Q9550 - help me achive higher than 3.2-3.3

[SkopjeMKD]

I have an old setup lying around which goes like this:

Q9550,
abit ip35-pro
coolermaster aquagate mini
4 x 1gb a-data 800mhz

I deserted this pc, it was a bad overclocker 3.2-3.3, and been using i920 D0 at 4150mhz with 12gb ram with very tight timings. But I want to convert this PC to a long lasting home server which will serve HD videos and do on the fly transcoding for various devices at home X360s, PS3, Ipad etc etc.

Q is, stick to the Abit board or go buy some P45 with DDR3 s775 before they dissapear? The chip is nice imo and I can't sell it without taking a huge loss, or just be happy with some 3.2-3.4 max it can do and call it a day?

 

[SkopjeMKD]

Another board I could use lying around is Asus's P5K-e Wifi AP+ I think, don't remember if I used this processor on that board or tried overclocking it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've never heard of a Q9550 being such a poor overclocker (although it's possible, I suppose), so I'm going to say that the limitation is probably the board.

Get a good P45 board, and you should be able to take it to 3.6, if not 3.8-4.0. You would need some fast RAM though to achieve high FSBs. Whether that's worth it to you is another question. Is there anything that you cannot do at 3.2, that you can do at 3.6 or higher? I guess you would have to test the on the fly transcoding, to see if it is fast enough.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Try pulling two of the RAM sticks and seeing how it overclocks then...

 

[KingstonU]

Also is that a C1 or E0 stepping on that Q9550? My C1 had a hard time keeping 3.6 GHz but E0's were known for 3.8 GHz.

 

[happy medium]

Its a board limitation, get a p45.

 

[edplayer]

what FSB are you using?

 

[Shmee]

please post overclocking settings. such as vcore, vtt, fsb frequency, NB voltage, memory frequency/timings, and vdimm.