[4D(Fordy(Ford) Ollie]

Hey guys,

I'm interested in OC'ing my Q6600, I hear some people get 3.6GHz on air

I wouldn't be quite that ambitious, but 3.0 would be nice. (2.4 is standard)


I've read up quite a bit on overclocking, and I presume the multiplier will be locked?

Therefore I would have to OC it via the FSB, however my main concern is, that my RAM is PNY XLR8, their factory OC'd range.

So it's already up from 800 to 1066, would increasing the FSB speed cause any problems for the RAM?

I'd just generally like some advice on it really, I've never OC'd before, so I don't know what would be safe steps to go up in, when to stop, whether to do it in BIOS or Windows etc.

Also, would I need to increase the supplied voltage?

The FSB is 1066
Clock is at 2.4
VCore is 1.35v
So wouldn't that make the multipler something awkward like 2. something?


Thanks for the help, Ollie.


Edit:
Just found something stating that bumping the FSB to 400MHz will increase clock to 3.6

So now I'm very confused, because the box clearly says FSB - 1066

[Carbon]

default multi is x9, 3.6ghz is max without OCing RAM (400mhz x 9), most RAM will get up to 900mhz or so without loosening timings, you should be fine either way

e: completely ignore anything your motherboard or cpu "fsb" says

[4D(Fordy(Ford) Ollie]

Originally Posted by Carbon

default multi is x9, 3.6ghz is max without OCing RAM (400mhz x 9), most RAM will get up to 900mhz or so without loosening timings, you should be fine either way

RAM is already OC'd to 1066, by PNY - and like you say above with the timings thing, yes the timings are higher than the non OC'd equivalent.


So say, for sake of argument, I change the setting in BIOS for CPU to 333MHz (as close to 3.0 as possible without a recurring decimal)

Would that be a problem for the RAM? Which is already running higher than standard?

[Carbon]

The RAM should be running synchronous anyway. If it's set at 1066 (533) then you would simply be running a 333mhz FSB with a 533mhz RAM setting, but that's kind of dumb because that gives you no gains. You want to make the RAM 333mhz (x2 = 666mhz) as well along with the CPU. Then you can tighten the timings a little bit as you won't be worrying about pretty much useless memory bandwidth and therefore can get stability and a little performance boost in one go :)

[4D(Fordy(Ford) Ollie]

Ok, will do that then.

Will the timings drop automatically if its lowered to 333?

And should I increase the voltage to either of them?

Also, is it safe to jump to 333 in one go? Or should I make smaller steps checking it runs ok imbetween?

[Carbon]

Timings will have to be changed manually.

10-15mhz per check for Windows boot is usually aggressive, don't do it on in one go.

Only increase voltage if the memory wants that voltage anyway.

[4D(Fordy(Ford) Ollie]

Ok, so the timings are 5-5-5-15

What should I lower them to? And I do that after OCing CPU and UC'ing RAM?

And can I lower it all in one go?

And I guess with the voltage I'll set it to what it says on the packet.

Thanks for all the help, I'll probably do it tommorrow morning

[Carbon]

Do the regular overclock, do your normal testing stuff, then see if you can tighten the timings to like 4-4-4-12. If not, it's cool, but it's worth a shot.

[4D(Fordy(Ford) Ollie]

Ok, I'm tempted to do it tonight now actually

What program is best for testin it out with IYO?

[Carbon]

Check if Windows boots, then do whatever you'd normally do (games or whatever). If it's stable under those circumstances then it's fine.