Which program to OC a Q6600?

[rmdl51]

Hello! I been trying to OC my Q6600 but no luck yet, every time I've used ASUS AI that comes bundled with the MOBO I get the system reboot and it won't post so I have clear up the Bios settings in order to get the MOBO to boot up again, and I'm not familiar with the multiplier the only speed I seem to reach without problems is 2.54Ghz which is pretty low, before I've overclocked by % on the BIOS, but can't seem to find that on this motherboard, (specs on my sig)

I already upgraded heatsink to a Zero Therm Nirvana with AS5 but temp doesn't seem to be a problem, I think it's just the fequency and multiplier that I'm trying to use.

which program could make my overclocking attempts more easier?

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

I think most Asus boards will let you use a pre-defined overclocking percentage in the BIOS. Something like 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% or you can just increase it by 1%.

If I remember correctly, head into the BIOS, go to the "Advanced" tab, and look under "JumperFree Configuration".

What is your RAM's clock frequency? Maybe it's preventing you from getting the FSB/CPU frequency you desire. I happen to use an Asus board, and when I overclock via the BIOS with the pre-defined settings (5%, 10% and so on), it adjusts my RAM:FSB frequency ratio to 3:4 and if I use the 1% manual overclock it forces my RAM:FSB frequency ratio to 1:1. You can check your RAM:FSB frequency ratio with a program like CPU-Z.

I wouldn't use anything other than the BIOS to overclock. No reason to.

 

[rmdl51]

The problem is I can't find (I will double check today when I get home) those settings on the BIOS, before I had a ASUS P4P800E-Dx and it has that setting to OC by %, but the P5K-E seems to have the multiplier only not the percentage, that why I was asking for a nice program to do OC, but I will check today again my Bios and let you know what options do I have there.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Look in your physical copy of the motherboard manual or download a .pdf copy here.

Page 4-16 covers the "Advanced" menu in the BIOS, and there is indeed a "JumperFree Configuration" as I said. Read from page 4-16 and on for information on how to use the "JumperFree Configuration" settings.

 

[Tarkus]

Go to ASUS and download the new version of AI. don't take too big of steps in FSB increases, maybe 5 mhz at a time. you can also save your OC profile in BIOS if it works. My P5K OCs well, I don't know how much faster you can run your particular CPU or Memory. You also are running DDR3 and I'm running DDR2, I think.

/my system is OC'd to 350 Mhz FSB. ram at 1120, E6700 at 3500.

 

[rmdl51]

Well Thanks! I did it on the Bios, right now I'm running multiplier x9 and FSB 336, so my Q6600 it's running great at 3.03Ghz I'm gonna keep checking, moving slowly up and see how far can i get, but I'm concerned my idle CPU temp is 48-49c and at load is reaching 65-66c for 3.03 I think is too high, don't you think? as I said before already install a great aftermarket heatsink with some artic silver 5, I don't know what else can I do to drop that temp.

BTW, I'm not running DDR3 ram I'm running DDR2 PC-6400 but I was planning to upgrade the ram so I can use the 1066mhz that this mobo supports

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Overclocking is going to vary between chips. You can have two machines setup with identically modeled components, get an 850MHz OC on one CPU and yet only 500MHz on the other.

Here are links to two versions of the Q6600:

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL9UM
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLACR

One has the maximum temperature of 62.2C and the other 71C. I'd assume regardless of which is yours (probably the SLACR if you're successfully hitting 66C without issues), you may want to lay off the OC'ing until you work out a way to improve your machines cooling capacity. I'm sure you'll be able to identify exactly which chip you have with CPU-Z or another application which displays detailed system specifications.

With air cooling you've really only got a few options to increase your cooling capabilities. Either buy a better heatsink, apply higher quality thermal compound or increase the airflow in your machine/on your heatsink.