overclock tips n tricks needed

[kinnth]

Hello all,

Please see my system for all my spec's.

I have a very mild overclock on the cpu at the moment 300mhz on a q6600. I dont think i can really overclock much further as my core temps are 72-73 after 30 mins fft on p95. There is quite a stark difference between temps of 2 of the cores which makes me think that the cooler is not connected properlly but i have pushed and pulled in different directions but cant keep the 4 temps similar. Any tips?

Secondly I have 4x 1gb sticks of crucial ballistix 8500 memory which is supposed to be rated at 1067 but i havnt overclocked it yet and want a bit of help.

Now i think i accidentally pushed 2x 1gb of the memory to 1200mhz for around 4 hours as I had missread the settings in the bios. Anyhow i got into windows and thought it was all fine but then i started getting main board memory post issues where it wouldnt post. I readd on the EVGA forum to turn down the voltage and i got it working with 1x 1gb (in slot 4) stick for a time but then even that busted. Now i have bought another 2 stix of the same memory (in slots 1-3) and im back up and stable with no overclock.

I want some help at predicting my overclocks what voltages, timings, mhz should I try? Also if I keep the 2 new working stix in slots 1 and 3 and then put in the 2 dodgy sticks in 2 and 4, if the memory is busted will the pc still post? Also if i have had main board memory controller issues on the board is it even worth overclocking at all. I dont want a supreme overclock just that little bit more.

I also have the ram and cpu unlinked and i keep hearing mixed messages about this. Is it worth linking them and dropping down the ram but lowering the timings?

3rdly and lastly I have never used memtest is it easy and simple to use and could i break my memory or pc by using it?

Thanks

[rufeo]

i've got the AR version of your mobo so haven't really been able to put a quad in there.... got your ram as well but the 6400 kit, crucial ram is quite good at overclocking. had mine running at 1167, but now at 1000. but to do this i have had to loose up the timings to 5-5-5-12 instead of 4-4-4-12. when you overclocked the ram before did you try looser timings? can't remember what voltages i've got them at though.... i do also remember that i had to up the voltage on the northbridge to get it stable, so try that as well.

with regards to the linked/unlinked question, i've got mine unlinked. i'm not really too sure which is better. what you can do if you can be bothered is to tun a benchmark for the two scenarios of faster ram and tighter timings and see which is best for you.

memtest is easy, either write it to floppy or cd then boot from it. it doesn't run in windows. it won't break anything i promise if your memory is faulty then it shouldn't boot or if it does then you'll be BSODing. if it is dodgy then crucial are great for returns plus they have a lifetime warranty!

btw what cooler have you got? those temps seem pretty high if it's an aftermarket cooler...

[kinnth]

thanks rufeo for the reply.

Im using a sythe infinity cooler but i have my fan put within the dvd bay blowing towards the cooler as i couldnt attach it decently to the large heatsink. I do get good throughput.

I think that i basically frazzed the cores when i first got it as I found that my heatsink hadn't "popped" in over the core and that the arctic silver 5 compound was still liquid after i had run windows for a couple of days (this is my first proper build pc and first real attempts at overclocks.

Anyhow i know now that the cooler is fitted as well as it can be however i dont have a back plate and i believe this could help to keep the board from bending and pull the heatsink tighter. Where can you buy a decent 775 socket back plate?

Im quite lost about voltages in general, has anyone on here written a guide explaing what northbridge, southbridge and the other elements do and what reasonable voltages should be used? At the moment everything of mine is on auto voltage apart from the memory which is set to 1.9v

[moogle]

I was running 1067MHz 4-4-4-4 at 2.3V with a Memory cooler though. Stressing the ram makes it super hot! Especially those Ballistix's.

Don't overclock with the cpu voltage (VCore) on auto as the mobo will increase the voltage as sees fit and can kill your CPU as it doesn't know it's limits.

[rufeo]

Here's a few guides you may find useful:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/evga-n...oard-review/11

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...2_quad_q6600/3

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...6k-killer.html

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/747/747606p1.html

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...beginners.html

I don't think you can get a backplate.... I thought you can only get a backplate if the heatsink is screwed into the motherboard and not using the push-pin mounting on the mobo. not completely sure about that but that was what i thought....

with the fan what was the problem attaching it to the heatsink???

[inonefly]

memtest is very easy to use, just dl one and make a bootable cd, it wont hard ur hardware
http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/browse.php?c=18

[kinnth]

the fan is a 12cm fan and thats how big the block is. V big block. The fan blows sideways not down onto the processor and is connected only by 2 thin wire strips which hook it into place. When i tried it seemed that the hooks pushed the plastic of the fan over the ram slots. And i couldnt connect it if ram is in slot 1. I wanted my ram linked so i thought i should put the fan in the dvd drive bay and wedge it with a small piece of cardboard so that its still directed at cpu but from a further distance. When i get back to notts ill take some pics n upload em for all to see and you can advise me. Im in manc this weekend so no luck.

Im gona read the guide specifically on the 680i mobo, thanks for your help rufeo and others.