Overclocking QX9770 for first time

timboo · 14 Oct 2019 at 15:32

Hi

Thank you for letting me join this forum. I have been trawling various threads and your very insightful help guides to overclocking, but I'm still very unsure how to tie my ram into given settings.

Existing kit

Q9770

4X 2Gb XMS2 8500 1066 5,5,5,18, 2.1V

Noctua Nh-d14

Asus P5Q premium motherboard

Existing settings

Existing settings

CPU ratio setting 9
FSB strap ~Auto
Dram frequency ~Auto
DRAM CLK skew A1 ~Auto
DRAM CLK skew A2 ~Auto
DRAM CLK skew B1 ~Auto
DRAM CLK skew B2 ~Auto

CAS latency 5
CAS delay 5
precharge 5
activate to precharge 18

Dram voltage 2.1V

I'm currently running at 3.6Ghz stable
My ram is showing as DDr 800 at startup, how do I get my RAM to run at its 1066 rated setting based on the settings above?

Thanks in advance

Tim

Many thanks in advance

timboo · 17 Oct 2019 at 13:34

Hi I appreciate this is my first post is there some form of etiquette I should follow prior to asking for help. I have I offended?

Thanks

Len Dananey · 17 Oct 2019 at 13:40

timboo said:
Hi I appreciate this is my first post is there some form of etiquette I should follow prior to asking for help. I have I offended?

Thanks

Someone will be around to help mate, it is a really old chipset though, have you ever thought of building a new rig instead?

timboo · 17 Oct 2019 at 15:09

Len Dananey said:
Someone will be around to help mate, it is a really old chipset though, have you ever thought of building a new rig instead?

Hi I was waiting for that

T.B.H my system has been that bullet proof when I got offered a qx9770 chip for very little money was a no brainier made sense just to tie me over for a couple more years. Least I know I have made the most out of my kit.

I have managed to work with some settings which are doing ok over the past 24hrs touch wood

CPU ratio setting 9
FSB ~ 450
FSB strap ~Auto
Dram frequency ~900 (1066 ram not running at its potential will this make a huge difference?)
DRAM CLK skew A1 ~Auto
DRAM CLK skew A2 ~Auto
DRAM CLK skew B1 ~Auto
DRAM CLK skew B2 ~Auto
CPU voltage 1.33750
CAS latency 5
CAS delay 5
precharge 5
activate to precharge 18

Dram voltage 2.1V

Temps in core temp under full stress using Prime 95 hit 72 degrees max for a couple of cores whilst idle in core temp approx 41-48 degress

Seems stable setup so far. Does 1.38V seem high for this overclock?

moogle · 17 Oct 2019 at 15:46

Len Dananey said:
Someone will be around to help mate, it is a really old chipset though, have you ever thought of building a new rig instead?

The age of the system is why there's a lack of help I'd say. People have probably forgotten about how to overclock those systems so you end up having to find out all the information yourself on the internet.
I remember changing the FSB and maybe the CPU:MEM ratio etc etc but all the little nuanced stuff has been forgotten so OP will have his work cut out or be waiting a long time for help

timboo · 17 Oct 2019 at 20:18

moogle said:
The age of the system is why there's a lack of help I'd say. People have probably forgotten about how to overclock those systems so you end up having to find out all the information yourself on the internet.
I remember changing the FSB and maybe the CPU:MEM ratio etc etc but all the little nuanced stuff has been forgotten so OP will have his work cut out or be waiting a long time for help

Fortunately the setup i have managed above will probably suffice, other than ram, which is being held back i feel. Whether playing with the ram will make much difference performance wise to me is another question.

moogle · 17 Oct 2019 at 20:29

timboo said:
Fortunately the setup i have managed above will probably suffice, other than ram, which is being held back i feel. Whether playing with the ram will make much difference performance wise to me is another question.

No doubt for your use case it does. Plenty of people on older hardware.

It's just that I noticed myself before I upgraded a few years back, that all the enthusiasts had moved on to newer systems with different methods and ways of overclocking that there weren't as many people to get help from on overclocking topics. All the knowledge was there stored in the forum in overclocking guides but not readily available off the top of people's minds.

Like you mentioned 1.38v for your CPU and I can't even remember the limit for the Q9xxx series processors. I rememeber I got one back in 2009-10 but the max voltage I ran it on was 1.28v I believe.

timboo · 18 Oct 2019 at 10:19

moogle said:
No doubt for your use case it does. Plenty of people on older hardware.

It's just that I noticed myself before I upgraded a few years back, that all the enthusiasts had moved on to newer systems with different methods and ways of overclocking that there weren't as many people to get help from on overclocking topics. All the knowledge was there stored in the forum in overclocking guides but not readily available off the top of people's minds.

Like you mentioned 1.38v for your CPU and I can't even remember the limit for the Q9xxx series processors. I rememeber I got one back in 2009-10 but the max voltage I ran it on was 1.28v I believe.

