Overclocking

[Lee Downham]

Abdul ... I got a Q6600 quite moderately overclocked at ~2.9Ghz ... relatively slow overclock due to nVidia 680i mobo chipset (so I can run my two 8800GTS´s in Sli) and also my lazyness - its been fast and stable ennuf for me to now :wink2:
My temps are roughly low 30's idle, mid 40's under prolonged heavy load ... runs a bit warmer in summer, but ambient air temp here gets up into 30's, the price you pay for living somewhere warm and sunny
Everywhere I read when I was setting my system up said keep it under 61°C ... default setting on Asus Probe for alarms was this too.
Got a Tuniq tower on the CPU, which does an excellent job (Olly runs the same on his I believe). Be careful though, its huge ... I had to mount mine sideways to fit in the case properly, not optimal, but doesn't hinder the internal temps too much, so no beef.

On one of my two 8800 GT's I got a Thermaltake DuoOrb aftermarket cooler and have overclocked them both quite decently to 660/1715/960 (from memory) using RivaTuner - you can use Riva to set up variable fan speeds based on temp if you want (helps keep the noise of those stock coolers down a bit when idling) ... I used to do this on mine with its stock cooler, but the 100% fan noise is deafening and the job it does is pretty damn poor.

Temps on graphics card seriously low now though ... went from hitting high 80's and 90's on stock cooler with occasional corruption or hangs hence getting fed up and buying my aftermarket cooler. Now I am maxxing out in high 40°C's with prolonged high loads.
2nd SLi´d graphics card is a Gigabyte with Zalman OEM cooler pre-installed, runs about 5° hotter than the duo-orb one, but still more than comfortable at low-mid 50°C's and kicks the pants out of the stock coolers.

Another handy hint ... I got a 6 way variable fan speed controller (and card reader) in my sytem. It takes some time and patience to wire things up, but it does mean that you can tweak your fans to run at much lower and quieter speeds yet maintain optimal temps.

My fan speed controller is a Kama Panel ... its got manual controls, and not the best design tbh, but was cheap (15 EUR or so) and does the job for now.

Enjoy tweaking mate ... :thumb:

 

[Dan Coldrick]

Abdul ... I got a Q6600 quite moderately overclocked at ~2.9Ghz ... relatively slow overclock due to nVidia 680i mobo chipset (so I can run my two 8800GTS´s in Sli) and also my lazyness - its been fast and stable ennuf for me to now :wink2:
My temps are roughly low 30's idle, mid 40's under prolonged heavy load ... runs a bit warmer in summer, but ambient air temp here gets up into 30's, the price you pay for living somewhere warm and sunny
Everywhere I read when I was setting my system up said keep it under 61°C ... default setting on Asus Probe for alarms was this too.
Got a Tuniq tower on the CPU, which does an excellent job (Olly runs the same on his I believe). Be careful though, its huge ... I had to mount mine sideways to fit in the case properly, not optimal, but doesn't hinder the internal temps too much, so no beef.

On one of my two 8800 GT's I got a Thermaltake DuoOrb aftermarket cooler and have overclocked them both quite decently to 660/1715/960 (from memory) using RivaTuner - you can use Riva to set up variable fan speeds based on temp if you want (helps keep the noise of those stock coolers down a bit when idling) ... I used to do this on mine with its stock cooler, but the 100% fan noise is deafening and the job it does is pretty damn poor.

Temps on graphics card seriously low now though ... went from hitting high 80's and 90's on stock cooler with occasional corruption or hangs hence getting fed up and buying my aftermarket cooler. Now I am maxxing out in high 40°C's with prolonged high loads.
2nd SLi´d graphics card is a Gigabyte with Zalman OEM cooler pre-installed, runs about 5° hotter than the duo-orb one, but still more than comfortable at low-mid 50°C's and kicks the pants out of the stock coolers.

Another handy hint ... I got a 6 way variable fan speed controller (and card reader) in my sytem. It takes some time and patience to wire things up, but it does mean that you can tweak your fans to run at much lower and quieter speeds yet maintain optimal temps.

