Cannot get Q6600 to 3.6GHz, FSB-1600mhz! Almost there! HELP!

OK, so as of right now, all of my system voltages are on auto, and I am currently running a 1500MHz FSB with a max multiplier of 9, and have successfully reached 3,375 MHz, perfectly stable, according to full system stress tests with nTune. My PC2-8500 RAM is actually running below clock speeds, because I have it set to a 3:2 ratio, hoping to eventually get the "golden" 1600MHz/3.6GHz, and have my RAM run at stock speeds (1066Mhz) with the linked ratio. What I do not understand is why I cannot reach a stable 3.6ghz....

My CPU temperature is extremely low (in my opinion, compared to other coolers I have had very recently, with the same settings), at my current speed, it never goes over 60C at full load, usually idling around 44C, with no Speedstep or anything like that, a constant 3,375Mhz. I am using a thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme cooler, and have my system set up outside of my case temporarily, with a tower fan oscilating its way to ensure good airflow is not an issue. Basically, I do not think it could possibly be CPU temperature. When set to 1600mhz in the BIOS System Monitor, temperatures idle around 52-53C, of course, there is no load, but that still is nothing to be concerned about, surely...

I have also replaced the stock thermal pastes on the chipsets with Arctic Silver Ceramique, and have successfully lowered those temperatures to in the 50s, and have an active chipset fan blowing at full speed, so I don't think that could be it either.

I have tried upping my voltages, even setting some safely beyond what should be necessary, to my knowledge, and I still have the same instability. But I am not very experienced with voltages. Yet, I do not understand why I should need to manually set them, when my computer can overclock stably to 1500mhz FSB just fine, with automatic voltages.

I have heard rumors about the 680i chipset not being good for overclocking Q6600s, whether G0 or B3 stepping. Could my bottleneck be my motherboard? How would I find out?


Anyway, CURRENT SYMPTOMS:
As of now, when I set my FSB to 1600MHz, my Vista 64-bit OS boots just fine, gets to the welcome screen, loading is noticeably a little slower than normal, and asks for my password. I have left it sit here for several minutes so far, and it idles just fine. But when I enter my password, it hits the desktop, and within a few seconds, right when the sidebar begins to load... REBOOT.

What is strange, is if I set my FSB to 1550Mhz, my OS will not even boot, no Windows load bar or BSOD, just a blank, black screen. That really threw me for a loop... tested several times to confirm.

My instincts tell me that this cannot be a temperature issue, because the problem is the same every time, exact same spot. But I just do not know where to start. I cannot imagine my CPU not being capable of this. I have already sold my B3 on eBay and bought a G0, hoping to cure this issue, with no result. Too many G0s have passed 3.6ghz, but I do not know of any that have done so on the 680i board, again, I fear that may be my bottleneck. But I am hoping there is just some voltage or BIOS setting issue I have not addressed...

Any ideas?

I would also like to know BIOS settings, particularly voltages, for anyone who has achieved or surpassed my goal of reaching 3.6GHz with a Q6600 and a 680i board. Thanks!

grab the latest BIOS for your motherboard, the newer ones are a lot better for quad overclocking. What speed is your Ram running at now? what memory do you have? have you tried booting into windows at a stable speed and then changing it in widows and see if yo can get higher.

I have the latest BIOS, P32. My Ram is running at 1000mhz, and I tried running it in sync mode, at 750mhz, with no improvement. I have Corsair XMS2 PC2-8500 RAM.

Yes, I have tried changing it within Vista via ntune, and strangly, ANY time I change my FSB speed, even if I change it from stock to slower, my system freezes.

So what do you think?