There seems to be a limited range of voltages out there, majority appear to stay just below 1.4V on an overclock just over 4Ghz, having spent more time researching I don't think I'm actually miles out now. I will one day opt for a more up to date setup. Has overclocking got easier with the newer kit?

El Jimben · 18 Oct 2019 at 15:51

As Moogle says, these CPUs are pretty old hat now. Try this thread though - https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...300-q9450-q9550-overclocking-thread.17858986/

Cyber-Mav · 18 Oct 2019 at 17:12

i still have a few of these systems knocking about, a q6600, q9550 and q9650. all 3 of them overclocked well on the cpu side but not on the ram side even with ddr3.

Rroff · 18 Oct 2019 at 17:19

moogle said:
People have probably forgotten about how to overclock those systems

Yeah

even 5 years ago I'd have had tons of information to hand but these days I can barely recall anything - though I still have a Q9550 system on the side - I got around a lot of the issues with FSB straps, etc. simply by running some crazy OCZ Blade ULV RAM that does silly speeds with ease. (Actually modified DDR3 RAM on a DDR2 Dimm).

timboo · 19 Oct 2019 at 09:26

El Jimben said:
As Moogle says, these CPUs are pretty old hat now. Try this thread though - https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...300-q9450-q9550-overclocking-thread.17858986/

Many thanks had a good read of it. There was one topic wihich got me thinking. ‘CPU temperature’
within the thread it relates to Q series opposed to QX.
My system sits idle approx 40’s to early 50’s.
Under prime 1 core peaked at 74 degrees under stress. I admit i didnt adjust the 100 limit.
Should I be concerned as I read below 80 isnt the end of the world.

timboo · 19 Oct 2019 at 09:29

Cyber-Mav said:
i still have a few of these systems knocking about, a q6600, q9550 and q9650. all 3 of them overclocked well on the cpu side but not on the ram side even with ddr3.

Yeah my ram aint overclocked at all actually running less ah well. I figure im running well within its limits and bot stressing it too much. I was tempted to try a higher cpu multiplier of 10 and reduce fsb but thought temperature would rocket and as my temps increased somewhat with my current setup on air cooling im being cautious.

timboo · 19 Oct 2019 at 09:30

Rroff said:
Yeah even 5 years ago I'd have had tons of information to hand but these days I can barely recall anything - though I still have a Q9550 system on the side - I got around a lot of the issues with FSB straps, etc. simply by running some crazy OCZ Blade ULV RAM that does silly speeds with ease. (Actually modified DDR3 RAM on a DDR2 Dimm).

My PC seems to hate that strap option left it as auto, defaults to 1:1. As soon as i change it the computer say ‘No’

Cyber-Mav · 19 Oct 2019 at 18:29

Run 400 fsb with 1:1 ram. Thats gonna work out best for stability.

timboo · 21 Oct 2019 at 20:39

Cyber-Mav said:
Run 400 fsb with 1:1 ram. Thats gonna work out best for stability.

Computer is very happy at 450 on 1:1 allowing my 1066 ram to be at 900 so relatively happy with 4.05 ghz. As long as the temperature figures in prime under full stress doesnt damage anything i will be a happy bunny. 2 cores crept up to 74 degrees. Guessing under normal use wont hit that anyway.

Cyber-Mav · 21 Oct 2019 at 22:34

Dont bother with prime for testing stability. Run linpak.

timboo · 22 Oct 2019 at 07:51

Cyber-Mav said:
Dont bother with prime for testing stability. Run linpak.

Many thanks for the advice will give it a whirl and pist an update.

timboo · 22 Oct 2019 at 08:48

Cyber-Mav said:
Dont bother with prime for testing stability. Run linpak.

Its all running good at mo. One Q i have in relation to temperature Linpak has its own HWMonitor are the temperatures it gives anymore accurate than core temp as HWMonitor shows a lot less in comparison 65 degrees in Linpak opposed to 79 in core temp. Are either accurate? (values are per core worst case given)

EsaT · 22 Oct 2019 at 11:42

timboo said:
Seems stable setup so far. Does 1.38V seem high for this overclock?

If you want to heat up your room that's good, if warmed up room isn't desirable then not.
I had Q9550 running at 3.7GHz +change while undervolted to 1.2V.
So there should be spot with lot less heat output but without much any real world difference in performance.

timboo said:
Its all running good at mo. One Q i have in relation to temperature Linpak has its own HWMonitor are the temperatures it gives anymore accurate than core temp as HWMonitor shows a lot less in comparison 65 degrees in Linpak opposed to 79 in core temp. Are either accurate? (values are per core worst case given)

It's core temperatures which matter.
And IIRC that temperature is already pushing it with max core temp being like 75C.
Which is quite likely for Tcase of 55C.
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...r-qx9770-12m-cache-3-20-ghz-1600-mhz-fsb.html