OC'ing/WC/HEAT??

[frostybrad]

Guys Im sorry I keep beating the dead horse about watercooling and overclocking..... but I have 1 more question (im sure thats a lie)...

what are the limiting factors when it comes to overclocking? Right now I sit with my memory at stock volts 4-4-4-15-2t and my CPU is overclocked to 3GHZ at app 1.325volts. What im trying to figure out here is, when does HEAT become the limiting factor that holds me back. Lastnight I bumped the FSB up a few notches and had her at 3.34 GHZ. Doesn't seem like much of a difference but after a few games of CRYSIS the system locked up. Then after rebooting the system I played COD2 for a bit and then that proceeded to lock up. I understand it could be a voltage issue but everyone tells me watercooling is the way to go if you overclock, but how do I know its heat related....

eh?

[Quakindude]

Download and install Coretemp. You HAVE to monitor your temps when overclocking! Very important, especially after going over 1.4V on these newer Intel chips. You can go right up to 60°C on that E6600 loaded and not have to worry too much. But I would try to keep the temps in the mid-50's for longevity.

Water-cooling isn't a necessity per se. With the newer CPU's from Intel, you can achieve very decent overclocks on a good air cooler. The CNPS9700 is a good one, among others.

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

What are your Temps?
Stability with higher performance is the issue when it comes to overclocking.
Temps are affected by those factors ... I would try and stay at or below 30C-40C Idle and 42C-55C at full load with that particular CPU. Beyond that ... heat limits the CPU life and performance.

Little voltage increases may ad to the stability at the speed your at.

It comes down to this. Stable is perception.
The manufacturer has their view of what that is and specs their parts accordingly.
The enthusiast wants more and can get more with better cooling ... up to limits that they consider stable.

Clearly your system is unstable.

Water cooling simply provides better defined headroom and a little better stability at higher overclocks. [I agree with Quake ... a good Air cooled system is sufficient]

As long as your temps are within the above temps ... then you can make tiny tweaks and adjust what gives you better performance and stability.

Once your temps get too high for too long ... you can fatigue the CPU and it will not overclock well and perhaps fail altogether.

[frostybrad]

coretemp shows 43-45 in 3dmark... idle around 30-27. running Orthos at this overclock (3ghz which is completely stable) the temps barely reach 50 degrees over a 2hr periode. anything over this 1334 FSB, the system starts to become unstable during game play.

[halutzparilla]

i exp such overheating problem with e6600 tight to 60C on air cooling when i tried to OC it... but @1.4V i cant ignore the fact i might kill the CPU at early stage, so this prompted me to WC.

Water Cooling is as my opinion the only way to cool down OC'd E6600 when its no longer being able to stay below 60C at room temp of 75F coz during summer heatwave are a big problem in our area.

my OC is in my sig. my loop is also in the sig add the Stealth VGA Block...

oh btw i never got below 40C with my Zalman HSF i owned 9500,9700LED, and both never gave me a satifying temo with this E6600 i own... i tested it in diff mobo still the same temp at 45-48C stock speed at aircooling. with my loop 38-43C stock speed at WC
plus probably it can go down when i finish my case moding and change the fluid and position of my rad. with out the VGA block in the loop it goes down to 28-32C at stock speed...

so basically WC is up to your need. whether like mine that temp is an issue or just for cosmetic purpose the choice is yours...

edit btw i get 45-52C variable temp with my OC'ed on my sig right now... just to let you know...

[Quakindude]

@ Halut

I'm very surprised your E6600 needs that high of voltage for 3.0GHz. Mine only needs 1.375V to run at 3.2GHz.

[frostybrad]

coretemp is showing 29/27 right now at idle. the gpu's get to around 67-66 degrees, but the CPU will not reach 55-60 degree's when running my games... it just doesn't I don't know... I guess I need to change the FSB back to the unstable number and try and check those temps and see what happens... ill record those and see if there is a drastic change. My sig needs updating becasue I have toned down the overclock in my sig........but i would love to get it back around the 3.4 ghz mark. AND KEEP IT STABLE :) I have no idea how these guys get to 3.6......

[frostybrad]

its not anymore..... 3ghz @ 1.325volts :).... sound better?//:) anything over it becomes unstable during game play


whats more accurate Coretemp or Nvidia Monitor?? Core temp shows 28/25 right ow and Nvidiamonitor shows CPU @ 36 degrees and system @ 33degrees

oppss sorry, missed the "@hault" part of yuor post :)

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by Quakindude

I'm very surprised your E6600 needs that high of voltage for 3.0GHz. Mine only needs 1.375V to run at 3.2GHz.

That's pretty good, It takes 1.46V to hold 3.3GHz stable with my E4300... It's not too bad, temps get up to ~55C with Orthos load.

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

Core Temp is more accurate ... your temps and clocks are decent for how you are set-up.

I wouldn't push it. You don't want to fatigue your CPU beyond what you may have already done. Though voltage to 1.35-1.365 might be reasonable to make stable where you are at.