Hello,

I am having problems overclocking my new Q6600 past 2.63 Ghz (10%), anything past this and the system will not make it into windows without BSOD.
At first I thought this might be an issue with the stock cooler, but after upgrading to a Thermaltake Blue Orb 2, I found no difference.
The processor idols at around 24 degree's and 42 under sustained full load.

Based on what reading in the forums, this processor should be capable of 3 Ghz or more and my thermals seem to be okay, any ideas?

Core Voltage = 1.4v
Do I need to adjust other voltages such as front side bus as well?

System Specs

- Asus P5N32-E SLI Ultimate Gaming Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor 2.40GHz, 8MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB, Kentsfield, Quad-Core, Socket 775
- 4 GB Corsair Dual Channel TWINX PC6400 DDR2 800MHz E.P.P. Memory
- EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Video Card - 640MB GDDR3, PCI Express, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HTDV, Video Card
- Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI Sound Card
- Intel PRO 1000 PCI-e x1 Desktop Gigabit Network Adapter

Yes, the NB needs more, the FSB could use a little extra too.

For 3G you should not need to adjust any voltages except maybe the RAM voltage to set it to the factory spec., whatever that may be. You have to be setting something wrong.

Try this sticky HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - Guide v1.6.1

First the obvious tools :
CPU-Z : http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
HWMonitor : http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php
CoreTemp : http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Details:
A Vcore of 1.4V seems excessive for ~2.6GHz
Lower it to your VID (BIOS, don't use auto for voltages).
Check your RAM:FSB ratio.
It's probably 400:266(1.5) or 800:266(3.0) now so effectivly you're overclocking your RAM as you overclock your processor. The clock for your RAM rises 3 times as fast so at 300MHz FSB you'd be running your RAM at 900MHz (most RAMs can't overclock that far on stock voltage).

Also disable any AI/OC features your motherboard might have.
If you need further advice ask.

Are you running some low end PS ?

I was having mixed success trying some changes but now my Motherboard seems to be preventing me from overclocking at all!
Even when I set everything to manual and play with the speeds they automatically restore to defaults when I save an reboot?

Perhaps it my glitchy Asus P5N32-SLI Plus Motherboard, only a year old and both the ethernet ports have already died on it.
Bios updates are resets don't seem to help either.

This is the second Asus board that has had ports die on in less then a year, I think it will be the last one I buy.

And yes I have a high end 700 watt PSU.

Unplug the system from the wall socket for about an hour.
Try some overclock that worked before. If nothing else works accept the obvious. You have a NVIDIA chipset. It's not that easy to overclock them.

I think you should change what the motherboard is connected to over ethernet. I have a 3 year old ASUS A8N-SLI board and both ports still work like a charm.