EggXpert

Hey, I have a q6600 G0 on an Asus P5Q-Pro.  Currently I have it running at 3.15Ghz @ 1.32V @ ~45-54C under 100% load on either of the 4 cores.  Ram is running at 701mhz to 1:1 with the fsb.  My question was this.  My third core, which also runs the coolest by a couple C, has errors when i run 350fsb @ 1.31V but at 1.32 it's fine so far (still running prime95 but no errors yet).  The other 3 cores continuously run fine at the lower V but it's just the third.  Is this something I just have to live with.. is it sort of a "a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link" deal or is there some suggestion anyone can give for obtaining a higher clock and stable cores?  On a Q6600, what's the highest voltage you would recommend using for stability and longevity?

Yes you will always have 1 weaker core and you just have to live with it. As for OCing it higher and still maintainning stability I can only tell you what I did to my Q6600 and that was buy 4gigs of OCZ ddr2-1066 RAM which allowed me to go to 3.6ghz and 1.27v but with my double F@H load and background applications running I dropped to 3.2ghz and 1.25v which has been stable now since I installed it 8 days ago.

Well, I don't plan on changing the RAM as I just got it and it's great.  3.0 is a decent average clock but it would be nice to go a little higher. 

What is your VID?  Download and run Core Temp.  All new G0 Q6600 procs have a VID of 1.325 and are not known to be very good overclockers.

 Also, you may want to mess around with the GTL settings in the BIOS to get the 3rd core stable.  If you need more info, check out www.edgeofstability.com for an explanation on GTL.  For the Asus board, GTL should be easy as you get a list of choices.  Other enthusiast level boards from DFI forces you to type in a value which can make overclocking a mindboggling and frustrating experience.

 If you ever want to make sure your memory is fine, test them one at a time using memtest - for at least 10 loops each.

 I know it's tedious but if you want to move forward with a higher overclock, these steps are necessary.  In addition, to stress out your processor for stability, use Prime95 or better yet, OCCT.  There's a third program out but I will not recommend it as without watercooling, your processors will reach temps higher than what Prime95 can produce (air=certain death).

 If you want more detailed help, post your BIOS settings as it may show an area or two where you may want to up the voltage or just make small adjustments.

Yup I have a VID of 1.325.  I haven't run memtest yet but I'll probably get around to it today.  I ran prime95 today for 10 hours with a 1.29V @ 3.0ghz perfect, and I'm sure I can drop that voltage way down to ~1.23-1.25 but just to be safe for now I left it at 1.29 and it ran with temps between 45-53C under full load. 

Here are my related BIOS settings:

 

 

 

When you drop a core, it means your system is not stable.  You need to add more Vcore. Don't live with it, because it will bite you in the butt later.