HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - A Guide v1.7

[Carnack]

Thanks for the response Graysky. (I promise to spell check next time! lol)

Perhaps I was unclear but I am running a Gigabyte motherboard (P965-D3 rev.1 BIOS F12), which I understood has second-gen BIOS support for the C2Q6600. Like you suggest I too think there is something amiss with the BIOS settings but I can not put my finger on it either. It seems to run fine at low voltages (surprisingly so). That being the case I suspect that the RAM timings / straps may be the issue, or contributing to the problem. (Point in case: when I try and run the Orthos blend test it tends to fail.)

I have dumped the BIOS settings to null-set several times but continue to get hamstrung on this configuration. It?s really weird. But to your question:

Did you set your non Vcore voltages to auto at first coupled with setting the Vcore on the chip to something in the high-end of the range (like 1.3ish)?

Well no?..actually I cheated and went directly to instant gratification. (More like instant frustration.) So I will back-track and get a better read on what the auto - default voltages are reading at and go from there - again.

I have gone the route of relaxing the memory settings but that did nothing to alter the symptoms of blue screening on higher FSB clocking - any settings outside of factory default. I may take a harder look at what the default settings are reading via CPUz and/or Memset.

I will see what going back to the defaults yields and post the findings. Thanks for your help Graysky.

 

[charles488]

Can someone help me in setting the default ram setting on this GIGABYTE GA-P35-DQ6 MB with E6850 . I have 4 gig match pair of CRUCIAL BALLISTIX TRACER BL2KIT12864AL1065 PC28500 1066MHZ 5-5-5-15 240-PIN . Just want to set it to 2,2 volts .

 

[Carnack]

Charles, just enter your BIOS on boot and hit CTRL-F1 to access the low-level RAM settings in the "MIT" section of the BIOS.

Scroll down to the "DDR2 Overvoltage Control" settings and increse the settings to "+0.4". This vaule is derived as follows: [1.8V (default) plus 0.4V = 2.2V], which is the Crucial factory voltage specification.

I run Ballistics too, though not the ones with the Pimp LED lights on them.

Keep in mind that that is factory voltage and not over-voltage. You may still find you must overvolt them .01V more depending upon your target.

 

[charles488]

Thanks Carnack for the info I found some more here not the same MB but the bios are the same.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1169366

PS: I like the pimp lights. HA

 

[Avalon]

Great guide man! It's always good to see someone giving back to the community.

 

[graysky]

Okay guys, I updated the guide (now version v1.2). It has been streamlined, dead/bad links removed, etc.

 

[The Sauce]

This is a really good guide with one very, very important omission. You neglected to discuss in any way the whole issue of northbridge straps and memory dividers. You really can't overclock reliably unless you understand that and it's not in the guide. IMO that's the trickiest part of overclocking these days, with fixed multipliers and all. Lot's of other important stuff is in there, though. Well done.

 

[njdevilsfan87]

Originally posted by: Carnack
Charles, just enter your BIOS on boot and hit CTRL-F1 to access the low-level RAM settings in the "MIT" section of the BIOS.

Scroll down to the "DDR2 Overvoltage Control" settings and increse the settings to "+0.4". This vaule is derived as follows: [1.8V (default) plus 0.4V = 2.2V], which is the Crucial factory voltage specification.

I run Ballistics too, though not the ones with the Pimp LED lights on them.

Keep in mind that that is factory voltage and not over-voltage. You may still find you must overvolt them .01V more depending upon your target.

Ballistix are way over spec. I run 4x1GB of them at +.05V = 1.85V at 800MHz 4-4-4-12, and they are stable. I think 2.2V was really meant for the their "second" setting of 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15, but I've also ran 1067MHz 5-5-5-15 at 2.1V, so maybe 2.2V is just there for warranty purposes.

 

[ibex333]

@ OP
Thank you so much!

