hello i need help on a couple things, for one i dont know which to trust to tell me my exact temps, because when i go from windows to my bios, my temp rises about 5C (also use nvidia monitor since my board is an Nforce) and i need help with voltages i have my volts set at auto, just need to know where they should be at for optimum performance. I am planning to overclock to at least 3.0 too

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/20...

Thanks This helps somewhat but not that much since i have the G0 stepping

It doesn't matter, you're only trying to overclock to 3.0GHGz. In that article they got the clock speed up to 3.47GHz...since your CPU & newer with a newer stepping, it *should* overclock even higher.

The stock settings for the Q6600 are 9 x 266MHz. All you need to do is raise the CPU freq to 333MHz to hit 3.0GHz. Make sure to lock the PCI-e at 100MHz & manually configure the RAM to run at the same bus speed as the CPU (DDR667 @ 333MHz). Raise the CPU voltage only if necessary...increase it in 0.025v increments until the system becomes stable.

Generally, the BIOS readings are most accurate. I wouldn't be too concerned about a 5C difference in temp readings. The CPU is thermally protected & cannot overheat to the point of failure. If the temp goes above 65C though, you should have a look at your cooling setup. Check your case/system temp...if it's substantially higher than room temp (more than 10C), you'll need to re-evaluate your case cooling config.

ooo, so i shouldn't leave the ram linked with my cpu fsb

one more thing, i think i need a new heatsink because when i put up the fsb to 3.0 the temps shot up to 60c maybe thats because the ram speed was linked, idk, so if anybody could lend me suggestions on a good heatsink (willing to spend around 40-80 dollars US) i would appreciate it