Asus p5q-e and Q9550

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I see you are at 1.072v
mine reads 0.99 yet I had set Vcore to 1.36250 in Bios.
Which of these are correct. The bios or CPU-z?
I think I may need to up it still a little.
Would 1.4v fry my chip?

It's speedstep, Mine drops to something like that at idle as well

1.4v will not fry your chip but it's not really recommended for 24/7 usage.

If you are struggling with stability play with the NB voltage, CPU PLL voltage and FSB termination voltage. Not too much with the last two though.
 
Soldato
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What's the highest safe temp with these? I'm sitting in windows at 4.13GHz (thanks pasty :)) but under prime i'm hitting 78*C on the hottest core :-/
 
Soldato
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Push push push! I've just been out for a while and left it running prime for 4.5hrs @ 4.08GHz :eek: cores 76, 71, 75, 74 - 1.304v in CPUz :) want to play some BFBC2 now so going to stop it, will post bios settings shortly.

My chip's VID is 1.2500v so not particularly low so u have a long way you can push it yet ;)

Q9550408GHz5hrs.jpg



CPU Ratio: 8.5x
FSB: 480
PCIe Freq: 101
FSB Strap: 333MHz
DDR2: 961MHz
7 7 7 18

DRAM Static Read: Disabled
DRAM Read Training: Disabled
MEM OC Charger: Disabled
Ai Clock Twister: Auto
Ai Transaction Booster: Auto

CPU Voltage: 1.30625v
CPU GTL Voltage (0/2): 0.390v
CPU GTL Voltage (1/3): 0.430v
CPU PLL Voltage: 1.66v
FSB termination voltage: 1.36v
DRAM Voltage: 2.12v
NB Voltage: 1.36v
NB GTL Ref: 0.390v
SB Voltage: 1.10v
PCIE SATA Voltage: 1.50v

Load Line Calibration: Auto
CPU Spread Spectrum: Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum: Disabled
CPU Clock Skew: Disabled
NB Clock Skew: Disabled
CPU Margin Enhancement: Performance Mode
 
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Dead pleased with the way the new PC is performing, as regards to overclocking I have just had a bit of a mess about with overclocking tools that come with the mobo, such as EPU and Turbo V not impressed by these tools at all, and thinking of uninstalling them for what use they are.

One thing that does concern me regarding overclocking is if I get it to (3.6Ghz) 3600Ghz will it be safe to leave it at these settings for every day use, or do I need to adjust them back every now and then.

I just been going over Pastymuncher's settings for 3600Ghz and some of the advice Creed left me, and I am still a little bit confused as what to set everything to in the Ai tweaker. I particularly like Creeds previous post with all the Ai Tweaker settings there he as displayed which makes it far more easier to go by, though obviously I do not want to be using them settings to achieve the 3.6Ghz.

I particularly like these settings I found posted on another forum, which is from 2008 with the chap using the Asus P5Q Pro Turbo with a Q9550. He had the settings for 3600Ghz as follows:

Settings for Q9550 for 3.6ghz - should be possible for every Q9550

Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
CPU Ratio Setting : 8.5
FSB Frequency : 424
PCIE Frequency: 105
FSB Strap to North Bridge : Auto (p5q pro has some problems with straps)
DRAM Frequency: Auto, this will be set to 848Mhz (or change to the mhz of your memory)
DRAM Timing Control: Auto (adjust to your timings of your memory)

DRAM Static Read Control: Auto
Dram Read Training : Auto
MEM OC Charger : Auto
Ai Clock Twister : Auto
Ai Transaction Booster : Auto

CPU Voltage : Set what you need, this will range from 1.20-1.4v
CPU GTL Reference: Auto
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.30
DRAM Voltage : 2.1
NB Voltage : 1.2-1.5v (quads are a lot harder than dual cores to clock, the NB voltage helps with the higher FSB on quad)
PCIE Sata Voltage: Auto

Load Line Calabration : Enabled
CPU Sread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled
CPU Clock Skew: Auto
MB Clock Skew: Auto


These are a couple of years old and I would likie to hear what Patsymuncher thinks of these in relation to his own settings for 3600Ghz.

However even looking at these settings there are still a couple of things I am confused with in relation to these settings, which I need to be clear with in my head before I even attempt such a thing. They are as follows:

1. DRAM Frequency: Auto, this will be set to 848Mhz (or change to the mhz of your memory)

If this is set to Auto how does he know it will be set to 848Mhz. Also when he states change to the Mhz of your memory, mine are 1066Mhz do I set the Dram frequency to this rather than leave it on Auto.

2. DRAM Timing Control: Auto (adjust to your timings of your memory)

Once again he as this set to Auto and in another sentence stating to adjust to the timings of your memory. Now is this the Latency Timing which according to the Kingston Memory I got is 5-5-5-15 at 2.2V.

Sorry for all the questions chaps I just need to sure what the hell I am doing here before messing around with the Ai Tweaker. I do not want to go in there blind so to speak.
 
Soldato
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hi Intruder, i'm having fun playing with it myself tho i cant work out why its stable for 5hrs of Prime at 4.1GHz but fails in 5mins of Bad Company 2 :)

In answer to question 1) set the NB Strap to 333MHz or 400Mz. you can leave this on Auto but better to know which one it is on so you can test which is more stable (i read 333 was best). This will then give u 3 values for the DRAM Frequency, you should choose the one which is closest to your RAM 1066 for example to achieve 3.6GHz (i.e. 3600MHz) you need an FSB of 423:

3600 / 8.5 = 424

Setting the FSB to 424 and NB Strap to 333 gives you a choice of the following DRAM Frequencies:

DDR2-849MHz
DDR2-1019MHz
DDR2-1357MHz

So in your case as your RAM is rated to run at 1066 choose the second one 1019MHz as it is closest to 1066MHz and doesnt push the RAM passed 100% of its rated speed.

Now question 2) on DRAM timing control set this to manual and choose some values slightly slower (i.e. bigger numbers) than you RAM's rated timings. You said your RAM runs at 5-5-5-15, so set it to for example 6-6-6-18. This will mean you can assume the RAM will not be what is causing instability in your CPU overclock testing as it is running slower (i.e. not 100%) of what it is capable.

Once you have a stable CPU you can then make the DRAM timings lower and try other NB Strap/FSB Frequencies to be able to choose different RAM Frequencies (speeds).

Hope that helps.
 
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It's better to set the 'Strap' to auto and change the 'DRAM Frequency' according to what you need as you get much more options which automatically set the correct strap
 
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wow Pastymuncher you are absolutely right about the NB voltage.
so far still stable at 3.7Ghz.

Had got hold of an SSD so had a little "fun" when changing to AHCI.
Mobo got a bit upset and needed to tweak a little more.

Damn I can't stop adjusting things. Its almost an obsession now
 
Soldato
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OK, dropped all my voltages a lot - GTLs all back to 0.1v above Auto, PLL at 1.56v and upped the Vcore to 1.3125v (1.248v in CPUz) and now testing at 3.8GHz. Temps seem better too (highest core is 67*C, lowest is 62*C - big difference?). Is there a program that shows MB (i.e. NB and SB temps?)?

Odd that the previous overclock would run Prime and Furmark for an hr no problems but crashed as soon as entering BC2. Thoughts?
 
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