Embarrassed to ask...noob question re: OC vCore

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Grentz

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Ok, I am not a complete noobie when it comes to overclocking but this question might seem like it (even though I have been doing it successfully for years). I really only get to play around with OCs on my own machine though so I dont get as much experience as other things that I am working on all the time.


Here is the question. In regards to vCore. If a processor is instable at a set FSB/Multi and vCore, will everything lower as far as vCore be instable as well?

Let me explain. Currently I run my e6600 at 2.8ghz (400x7) at 1.35v vCore. If for instance I boot it at 3.2ghz (400x8) and it is instable at 1.45v vCore does that mean that everything below that is also unstable and I need to go up? Or potentially is the vCore too high and making it unstable (is that possible?).

I just have never gotten clarification on that. I am working to get my e6600 stable above 3ghz now that I got a new P43 board that seems to have much less vdroop and runs 2.8ghz at a lower vCore, but still am having trouble getting it to be more than a few hours stable in prime and it fails linx after a few runs (2-4).

Also, any other suggestions? I really have not played with the pile of other voltage settings this new board has besides vCore and just am running my memory at stock timings/settings (DDR2800) though could probably push it a bit if need be as they are good sticks (OCZ Reaper HPC).
 
Grentz said:
Ok, I am not a complete noobie when it comes to overclocking but this question might seem like it (even though I have been doing it successfully for years). I really only get to play around with OCs on my own machine though so I dont get as much experience as other things that I am working on all the time.


Here is the question. In regards to vCore. If a processor is instable at a set FSB/Multi and vCore, will everything lower as far as vCore be instable as well?

Let me explain. Currently I run my e6600 at 2.8ghz (400x7) at 1.35v vCore. If for instance I boot it at 3.2ghz (400x8) and it is instable at 1.45v vCore does that mean that everything below that is also unstable and I need to go up? Or potentially is the vCore too high and making it unstable (is that possible?).

I just have never gotten clarification on that. I am working to get my e6600 stable above 3ghz now that I got a new P43 board that seems to have much less vdroop and runs 2.8ghz at a lower vCore, but still am having trouble getting it to be more than a few hours stable in prime and it fails linx after a few runs (2-4).

Also, any other suggestions? I really have not played with the pile of other voltage settings this new board has besides vCore and just am running my memory at stock timings/settings (DDR2800) though could probably push it a bit if need be as they are good sticks (OCZ Reaper HPC).
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In my experience, if you're OC is unstable you're more likely want to increase vcore, not decrease. Seems like your 1.45 vcore is kinda high for the e6600. You might want to be careful before going any further with that vcore. If you're vcore is too high, your PC prolly would not boot or BSOD.
 
Temps were actually still fine. In looking in the OC thread people give up to about 1.5 on air and then over that go water. On my old board I ran it at 1.42v or so for the 2.8ghz OC, but now only have to give it 1.35v since this board just does better with it (less vdroop mainly).

Remember the e6600 is one of the original C2Ds that many took a few more volts than these newer ones that go nuts with a .5v increase.
 
what speed is your memory running at your cpu clocks. a cpu with a 9x multiplier will achieve an overall clock of 3ghz with 333mhz on the cpu fsb. most of the boards i worked with would allow me to run my memory at 1000mhz which is the speed i would use for 1066 sticks. if i had 800mhz sticks, i would have to up my memory voltage and set my memory multiplier to run just beyond 800mhz. with a cpu fsb of 400mhz i can run 800mhz or 1066mhz memory exactly at their advertised clock speeds. the e6600's i owned could only manage 3.5ghz on air with 1.5v and i'd often have to run my memory as close to their clock speed as possible.
 
My memory is 800 and I run it 1:1 with the FSB set at 400. I drop the multi to get 2.8.
 
Grentz said:
Here is the question. In regards to vCore. If a processor is instable at a set FSB/Multi and vCore, will everything lower as far as vCore be instable as well?
Click to expand...

Yes, unless the problem is not with to low a vCore or it is ungodly high, you can hit a lower vCore though (sometimes!) by messing around with the NB voltage or RAM voltage etc etc. OCing has much more to do with than just FSB and vCore. And 65nm chips can run up to 1.5v....Anything over and that's your choice, wile yes there are people on there running your chip way over than that keep in mind allot of people are only using that for the run, that may not be the everyday voltage and some people just don't care if they fry a chip. If you want safe everyday voltage keep it under 1.5v, it does not matter how good your temps are.
 
Ya, I know to keep vCore under 1.5v and temp around/below 60-65C, was just curious if a higher vCore and still unstable means that all the lower vCores will be unstable as well.

The main reason for asking is this new board I have has a huge amount of steps in the vCore so to test them all would take literally forever.

If anyone has any advice for other voltages/settings to mess with I am all ears. Gigabyte P43 board. I know the standard CPU settings (like the C1E, etc.) and how to tweak the memory setup. But I tend to stay away from the NB voltages and on this board there are some other voltages you can tweak that I have not touched. On the old ASUS I had, which I did find out what some of the other voltages were, they never made much difference anyways.
 
My E6600 will run at 3.0 on the stock voltage, have you at least tried stock for the time being? Also, use the stock 9x multi, it could be your NB might need more volts to run that high of a fsb.
 
Yea it definitely could be the motherboard NB and not the processor at all. I have heard some people have problems with that board.
 
Anath said:
Yea it definitely could be the motherboard NB and not the processor at all. I have heard some people have problems with that board.
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Considering this is the 3rd board I have had this chip on with the same results I dont think it is the board at this point ;)
 
Grentz said:
Considering this is the 3rd board I have had this chip on with the same results I dont think it is the board at this point ;)
Click to expand...

Can it run at stock voltage at 9 x 333? If so, how high can you take the FSB before you need to start upping the vcore of the processor?
 
I dont know, have not tried that combo. I have always jumped right to 400+ since I can get 1:1 with my RAM.

I might give it a try though, thanks for the suggestion.
 
Yeah, your reapers can probably go higher then 800, you may need to give them some voltage or loosen the timing. Find out your max overclock on the processor first and then you can work on getting the most out of your ram.
 
333x9 I believe is stable with 1.4vCore...at least for the first few runs of linx. It failed with 1.35v so I jumped to 1.4v and it is stable for the first few runs (will test more later).

Running the ram at 800 still with a divider.

linx load temps are right at 60C, which is about right considering they were 56 or so with the 1.35vCore and 2.8ghz OC.
 
Try playing with your VTT / NB voltages. No offense, but that's a horrible voltage for 2997mhz, especially for an E6600.

Don't rely too much on just increasing the vcore alone, VTT/NB voltage plays a huge role in getting a stable higher overclock so don't be afraid to play with them.
 
Yup, after you go past 333 fsb (natively supported by P43), you'll most likely need to give the NB some juice. The P43 boards don't clock nearly as well as the P45 boards, but you should atleast be able to get it a little higher. Strange though, every E6600 I've seen can do 3.0 at stock volts, wonder what power delivery is like on your board.
 
Sounds good, no offense taken...I dont think my chip is that great which is the main issue.

Back in the day there were quite a few of us with chips that liked the higher volts, mine was one of them. Like I said I dont really think it is just the board alone as I have had it on multiple boards with similar results. Heck my P5B-E...which was a very good OC board back in the day...had to put even more volts into the chip to get it stable.

I can try playing with the NB though.
 
I had an E6600 and I got better overclocks using a multi of x8. also play around with your other voltages like your VTT/NB voltage just like aZn_plyR said. I was able to get 3.0ghz on stock voltage which i believe my was 1.3something. you should be able to get 3.3/3.4 fairly easy at least from my experience
 
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