Windows 7: Overclocking a Core2 Quad Q6600

Hi there,

I'm new to overclocking and wondered how easy it would be to overclock my Intel Core2 Quad Q6600. (My system spec is in my profile)

How risky is it and what sort of advantages does it offer?

Many thanks

Read this and decide.

Overclocking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

you did not list full specs in your profile, power supply, cpu heatsink/fan, and case will play a role.
the q6600 is an older quad core and runs pretty hot so you must make sure you have the necessary supporting equipment to do it safely. like the other poster said do some reading on it then google q6600 and overclock.

i have the q6600 as well and run at 3GHz no problems, the farthest most people take it is about 3.4, but that usually involves increasing cpu voltage, and sometimes causes instability, i only increased the frequency and havnt had any issues for 3 yrs now.

If you look at my specs, I have a q6600 Quad.
I guess overclocking is not my cup of tea. I would probably screw things up for what little I would gain. IMO

You should be able to get it to 3.0Ghz fairly easily. Alot will depend on the quality of the RAm too. You may need to try and keep it at 800Mhz or lower. (by underclocking the RAM before OCign the CPU)

But as reccomended, I too would certainly make sure good after market cooling was in place before attempting anything. Q6600s tend to run a bit hot, especially OC'd.

Do all your research before doing anything as well..
Some key things you MUST know before starting:
Min-MAX Voltage & TEMP Range Range of the CPU, RAM, MOBO chipset ETC

I enjoy Ocing personally, and still have a mild OC on my system today.

But, TBH, its really more of a hobby than anything. While there are some gains from it if done properly in some scenarios, overall not a huge ifference, especially in common daily tasks.
And you must keep in mind that youll reduce the lifespan of your hardware by pushing it harder and making it run hotter.

You can usually get 3.4-3.8Ghz from the Q6600, althogh that doesn't mean they are easy to overclock. It takes a substantial amout of time, endless hours of testing with a stablity program like Prime Blend, lots of patience and actual overclocking sills which you can't purchase. Not to mention you need to use a good CPU heat sink and improve case flow to keep temps down low as possible. It can be a real PITA no doubt but the rewards are there for the taking.

I can assure that the actual gains from overclocking are fairly substantial despite rumors to the contary, everything from opening web pages and programs to video editing, gaming and pretty much anything that uses substantial amounts of CPU power are noticably faster. The difference on my Q9650 at default 3GHz with memory at the standard 800Mhz overclocked to 4.05GHz with memory at 1200Mhz are very noticable indeed, night and day difference IMO. This only applies if your overclock is completely stable.

No doubt you take your chances with overclocking but the tolerences and limitations are well documented so it's easy to know how far you can safely push it. With your Q6600 65nm chip you can push the Vcore safely to 1.5v and cpu core temps to 72C,lower is better and stablity is the most important thing.

A lot of it depends on the stepping model you have as well. I had a Q6600 Stepping G0 which runs a lot cooler than the other stepping models. I was able to get it up to 3.2 stable, on air. However, as mentioned above, the other components of your computer play a huge part in how far you can OC, especially the RAM. Do some research before you start OCing, as you can severely damage your CPU and RAM if you do it wrong.

Getting past 3gig on that chip depends on a lot of things, motherboard, RAM, the chip itself, CPU cooler, BIOS.

So to say you can get to 3+ easy is saying you know exactly what the setup is and such setup is "proven" to give such a boost.

I'm not intending to bash or criticize anyone, I mention this because with my Q6600 (B3 Stepping) on an Intel D975XBX2 board with 4gig of Corsair's Dominator PC-8500 (1066MHz) RAM, at 3.0gig and above I would crash or the system was unstable.

While there are those that can get past 3gig, there were those that couldn't without issuse.

Just something to think about.

My two cents.

BTW I have my Q6600 at 2.9gig. Stable. In fact it's been running that way for nearly two years.

Correct you are Blackrose, the GO stepping versions are better. Using a good MOBO, Memory and proper use of dividers is another part of the puzzle. Faster memory will give you more options on which dividers you can use. Lots of reading, research and many hours of testing no doubt. Most noobs don't have a chance at getting it right so getting experienced help is important. Reading and asking questions at the forums for which ever motherboard is being used can help with voltage settings and which dividers to use.

OK that's quite a lot to take in, thanks so much everyone for their words of wisdom.

Here's some more information on my system, let me know if it would be useful to know anything else.

My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-EG45M-DS2H.

My processor is G0 stepping as someone mentioned earlier.

My memory is two 2GB sticks of Corsair XMS2 CM2X2048-6400C5.

I have an Akasa AK-P040FG7 400W power supply.

I have an APLUS CS-CURBIC case with two 180mm fans and one 120mm.