My fan speed controller is a Kama Panel ... its got manual controls, and not the best design tbh, but was cheap (15 EUR or so) and does the job for now.

Enjoy tweaking mate ... :thumb:

Fan controllers are a must! I have this one-

Heres a pic in my rig(although some of the lights aren't working in thise pic)-

I've changed the Graphics card and motherboard since that pic. My Q6600 is at 3.2 and loads at 55c.

 

[James Yates]

Nvidia cards always run hot. They can get pretty high and still bestable although its best to be low of course. If you don't mind the fan noise turn it up but really theres no biggy in getting up into the 80s. My 8800GTS is fine on stock cooler OC'd just under texture corruption point.

It depends on your card, my 8800GTS 512 loads at 60 on 55% fan. Make sure you keep your cards heatskin clean - dust really can push the temps up.

 

[Oliver Amos]

Abdul ... I got a Q6600 quite moderately overclocked at ~2.9Ghz ... relatively slow overclock due to nVidia 680i mobo chipset (so I can run my two 8800GTS´s in Sli) and also my lazyness - its been fast and stable ennuf for me to now :wink2:
My temps are roughly low 30's idle, mid 40's under prolonged heavy load ... runs a bit warmer in summer, but ambient air temp here gets up into 30's, the price you pay for living somewhere warm and sunny
Everywhere I read when I was setting my system up said keep it under 61°C ... default setting on Asus Probe for alarms was this too.
Got a Tuniq tower on the CPU, which does an excellent job (Olly runs the same on his I believe). Be careful though, its huge ... I had to mount mine sideways to fit in the case properly, not optimal, but doesn't hinder the internal temps too much, so no beef.

On one of my two 8800 GT's I got a Thermaltake DuoOrb aftermarket cooler and have overclocked them both quite decently to 660/1715/960 (from memory) using RivaTuner - you can use Riva to set up variable fan speeds based on temp if you want (helps keep the noise of those stock coolers down a bit when idling) ... I used to do this on mine with its stock cooler, but the 100% fan noise is deafening and the job it does is pretty damn poor.

Temps on graphics card seriously low now though ... went from hitting high 80's and 90's on stock cooler with occasional corruption or hangs hence getting fed up and buying my aftermarket cooler. Now I am maxxing out in high 40°C's with prolonged high loads.
2nd SLi´d graphics card is a Gigabyte with Zalman OEM cooler pre-installed, runs about 5° hotter than the duo-orb one, but still more than comfortable at low-mid 50°C's and kicks the pants out of the stock coolers.

Another handy hint ... I got a 6 way variable fan speed controller (and card reader) in my sytem. It takes some time and patience to wire things up, but it does mean that you can tweak your fans to run at much lower and quieter speeds yet maintain optimal temps.

My fan speed controller is a Kama Panel ... its got manual controls, and not the best design tbh, but was cheap (15 EUR or so) and does the job for now.

Enjoy tweaking mate ... :thumb:

Yeh. The Tuniq Tower is one of the best air coolers. James and I lapped mine which made sure the surface was as flat as possible which improved temps slightly:

Also using a Silverstone FM-121 with it. Creates plenty of airflow if needed

And as Lee said, you have to be careful with the size of air coolers. I have managed to mount mine vertically but it does touch my NB heatsink at the base:

 

[Ben Tusting]

Very cable tidy Olly

 

[Dave Stephenson]

It depends on your card, my 8800GTS 512 loads at 60 on 55% fan. Make sure you keep your cards heatskin clean - dust really can push the temps up.

My 640mb runs fine up there but rarely gets there. Fan noise is no biggy for me and I clean my system out often so I run similar temps to yours a 60% and can get the lower but thres no real need.

 

[Abdul Al-Amry]

Marcel please help me OC this beauty lol.

CPU : Q6600 G0
Motherboard : Asus P5N-T Delxe AI Lifestyle Series
Bios version : 1302
Cooler : Arctic Freezer 7 Pro
RAM (brand and type) : OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1000Mhz/PC2-8000 PLATINUM Memory Unbuffered CL5 DUAL CHANNEL
Case : Thermaltake Soprano VB1000BNS without window.


