Need help overclocking Q6600

[Zarxrax]

I just got a Q6600 the other day, and want to overclock it some. Honestly, I'm very satisfied with it at the default speed, but I really want to get the most out of it that I can.
I'm using the standard heatsink/fan, so maybe thats the reason for my problems, I'm not sure though.

Here is what I have:
Intel Q6600 with B3 stepping.
2x2GB DDR2-800 Gskill ram, CL5-5-15, 1.8-1.9V.
Gigabyte 965P-DS3 motherboard.

At first I was aiming to overclock to 3ghz, but wasn't having much success, so scaled back to 2.88. Still didn't have much luck, so I went on down to 2.7. Seems to work alright, but I haven't yet stress tested it for a long period of time.

The "easytune 5" software that comes with my motherboard shows me the CPU temperatures, and they honestly don't seem all that high. I haven't seen it go past 60 degrees on ANY of the settings I've tried.

I think the problem might be the voltage settings, as I'm really not sure how to figure out how much voltage anything needs, and the bios lists like 5 different voltages that I can change, and I don't know what some of them are for.

 

[Markfw]

To get any kind of good OC on a quad, you MUST get GOOD aftermarket cooling.

 

[Zarxrax]

Well yea, but I was trying to aim for what I considered to be fairly low overclocks, and the temperature readings were pretty low. Do I really not have much chance to overclock AT ALL without a special cooler?

 

[ViRGE]

The only voltage you should need to be adjusting is the CPU core voltage(vCore), my P35-DS3R calls it "CPU Voltage Control". With the B3 and an aftermarket cooler, you're clear for safely increasing the voltage up to 1.35v if that's what it takes, though you should go about it stepwise in the smallest possible increments.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Zarxrax
Well yea, but I was trying to aim for what I considered to be fairly low overclocks, and the temperature readings were pretty low. Do I really not have much chance to overclock AT ALL without a special cooler?

You see, when the quadcore gets a certain temp, it will throttle. And in worst case scenario, the throttle will make your quadcore slower then it was on stock.

You MUST get an aftermarket cooler if you want to overclock that quad. There is NO way you could keep her at load for long durations expecially on a B3 revision.

 

[bluxa]

you might also want to try Core Temp, RM clock or another program to check your temps. I have a Q6600 and an asus P5K-E Mobo, the asus software generally says the temp is 10 degrees lower than than the CoreTemp reading. Your CPU could be hotter than you think.

 

[bryanW1995]

I got my tuniq tower for 55 and I just saw a "rate my build" thread where the OP got one for 47. That's a very reasonable price to get an extra 25 % or more out of your quad.

 

[Zarxrax]

Alright guys, I think I'll just leave it at stock speed for now then. Sometime in the future if I start clamoring for more speed, I'll buy one of those coolers then.

 

[lopri]

Q6600 at stock speed is as fast as / faster than X2 @3.0GHz. Unless you render 3D models or fold, it's a tremendous computing power. Of course even at stock speed, lower temps are always a good thing so like others say I'd recommend to get a decent after-market cooler.