Q6600

[Flexx010]

Hi,
I'm thinking of overclocking my Q6600 but I need a bit of advice form you.
Is it worth it?
Am I going to notice the difference?
should I overclock to 3.4 ghz?

I've got enough of cooling so thats not the problem.

Thanks

 

[whs]

There are tons of tutorials on the web that give guidance. Unfortunately I get mostely the German versions that may not help you. There is one video that looked promising (in English) but it is blocked in my country.

3.4GHz may be a bit steep for the cooling but many seem to recommend 3.0GHz. Whether you will se a difference in performance will depend on what you do. For video editing, you will definitely see an improvement. For browsing the web, there will be no difference.

 

[Flexx010]

well, i'm not much of a video editor, Most of the time i'm gaming so....
can anyone send me a good tutorial please?

thanks

 

[Wishmaster]

I would agree with whs.

And there will be many games that do not see that much of an improvement either.

Thats not to say faster clock speeds wont help, as there are quite a few games that are not only GPU dependant, but benefit from a fast CPu as well.


My advice, go into it as a hobby and have some fun. Dont expect everything to see massive gains.

Do it because you enjoy it, and its fun to do, and youll get more out of Overclocking.

Also, take your time. Especially if you do not know much about it.



Research .. Research .. Research!! This is key. Not every piece of hardware will OC the same, even though they may be identical.
So just plugging in someone elses values is really not a good idea IMHO.

Learn your bios inside and out. What settings do, what impact the have for better or worse etc.
You'll also want good background info about your hardware.

Thermal limits, Max Voltages etc.
Whats considered safe (from the manufacturer) as well as where danger zones start in terms of voltage and temprature.
Also keep in mind More Voltage = More Heat.


The key components are going to be the CPU, the RAm, and the Motherboard Chipset.

This is all good info to have under your belt before you start.


All of this info will seem overwhelming at first. Especilly the bios, depending what kind you have.
But in the end, it will all pay off, and be worth that extra time.

And remember, 1 thing at a time.
For example, youll want to underclock the RAM as much as possible while looking for stability with the CPU.
If you try to OC it all at one time, and there are BSODs, you'll have no idea where the issue is.

And by that I mean, lets say you find a stable CPU clock speed. Then under clock and work with the RAM a bit.

If you now have BSODs or other problems, such as failing Prime, you'll know that
1) The CPU was stable 2) The RAM was stable
It would now seem resonable that the North bridge is stressed to much when both are at full speed.


On the other hand, If you just start cranking up the FSB, and theres a problem, where do you look to isolate the culprit?

At any count, here a guide that may help shed some light:
http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overclocking/1-c2d-overclocking-guide-beginners.html

 

[Flexx010]

Wow! thanks alot for this information
I'm going to follow your instructions and i'll see how it turns out.

Thanks alot!

 

[Terronium 12]

Man, wish I had seen this thread sooner!

What's your Q6600's revision? G0's can be clocked to high hell with the right motherboard and cooling as they have a much lower TDP than the B3's; my best results to date are with a Maximus Formula SE: 3.87 on water. The only limiting factor was I couldn't push the board any further as the only thing I was cooling was the CPU. The P45-T2RS (not the DK I have now, the UT board) could only do 3.6 as it was incredibly fussy about everything. The DK can only, for the moment, do 3...I haven't pushed it any further yet.

In addition to everything that's already been covered, get yourself a good HSF like a Dark Rock Pro and you could be sitting pretty with 3.2 - 3.6 on air with comfortable load temps. Make sure to apply a thin line of t-paste straight down the center of the IHS (preferably using AS5) and remember to take things in incremental steps, don't just slap on any random FSB, voltage, and RAM timings. Do some research. Find out what the general overhead for your board and RAM is/can be and work it steadily from there. Overclocking is highly addictive so don't be at all surprised if you're up at 3 in the morning trying to get that extra 50MHz.

 

[sygnus21]

Wishmaster gave some great advice and as one who owns a Q6600 (B3 Stepping) I could only get to 2.9 safely and stable wise. In fact my Q6600 is still running at 2.9GHz 3 years later! - (323*9=2907)



There are some hardware limiting factors involved as Terronium states but if you follow Wishmaster's advice and take things slowly you should find a happy medium between the RAM, CPU, and Heat. For me 2.9GHz is it.

One other thing, yeah it does depend on the chip, but even a DO Q6600 can be problematic staying at 3.4gig. So I would start out low, say 2.6/7 than work my way from there once you get comfortable with working with Voltages, FSB, Cooling, and the likes. Again, Wishmaster's Advice.

As I'm fond of saying, getting a high OC speed and staying there stable are two different things. I can get to 3+gig, but I'm stable at 2.9gig. Point being is to find a setting that's stable 24/7.

Good luck.

 

[jebuchanan]

I had OC'd my Q6600 (G0) to 3.627 GHz (stable). Ran it 24/7 with no issues.

Search the overclocking boards for your CPU and motherboard combo (or Google them). There are plenty of excellent guides out there to help you.

 

[sygnus21]

I had OC'd my Q6600 (G0) to 3.627 GHz (stable). Ran it 24/7 with no issues.

Search the overclocking boards for your CPU and motherboard combo (or Google them). There are plenty of excellent guides out there to help you.

3.6 is usually the top end of a GO. Most B3's aren't doing that. And depending on the chip, not even a GO isn't guaranteed to reach 3.6gig. In short 3.6+ is REALLY pushing that chip!

I would warn to OP to go slow before chasing numbers that may not be attainable without extreme measures. Also at that range cooling/heat IS going to be an issue unless you have adequate cooling, usually water.

Anyway - q6600 max overclock - Overclockers Forums

My two cents.

 

[Terronium 12]

Another important thing worth knowing is the VID. The lower it is the better.