q9550 where to go from here

Derek W

Derek W

Derek W

Soldato
Joined
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I've recently rebuilt my pc with a couple of extra bits and pieces and just got my OC back to 3.4Ghz (although i suspect its not quite stable)

Started off with this, everything at stock and throttled in BIOS

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then took GEST off

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Under load at stock

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Pushed things up to 3.4ghz

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and under load

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Did push the fans on my case up to full and the temps dropped a couple of degrees but thats neither here nor there.

So far I've run Intel Burn Test for 5 passes (although about to do more while the footy is on) along with an hour of Prime95 with nothing showing up. I have had this set up before and had it crashing on me hence the reason why I'm going to test things for longer.

Only thing I've really altered is the FSB and ratio for RAM / CPU. Core voltages left on auto (vcore showing as 1.2375 in BIOS 1.2 in cpuz dropping to 1.152v under load).

Unsure on how to get a higher clock (assuming that I've got 3.4 stable of course. Any advice?
 
All looks good to me Derek! :)

The screenies themselves made me squint (make them easier to read please), the Ram timings look a little slacker than normal? . . . can the sticks do 6-6-6-X or 5-5-5-X @ 533MHz (DDR2-1066)?

3.4GHz is a nice starting point, I'd allow enough time for stability checks and general useage before moving on, I'm interested to see at least an 8 hour prime *blend* test on that along with at least 50 loops of IBT/LinX . . . once your convinced it's SuperSolid you got three obvious paths open to you, in no particular order . . .

  1. Take the vCore off [Auto] and manually reduce it until the PC crashes
  2. Switch the memory to sync [1:1] and start pushing the FSB & CPU slowly from 400MHz to 450MHz (8.5x450=3825MHz) adding vCore as needed.
  3. Test your ram for stable operation above 533MHz (DDR2-1066) by using an agressive Memory-Multiplier
 
As Big Wayne suggests, take the vcore of auto, on the q9550 i had (vid of 1.200), i was able to clock it to 3.4ghz on this voltage ended up at 3.825ghz on 1.216 vcore, i found that the main voltages to tweak were NB, VTT and PLL, manual v core will help drop temps a bit more as well.
 
Big.Wayne said:
All looks good to me Derek! :)

The screenies themselves made me squint (make them easier to read please), the Ram timings look a little slacker than normal? . . . can the sticks do 6-6-6-X or 5-5-5-X @ 533MHz (DDR2-1066)?

3.4GHz is a nice starting point, I'd allow enough time for stability checks and general useage before moving on, I'm interested to see at least an 8 hour prime *blend* test on that along with at least 50 loops of IBT/LinX . . . once your convinced it's SuperSolid you got three obvious paths open to you, in no particular order . . .

  1. Take the vCore off [Auto] and manually reduce it until the PC crashes
  2. Switch the memory to sync [1:1] and start pushing the FSB & CPU slowly from 400MHz to 450MHz (8.5x450=3825MHz) adding vCore as needed.
  3. Test your ram for stable operation above 533MHz (DDR2-1066) by using an agressive Memory-Multiplier
Click to expand...

Sorry forgot the 800 x 600 shrinks the screens quite a bit :o

I popped the IBT on for 20 passes and that went with no errors. I'll probably run more passes tomorrow evening after work just to make sure.

As for the ram sticks they are Corsair 2 x 2gb DDR3 DHX 1333C9DHX Twin3X -1066
This memory has been verified to operate at 1333MHz at the low latencies of 9-9-9-24.
Click to expand...
Unsure on changing memory timings. I've messed about with things when i first OC'd my pc without understanding what i was doing so not too sure if i can make the changes to 6 6 6 x or 5 5 5 x :confused:
 
Hi Derek,

if the memory timings thing makes you scratch your head then leave that for the moment and try one of the options listed above . . . Don't worry to much about anything just keep an eye on the CPU temps and take your time understanding what your doing . . .

What is it your doing actually? do you have a particularly target in mind or do you just want to learn as much as possible about overclocking/tweaking/benching your PC?

I missed the fact your using PC3-10600 (I blame the tiny screenies! :D) I guess you want to find a nice blend of CPU speed along with a decent FSB and Memory frequency . . . at the moment it seems you are UnderClocking the ram and running it at 533MHz instead of 666MHz ;)
 
Big.Wayne said:
Hi Derek,

if the memory timings thing makes you scratch your head then leave that for the moment and try one of the options listed above . . . Don't worry to much about anything just keep an eye on the CPU temps and take your time understanding what your doing . . .

What is it your doing actually? do you have a particularly target in mind or do you just want to learn as much as possible about overclocking/tweaking/benching your PC?

I missed the fact your using PC3-10600 (I blame the tiny screenies! :D) I guess you want to find a nice blend of CPU speed along with a decent FSB and Memory frequency . . . at the moment it seems you are UnderClocking the ram and running it at 533MHz instead of 666MHz ;)
Click to expand...

