Hohum71

I've just replaced my E4300 with a Q6700 on this board and I'm not able to get it past 2.9 Ghz. On my E4300 I was able to achieve 3.375 Ghz. I've upgraded the bios to the latest from Asus - 1803 - to support the quad. The board is perfectly stable below upto 1199 FSB, but the moment I step over 1200 FSB everything goes south very quickly. The board does not POST ... I've tried everything from raising the Vcore, lowering the CPU multiplier, using a various combination of FSB and Memory speeds (unlinked), but to no avail. Everything is identical to my previous configuration with the E4300 (G.Skill 4GB, NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT, Zalman CNPS @2500 RPM, etc.). I had no such problems with the E4300 (even with bios 1803) so I have to believe that the problem is with the CPU??? Any suggestion would be very much appreciated.

greenbrucelee

you may not be able to get past 2.9 whatever you do.

Just because you got to 3.3 on your other cpu doesn't mean you can get the q6700 to 3.3 all cpus are different and even the same make and speed of cpus are different. Someone with the same cpu as me may only be able to get to 3.6GHz whilst I can get to 4GHz

With your ram is it 4 dimms or 2?

wrench97

A lot of 680i boards don't OC well with a Quad, Dual Cores tend to OC better on them, the older B3 stepping Q6600 would usually top out about 3.1 on them and run higher on a P35 chipset.

linderman

quads dont overclock as easily nor as well as dual cores ........in fact for just gaming your old dual core at the faster speed is a better option versus the quad anyway; some games will "use" 4 cores but that doesnt translate into being faster than a two threaded configuration ......most guys dont get that part / they just think 4 is better than two and 8 is better than 4; however that correct with money but not with gaming threads


I went thru this whole gamit with a fella with your EXACT same board and a Q6600. I had him buy high performce memory which could take increased voltage (btw: are you running two sticks of memory or 4 and what voltage and timings is your memory set at ?) and we couldnt get his board stable past 3.1ghz no matter what we tried and we spent hours trying!

finally I got so fed up with figthing that board I traded him a NIB (new in the box) GA-EP45-UD3L for his old board; he changed boards and now he is rock stable at 3.4ghz

I use his old door stop for socket 775 cpu testing

the 680i is just plain not a "good" overclocker regardless to what you may read

the intel chipsets will overclock circles around ANY nvidia chipset when it comes to overclocking the C2D's and quads

Hohum71

Hello linderman,

Thanks for your post. I also did go through your posts with the other forum member with the Q6600. I built my rig with this board about 2 years ago with a future upgrade in mind... and now I swapped the E4300 with the Q6700 because that was pretty much the most affordable quad the board would accept... and I know that the Q6700 is out of production.

Anyways, the purpose of my rig is actually not gaming (I do no gaming at all), it's for photo and video editing. I have 4 sticks of 1GB (G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ rated at 5-5-5-15, 1.8-2.0V). I do not have a SLI config, cause I dont need it, gaming not being my priority at all.

I have certainly seen an improvement in many respects with the CPU upgrade, but I would like to squeeze a little more out of it as I have read that the Q6700 is capable of rather impressive overclocks. Well, lower investment + high OC = good value for money!

What do you mean you swapped the ASUS for the GA for the other member? I'm a little less inclined to change my memory at this point!

linderman

our overclocking endeavor but the OP "Oli" off to buying a better grade of overclocking memory which is a real must have for overclocking; when the new memory didnt give us the help we had expected and a bios update borked his board (he was stubborn not to buy a floppy drive or use a thumb drive) I felt bad for him; so rather than just throw my arms in the air and give up; I traded him a new GA-EP45-UD3L which was my advice before we even got started, the UD3L overclocks like a raped ape. his old board I will use around my computer shop for socket 775 cpu testing.

you will "definely" need to increase your ram voltage to 2.0 volts when using 4 sticks of memory / 4 sticks of memory is NOT a desirable configuration when overclocking ........make sure you check your memory manuf's webiste for your memory model to be sure its rated fro 2.0 volts ......economy memory is only rated for default 1.8 volts - 1.9 volts and will not deliver much in the overclocking world

I strongly advise you have a peek at mwave.com / click refurbished / go to motherboards

right now they have an asus P5Q-E Deluxe for $88.00 snag that and it will overclock FARRRRR better and easier / then sell off your existing board on ebay for $60.00 - $70.00 and live happily ever after

Hohum71

Thanks! I'll just stick with what I have right now and spend the money for a Core i7 later! Just for my academic interest why is that the 680i chipset does not OC the quads very well? Also why is a 4 stick RAM not ideal for OC if I only intend to OC the CPU and not the RAM?

greenbrucelee

when you overclock you are overclocking the FSB (CPU) which affects the speed of the ram. When you OC you have to change voltages and as I am sure you will know more power = more heat, the ram when 4 dimms will require more voltage than 2 and this can be tricky to achieve without damaging the ram and or mobo.

As for the 680 chipset it isn't just that Intel and Nvidia chpsets are not good overclockers it's just how they are designed.

i7s are not worth the price at the moment.

Hohum71

I do understand that the FSB speed will affect the RAM speed provided they are linked. My mobo allows me to unlink the FSB speed for the CPU and the RAM - in other words I can set them completely independently of each other. In that case do I still have to increase the RAM voltage, because effecively its only my CPU that is OC'd and not the RAM?

