benesotor Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 Hey, im new to this forum, and need to find out some info on overclocking so here i am. I've got a intel 2.4Ghz core2 quad q6600 CPU at the moment, and i hear these processors are easy to overclock. However before i even think about OC'ing, i want to know if my cooling and PSU is up to it. I've got a Thermaltake ElementS case (6 fans intake and exhaust i believe) and a Coolemaster Igreen 600watt powersupply (with fan). My asus motherboard utility says that at normal usage (so with firefox/msn/WMP etc open) its at about 10% usage and the CPU temp is about 30 degrees C. (The CPU fan is 2000rpm.) I just want to know, if its possible to know, whats the maximum temp i can allow my CPU to run at?, and according to my system, how far do you expect me to get my clockspeed up to? Thanks a lot, Ben Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maj0rgamer Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) hey, welcome to the occ forum... it's pretty much impossible to tell what that processor can do... overclocking is pretty much trial and error and q6600 to q6600 can be much different in overclocking ability, as each chip can be drastically different in ability. but maybe 3.6 ghz is possible, just as a ballpark figure. not sure about heat on a quad, sorry... perhaps the link below will shed some light on that subject. you must have a good cpu cooler (heatsink/fan) before overclocking. what are you using now? here is a link to a thread that should be all you need to know to get that cpu overclocked some. Edited April 25, 2009 by Maj0r Gamer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benesotor Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 Im not really sure what fan/heat sink is being used, only the chassis cooling. Ill try OC'ing very slightly and seeing how the temp changes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maj0rgamer Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) what are you using to monitor temps? make sure to run prime 95 to stress test the system. overclocking with a stock cpu cooler is not recommended. there is lots to overclocking... it's not terribly difficult, but can be difficult and can ruin your system if basic principles are not followed. Edited April 25, 2009 by Maj0r Gamer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benesotor Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 Im using the Asus AI suite to monitor temperature, and that actually has an overclocking utility built into it, and show how hard the fan's are working and other info... i assume i can use this to do what i need to do? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maj0rgamer Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) much better results can be expected from overclocking within the bios. it's very simple really, just takes time and preparation. what ram are you using? this is the temp monitoring program you should use. Edited April 25, 2009 by Maj0r Gamer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benesotor Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) Ah right okay, well the utility allows you to OC up to 20% over factory. Whats this stress test by the way? Oh, RAM is 4gb DDR2 Edited April 25, 2009 by benesotor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Nate Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 By overclocking, you're running the processor faster than it's guaranteed to run (aka the stock speed). A stress test is a series of calculations that will let you know if your processor produces any errors (like, incorrectly rounds a number). Typical procedure: overclock slightly, stress test, repeat. Watch your temperatures with a program like realtemp or coretemp. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maj0rgamer Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) prime 95 is a program that will stress a system to be sure that an overclock is stable. like Crazy_Nate stated above, overclock slightly and stress test... about ten minutes should be sufficient enough to tell if you can go further with the overclock. however, when reaching a max overclock or when you may be satisfied with the results... it's very good to run prime 95 for 12-24 hours to be sure the system is stable enough with the overclock. along with a program like occt, it's pretty much indispensable to a successful bios overclock. these two programs should help you out, and occt may even recommend your cpu's maximum temp as well. Edited April 25, 2009 by Maj0r Gamer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benesotor Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 Great, cheers for the replies. I should set myself upon the task when i have some time free. Although, i wont untill i find out properly the limits of my CPU (havnt had it very long). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maj0rgamer Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) good idea... you may also wanna check to see what cpu cooler is in there, and if needed, purchase a good third party one... it's very worth it... because if it's the stock heatsink/fan, the overclock probably won't get very far. by the way, intel seems to rate this cpu's maximum temp at 71C. and you're welcome, hope you stick around... there's lots to learn here, plus it's a nice community. Edited April 25, 2009 by Maj0r Gamer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevinkjb81 Posted April 25, 2009 Posted April 25, 2009 i use Speed Fan to keep track of my PC temps. But you can usually find the max temp on the manufacturers website. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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