This is the way OC guides SHOULD BE. The person who writes a guide should NEVER assume that the reader has any OC knowledge whatsoever. The writer of the guide should also never assume that the reader will be able to find a number of other guides elsewhere that will help him better understand this particular guide. When I 1st tried to OC I was completely clueless about overclocks, and reading the guide posted here on the forum at that time didn't help me at all. It just wasn't thorough enough. It's the details that matter most. I don't understand why so many people assume that if they know how processor speed is calculated, how to set memory timings, etc, then others probably know it too. THEY DON'T! I didn't! If this guide was here back when I was struggling with my OC, my experience would be entirely different. Good thing Anandtech has so many knowledgeable, patient people that helped me understand guides and any other questions I had.

Again, great guide and great job. Thank you.

 

[graysky]

@ibex: glad you found it useful. It's good to know people are getting some mileage out of this -- makes the 3+ hours it took me to put it together worth while

 

[ALECUBA]

graysky...could u send me to that guide u posted about lapping..i think i might be experimenting lapping in the near future..thank you

 

[graysky]

@alecuba: if you follow the links at the end of the overclocking guide, you'll see my two threads. I also believe I linked another lapping thread in the guide as well.

 

[gitanes]

Thanks for the guide!

 

[imported_salsa]

Thank you for the guide, it's helped me a lot.

 

[1ManArmY]

OC'er heaven

 

[sprchrgd]

Nicely done. Convinced me to change some things that aren't really necessary to have done in the first place. Thanks a lot!

 

[ALS57]

And a big thanks from me, wouldn't have dared overclocking a week ago but having got my head round it with this excellent info I'm coasting along at a steady 3ghz.
Cheers
Al

 

[graysky]

Thanks for the kind words, all; I'm glad you found it useful.

 

[boglwe]

Just gotta say, Amazing thread, I learned more in the time I read this, then I have in the last months since I joined these forums. You helped me get my Q6600 to 3.0 vcore@1.27 (IDLE 27c, Load 52c). Gonna push it a bit more right now.

Thanks a ton.

 

[graysky]

Cool, glad people are actually getting some mileage out of it.

 

[boglwe]

I do have a question though, When I push it more then 3.1 It either gets REALLY hot, or it has an error in less then 10 minutes. What can i do? I really want a 3.3 stable. heh.60c is fine on load for me. i think. Q6600 Go.

 

[graysky]

Tough to say.. what's the vcore @ your settings? Also, what memory and settings are you using?

 

[daviclond]

Sorry for the semi-necro, but I'm having problems setting up Prime95, specifically enabling the important error-checking option.

This is all I see, the option is greyed-out and can't be enabled :S

e: I'm running Vista if that wasn't obvious, could that have something to do with it?

 

[graysky]

david - could be a vista problem (most things these days are); I would say post your screenshot to the p95 forums since they're always looking for bug reports.

 

[RobertR1]

Graysky,

First of all thanks for all your efforts. Just put my new right together and your guide, especially with an Asus board will be a great help. I have a couple of questions if you have some time.

Here's my setup:
q6600 G0 stepping
Asus P5k Deluxe wifi with latest beta bios 0601
Corsair Dominator 4x1GB DDR2 1066 RAM
Evga 8800GTX
OCZ Powerstream 600W PSU
2 HDD's, 1 DVD RW
Vista 64
Thermaltake Kandalf Case

I have a question of RAM timings. My RAM is rated at 1066 at 5-5-5-15 rated at 2.1v Currently it's running at 4-4-4-12 at 800 using 1.8v. Prime95 ran great.Would it better to get even lower? This is a gaming PC. Other tasks will be basic PC stuff. The gaming will be done at 1920x1200.

Would it better for me to keep at 800 while continuing to tighten up my timings as much as I can or keep it at 1066 and tighten my timings from there?

Since I can run it at 4-4-4-12, which one would be the next in line to lower? Try 4-4-4-8? or try 3-3-3-12?

On the CPU, once I get an aftermarket HS/Fan combo, I'd like a stable 3.2 .

I was considering going 400x8 on the cpu, setting the RAM to 800 and tightening the timings as much as possible. Would you go this route for the 1:1 ratio or get with 1066 and ignore whatever ratio it lands at?

Thanks,
Robert.