My overclocking project.. the goal 3.6 Ghz

[Wolfhound]

Ok guys, I had been expending a lot of time (since monday) to overclock my q6600 since I got my new Asus ENGTX260 (216 cores) and new shiny 4Gigs OCZ Reaper PC-8500 kit (nice memory and fast), right now I had reached 9x356 (3200) at 1.35 Vcore (CPUZ says it is at 1.2526V) and memory is at 1068Mhz (have read in a lot of reviews that this memory can reach at least 1100Mhz), for now is stable, right now is running prime95 since I woke up at 5:00 AM, maximum temps are between 48ºC to 54ºC on load (prime 95 maximum heat test) and idle temps are between 27 to 32ºC, cooling is a thermalright ultra extreme with a Papst 1600rpm fan and Zalman STG1 goop (when I get home I´ll post pics of my rig). I had removed the heatsinks of north and southbridge and changed the goop with AS5 and adding a 40x40mm fan on northbridge (I had upped the voltage 0.1V on both for stability), my goal is to reach 3600Mhz without overvolting too much, below you´ll see a screenshot of my last stable result.

Do you have some advice or comment, please share it!

[Toss3]

Just try putting your FSB to 400Mhz and lower your memory timings and start testing and tuning in different voltages. I couldn't get my q6600 to boot at 3,6Ghz unless I put the Vcore to 1,5V.

You could also try finding a guide on how to fix the vdroop on your motherboard(helped me alot with my P5K-E). It can usually be fixed by a simple pencil mod.

[Wolfhound]

Originally Posted by Toss3

Just try putting your FSB to 400Mhz and lower your memory timings and start testing and tuning in different voltages. I couldn't get my q6600 to boot at 3,6Ghz unless I put the Vcore to 1,5V.

You could also try finding a guide on how to fix the vdroop on your motherboard(helped me alot with my P5K-E). It can usually be fixed by a simple pencil mod.

Thanks Toss3 will try

[walterman]

Adding a fan to the north bridge is a very good idea. It will allow you to raise the chipset voltage, to tight the memory timings & raise that FSB. Once you finish raising the FSB, try to lower the tRD. This will lower your memory latency, and raise the memory bandwidth.

[Bman212121]

Good luck, that's about all I can add. I can get mine booted at 3.6 but it takes about 1.5V just like Toss3's does.

The one advantage you have is your VID is much better than mine. I have a 1.3250 VID on my Q6600. For me anything above 3400 seems to start taking a lot of voltage to just get it booting. I haven't been able to get it stable at even 3.5 yet.

1.35 Vcore (CPUZ says it is at 1.2526V)

That's what's going to kill you trying to overclock. From what I vaguely remember seeing posted a few of the gigabytes boards have really bad vdrop/droop. With my q6600 set at 1.5V in the bios I only drop about .02V into windows, and maybe another .01V loaded. (Mine is pencil modded for vdroop.) I do remember looking for the pencil mod on that board for CaptN. Apparently it doesn't work from what I've seen, so it's best just to leave it be and see what you can get without modding it.

Also I would suggest just leaving your ram underclocked while you work in your cpu clock. Doing everything separately makes it a lot easier to get each part stable.

OT: I also found a little bit more info about vdroop modding. They suggest using a multimeter and testing the resistance on your mod. They prefer to leave just a tiny bit of vdroop so they aren't going too heavy with the graphite. http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=558347

I'm still trying to figure out the whole idea behind vdroop... I think it has something to do with varying voltage instead of varying amperage to keep the same amount of current. That being said it would seem like vdroop is actually bad because the less voltage the more amperage needed for the same amount of total power. Too many amps is how you would hurt the wiring, but on the same token lowering the voltage would also lower the total amount of power coming in provided the amps are constant.
I just don't know what to make of it. This guys post makes a little sense though. http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...-vdroop-2.html

[Wolfhound]

Originally Posted by walterman

Adding a fan to the north bridge is a very good idea. It will allow you to raise the chipset voltage, to tight the memory timings & raise that FSB. Once you finish raising the FSB, try to lower the tRD. This will lower your memory latency, and raise the memory bandwidth.

I have added a 40x40x10mm papst fan @ 6300rpm to the northbridge now temps are 32ºC with +0.1V added

[Wolfhound]

Originally Posted by Bman212121

Good luck, that's about all I can add. I can get mine booted at 3.6 but it takes about 1.5V just like Toss3's does.

The one advantage you have is your VID is much better than mine. I have a 1.3250 VID on my Q6600. For me anything above 3400 seems to start taking a lot of voltage to just get it booting. I haven't been able to get it stable at even 3.5 yet.



That's what's going to kill you trying to overclock. From what I vaguely remember seeing posted a few of the gigabytes boards have really bad vdrop/droop. With my q6600 set at 1.5V in the bios I only drop about .02V into windows, and maybe another .01V loaded. (Mine is pencil modded for vdroop.) I do remember looking for the pencil mod on that board for CaptN. Apparently it doesn't work from what I've seen, so it's best just to leave it be and see what you can get without modding it.

Also I would suggest just leaving your ram underclocked while you work in your cpu clock. Doing everything separately makes it a lot easier to get each part stable.

OT: I also found a little bit more info about vdroop modding. They suggest using a multimeter and testing the resistance on your mod. They prefer to leave just a tiny bit of vdroop so they aren't going too heavy with the graphite. http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=558347

I'm still trying to figure out the whole idea behind vdroop... I think it has something to do with varying voltage instead of varying amperage to keep the same amount of current. That being said it would seem like vdroop is actually bad because the less voltage the more amperage needed for the same amount of total power. Too many amps is how you would hurt the wiring, but on the same token lowering the voltage would also lower the total amount of power coming in provided the amps are constant.
I just don't know what to make of it. This guys post makes a little sense though. http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...-vdroop-2.html

Thanks for the info I´ll check it, yesterday I tried to overclock to 9x400 Vcore 1.4 Memory at 1:1 but the board doesn´t post regarding I upper the vcore to 1.5V that is the maximum vcore for quad core

Mine didn't like 3.6 unless the voltages were high also.

[Wolfhound]

Originally Posted by methimpikehoses

Mine didn't like 3.6 unless the voltages were high also.

How much Juice you have to put on it?

[Bman212121]

Originally Posted by Wolfhound

Thanks for the info I´ll check it, yesterday I tried to overclock to 9x400 Vcore 1.4 Memory at 1:1 but the board doesn´t post regarding I upper the vcore to 1.5V that is the maximum vcore for quad core

Have you made sure that your board can run a 1600fsb? Another common thing to try is dropping the cpu multiplier way down, to like 7x, then upping the fsb to see how high it can go. You might need to change something related to the fsb to get it to post at 1600. On my 780i I need 1.4V into the North Bridge (SPP) to push it up there.

Originally Posted by Wolfhound

How much Juice you have to put on it?

Over 1.5V (400x9=3.6ghz), and I didn't kept it there long because it was too hot... idled at about 45C.

I currently have it set at 1.47V which reads 1.44V in everest. It's much cooler than 1.5V for some reason, at 440x8=3.52ghz. Still, it idles at 36C, which isn't great, but good enough.

[bob saget]

Originally Posted by methimpikehoses

Over 1.5V (400x9=3.6ghz), and I didn't kept it there long because it was too hot... idled at about 45C.

I currently have it set at 1.47V which reads 1.44V in everest. It's much cooler than 1.5V for some reason, at 440x8=3.52ghz. Still, it idles at 36C, which isn't great, but good enough.

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swi rpl

Keep going wolf, i am cheering for ya