provided it comes off as stable (which I think it will).

Thanks for the encouragement and help thus far, hopefully I can take this a bit farther with some guidance down the road.

**Dangerous Beans** · March 9th, 2009, 01:16

Quick tip: to clear the CMOS after a failed boot you should just need to press and keep the "Insert" key held down defore pressing the power button.

***Daube*** · March 9th, 2009, 03:21

Originally Posted by Dangerous Beans

Your Deluxe bios should be laid out the same as my Plus bios, there may be small differences but probaly not many.
Dont forget I'm running an E8400 not a Q6600

Datter,s bios refers to the FSB as 400 but the true FSB is 400x4 so its really 1600. The Asus FSB just refers to the true FSB.
I prefer the way Asus dous it as you can tune it more finely, with the x4 method if you increse the FSB by 1 your actually incresing it by 4.

Anyway back to your bios.
First go to "Extreme Tweaking" and set "AI Tuning" to "[Manual]".

Then go to "FSB & Memory Config"
Set "FSB - Memory Clock Mode" to " [Unlinked]" if you dont do this any increase of the FSB will also overclock the memory.
leave "FSB - Memory Ratio" set to "[Auto]"
"FSB - (QDR), MHz" is where you set your desiered FSB, [1600] should give you 3.6GB but its better to work your way up in steps testing for stability and heat as you go.
Leave "MEM (DDR), MHz" set to "[800] if you have 800 MHz memory.

For the voltage the one your looking for is in "Over Voltage"

"VCore Voltage", I leave mine set to "[Auto]"
In fact the only one I set manualy in mine is "Memory Voltage" which for my memory is "[2.100v]", set yours to whatever your memory manufacturer recomends.

If you go to "Power", "Hardware Monitor", Voltage Monitor" you will be able to see what the auto setting for your VCore is doing, mine sits at 1.44v and has been fine like that for the last year.

Thanks a lot for those recommendations Dangerous_Beans.
I think I have exactely the same motherboard as you have, a P5N32 E SLI Plus. The true FSB was the problem, mine was at 1066 by default, tried pushing it at 1400 for a test but the computer would not start anymore. I guess it was due to the other settings, like the "linked" memory. I'll have another try tonight !

datter · March 9th, 2009, 03:40

Originally Posted by Dangerous Beans

Quick tip: to clear the CMOS after a failed boot you should just need to press and keep the "Insert" key held down defore pressing the power button.

That is the sort of info I really wanted to hear. Thanks VERY much, though hopefully it won't be needed.

I'd absorbed so much info on this it never occurred to me to try leaving the vcore at auto. Maybe I'll give that a shot tonight and see what happens. With less fear of having to pull the system apart to reset the bios I am a bit more brave. I assume it might require a non-USB keyboard if I have to clear it this way though, but I have one of those kicking around so I ought to be good.

Still not sure why it's taking me 1.45v manually set to get to 3.0ghz, maybe auto will work some magic.

**txnetcop** · March 9th, 2009, 05:54

Hey Datter, Dangerous Beans just gave you the keys to the kingdom that I was gonna give. That will get you where you want to be. You can overclock the Q6600 all the way up to 1.7 which I have done but you have to make sure it is in a very cool environment. 1.45 should get you to 3.5 or 3.6 following Dangerous Beans advice. That seems to be where FSX likes to run. Just check your temps regularly for a while.
Ted

datter · March 9th, 2009, 06:10

As it happens, I'm not back to 2.7. :(

I had 1.45v in there and got to 3.0ghz last night, but this morning when I booted I couldn't get past post. I got into the BIOS and tried setting the vcore to auto, same result. I finally lowered my FSB to give me 2.7ghz, and set the vcore to 1.45v again... and I'm in. Not as happy as I was last night now, I think I must be missing something.

EDIT: Hmm, I did just noticed the following from Dangerous Beans post:

Set "FSB - Memory Clock Mode" to " [Unlinked]" if you dont do this any increase of the FSB will also overclock the memory.

Mine has been set to linked. Maybe I can try auto and see if that's where the magic is. Should I set the memory timings (to 5-5-5-18 for me) or leave those to auto as well?

datter · March 9th, 2009, 06:39

argh, so much for that. Back down to stock now as that's all I can do and get a regular boot sequence with any regularity. Tried Dangerous Beans comments above about unlinked/auto and it gets me to the BIOS logo screen where it says "hit delete to enter setup etc" and just hangs there. :(

I was doing 3.0 last night and it seemed ok and 2.7 before that, I just can't seem to get it to boot past that set up screen with any reliability about stock. More reading I guess.

harleyman · March 9th, 2009, 10:43

Hmmmmmmmm

Datter I wish i was more help...I myself am just learning and I dare not give you any advice that might have not so good results...

I can't even get my ram timings to change yet...Or I would be OCing mine now too....LOL

datter · March 9th, 2009, 11:04

I'm still posting on that other forum, advice is drying up a bit but I'm still poking around too. I'm sure I can get a 2.7ghz oc out of it, but I'd really really like 3.4