Hi guys, I've had a Q6600 for quite some time now and today I just did my first overclock (OC noob ) and OCed my Q6600 to 3GHz for starters. Everything seemed to be fine and all and went into windows. And then I started up Prime95 to stress test. What I got was the first time I stressed test it after just 4 mins there is an error in one of the Cores. But I restarted Prime 95 then after 1 hour only an error showed up. Restarted again then this time it took 4 hours ++ for an error to show up. I restarted my PC and this time 4 hours and still no error. Is this normal ? and does this mean my system can be considered "stable" ? Oh yea btw my rig specs is as shown in my sig. Temperature on full load with no air conditioning at all on a very hot day after 4 hours highest for Core 1 66 degrees, Core 2 66 degrees, Core 3 62 degrees and Core 4 also 62 degrees.

Test again use small ftt.. may be not stable yet

Bro how long should I conduct this test ?

my Q6600 OC.. thanks to Kmarc's guide to OCing Q6600..

OC to 3.2GHz (400x8), 1.38v... stable with temp from 60~67'c ... cooling with Tt Silent Tower with dual 80mm fans..
had problems OCing to 3.5Ghz... wasn't sure wat voltage to use... but so far so good... ran Prime95 twice on this temp...



if anyone can give me some suggestion on how to OC further, please do tell.. thanks

This post has been edited by Braynumb: Jul 10 2008, 10:21 PM

better if u can do 24/7, but it depends, for me 12 hour is enough, bcoz i use my comp 12 hour/day only plus dont want to waste electric

That means your rig is not stable. If you get random errors like that, then you will probably get those random errors in the future, especially when you rig is at full load.

You need to test for stability..... Increase your OC slowly and check for stability each time....

Hey, your proc's VID is the same as mine (1.325v) but you get better vcore then mine. Mine need 1.328v (load) at 3.2 Ghz....

This post has been edited by kmarc: Jul 10 2008, 10:48 PM

Same with mine.. but mine need 1.36v ...

try OCCT... more intense stress.... if you pass OCCT, the rest should not be a problem.

Not entirely true, one can pass OCCT but still fail Prime. The same can also be said, someone passing Prime may fail OCCT. It will all depend on where the problem lies. Is it the fsb, vcore, rams, psu etc... Best to do all the tests.

hmm..taiko, wana ask.... are those software capable of telling what causes the problems?

Stress testing now using small ftt on prime. 2 hours + no errors at all. Think I'll stop at 3 GHz though. Temperatures seem kind of high, highest temps at full load Core 1 68 deg Core 2 68 deg Core 3 65 deg Core 4 65 deg. Would prefer to be at 3.2GHz though but sure to exceed 70 degs

someone will be getting a 1.300 v in next week hehehhe..i guess this is slightly better coz on 3.6 p5q deluxe it only needed 1.425v to stable..

Open Prime95, look at the individual tests and you'll see that different tests will test different areas. For example, small FFTs don't test much ram, only concentrates on FPU stressing. If you fail this test, it usually means the problem is at the CPU side, either not enough vcore or fsb too high or NB not enough voltage etc. Only when you successfully identify and overcome this stage do you then move on to the next step.

IINM Large FFTs will test your CPU's overall stability with regards to vcore, voltage rail stability and heat dissipation. You'll find that with large FFTs the load temps are slightly higher here than in small FFTs. So sometimes when ppl say their load temp is such and such, you can't really say for sure that that is the highest temp, unless you run large FFTs for at least an hour or one round of Orthos (half an hour run, then analyse the chart).

Blend tests everything, so once you've successfully completed small and large FFTs then only try out Blend. Cos if you go straight to Blend and your system crashes, it would be harder to pinpoint the problem.

After completing a number of hrs of Blend, then just to be very sure go try out OCCT. If you can get through OCCT as well, then you can safely say you have a stable OC.

I dunno la, but that's how I do it all this while and this method has never failed me. Oh btw, before running any of the tests above I also run Memtest for at least an hour, just to be sure my ram settings are stable.

