Overclocking my Q6600

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Pyotr

New Member
Hello.
I want to push my old Q6600 CPU a little before buying a new system. Once I get my BIOS issues sorted (for those that want to help, I made a thread with mucho crying in the motherboard section) I will see how far I can go on my newly purchased CPU fan. It's a Deep Cool Winner S915, or that's what it says on the box. :D It's absolutely not expensive. Also, I didn't really get very low temperatures when running Prime95 torture test for 10 minutes or so. My old cooler hit 65 most of the time, and this one is around 60. Is it even a good idea to overclock it with that setup, or should I get more cooling?

My case is pretty crappy for airflow and pretty much everything else, having only one big fan in the front and two smaller (120mm I think) in the back. I could mod a little and put one or two more fans in the front, but not sure how much that would actually affect.
The temps inside are according to HWMonitor between 25 and 40 degrees.
Anything else needed for people who know things to say yay or nay? :)
 
Pyotr said:
Hello.
I want to push my old Q6600 CPU a little before buying a new system. Once I get my BIOS issues sorted (for those that want to help, I made a thread with mucho crying in the motherboard section) I will see how far I can go on my newly purchased CPU fan. It's a Deep Cool Winner S915, or that's what it says on the box. :D It's absolutely not expensive. Also, I didn't really get very low temperatures when running Prime95 torture test for 10 minutes or so. My old cooler hit 65 most of the time, and this one is around 60. Is it even a good idea to overclock it with that setup, or should I get more cooling?

My case is pretty crappy for airflow and pretty much everything else, having only one big fan in the front and two smaller (120mm I think) in the back. I could mod a little and put one or two more fans in the front, but not sure how much that would actually affect.
The temps inside are according to HWMonitor between 25 and 40 degrees.
Anything else needed for people who know things to say yay or nay? :)
Click to expand...

60 is very high... Is this the temp while idle?
 
60 isn't high for that CPU.

Are you overvolting?
Did you properly replace thermal paste?
Case air flow good?
What Power Supply and graphics card do you have?
 
60+ when running Prime95's torture test. Sheez people, it says right there. :D When idle I'm around 45 degrees.
Considering buying a friend's old NZXT Phantom case to improve airflow. But that depends if I can find a better motherboard.

Are you overvolting?
Did you properly replace thermal paste?
Case air flow good?
What Power Supply and graphics card do you have?
Click to expand...
Not overvolting. Thermal paste is properly applied. Case air flow is, as I wrote in OP, pretty bad. I have a Corsair TX 650 and an overclocked Radeon HD4580. Exact name eludes me, I bought it used.
 
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Couple of things.

  1. Check 'smart' fan or Qfan is turned off in the bios - this will run the fans at 100%
  2. Reapply the thermal paste using isoproyl alcohol to clean the mating surfaces. I picked a bottle up for $5 at my local major hardware shop.
  3. Ensure you have top quality thermal paste such as Arctic Silver 5 (available on ebay)
  4. Ensure computer is dust free and cable management is at its best (significantly improves airflow)
  5. If you're going to overclock, ensure your Power Supply Unit is up to it. A stressed PSU will fail and destroy computer components especially under overload conditions. Under these conditions the PSU will also dump more heat into your case.
  6. Adding and additional exhaust fan to the case if possible will produce better temps, but don't expect miracles.

Those temps are fine for that CPU architecture. At the end of the day a low end cooler on a 65nm CPU is going to be warmer (the latest CPUs are 22nm-smaller transistors, less power and less heat). If you want excellent cooling you should consider factoring in a water cooling loop when you get your next case. A watercooling loop will keep your temperatures close (delta 5 oC or so) from ambient.

Otherwise, you can consider lapping your CPU.

Beyond getting a different and better air cooler, there is not a lot more that you can do.
 
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