Pc overclocking...

[Sullivan]

Hey guys, my new build is finally complete. I don't know what to use to get a log of all my current stats. But I was able to get some info from the apps included in the mobo disc, along with CPU-Z.

CPU-Z:

QuickTune6 - Tuning

QuickTune6 - System Status

My question is, that my computer is running at a very low temperature, I believe it was frenchy that recommended the TuniqTower 120
And I was wondering if I should use the Quick Tune functions shown about in the second picture. I remember frenchy stating DO NOT use nVidea's overclocking program, so I am not sure about this QuickTune6. The Easy Tuning option details seem tempting.

 

[Hardrive]

Only overclock from your CPU from your BIOS. Programs like those are typically quite unstable. I'll try to dig up some guides on overclocking the Q6600, but you can usually hit 3.0 ghz without any changes besides FSB.

After every step in an overclock, load up Windows and a temperature monitoring program (hwmonitor is what I use). Then, load up Prime95 and run a stress test, while watching your temps. If they get above 70C, you have too much voltage (you really only want the temps to max out at about 60-65C). If you get a BSOD or one of the Prime95 cores fails, then you don't have enough voltage to sustain the overclock (but don't up the voltage so much that you get high temps).

On my Q6600, I usually run at 3.0 ghz because it is easy to hit, runs low temps, and is really stable.

I don't know what graphics cards you have, so it differs. For nvidia cards, use rivatuner. Stress test with ATITool (yes, it's backwards, but it works). I don't know what to do for ATI cards, because I don't own one.

 

[Sullivan]

Thanks. My video card is the EVGA GeForce 9500 GT.

 

[Hardrive]

Thanks. My video card is the EVGA GeForce 9500 GT.

Then what I said would work. However, I don't know how well that card overclocks. What you can do is check newegg, and find the factory overclock version of the 9500 GT. You can be pretty sure that your card can hit that. Use Rivatuner to bump up the clock speeds on your card. Then, load ATItool and do a scan for artifacts, let it run for a few minutes. I believe it beeps if it finds one, indicating that your card is unstable. If it doesn't, then just keep slowly bumping up your settings until ATItool complains, and then bump them back to where they are stable.

Here's the guide that I followed when I overclocked my processor:
HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - Guide v1.6.1

 

[Sullivan]

I am a bit worried all of a sudden. I decided to rip Religious using hand brake, I choose some high quality settings, and bam! The CPU temps go crazy, nuts, bananas! It reached 80 degrees Celsius quickly, and I quickly ended the conversion and ejected the CD, them temps dropped right away. I am not sure that that app is correctly telling me the temps.

 

[FrozenIpaq]

I am a bit worried all of a sudden. I decided to rip Religious using hand brake, I choose some high quality settings, and bam! The CPU temps go crazy, nuts, bananas! It reached 80 degrees Celsius quickly, and I quickly ended the conversion and ejected the CD, them temps dropped right away. I am not sure that that app is correctly telling me the temps.

Apps like those tax your CPU to the max, most conversion programs utilize your CPU at %100 to make the conversion go by faster, thus resulting in higher than normal temperatures.

 

[Sullivan]

So its technically safe for it to be running at 80 degrees Celsius?

Heres a screen shot of the hardware monitor, during the video conversion, can you take a look and see if it looks to hot or odd?

 

[Greyone]

I would say as long as it's not too much over 80c it's ok. Most people with q6600's seem to have around that temp when running intensive programs like prime.

 

[Hardrive]

That's actually really bad. Intel says that anything over 73C can really mess up your CPU. It can certainly shorten the lifespan if nothing else.

Sullivan, have you overclocked your processor? To what? In hwmonitor, what's your vcore?

If you haven't overclocked, what thermal compound did you use between your CPU and heatsink?

 

[Sullivan]

I used the kind frenchy said I should use:

Newegg.com - OCZ OCZTFRZTC Freeze Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease

And no overclocking has been done.

Heres this:

CPU-Z Validator 3.0

 

[Hardrive]

Hm... I don't know. Try running a prime95 test and see what your cores reach.

 

[Sullivan]

Nah, if I get a huge temperature increase by ripping a dvd, then there is an issue.

Tomorrow, which this is going to be very time consuming, I will remount my heatsink, this time NOT SPREADING the grain of rice, because I think when I spread it, it was way way way way way to thing.

 

[Sullivan]

Check this out, after cleaning everything up, and a hour of work, I managed to get new paste on and drop my temperature a lot.

New status:

 

[Hardrive]

Check this out, after cleaning everything up, and a hour of work, I managed to get new paste on and drop my temperature a lot.

New status:

[qimg]http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh262/truedef/untitled-2.png[/qimg]

Nice temps. Mine runs about 5C hotter than that at stock clock speeds.

You should run a Prime95 test to make sure those don't skyrocket when your CPU is idle.

 

[Sullivan]

Ok, when I run prime95, what type of test and how many threads should I run.

And I was being a little curious, so I just tried out the QuickBoost feature on EasyTune6.

My CPU is running 3.20 Ghz, FSB is 1600 Mhz... and here are the rest of the stats on that:

heres the new temps with that overclock.

And last but finally, after using that overclocker, it shows a wierd 3.60 Ghz in here:

 

[Hardrive]

Idle temps mean nothing. I could probably hit 3.8 ghz and be under 40C as well. What you really need to do is a stress test. Use Prime95, Small FFTs, and 4 threads. That should do the trick.

 

[Sullivan]

And if the temps get high, will the program auto stop or do something to stop the heavy process's.

 

[twelve]

If it gets too hot your PC will shutdown.

Just keep an eye on it and stop it if the temps get high.

 

[Hardrive]

If it gets too hot your PC will shutdown.

Just keep an eye on it and stop it if the temps get high.

It might not shutdown in time (I know mine doesn't).

If it gets too hot, just stop the Prime95 test (I believe it's in File->Stop, but I could be wrong). Then, go into your BIOS, and step back the vcore.

 

[twelve]

It might not shutdown in time (I know mine doesn't).

If it gets too hot, just stop the Prime95 test (I believe it's in File->Stop, but I could be wrong). Then, go into your BIOS, and step back the vcore.

I didn't say shutdown, that's dependant on software. I'm talking about hardware protection, when a CPU gets hotter than the defined max temp it shuts off to protect itself. However this temperature is usually far above the recommended maximum, so if you keep an eye on things you'll always intercept before it reaches that point.

Also I think you can stop Prime95 just by pressing Esc when it's running a test. I would download and try it out here but this PC is slow without me maxing the CPU out.