Some possible "diagnostics" for the following scenarios under load (my unscientific findings LOL!) :

1) BSOD - Rams not stable, either timings too tight or vdimm not enough or temps too high
2) Shutdown - Vcore or voltage rail unstable, could also be excessive vdroop
3) Hang without shutdown - Could either be rams or vcore, possibly borderline case. It might mean your voltage settings are close to optimum, just need a bit more juice

Nice diagnostic u share here bro ....running prime for 1 hour is not enough I think, it doesn't mean the system is stable for a couple of more hours, plus the error can came out random too...

Do you mind sharing your high temp, mine is 63 on the cold day and can up to 69 on hot day @ 3.2ghz, testing using small fft, quite hot I think

You are right, perhaps you should follow the advice of some OCers who leave Prime running for at least 24hrs so as to cycle through the day's ambient temps. This is good advice especially if you plan on running your rig 24/7 for folding etc.

Mine, running Prime at 1.39 vcore in Windows for 3.6GHz, typically gets around 60c for hot days and around 52c at night with the aircond running at 27c. But when the water gets hot over an extended period, I typically see an additional 4-5c on a hot day, and about 2c extra at night. My WC setup is not ideal, and the water does tend to get warm if I fully stress the PC for more than 5 hrs at a stretch, which I normally don't so no big deal. I'm a light gamer and usually don't game for more than 3 hrs at a go

IMO 3.6GHz on my 65nm Quad is about the most stable for 24/7 based on my own experience. Last time I even used to run it on a TRUE, temps were higher but still within 70c (but then again, I almost never run my PC with the aircond turned off). Perhaps it was stable also because I had 4 Vizo 120mm fans blowing from the side and a 100CFM 120mm Gigabyte fan (which I salvaged from my 3D Galaxy II WC system) running almost at full power, sucking out the heat from within. My TRUE also had 2 Silverstones in a push-pull config. Imagine the noise pollution!

@gregy

thanks alot bro the detailed explanation bro

Yea, I really want it to run 24/7 stable, but the annoying noise and high temp freaking me out...

I'm able to make my processor running 3.2ghz at 1.36v, yours is good, running 3.6ghz at only 1.39v, what is your vid? I need wc if want my processor running at 3.6, the temp is already high ... I used Zalman CNPS9700NT FYI

What is TRUE? Casing? I'm using CM690 only , plus 2x CM 2000rpm fan(exhaust) and 3x CM 1000rpm(intake), donno what is the true cfm, but the noise is already annoying me.. I can't imagine yours.. haha

Edit: Nevermind.. already get the answer regarding of TRUE, I thought it is casing instead of hsf

This post has been edited by aLWAYStHEsAME: Jul 12 2008, 10:46 AM

TRUE ? ThermalRight Ultra Extreme.

sifu's, i feel like wanna OC higher wif my Q6600(G0 stepping).in coretemp, the VID stated there is 1.275V.currently i'm running at 3.0ghz,bios setting for Vcore is 1.265V. i tried increase Vcore to 1.3V, make it to 3.2Ghz but one of the cores will fail prime95 after 2-4hrs.Vdimm already set to +0.2V.other setting never touch before,except lock tht PCI-E bus to 100 and lower my ram speed before i OC.spec at siggy. those power saving features tht kmarc mentioned in his guide are disabled already.

my question is:
1. is it the time tht i shud increase my NB voltage?
2.if i increase, increase by how much?
3.i read alot of warnings in this forum tht NB voltage shudn't be messed around,if not,will fry the mobo.i also understand tht my mobo doesn't hv active cooling for the NB.is it compulsary to add active cooling fan to my NB if i plan to overvolt it?
4.i searched for PLL voltage and gtl tht some forumers mentioned. i cant get an answer for tht. wat does it means?i'm quite unfamiliar wif these new terms as previously P4 mobo(my previous rig) dun hv these options.

you'r using 9 multi,
so ur fsb is still low, most probably is still lack of juices on vcore.

try a step higher, maybe 1.325v (if temp. allows)

i don't think 3xx fsb , needs to pump nb to stable.