Bad overclock on e6600

Willymuncher

I've just bought a e6600 and it seems I've hit a brick wall with regards to overclocking it, the max I can go up to is 2.79ghz (310fsb x9) on default voltages, anything higher and it is highly unstable, won't even boot into windows. I have tried setting the vcore up to 1.4 and 1.5 and I get into windows but its unstable, It is rock solid at 1.55v @3.0ghz in orthos...but the voltage drops a lot (down to 1.48), cpu voltage damper has no effect whatsoever.

I have disabled all of the features that may cause trouble (C1E, Speedstep etc.) and I've set the correct timings for my ram (5-5-5-12, 1.9v), have it running 1:1 with the cpu.

I have tried downing the multiplier, changing bios, changing ram. I don't believe the memory is causing it because my stability seems to lie only with what I set the vcore to be, ram is rock solid otherwise. I was hoping to get at least 3ghz out of this without much problems but I am struggling to get 2.8, which is disappointing. Did I recieve a bad chip?

Temps at the moment are at 29c idle and 50c load, when I up to 1.55 (1.48), they are 36 idle and 64 load.

Machine:
Intel e6600
ASUS P5K Vanilla
4 x 1gb Corsair XMS2 PC2-6400
eVGA 8800GTS 640

awhir

ok to cheak ur ram run the cpu on a lower multi and run up the fsb.then run memtest.your ram settings are very import on how fast they can run...

I would put a large bet that its ur ram

Inspector Gadget

Hmm...

I'm no pro when it comes to this stuff, I agree with awhir (after taking a second to decipher it - sorry, showing my age) that it could well be memory. Have you tried this with only two sticks in, out of curiosity? (Obviously, shove them in the right slots to get dual-channel going...) Have you tried loosening the RAM timings a bit to see if that helps?

As I understand it, these P35-based boards are supposed to be as good as the 965s (if not better) for overclocking, so I doubt that's the problem. What kind of cooling have you got on it? What about your power supply?

Gadget

Willymuncher

awhir wrote:

ok to cheak ur ram run the cpu on a lower multi and run up the fsb.then run memtest.your ram settings are very import on how fast they can run...

I would put a large bet that its ur ram

I've ran memtest as it is right now and there were no errors (9x310), but I'll try it with the lower multiplier and see how it goes.

The system refuses to post at 400fsb under a multiplier of 7 or 8, is this normal? It will only post at 395fsb if I up the ram voltage to 2.4v but will go no further than that.

At the moment I'm running 3.0ghz on a vcore of 1.55 and the ram set to 804mhz, its stable so far..

Inspector Gadget wrote:

Hmm...

I'm no pro when it comes to this stuff, I agree with awhir (after taking a second to decipher it - sorry, showing my age) that it could well be memory. Have you tried this with only two sticks in, out of curiosity? (Obviously, shove them in the right slots to get dual-channel going...) Have you tried loosening the RAM timings a bit to see if that helps?

As I understand it, these P35-based boards are supposed to be as good as the 965s (if not better) for overclocking, so I doubt that's the problem. What kind of cooling have you got on it? What about your power supply?

Gadget

I have tried switching to two sticks, changing from black to yellow and tried with one stick but I still get the same result, tried loosening the timings too but still the same, I upped the voltage from 1.9v to 2.2 and 2.4 but nothing seems to make a difference.

At the moment I have stock cooling, I had to RMA a Zalman 9700 due to the copper fins being bent so I'm waiting for Newegg to get that sorted. My power supply is a Coolermaster 550w which I think should be enough? I've never had any problems with it.

DirkVoodoo

Hmm, dunno bout ASUS but i know the gigabyte board i have is known for refusing to run an overclock when the FSB is 400 on the button, putting it just under or over solves this. Of course, I doubt this is your problem.

What about other settings? Have you disabled all the usual features? Is the PCI-X bus being overclocked as well?

EDIT: Also, check your batch number and google it, the numbers of bad batches of core2duos in very small, but I know there was a batch being talked about on OCUK a while ago that had terrible overclocking properties.

awhir

it does not sound like a chip problem more like his mobo.

to make shure ur mobo wont go past 400 try.400x6 or 400x5.