I'll be updating the bios tonight since there is a new out already. Version of the new one is 1402. I dont mind hitting 3.4Ghz. I also bought another XFX Nvidia 8800GS and will be running SLI. Thanks in advance m8.

 

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

Can you make pics from the bios settings so i can tell you what to do.

 

[Damian Henderson]

I just hope you have got one of the good batch of Q6600's, some of the latest Q6600's do not overclock as well, I know a couple of people who struggle to hit 3.2ghz on them, where the good batch you can hit 3.4ghz above without much trouble at all. Don't want to worry you or anything just a heads up incase you struggle to hit 3.2ghz.

I have high and positive vibes you have been sent one of the good ones though!

 

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

For people who struggle with the Q6600 G0, try to remove all usb devices except for the keyboard and mouse during the boot. Booting with many usb connections gives bad power peaks, mine does not boot at 3.6 with my external harddisk connected and switched on. It runs like charm on 3.6 when i switch the ext disk off.

 

[Abdul Al-Amry]

Will get the pictures up soon Marcel. I have a dodgy camera phone. Thanks m8

 

[Abdul Al-Amry]

CPU : Q6600 G0
Motherboard : Asus P5N-T Delxe AI Lifestyle Series
Bios version : 1302
Cooler : Arctic Freezer 7 Pro
RAM (brand and type) : OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1000Mhz/PC2-8000 PLATINUM Memory Unbuffered CL5 DUAL CHANNEL
Case : Thermaltake Soprano VB1000BNS without window.


Marcel, do you magic m8. The maximum I can get and maybe the best the Q6600 based on my specs above to be stable.

Thanks in advance.

Abdul

 

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

You should set Ai tuning to manual first then make the adjustments to the FSB.

But i see your temps are kinda high for idle situations. You should try to remove the cooler and re-adjust it with less cooling paste.

I think you used too much paste on it or the surface is not lapped.

Only use a halve rise grain and use a creditcard to spread it on the cpu.
Clean the creditcard and cpu / cooler surface with alcohol first.

Idle you should get arround 30C. I use Scythe Mugen cooler and it brings me 26C Idle when my system is not overclocked.

 

[Abdul Al-Amry]

Marcel that temp is the lowest it can get. Before setting the CPU fan to maximum all time the temps were 50c on idle. Havent bought paste yet. I'll do the cleaning first and report back.

 

[Abdul Al-Amry]

I have been monitoring the pc for sometime now and noticed MCP temp is 81c on idle. Could this be cause of SLI? I have the optional fan which came with the MB, but asus recommends to only use it if I will be watercooling.

Should I be worried?

Abdul

 

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

I have been monitoring the pc for sometime now and noticed MCP temp is 81c on idle. Could this be cause of SLI? I have the optional fan which came with the MB, but asus recommends to only use it if I will be watercooling.

Should I be worried?

Abdul

What you mean with MCP? You mean the motherboard temps?

 

[Abdul Al-Amry]

I think the MCP is the northbridge.

Right, got ArctiClean Thermal remover and purifier and also Arctic Silver 5. Not sure when I'll be able to remove the cooler to re paste. Once its done I'll give you a shout m8.

As for Scythe Mugen, I am looking to get one but cant justify spending the dosh for it yet. Unless after the OC the temps are still high. Thanks

 

[Damian Henderson]

If MCP is your northbridge then 81c is nothing to worry about, they can operate at 96c.

You should take a look at the scythe andy samurai master, best cooler for the price, very quiet and very good cooling! Cools my e4500 @ 3.2ghz at 28c idle max 41c load, very good for £30 cooler. The only down side is the push pins.

 

[Abdul Al-Amry]

Damian I am terrified to do the re paste as the first time assembling the cooler I cut meself bad. Push pins are a nightmare. Should be banned by now.

I'll look into that model you mentioned. Thanks m8.

 

[Ben Tusting]

Abdul i'm sure you can buy a screw kit. I bought one for my Xigmatec hdt Cooler as that had push pins.

But i would look first before you buy the cooler though