I see that getting the Core i7 can quickly rack up dollars to build a rig. Is there a substantial improvement with the Ci7 procs over the Q6700 for photo and video editing?

Thank you.

greenbrucelee

there really isn't an improvement esepcially in gaming but you would notice a difference in doing things like video editing or virtualiazation software and Auto CAD.

A motherboard has lots of circuits and wires on it the FSB links to the ram and cpu amongst other things. When you change the FSB to change the speed of the cpu you are also altering the speed of ram. Take this for example, my cpu is overclockerd to 3.91GHz that is an fsb speed of 433 x 9 because the ram is double data rate 2 (ddr2) the ram to be fully synchnorous and a 1:1 ratio must be double the FSB speed which is 866 MHz although the ram when ran normally with the normal FSB speed is 1066MHz

Running at different ratios can be done such as with my overclock setting the nearest to 1066MHz I can get with the ram is 1064 which is a 5:6 ratio. This is ok to do but 1:1 is better.

Usually when you overclock you set the ram voltage to what the manufacturer states and keep it at that instead of having it at auto, so in my case it is 2v

Trust me when I say that because you can unlink them as you say it will still be best to change the voltage but just set it to what the ram manufacturer states.

I hope this all make sense to you.

linderman

the best value for you by FAR would be to upgrade your motherboard and ram / that would cost you about $150.00

then sell off your old board and ram on ebay and you will recoup at least $80.00 easily


you will not be very pleased in the performace gain you would see in the head to head competition of the Q6700 overclocked with a good board versus the i7 not even while photoshop app

you would see a slight improvement; but you would have a MAJOR case of buyers remorse

Hohum71

Hi -thanks for your posts! I'm curious, why wouldn't I see a good improvement with the i7? Several reviews have reported massive improvements with the i7 & comparisons with the q6700, because of its native architecture, i.e. onboard memory controller and lack of the need of a NB... especially with a OC'd i920, which can reach anywhere between 3.6GHz and 4.2 GHz on air (if the users are to be believed!)

What mobo+RAM combo would you guys recommend for my Q6700 without having to break the bank?

Thanks again!

greenbrucelee

well I can get my e8400 to 4GHz no problem on air and have had it at 4.25GHz on air but didn't like the temps (but that was just personal preference).

The i7 does have better architecture but when it comes to gaming there issn't much in it when compared to a good core 2 duo.

If you are going to be doing autoCAD and video editing or virtualization then yes the i7 will be a winner for that but for the price of an i7 rig there really isn't any need in one and you could get a much better rig like mine with a better graphics card for less and get better results.

Have a look at my system under my name, I am sure the price of that mobo and parts will have dropped since I built it a year ago and the motherboard is an excellent choice.

linderman

90% of such reviews and claims are based on "synthetic benchmarks" do you work and hobby in a synthetic world ?


most all review sites will always find ways to praise any new hardware released; or they are excluded from the next round of "news and test samples and inside tidbits from which to capitivate their audience" you must learn to read between the lines when evaluating these products

I have built and worked on new i7 systems; they are decent but they are not much of a performance advantage over a good socket 775 ......about 2-10%

and the bugs are a plenty with any new platform unlike the very mature and proven 775


as for board choice

GA-EP45-UD3l

GA-EP45-DQ6

Asus P5Q-deluxe / P5Q-E / P5Q-Pro

Hohum71

Interesting discussion on the viability on the i7s option.... based on your feedback I might end up skipping the current i7's generation altogether. The way I look at it, the Q6700 should take me through two more years, and by then Intel would have release a hexacore or octocore....! I've been eyeing an open box P5Q Pro at Newegg which is selling at an affordable price. Any known problems with that board I should be aware of before I take the plunge? Various users have submitted good reviews about the board. Also, would you guys recommend lapping the Q6700 to keep it a tad cooler or does it make no significant difference at all?

greenbrucelee

It is a very good board, you can't relly do any better.

Asus and Gigabyte make the best boards.

wrench97

Lapping usually only gives you a degree or two, unless the temps are high at normal clocks indicating a problem may present with the flatness/smoothness of the CPU top or heatsink base I don't usually bother.

linderman

I have lapped cpu's before; its more a hobby for a "bored" computer enthuasist. A person who has overclocked all they can; doesnt want the expense or the hassle of a water cooled system & still wants an adventure.

does that sound like you ? if so, enjoy the task lapping does help a few degrees and with abundant air movement in the case just might get your overclock up another 200mhz..........will that in its self improve or change your "real world"computing experience; I dont think so?


the asus board you are considerign is a damn good board

linderman

also dont overlook the awesome deals from week to week at mwave.com / click on refurbished / click motherboards

these are really un-opened overstock and open box items with a 15 day warranty >>>I have not be let down by them yet !

Hohum71

Thanks for clearing the air about the real world difference provided by lapping. I was lured into believing based on use comments that lapping produces a huge difference (between 10 - 15 degrees) in temps..! Apparently that's not true. Moving on ... I have noticed some boards require a 8 pin CPU power, while I think my PSU provides only 4. Do I need to change the PSU to one which provides a 8 pin? Similarly I have noticed a lack of a FDD connector on some boards.... so how do I rig the FDD?