Willymuncher

DirkVoodoo wrote:

Also, check your batch number and google it, the numbers of bad batches of core2duos in very small, but I know there was a batch being talked about on OCUK a while ago that had terrible overclocking properties.

Thanks, didn't even think of doing that, I just googled it and any others I could find with the same batch (L646G512) are having the same issue..

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2186544&postcount=306

At 1.57 she will boot at 3.4 but that's about it. I know the indicators and this is a dud as far as overclocking. Not worth getting upset about as it is always a crap shoot. Gotta love the Egg though.

Taken from: http://asustech.15.fo*****.com/a/e6600-testing_post2930-15.html

I'm still going to give it a few more goes and hope I can get something out of it but this just gives me an excuse to upgrade to the new ones being released next month ...now to tell the wife :eek:

Anti

Up the voltage to the ram and chipset too. But not by much. You dont wanna fry the board.

papu

2.7 on a core 2 is still an animal you know........

Stephen

I had no problem getting my E6600 to 3.2 with cheap DDR2-533 ram but it ran very hot (stock cooler) so I left it back to stock speed. Its plenty fast for the moment

Cuddlesworth

papu wrote:

2.7 on a core 2 is still an animal you know........

I think you missed the point about overclocking. Check out rig 2 in my sig.

I feel your pain man, my E6600 is a bad lot as well. On phase I could not even boot at 3.4ghz.

Anti

krazy_8s wrote:

I think you missed the point about overclocking. Check out rig 2 in my sig.

I feel your pain man, my E6600 is a bad lot as well. On phase I could not even boot at 3.4ghz.

Yes, but your using phase change. Ofcourse you are gonna get that type of overclock !

Cuddlesworth

Anti wrote:

Yes, but your using phase change. Ofcourse you are gonna get that type of overclock !

I don't think the phase is really making the difference with that chip. I think it could hit 4ghz+, and the current overclock easy on air/water. I'm definitely thinking of getting rid of it, I need something with a higher multi. Getting over 450fsb seems to be the biggest issue with me at the moment.

Either way, I have the day off tomorrow so I am going to see what this chip can really do. Oh, and I am in the middle of customizing a proper phase change unit to be built. I want -20 under load on a dual core.

awhir

im on 3.6 on air but my V is 1.55

Anti

is that on the infinity dark board ?

papu

krazy_8s wrote:

I think you missed the point about overclocking. Check out rig 2 in my sig.

I feel your pain man, my E6600 is a bad lot as well. On phase I could not even boot at 3.4ghz.

if you geta dud chip tough luck of the draw , but 2.7 still makes it a really powerful processor , it would be better to get it to 3.6 but ye know other than enlarging your epenis it dosent make that much of a difference unless ur gonna be using high end apps on it

DirkVoodoo

Anyway, a stock E6600 will be fine for another while yet. Quad core is Q4 as far as I'm concerned. I know there is a thread about Q6600s going on here, but I can't see what the average gamer needs with 4 cores at the minute except knowing you have a kentsfield chip.

Chosen

I have an E4300 on my home theater pc (Q6600 on my main pc and a QX6700 sitting around).

If you want, you/we can test the E4300 and if it clocks around the 3.5-3.6GHz area and you want to, I don't mind swapping.
I am using it at default frequency on my htpc, with a passive cooler (!) and C1E & EIST enabled (barely used when watching movies), so I really don't care how crappy the E6600 is, I am still gonna use it only for Media Center and Skype

I never tested the E4300, cause after I got my first quad back in December, I never really dealt with dual cores again...

Feel free to pass by and test it on my system or bring your own, if you wish.

Willymuncher

papu wrote:

if you geta dud chip tough luck of the draw , but 2.7 still makes it a really powerful processor , it would be better to get it to 3.6 but ye know other than enlarging your epenis it dosent make that much of a difference unless ur gonna be using high end apps on it

Oh its a great chip and a nice upgrade from a 3700+, its just a disappointment to see many others reach 3.2 or higher on stock voltages and I can't even reach 2.9.

My epenis is considerably smaller than everyone elses.

Anti

Willymuncher wrote:

Oh its a great chip and a nice upgrade from a 3700+, its just a disappointment to see many others reach 3.2 or higher on stock voltages and I can't even reach 2.9.

My epenis is considerably smaller than everyone elses.

Awwwww

Wait whats that? The care bus just drove past!!