Dont really have a target for my OC, just wanting to learn a bit more about it in general.

Like i said about the ram information I've left that as it was from the start so if the ram is underclocked then thats purely coincidental as Ive not touched it. Will see how i get on tonight with a more passes at 3.4 in IBT and take things from there. :)
 
Well, just ran 50 passes of IBT and it passed (still on auto) but the core voltage was registering at 1.2v in cpuz so I'll switch to manual and take it from the next voltage down and run again to see where i can get to before altering the FSB again :)
 
Next stage completed. I've managed to reduce vcore down to 1.175 at 3.4ghz and ran IBT at 50 passes with no problems what so ever. Next step is to alter the stuff in the BIOS to see if i can get my clock higher :)
 
Yea i have the C1 aswell. I cant get mine stable above 3.8 and i think i have a very similar board to yourself. Nice vcore on 3.4 though i cant get mine below 1.2. Anyway goodluck :)
 
Big.Wayne said:
All looks good to me Derek! :)

The screenies themselves made me squint (make them easier to read please), the Ram timings look a little slacker than normal? . . . can the sticks do 6-6-6-X or 5-5-5-X @ 533MHz (DDR2-1066)?


  1. Take the vCore off [Auto] and manually reduce it until the PC crashes
  2. Switch the memory to sync [1:1] and start pushing the FSB & CPU slowly from 400MHz to 450MHz (8.5x450=3825MHz) adding vCore as needed.
  3. Test your ram for stable operation above 533MHz (DDR2-1066) by using an agressive Memory-Multiplier
Click to expand...

As mentioned I've got things stable at 3.4ghz at 1.175volts. I've changed the memory sync to 1:1 and pushed the FSB to 410 but with regards to the memory in the BIOS the ratio has dropped from 1066 to 820 and as a result in cpuz it shows the mem at 492.2mhz down from the 533mhz and this i presume is causing the instability in the clock so it fails the IBT.

I'm not sure how to sort this.

http://wap.z51.biz/wapz51v3/dl.aspx?file_id=33288

http://wap.z51.biz/wapz51v3/dl.aspx?file_id=33289

A couple of (large ;)) screenshots of the bios for what I've done.
 
Hi Derek,

so 3.4ghz at [Manual] 1.175volts is totally solid yeah? . . . now all you have changed is

  • the memory sync to 1:1
  • pushed the FSB to 410
And now it's causing errors? change the vCore back to [Auto] and try again, it may just need a vCore boost due to the extra 85MHz . . . How are the load temps according to CoreTemp?

The memory running on [1:1] sync @ 410MHz-FSB (DDR3-820) is unlikey to cause a problem? . . . as you have some fast DDR3 you may not actually need to set the memory to sync, have a play with putting it back on a memory multiplier and just keep it below 666MHz (DDR3-1333) . .

I'd give you specific BIOS help but sadly I only really know the ASUS BIOS layout . . . take your time working this all out and it should be fine, let us know if the added vCore helps! :)
 
If you wanna "hop" a few stages you can jump straight to 3.6GHz (8.5x424) with vCore on [Auto] and see how you get on . . . if that passes then you can dabble with the manual vCore or you can have a play with taking the memory off sync [1:1] and speed it up using a Memory-Multiplier! :)
 
popped it up to 3.6ghz but its just failing around the 45 - 50 passes on IBT at 1.25volts.

If i remember correctly I should be keeping the voltages below 1.35 otherwise I'll damage the chip.
 
Juice it up dude! :D

Don't worry about max voltages at this early overclocking stage, your just trying to find out what MHz you can get at what voltages etc . . . once you find all this out you can decide what is gonna be best day to day clock! :)
 
Do u have "loadline calibration" aka "vdroop" on or off? Vdroop is not a motherboard limitation or fault; it is there for the safety of the chip. It protects against voltage spikes. Its like a car's suspension, you don't want it too stiff as you will get a bumpy ride (bad for the back;)).

With this in mind I disabled it and found that at stock the auto voltage was not enough for stability.

I have a E0 @3.825Ghz, 1.376v idle according to cpu-z, a touch over 1.4v set in bios (38'c,32,32,32 temps idle, core0 goes 63'c using LinX).
 
megatron said:
Do u have "loadline calibration" aka "vdroop" on or off? Vdroop is not a motherboard limitation or fault; it is there for the safety of the chip. It protects against voltage spikes. Its like a car's suspension, you don't want it too stiff as you will get a bumpy ride (bad for the back;)).

With this in mind I disabled it and found that at stock the auto voltage was not enough for stability.

I have a E0 @3.825Ghz, 1.376v idle according to cpu-z, a touch over 1.4v set in bios (38'c,32,32,32 temps idle, core0 goes 63'c using LinX).
Click to expand...

I posted the screens of the bios earlier and yes the loadline calibration was set to auto. like i said, apart from boosting the fsb any other alterations in the bios is new to me. will be trying to boost things up to 3.6 and get that stable this evening.
 
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