Need a little bit of help, Qx9650 overclock on a x48 Rampage Formula Asus mobo

opethdisciple

opethdisciple

opethdisciple

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Hi Guys.

My Pc specs are below:

CPU: Qx9650 at stock 3ghz

Mobo: Asus x48 Rampage formula

Ram: 4gb DDR2 800mhz

GPU: (Incoming) ATI 5870


Iv been told my CPU wont bottle neck my new 5870 too much, but I wouldnt mind doing a very simple and easy overclock on my cpu to get it up to 3.6

I have seen a few people do have the same cpus and motherboard as me, and was wondering whats the easiest gentlest way on the system to achive 3.6ghz?

Thanks
 
Set FSB to 400
Multiplier to 9
RAM should be at 1:1 800Mhz

Should achieve this easily and possibly higher on stock volts.

Edit/ And no, it won't bottleneck your GPU.
 
Thank you Mike.

when you say higher on stock volts, is itpossibleto make the multiplier 10, fsb 400, for 4GHz, at stock volts?

I do have a very nice zalman cooler, so its ready to be overclocked, its just that Im a it unaware of settings etc... having never really wanted to breake anything with expensive hardware.

Regardless is 3.6ghz enough to get the most out of my 5870?
 
opethdisciple said:
Thank you Mike.

when you say higher on stock volts, is itpossibleto make the multiplier 10, fsb 400, for 4GHz, at stock volts?

I do have a very nice zalman cooler, so its ready to be overclocked, its just that Im a it unaware of settings etc... having never really wanted to breake anything with expensive hardware.

Regardless is 3.6ghz enough to get the most out of my 5870?
Click to expand...

400x10 at stock is not unheard of but will depend on a host of variables unique to each set-up. Try it and see, if not whack it up to 1.3625v which is Intel's max recommended voltage for that cpu and see if you can boot to desktop. Keep an eye on temps but you should be fine.

As to whether 3.6 is enough to max out your gpu, I doubt it. You may see some small fps gains going from 3.6 to 4ghz. Try benching and see, and remember to keep an eye on temps.
 
Ok, not to push the boat out too far on my first trip, do you think 3.6ghz is enough for now?

I found this on the web: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-penryn-4ghz-air-cooling,1712-6.html

Im wondering if you advised me to up the fsb to 1600 because you are knowledgable that the x48 boards can do fsb1600, or that was just a coincedence in trying to achive 3.6Ghz?

If you compare your method with the website linked, they did it in a different way (achiving 3.6ghz) including upping the voltage slightly.

Do you still stand by your method?

Set FSB to 400
Multiplier to 9
RAM should be at 1:1 800Mhz


Your method does look nice and simple, but its slightly different to the article.
 
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Well the beauty of your unlocked multiplier is that you can overclock to 3.6 or 4.0 on 400fsb by simply changing the multiplier from 9 to 10 (or back again) while keeping your RAM on a 1:1 divider: 400fsb x 2 (double pumped) = 800Mhz.

I never owned an x48 board so don't know the BIOS layout but they'll be plenty of info out there.
 
Ok, I set those settings in my bios, and its currently running at 3.61 Ghz.

When the pc boots I can see 3.6 ghz as the speed, when it boots in to windows 7 however, I go to the system properties, and it still reports 3hgz.

Nothing to worry about? I did confirm it was still 3.6ghz.
 
Its probably just the chip dropping the multiplier to keep temps / power usage down. They all do it i think.

Way to check is to open up cpuz and see what that reports. If its reporting 3GHz, start something to stress the cpu (eg prime) and then check whether it goes up or not.
 
Well, Iv just had a good 1.30hrs BFBC2 gaming session at 3.6, and I can tell the difference already, far smoother experience than before.

Also windows is really snappy.

Havent run cpuz yet, but I can tell its running faster than before!

Considering Iv just used the pc for a good 1.30hr gaming session can I consider the overclock stable?

Just out of interest would pushing it from 3.6 to 4 achive much more interms of fps?
 
opethdisciple said:
Well, Iv just had a good 1.30hrs BFBC2 gaming session at 3.6, and I can tell the difference already, far smoother experience than before.

Also windows is really snappy.

Havent run cpuz yet, but I can tell its running faster than before!

Considering Iv just used the pc for a good 1.30hr gaming session can I consider the overclock stable?

Just out of interest would pushing it from 3.6 to 4 achive much more interms of fps?
Click to expand...

If your pc plays games fine with the overclock then id consider it stable (atleast stable enough). Its always a good idea to use prime or the intel burn test to make sure its fully stable under 100% load just in case. Its a pain if your half way through a game and it crashes / pc crashes.

Regarding fps, hard to say i guess. If your playing BFBC2 then it should make a bit of difference, as that uses all 4 cores of your cpu.
 
Ok.

Sorry for all the noob questions. I'v never attempted to overclock my hardware, for fear of screwing things up!

Anyway. Im thinking I may attempt to get the cpu to run at 4GHz, it shouldnt actually be to hard to do.

Two things, the intel burn test and prime are they free software?

The other thing is say I make some changes in my bios and low and behold, the pc doesnt boot. Do I just reset the cmos, by taking the battery out, doing the little jumper thing, and its back to default clocks again?

