EggXpert

I'm having some hard times trying to overclock this sucker, and it seems that the only way to get it stable is by running asinine voltage levels.

Motherboard: ASUS P5K-E Wifi/AP Edition

It seems that the highest overclock I can get to stable is somewhere around 3.42GHz at a moderate voltage increase. I managed to run 3.50GHz for a little while but it wasn't exactly stable, it ran hot as hell, and Orthos testing failed after 3 minutes.

So here are the settings I'm running. All others are set to Auto

CPU Ratio: 9x

PCIE Frequency: 100

DRAM Frequency: 1:1 ratio, so whatever FSBx2 is. 

NB Voltage: 1.55V

SB Voltage: 1.05V

FSB Termination Voltage: 1.4V

DDR Voltage: 1.9V

C1E Support and Vanderpool Technology are both disabled.

Using those settings, I attempted to a 390mhz. So far, all of my motherboard voltages check out just fine and don't seem to be too low (especially not at a mere 390mhz), but Core 0 keeps failing the Orthos testing overclock at 3.51GHz, and the whole system locks up a 3.53GHz so I never bothered to try anything higher than that. I've been raising CPU voltage, but I'm getting the impression that I shouldn't be needing 1.440V to get this high. At this voltage running Orthos, my CPU hits 63C under full load according to TAT (CoreTemp, etc.). Raising voltage one notch above 1.440V (forgot what it was), I managed to run Orthos for 8 minutes before crashing, but I was hitting 65C on each core. My CPU cooler is pretty beefy and I know for a fact its working perfectly fine. Voltage is read from CPU-Z, and vdroop is virtually nonexistent.

Am I crashing because of heat? Keep in mind these are the CPU's readings, not the motherboard's readings. Could my power supply be insufficient? I'm regretably using a Coolmax 650W PSU. PC specs are in my sig. Here's my PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159056

I get the impression that I've simply reached my overclock ceiling for this CPU and that the chip simply can't take any higher without insane increases in voltage.  This CPU was from the first batch of E6600's sold right after they came out. I bought it in October of 2006, back when I also bought 1GB of DDR2 for $120.

Overclocking pass 25% mark required more techniques just than increase vCore and fixing FSB ratio ram:cpu and temperature. 

NB and SB required to increase voltages as well to stability the motherboard itself to the new vCore values you have input.  But first you need some better cooling before you fry your cpu.

prtuc2:

Overclocking pass 25% mark required more techniques just than increase vCore and fixing FSB ratio ram:cpu and temperature. 

NB and SB required to increase voltages as well to stability the motherboard itself to the new vCore values you have input.  But first you need some better cooling before you fry your cpu.

Did you actually read my entire post?

I've adjusted NB and SB voltage myself, and the Silverstone Nitrogon NT06 lapped with a 38mm thick 120mm fan blowing nearly 110CFM isn't by any means a weak CPU cooler.  I've already tested a 1.20V SB voltage and it improved nothing.

390 MHZ is absolutely nothing for a P5K-E with an updated BIOS. This is not my first time overclocking dude, and I did plenty of research and testing before posting this thread. I've been at this for at least a month now.

Have you tried put the NB voltages around 1.70-1.80V?

prtuc2:

Have you tried put the NB voltages around 1.70-1.80V?

Other people with the same board are reporting 450-500 FSB on 1.55V, and people are hitting 4GHz.

I'll try setting CPU GTLRef to x.61 as that seems to have helped some people reach stability with E8400's.

My problem is definitely not the NB Voltage though.

I was only able to hit 3.9 once
3.8 was only stable on orthos for 8 minutes
3500/3600 was the sweet spot
I believe 3.9 was at 1.695 Core V
I didn't want to try 1.7v or higher...

Am I crashing because of heat?

WannaPiEcE:

I was only able to hit 3.9 once
3.8 was only stable on orthos for 8 minutes
3500/3600 was the sweet spot
I believe 3.9 was at 1.695 Core V
I didn't want to try 1.7v or higher...

Am I crashing because of heat?

No, you need a higher vCore

I imagine you were using water cooling? 1.600V is a hell of a lot of voltage over the 1.325 stock, and I know for a fact I'll be heating up like a b***h with that kind of voltage.

Thanks for the heads up. It seems that anything after 3.42GHz requires an asinine heat increase to go any higher. I was able to run 3.33GHz at 1.39V stable. I guess E6600's don't overclock too well above that point.

The lapped Silverstone Nitrogon NT06 cooler I'm using does a very good job at cooling this CPU, so we'll see how high I can go.

I've been doing this for a long time, but just to make sure, what's my safe temperature peak for this CPU at full load under Orthos?

On air try to keep voltage below 1.5V most try to keep under 70C when testing. You have removed the memory out of the equation so you know its not memory induced. Also if you post your settings would help if you need a template for settings here ya go.

