Going to be overclocking my Q9550 - Is this a good chip?

toon_mad

toon_mad

toon_mad

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Hi, so finally getting my rig setup today, took a month of waiting for parts, sending back parts, finding spare time etc - anyway here is my spec:

Q9550 (TRUE120 push/pull + i threw in some more fans in 2 spare drive bays)
700w ocz gamexstream
gigabyte ga-ep45t extreme (just flashed to F4 bios)
g.skill ripjaw ddr3 1600mhz

CPU-Z shows this info - before i get into overclocking it i need to know if its good enough, max volts i should use, max temp etc (i think 72c?):

52128849.png


I have decent overclocking skills, getting a q6600 to 3ghz on a p5n-e sli/same cpu to 3.8ghz on a abit ip35 pro xe - now im hoping to hit around 4ghz-4.2ghz, the bios is pretty complex for this motherboard :D

Cheers
 
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You've got the right board for it. All I can take from that screenshot is revision E0, which is good news. Vid of 1.1V is good, but not exceptional, and the relation between vid and overclock is not causal.

Greebo is using that board with a particularly good q9650 at 4.6ghz, which suggests it's able to break the 500fsb limit with considerable effort. Were you to manage 500fsb at 8.5 you'd be at 4.2ghz, so it's possible but difficult.

Core voltage below 1.4V is the general consensus for 45nm quads. Intel will sell them with a vid up to 1.3625V. 72 degrees is the rated maximum, I don't know how far over this you can run sensibly run it.

Good luck. These quads mark the limit of what the fsb based architecture is capable of, near/over 4ghz you'll be playing with gtl refs, clock skews and everything else the board offers. Good fun.
 
jons info there is spot on. Looks like you're set to me, chip seems as though it might be a good'n - let us know how things progress and any problems. There are countless people on here with clocked q9550s, so help won't be far.

Well what are you waiting around here for, get clocking!
 
Check the vid with coretemp, mine was a 1.200 which going by the thread on xs is a middle of the road vid.
 
yes that was stock settings when i took the pic, nothing changed.

well now i know some good info (thanks JonJ678), will do a search in the forums see what i can find.

cheers all, will let you know if i hit any snags...
 
Your right mate as incidentally i had to find the nearest vid for my i7 in this way, stock settings with speedstep/c1e disabled, listed it as 1.208, though im running it at 3.0ghz undervolted to 1.18. In the op's case 1.104 is extremely good.
 
I just got a Q9550, but I've never OC'd a 775 system at all before. Specs in sig, but I'll be watching this thread to see what you come up with. My chips a C1 sadly, but I only expect 3.6 or so anyway (to match me Q6600 which I bought with a mobo pre-clocked).
 
I recently got the same chip and board as you. Albeit, the non DDR3 version of the EP45 Extreme.
I have pushed the q9550 up to 4ghz quite happily, haven't really played with any voltages save for the RAM which is specced to use more than the default.
I use a 471 FSB and 8.5 Multi, then used a memory divider to bring it down within specification as it is only PC8500 :)
Cracking chip, make sure you have adequate cooling though. Mine didn't like 4ghz with my old Arctic freezer 7 pro, temps went into the high 70s and low 80s. Now I have a Corsair H50 they peak in the low 60s! :D
Very happy indeed.
 
well i havnt had too much time to try the overclocking yet, my ddr3 ram is supposed to operate at 1600mhz but in the bios only seems to be 1333mhz. The MIT section is pretty complex, im going to be taking my time with this one...
 
i dont get it, i overclocked it to 3.2ghz but its slower then stock, i get lag in GTA every now and again, if i run it at stock im getting top performance!
 
No idea why gta4 is lagging, but it's not a result of cpu frequency increase. Either it's unrelated to the overclock, or while increasing cpu speed you've lowered other settings which have caused the performance hit. Northbridge timings/ram speed are the most obvious two.

Stick with it, you *know* 3.2 is faster than 2.83, it'll work out well.

edit: it is stable at 3.2, right?
 
the 3.2 was not stable, i think i found the problem.

my ddr3 ram is supposed to run at 1600mhz, but if i go over 1333mhz it locks up, im currently trying to lower the ram fsb and so far so good, i raised the vcore/nb/sb slightly and will do some testing at 3.2ghz, then bump it up if its ok.

once i get to the magic 4ghz or round abouts, will run prime95 for 20hours or so.

will let you all know how it goes...
 
Ok, been trying some moderate overclocking, before i upgraded my system i did a everest benchmark, i have done the same with the new rig to show how better the performance is with the overclock.

This can also help determine how far i push the cpu, and whether or not squeezing out an extra 100mhz or so matters. Heres my benchmark shots (first one is my old setup/overclock):

Old Setup
http://URL257.imageshack.us/URL257/4618/cachememj.png

Stock: http://URL21.imageshack.us/URL21/843/cachemem2p.png 3GHZ: http://URL514.imageshack.us/URL514/1332/cachemem3.png

3.2GHZ: http://URL2.imageshack.us/URL2/1066/cachemem4.png 3.3GHZ: http://URL243.imageshack.us/URL243/3201/cachemem5.png

3.6GHZ: http://URL243.imageshack.us/URL243/2914/cachemem6.png 3.7GHZ: http://URL441.imageshack.us/URL441/7949/cachemem7.png

3.8GHZ: http://URL96.imageshack.us/URL96/8084/cachemem8.png 3.9GHZ: http://URL33.imageshack.us/URL33/427/cachemem9.png

4GHZ!
http://URL36.imageshack.us/URL36/4772/cachemem10.png

Will add more as i progress...

update: i just updated the windows experience score, and both the processor and ram scored an extra 1 - not much to shout about, but every little helps :D

another update, i havnt tested for stability yet but the fsb seems like it could go on and on, currently at 4ghz :)
 
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watched Saw 5 for a hour and half no problem followed by GTA iV for half hour, no lock ups but my 5850's driver stops every now and again which im sure is the card or something.
 
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