Q9550 ES Testing (lots of pics)

weescott · 27 Oct 2007 at 18:19

I'm just getting familiar with the Asus Maxiumus Formula bios. The newer 505bios didn't like this chip at all. Had to go back to the 401 bios to get it to boot.

Seems that the NB needed a boost to get above 450fsb. Still plenty in this chip yet.

weescott · 27 Oct 2007 at 19:18

It probably just needs a few more volts to get it stable. It did 3.2Ghz with just a few tweaks in the bios. 3.6 was a bit more work. 3.8 should be doable on good air, over 4 should be easy on water. The motherboard will be the limit. It's all just an educated guess until I test it some more.

weescott · 27 Oct 2007 at 20:53

I had to drop the FSB down to 448. Stability goes out the window above 450Mhz. Seems to be the board. I need to test with another chip to make sure.

weescott · 27 Oct 2007 at 21:04

Devious said:
Try a lower multi it might show a FSB wall in the CPU.

Tried that, same thing. Possibly an FSB wall. Possibly the board.

weescott · 27 Oct 2007 at 21:13

A new X38 board should hopefully be with me Tuesday. Untill then I have a few more things to try.

weescott · 27 Oct 2007 at 21:27

Could have been bios on the Bonetrail, it is an ES board. Could be a few things. I think its another Bonetrail coming.

weescott · 27 Oct 2007 at 23:05

As per request:

weescott · 27 Oct 2007 at 23:54

Not coretemp, speedfan or TAT work with this CPU, Asus AI tool goes pear shaped. I don't even know if I can trust the bios. I have an idea of what temperature it is running at but I don't want to say until I can confirm my own testing. But I will say it runs a lot cooler than the current chips!

weescott · 28 Oct 2007 at 00:43

I finally got some believable readouts:

Asus Maximus Formula has a fair bit of Vdrop and Vdroop.

1.34375v bios, 1.32v windows, 1.3v for 3584Ghz Orthos (quick test) 67c load. Room temperature of 20c. Using stock cooling!!!!!!!

weescott · 28 Oct 2007 at 01:16

VDrop is the CPU voltage being lower than what you set it at. Vdroop is the voltage dropping even further when under load.

weescott · 28 Oct 2007 at 13:56

MonsterMunch was kind enough to run this bench at the same clock and ram settings with a Q6600. Done on an Asus P5K Premium:

weescott · 28 Oct 2007 at 17:57

Dist said:
Due to the prices of DDR3 being so high im planning on using DDR2 when i buy a whole new rig early next year. Will this effect the overclocking of these new 45nm chips at all? bearing in mind im only going to do a overclock on air, so i wont be able to go all out anyway. But will DDR2 hole the overclockign potential of these chips back? or will DDR2 be fine due to motherboard being a potential limiting factor?

Given that I am using an early bios revision on the Asus Maximus (DDR2), and that the ram is at 900mhz for 3.6Ghz on stock cooling. Come release date I don't think you will have anything to worry about.

I still have a few tests and comparisons of platforms to do. Watch this space.

weescott · 29 Oct 2007 at 01:49

A few people have already said to me that they are thinking of or plan to sell thier Q6600 for a Q9*50 cpu. But, I'll let the different benchmarks speak for themselves. People can apply the results for thier own needs and purchasing decision, be it for video encoding, gaming, power efficiency, etc...

One great thing about this chip is that for the Q6600 to perform on par (at least in some respects), it needs a hefty overclock and expensive after market cooling. Just wait until I really start overclocking.

The Q9450 should give some better frame rates over the Q6600. My 3dmark 06 score suggests this, a Crysis Demo test with an 8800GTX is on my to do list to see just how much, along side a fresh Vista 64 install and a PCmark Vantage test. After market air cooling, watercooling, and Phase cooling are still planned. If anyone would like to see a benchmark that I haven't performed, just post here and I'll do my best.

weescott · 29 Oct 2007 at 15:27

graysky requested me to run his new X264 benchmark. Thread on XS here. It shows that the Q9450 (2.66Ghz) is equivelent to a Q6600 @ 3Ghz for encoding DVD using next generation codecs.

weescott · 30 Oct 2007 at 13:11

That's what the X264 benchmak is.

weescott · 30 Oct 2007 at 21:08

From what I can gather its the motherboard (early bios). It doesnt like ram at anything near stock speeds. I'm waiting on a new motherboard to try it on.

I just clocked a couple of dual cores to keep me ticking over, now thats done send me your quad to put under phase and keep us all amused.

weescott · 30 Oct 2007 at 21:27

lol, I should be testing on P35 this weekend actually.

weescott · 31 Oct 2007 at 00:51

LOL

1.064v at stock speeds and running Orthos. The lowest setting in bios. But look at what Sandra says. 0.825v? :eek:

38.5c is the load temperature. Only moving a few degrees from idle.

This is using a PA120.1, Fuzion (inbuilt) chipset block, DDC18w with OCLabs top, D-Tek Fuzion CPU block, Yate Loon fan.

Quad core with passive watercooling perhaps? :eek:

weescott · 31 Oct 2007 at 16:09

The Asgard said:
Impressive. Looks like my kind of chip.

So do you think its worth waiting for one of the cheaper variants or going for a G0?

Just sold my B3 X3210 and debating what to do next.

Running a P5K Delux and a E6600 @ 3.6 at the moment

Maybe this will help your decision:

Q9450 @ stock with 1.064v, Running Orthos, with a PA120.1 and chipset block.....PASSIVE!!!!!!!

:eek:

Going to leave it running for a while to make sure.

weescott · 31 Oct 2007 at 16:39

Edit. Failed Orthos after 50mins. Upped the volts to a whopping 1.07v. Trying again.

Temps are now 52.5c to 53.5c load...25mins Orthos. I'll post again with progress.

Edit2: Temps crept up to 56c load after just over 1hr of Orthos.