Help overclocking Q6600 on P5Q-E

[jallsey]

New system on a budget just ordered (spec in my profile) together with an AC Freezer 7 Pro.

I would like to try overclocking for the first time and would be happy with 3Ghz.

Can anyone tell me what settings to change in the BIOS?

Thanks

[staffsMike]

Change the Front Side Bus (FSB) to 333MHz. Done.

I very much doubt you will need to change any voltages to achieve that overclock

[jallsey]

Thanks, I did not know it would be that easy.

[jallsey]

Might be a silly question but can I just go and do this straight away in one go?

Or is a processor like a sports car or expensive amplifier where by you need to run it in/do it in stages?

Also do I need to run Prime 95 for a period after, if so for how long?

[chadders]

You have some very nice components there, read through Clunks guide and you'll get a good idea of what to do (explains what's going on nicely and voltages - it maybe core2duo but for your modest overclock pertinent).

I would recommend getting coretemp (or something) loaded and monitor your temps before hand, then you have a base line to measure against as you overclock.

Especially as you have a Q6600 and an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro, AND to make matters worse the weathers been hot!

[jallsey]

OK finally grown some balls and am raring to go.

I have read clunks guide and have a couple of questions;

On the CPU 'configure advanced settings; screen I have disabled everything apart from the first item which is 'CPU ratio setting [AUTO]', this setting does not seem to be mentioned in Clunks guide and is not in the screenshot for the BIOS he was using. Do I need to adjust this setting?, if so what to?

Do I need to set my ram to 1:1 or can I just leave the divider at DDR2 800Mhz?

Am I OK to leave VCore on AUTO? (should be 1.120v according to CPUZ)

What temps on should I expect in CoreTemp whilst idle in windows/running the Prime95 blend test post OC?


Other than that I have set my memory timings and voltage manually, disabled any onboard devices I do not use, changed AI tuning to manual and CPU freq to 300, anythng else I've missed?


Thank you

[jallsey]

Anyone?

[Viper81]

'CPU ratio setting [AUTO]' - I believe that's the multipier so you want it on auto unless you're setting it lower.
If you set your ram to 1:1 and you're only overclocking to 3.0Ghz you'll be underclocking your memory so you want to leave it at DDR2 800Mhz.
VCore on auto should be fine if you're only going to 3.0Ghz.
As for temps and other stuff, this thread, also by clunk, should answer most of your questions:

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...s-p5k-add.html

[s_kinton]

If I were you I wouldn't set the vcore to auto as this will increase the voltage to the CPU when you overclock automatically.

The Q6600 will do 3ghz on stock volts 99.9% of the time, so just set it to 1.12 manually (as per CPU-Z) and set the bus to 333mhz. Leave the ratio on auto (i.e. 9x) and leave your ram at 1:1.

Should be as simple as changing the bus and vcore and you've got 3ghz

[jallsey]

Thanks for the replies but confused by the reply by s_kinton vcore on AUTO or 1.12???

Also should I really set my ram to 1:1?, if I leave the divider on 800Mhz am I risking damaging my ram?


Anyone else got an opinion on this?

[Hunkulus]

It shouldn't hurt ... The article is a good start to ocing... I'm no expert but he is advising very safe easy methods to ensure a reasonable overclock..
It's really up to you if you decide to do it..

If you have fancy overclocking memory (like corsair dominator for example) you really have no excuse not to do it as it should be set to these kinds of timings anyway...
They are your warranties remember.

[Hunkulus]

Then again maybe you will blow everything up and be left with no new shiny pc...

[s_kinton]

Thanks for the replies but confused by the reply by s_kinton vcore on AUTO or 1.12???

If you leave the vcore on auto and increase the clock speed of the CPU then the board will audtomatically increase the vcore. As most Q6600's will do 3Ghz on stock volts, change the vcore to 1.12v i.e. the stock volts for your Q6600

Also should I really set my ram to 1:1?, if I leave the divider on 800Mhz am I risking damaging my ram?

No

Then again maybe you will blow everything up and be left with no new shiny pc...

Doubtful. At worst the board will not boot, meaning a CMOS reset and you're back up and running. Overclocking, although not 100% safe, it alot safer than it ever has been in the past. The only major risk is putting a silly amount of volts through the CPU by setting it too high in the BIOS.

[Hunkulus]

I was teasing... Sorry.. Tbh I'm a bit new to all this..It's an interesting thread though because I have just purchased very similar hardware (same motherboard, a q9550 instead of the Q6600) ....

[moogle]

I was teasing... Sorry.. Tbh I'm a bit new to all this..It's an interesting thread though because I have just purchased very similar hardware (same motherboard, a q9550 instead of the Q6600) ....

Cool!

Are you gonna overclock yours? What voltage is yours running at currently?

[Hunkulus]

Are you gonna overclock yours? What voltage is yours running at currently?[/QUOTE]

It's still in the post...When it gets here I might have to give it a push in the right direction, I'll be running it on the same board as our friend here so it should be quite easy. You done yours yet?