Right on to the nitty gritty stuff. I found this article here: http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/intel_core_2_extreme_qx9650_overclocking,2.html

They set the FSB to 400MHz with a 10x clock multiplier. But they uppedthe voltage to 1.450v. They reckon the temperatures dont raise above 66c....

Does this look safe to try?

mike gunnz mentioned that intel stipulate max volts for the cpu as: 1.3625

Also doing it this way, can I still keep my ram running at 800mhz?

Iv just seen another article which looks safer (http://www.nextlevelhardware.com/cpu/qx9650/index.html), where on stock volts they get the cpu up to 3.8ghz, using 425 fsb and 9x multiplier. If I was to do this, can I still keep my ram running at 800mhz?
 
One thing I didnt do is set the ram to fsb timings in my bios.

I just set the ram to run at 800mhz which is its stock speed.

do I need to set timings, or can I just try on stock volts:

fsb 425
9x miltiplier
ram at 800mhz
 
One question.

Is there a differnece in performance, say for example you achive the same clock speed but in one method you alter the fsb and in the other method you alter the muliplier.

Becuase I can see two ways to achive 4Ghz.

One:

400 fsb
10x mulitplier

Two

fsb: 445

multi: 9

Any of these two the better method?

Is there a performance method between the two?

Also is running the cpu at its max official volts of 1.3625 bad for the cpu in the long term?
 
opethdisciple said:
One question.

Is there a differnece in performance, say for example you achive the same clock speed but in one method you alter the fsb and in the other method you alter the muliplier.

Becuase I can see two ways to achive 4Ghz.

One:

400 fsb
10x mulitplier

Two

fsb: 445

multi: 9

Any of these two the better method?

Is there a performance method between the two?

Also is running the cpu at its max official volts of 1.3625 bad for the cpu in the long term?
Click to expand...

Setting the FSB to 445 will cause the RAM to run at 890Mhz (445 x 2), therefore faster than 800Mhz (400 x 2). Whether you can o/c your RAM that far will depend on the kit, chances are it will. If you get instability you may have to run your RAM at a lower speed using one of the dividers in the BIOS.

The higher the FSB you set the more you will need to fine tune the other BIOS settings. Stick at 400 for now till you build your knowledge base. The unlocked multiplier makes it much easier for you.

With adequate cooling your chip will be fine. Some people are very sensitive about the volts they put through their chips, others are more gung ho. You need to read around and find your own happy medium.
 
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opethdisciple said:
One thing I didnt do is set the ram to fsb timings in my bios.

I just set the ram to run at 800mhz which is its stock speed.

do I need to set timings, or can I just try on stock volts:

fsb 425
9x miltiplier
ram at 800mhz
Click to expand...

It won't do any harm to manually input the timings. Gives you a chance to familiarise yourself with the BIOS. Can also manually input the RAM volts too while you're at it.

Intel Burn Test and Prime95 are both free and easily downloaded.
 
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Ok, well Im going to try to get to 4Ghz...

do you think I might* have some success using:

FSB 400

Multi 10

Ram 1:1

Setting the core voltage to 1.3625?

I think the core voltage is currently 1.2.

What happens if the pc doesnt boot after making these changes? I had a look yesterday and my x48 mobo has no battery!

I think I noticed a reset button tho.

Also with regards to temps, a qx9650 is desing to run with overlocks right? I did buy a nice expensive zalman cooler so it should be able to cope!

Also say I do manage to get the pc to boot in to windows at 4ghz, but I run the intel burn test and it fails, is it saf to up the voltage beyound 1.3625?

Or should I just be satisfied with a slightly slower over clock?
 
opethdisciple said:
Ok, well Im going to try to get to 4Ghz...

do you think I might* have some success using:

FSB 400

Multi 10

Ram 1:1

Setting the core voltage to 1.3625?

I think the core voltage is currently 1.2.

What happens if the pc doesnt boot after making these changes? I had a look yesterday and my x48 mobo has no battery!

I think I noticed a reset button tho.

Also with regards to temps, a qx9650 is desing to run with overlocks right? I did buy a nice expensive zalman cooler so it should be able to cope!

Also say I do manage to get the pc to boot in to windows at 4ghz, but I run the intel burn test and it fails, is it saf to up the voltage beyound 1.3625?

Or should I just be satisfied with a slightly slower over clock?
Click to expand...

Theres a lot of different factors involved in determining whether using a multiplier of 10 will get a stable overclock. Its all trial and error. Personally I'd use a higher FSB with a lower multiplier. You'd experience a more noticeable increase in performance obtaining 4ghz using 9*450 than you would with 10*400. I

You can increase the volts past 1.3625 but make sure your cooling is adaquate, increase the volts slightly until its stable and measure your temps. Don't go over 1.4v as the maximum unless you're watercooling as the 45nm can suffer from CPU degradation over time. I'd recommend staying below 1.38v to be safe.

f you had a really decent watercooling kit you could try 10*450, as I've seen these extreme cpus push that far, but you'll need some serious cooling and large increases in volts.

Of course in order to hit those speeds you'll need at least PC2-8500 RAM...
 
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Would you say its impossible for the cpu to run 400fsb multi at 10x with stock volts (1.2)?

Do you think its at least theoritically possible to do it on 1.3625, and is this safe to run 24/7 on air?
 
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