A close friend recently bought an Intel E6600 from ebay to replace his 478 Prescott, I told him a couple of CPU generations ago that the E6600 was the sweet spot for DC processing, primarily because of the price and the overclockability. So here's a rough guide onto overclocking an E6600 to a stable 3.2Ghz (~35% increase) using the following parts:
Some recommended tools we should use for Core OC'ing:
- CoreTemp - Monitors temperatures on CPU via DTS which is a more realistic reading of the temps (How it Works).
- SpeedFan this will give us an indication of the entire system and allow us to control the fans speed setting.
- MemTest - Testing that your memory is stable
- Orthos - Stress Testing tool
- OCCT - Quick and heavy stress testing tool.
Right now lets get down and dirty with this. First thing we'll do is get into the BIOS and start tweaking some settings.
(NOTE: The ones with the Asterisk is optional, usually you'd disable these first time you overclock)
Advanced Tab -> Jumper Free
Configuration
-
Change the AI Overclocking to
'Manual'
-
Change the CPU Frequency to 360
-
Change the DRAM Frequency to
DDR2-800Mhz
-
Leave performance Mode as
'AUTO'
-
PCI-Express Frequency to 'AUTO'
-
PCI-Clock Synch to 33.3Mhz
-
Memory Voltage = 2.2v [ Or v2.4 if its the Dominators ]
-
CPU vCore Voltage = 1.400v
-
FSB Termination Voltage = 1.50v
-
MCH Chipset Voltage = 1.65v
-
ICH Chipset Voltage = 1.20v
Advanced Tab -> CPU Configuration
-
Modify Ratio Support 'Disabled'
-
MicroCode Updation 'Enabled'
MaxCPUID 'Disabled'
- * Execute Disable Function 'Enabled'
-
Enhanced C1 Control 'Auto'
-
CPU Internal Thermal Control
‘Auto’
- * Virtualisation 'Enabled'
- * SpeedStep 'Disabled'
Advanced Tab -> Chipset Configuration
-
Modify Ratio Support 'Disabled'
- * Configure DRAM by SPD ‘Disabled’
- Set the correct timings for Memory Modules
-
DRAM ECC 'Disabled'
-
Hyperpath 3 'Disabled' @@@ MOST IMPORTANT @@@
-
DRAM throttling threshold
'Auto'
-
Memory Remap feature 'Disabled'
Advanced Tab -> Hardware Monitor
-
AI Quiet 'Disabled'
-
CPU QFan Control 'Enabled'
-
CPU-Fan Profile ‘Performance’
-
Chasis QFan Control 'Enabled'
-
Profile ‘Performance’
-
PWR-QFan Control 'Enabled'
-
PWR-Profile ‘Performance’
Its as easy as that. You can try and drop the vCore down bit by bit until you find the "sweet spot" where the system is stable, and the temperatures are the lowest you can yield.
Just to make sure you have a stable system, run atleast an overnighter of MemTest to make sure your memory can cope, then once your booted into Windows run SpeedFan+CoreTemp to monitor the temperatures whilst OCCT is running (Try the 30minute test first). If all passes and you still want to make sure, run Orthos over night or atleast a few hours.
CPU-Z Validated
Here are the CPU-Z Validated results on my box with the different memory modules.
Lurvely! The upcoming Penryn's are even nicer to overclock coupled with a solid board like the
ASUS P5K Premium or the
ASUS P5K3-Premium.