Extreme Tweaker 
Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual 
OC From CPU Level Up : AUTO 
CPU Ratio Control : Manual 
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 
FSB Frequency : 
FSB Strap to North Bridge : 
PCI-E Frequency: 
DRAM Frequency: DDR2- 
DRAM Command Rate : 
DRAM Timing Control: Manual 
CAS# Latency : 
RAS# to CAS# Delay : 
RAS# Precharge : 
RAS# ActivateTime : 
RAS# to RAS# Delay : 
Row Refresh Cycle Time : 
Write Recovery Time : 
Read to Precharge Time : 
Read to Write Delay (S/D) : 
Write to Read Delay (S) : 
Write to Read Delay (D) : 
Read to Read Delay (S) : 
Read to Read Delay (D) : 
Write to Write Delay (S) : 
Write to Write Delay (D) : 
DRAM Static Read Control: 
Ai Clock Twister : 
Transaction Booster : 
CPU Voltage : 
CPU PLL Voltage : 
North Bridge Voltage : 
DRAM Voltage : 
FSB Termination Voltage : 
South Bridge Voltage : 
Loadline Calibration : 
CPU GTL Reference : 
North Bridge GTL Reference : 
DDR2 Channel A REF Voltage : 
DDR2 Channel B REF Voltage : 
DDR2 Controller REF Voltage : 
SB 1.5V Voltage : 
NB LED Selection : NB Volt 
SB LED Selection : SB Volt 
CPU LED Selection : CPU VOlt 
Voltiminder LED : 
CPU Spread Spectrum : Disabled 
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled 
Advanced CPU Configuration 
CPU Ratio Control : Manual 
- Ratio CMOS Setting : 
C1E Suppport : Disabled 
CPU TM Function : Disabled 
Vanderpool Technology : Disabled 
Execute Disable Bit : Disabled 
Max CPUID Value Limit : Disabled 
USB Configuration 
USB Functions: Enabled 
Legacy USB Support : Disabled

@ XtremeRevolution

No, it was 100% air cooled (Antec 900, Zalman)

Each chip is different, some can clock higher on lower V-Core and some require insane amounts of V-Core to reach the same speed stable.
Try to keep it below 1.6v for longevity purposes

If I remember correctly 85 deg C is where the e6600 shuts down

If you're going for a 24/7 than IMO I would pump the FSB through the roof, and let the multi drop it to 3000-3100.  It isn't always about clock speed.  A 1600Mhz FSB on a 8x multi @ 3200Mhz is ideal for this chip.  I would guarantee you would see better results (and lower Vcore [heat] by dropping the multi 1x to 8x)  if you have the option to unlink the FSB>DRAM ratio and let the ram clock down to a slower speed but benefit from the T1 Command rate and say (for example) 3-3-3-9 or even lower.

T1 command rate is only supported for ddr2 667 or lower FYI

WannaPiEcE:

@ XtremeRevolution

No, it was 100% air cooled (Antec 900, Zalman)

Each chip is different, some can clock higher on lower V-Core and some require insane amounts of V-Core to reach the same speed stable.
Try to keep it below 1.6v for longevity purposes

If I remember correctly 85 deg C is where the e6600 shuts down

If you're going for a 24/7 than IMO I would pump the FSB through the roof, and let the multi drop it to 3000-3100.  It isn't always about clock speed.  A 1600Mhz FSB on a 8x multi @ 3200Mhz is ideal for this chip.  I would guarantee you would see better results (and lower Vcore [heat] by dropping the multi 1x to 8x)  if you have the option to unlink the FSB>DRAM ratio and let the ram clock down to a slower speed but benefit from the T1 Command rate and say (for example) 3-3-3-9 or even lower.

T1 command rate is only supported for ddr2 667 or lower FYI

I am going for 24/7 operation, so I'll see what I can get by going through an 8x400 configuration. I know I managed to run stable at 8x410 (overclocking RAM a bit). However, I get the impression that I'll get better performance running at 3.42GHz CPU at 1520MHz FSB and 760MHz DDR than I would be while running at 3.20GHz at 1600MHz FSB and 800MHz DDR. I might just do it to keep temperatures down though, as I know for a fact I can keep 3.2GHz at a very low voltage. I don't have the option to unlink the FSB-DDR ratio. As it is I'm keeping it at 1:1.

I'll run some benchmarks with both settings once I can get those figures stable to see what the difference is. Any other advice or comments on my impressions are always appreciated.

this is why most people don't try to OC @ 1:1  they don't get very far   1:1  doesn't scale very far and hits the wall sooner then your CPU  so you fall short of your max OC

try another memory divider 2:3  should give nice results since you will be starting (667) with more headroom with your memory should allow you to keep some tight timings until you get around 1000mhz  

should allow you to determine what the problem with stability is too if its still unstable then it most certainly not the ram > you just prolly hit the wall for your CPU  but most likely you will be able to go a little further then before  then compared to 1:1   

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