Need help

eager · 17 Apr 2009 at 16:40

/Hi guys I'm wondering if you can help me with some overclocking...

I really cant get my head around all the numbers that you need to understand to OC so Im hoping you guys can tell me what you recommend? I built my PC with the intention to leave it at stock speed untill I need to get more out of it for newer game (thats all i use it for games) please have a look at the pics and tell me what you would do...

I notice the above pic says its running at 2000mhz but im sure its supposed to be 3000mhz?

I had to replace the old video card as it decided to DIE thanks to OCUK for the free upgrade. The new one is overclocked by the manurfacturer GTX 280 Already had to swap out memory aswell as they died too but have a new brand and seems stable.

If someone could tell me what setting I need to do on my BIOS it would be a great help. Im not being lazy by asking you I really dont get the whole number crunching that needs to be done. I understand the process tho like I know RAM should be tweked after you tweek everything else.

sulli · 17 Apr 2009 at 17:01

Its running lower than its rated speed because speed step is probably on, its a cpu feature wich lowers the cpu multi at idle to reduce the chips power draw.
Have a good read trough the ocuk beginers guide ( here http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17612922 ) and post again with any questions. Hope this helps a little.

eager · 17 Apr 2009 at 17:08

sulli said:
Its running lower than its rated speed because speed step is probably on, its a cpu feature wich lowers the cpu multi at idle to reduce the chips power draw.
Have a good read trough the ocuk beginers guide ( here http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17612922 ) and post again with any questions. Hope this helps a little.

Thanks Sulli I never knew what that stepper did lol. Will have a read at the link you gave thank you. oh one other thing what do you think is possible on my system in terms of OCing

JonJ678 · 17 Apr 2009 at 17:15

RAM should be fine. I don't think the 790i is very respected for overclocking quads, but that may be the earlier nvidia boards. Processor should do well, it's based on an earlier stepping than the q9650 but the unlocked multiplier can make life easier than normal.

Basically the hardware is fine. I don't think you've told us what cooling you're using. On the stock cooler it's not going to go far, but on decent air you'll go far.
It's going to take a fair bit of research and patience on your part to get there, but you'll enjoy it

fatcat91 · 17 Apr 2009 at 17:19

Hi
sorry for hijacking the thread a little but i think i'm in the same position as you and don't want to start another thread running at the same time with the same questions. hopefully thats okay.

I followed the guide in the link and got my q9550 to 3.5ghz (420fsb x 8.5) with a little increase in vcore to 1.224 . All the rest of the things are set to auto. Before i try to go any higher i read that i might need to alter things like vtt , cpu pll and NB voltage, because they are all set to auto i don't know what to start them off at when i begin to set them manually. Is there a program that will show what they are at with my current setup? or is there a basic starting point i should set them at to begin?
I'm worried about leaving things on auto as i have read that it can sometime over volt things.
I am using an Asus p5q-e . Temps seem okay at moment with idle at about 22C and load of 45C.
Any guidance would be appreciated . Thanks

eager · 17 Apr 2009 at 17:21

JonJ678 said:
RAM should be fine. I don't think the 790i is very respected for overclocking quads, but that may be the earlier nvidia boards. Processor should do well, it's based on an earlier stepping than the q9650 but the unlocked multiplier can make life easier than normal.

Basically the hardware is fine. I don't think you've told us what cooling you're using. On the stock cooler it's not going to go far, but on decent air you'll go far.
It's going to take a fair bit of research and patience on your part to get there, but you'll enjoy it

Thanks Jon, The Cooling was purchased from PC world as I couldnt wait to get the thing alive lol so its just some large aircool heatsink i mean its huge and a single decent size fan it cost me about £20

sulli · 17 Apr 2009 at 17:41

Fatcat, leaving the voltage set at auto means the board will automaticly increase the voltage as you increase the bus speed, Asus boards do tend to give things more than required.
I would probably start the oc again with everthing set at maual and go from there. tweak things one at a time, if adding more vcore does not help stability then try a little vtt etc. As for the stock setting for that chip i honestly dont know, Try google.

@ the OP. Think the 790i boards do pretty well. Dont use NV boards myself but others on this forum do so im sure you will get some input from them.
With a good chip and decent cooling you could get to 4ghz possible a bit higher, all depends on what your cpu is capable of. Full spec of your system might be usefull.

eager · 17 Apr 2009 at 18:07

Code:

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System Manufacturer	XFX79U	
System Model	XFX nForce 790i Ultra 3-Way SLI	
System Type	x64-based PC	
Processor	Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU X9650  @ 3.00GHz, 3000 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)	
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not sure if thats what you mean?

fatcat91 · 17 Apr 2009 at 18:42

thanks sulli

Can i just check that i've picked up something from guide correctly.
When trying to determine max fsb by lowering multiplier and then going through the steps, it mentions on step 5 that you can increase the chipset voltage . chipset voltage is refering to the vtt , NB and cpu pll ?

sulli · 18 Apr 2009 at 09:08

Fatcat the chipset voltage means the NB (northbridge).

fatcat91 · 18 Apr 2009 at 15:38

Thanks again sulli

JonJ678 · 18 Apr 2009 at 17:35

With a P5Q board and q9550, life becomes difficult for me after 3.5ghz. You're not running 8gb of ram are you?

The massive heatsink might be good news, might be bad. Keep an eye on temperatures as you go. It's worth deciding on some voltage limits you'd like to stay within, I think 1.4V fsb term and NB, 1.3625V for the vcore are standard. Heavily overvolting ram can end pretty swiftly.