Q9550 OC Problems...HELP!!!

[Rotem46]

Whats up guys?
This is my first post here...I hope you guys can help me...
Ok, so I have my pc running for like 6 months now, it was OC to 3.6ghz and 4 days ago I read some and learned I can do better so I played with the voltage (FSB, DDR3, CPU) and got it to run at 3.8ghz and the memory at 1800mhz 9-9-9-24 (default). My problem is that I tried running Futuremark Vantage (or something like that) and it run for a few minutes then froze, did it again and it froze again...after the second restart the ATI driver was damaged and I had to reinstall it. then I started getting BSOD...after few minutes running Vista Ultimate 32bit I suddenly got BSOD, I changed my OC back to 3.6ghz and the DDR3 to around 1600mhz and after 15 or 20 minutes (could be more than that) I got BSOD again...Can anyone please tell me what could be the problem?
I didn't OC the GPU at all and my voltage are under the limits (DDR3 1.7v, CPU 1.3500v, FSB 1.3v) I realy don't know what could be the problem...I'm afraid my HD4890 was damaged during the benchmark I tried to run...Is it possible??
Any help would be great!!
Also, If someone can tell me what I did wrong it would be great. I tried to run Prime95 and 2 cores fails, the other 2 kept running until I stopped the test. My CPU never got hotter then 68c...
Thanks a lot people!!

 

[elconejito]

"after the second restart the ATI driver was damaged and I had to reinstall it" it sounds to me like your driver is still screwed up...

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Have you set the CPU back to default speed? 2 of the 4 cores failing Prime95 is more than just a corrupted video card driver.

 

[Rotem46]

Originally posted by: elconejito
"after the second restart the ATI driver was damaged and I had to reinstall it" it sounds to me like your driver is still screwed up...

What do you mean by that?? The driver was damaged so I uninstalled it then reinstalled it...Why is it still screwed up??
And, I did set the CPU back to default, I just run prime95 for several hours, all cores are fine...So I don't know what happened. My PC run at 3.6Ghz for 6 months 24/7 never had a problem !! after I played with the voltage and installed my new HD4890 (Had the HD4870 512mb for 6 months) the problems appeared.
Any thoughts??
And regarding the OC, what do you think is the problem?? as I mentioned before, I never set the voltage over what the manufacturer said, and I think I was doing fine until now...I did some reading (on Anandtech.com) and I found out my Mobo default voltage so I raised the voltage according to what I have read. The DDR3 default voltage is 1.5v so I raised it to 1.75v (Corsair are saying that 1.8v is the limit) and the FSB defalt is 1.10v so I raised it to 1.3v and I set the CPU to 1.3500v when Intel say that any voltage between 0.85v to 1.3625v is ok. So, what could be the problem and why my limit was 448FSB (3.8Ghz) and it wasn't stable according top Prime95 and Intel burn test?
Thanks a lot guys!!!

 

[geokilla]

If the computer isn't stable for Prime95, OCCT, etc. then your overclock isn't stable. Raise the Vcore to a higher level. And before you ask, the Vcore that Intel lists is the VID of the chip. Your Q9550 can handle up to 1.45Vcore, providing that you have sufficient amount of cooling to keep the temps lower than 65C. Use CoreTemp to check your temps.

 

[Rotem46]

Well, my cooling is the the thermalright ultra 120 Extreme with Noctua 120mm fan and my case is pretty big (Gigabyte aourora 3d 570) so I think I should be fine...but when I run Prime95 the temp went up to 68c max...I just run Prime95 without OC (default setting for everything and the temp went up to 65c max...so its to hot for stock temp!!! I realy don't get it!!!

 

[73chev]

My .02 worth. (one of my rigs is similar) To help with your temps, do you have another fan to put on the TRUE in a push/pull configuration? Even with my med. speed Panaflo pushing, a pull fan helped.
looking at your stock temps, did you drop your vcore back down or is it a C1 stepping chip?
Check your northbridge temp. (finger test is fine) If it's hot (mine was) place a small fan to blow air on it.(helped with stability on mine).
Do your temps drop with the side off the case? If so, time to work on case cooling.

What are your ambient temps like, and what are you using to monitor your temps?

 

[Rotem46]

Originally posted by: 73chev
My .02 worth. (one of my rigs is similar) To help with your temps, do you have another fan to put on the TRUE in a push/pull configuration? Even with my med. speed Panaflo pushing, a pull fan helped.
looking at your stock temps, did you drop your vcore back down or is it a C1 stepping chip?
Check your northbridge temp. (finger test is fine) If it's hot (mine was) place a small fan to blow air on it.(helped with stability on mine).
Do your temps drop with the side off the case? If so, time to work on case cooling.

What are your ambient temps like, and what are you using to monitor your temps?

I'm using RealTemp to monitor my CPU temps and CPUID Hardware Monitor. My vcore was default (1.25000v), now I'm at 3.53Ghz so my vcore is 1.35000v my DDR is 1.75v and my FSB is 1.35v, I didn't change anything else.
I'm not sure about my CPU stepping...why is it important? I didn't see any different on Intel site regarding temps or voltage...
I don't think I need an extra cooling for my case but I will check and see if without the side door the temps are different. I will get back to you on this one tomorrow.
Are they any other voltages I have to change (beside what I have already did)?

 

[73chev]

If you want a better idea of the temps, use distance to TJ max (in RealTemp) instead of the core temp. From what I understand 20-30c distance TJ max is about all you want. (lower = hotter)
IMO stepping is important. The EO's from what I've seen tend to clock higher. For example the B3 vs the GO in the Q6600, and the CO vs DO in the i7. Besides with the EO I might be able to help you out more. CPU-Z will tell you the stepping along with a bunch of other info.
I'm not on the DQ-6 (it's one of my DC crunchers) so I'm running off memory as far as settings, but if you've got an EO chip your voltages seem high. Yes other voltages will have to be changed, but off the top of my head I couldn't tell you which ones.

One thing I would suggest, play with the straps on your ram, get it close to, but not over 1600mhz just to take that 1 variable out of the equation.

 

[Rotem46]

I've checked my CPU stepping using CPUZ, I have the C1 model...I've already set the DDR3 close to 1600Mhz (I think its around 1450Mhz) and I left the SPD at auto so its not the problem. For now I don't have any BSOD, but I didn't run Prime95 yet so I don't know if its stable. Can you tell me for how long I should run it? I mean, I'm using the computer all the time so I don't know if I would be able to do so when Prime95 is running...
If you can help me with other voltages that I need to change it would be great. I can give you my BIOS screenshot if it helps...
Thanks a lot man!!

 

[73chev]

From what I've read, (not personal experience) the C1's seem to top out about 3.6. Like any overclocking you may get more, you may get less.
I could give you some voltages, but the settings could vary wildly from chip to chip. I've got 3 different Gigabyte boards and 3 q9550's, and all of them are different.
My DQ-6 setup I bought used. The PO was running 3.8 on it, but the settings he was using had to be tweaked for it to be stable for me. Even different hands can have an effect, lol

Prime 95-(this is what works for ME, others will have a different opinion) I shoot for 12hrs@small ffts then will go 24hrs on blend. Small ffts will tell me if the cpu is in the ballpark, blend test will do the rest of the system. My old p3 laptop helps so I don't get internet withdrawls. Even after all that I'll monitor whatever DC client I'm running like a hawk for about a week before I'll call it good.

I'll see if I can get some voltages for you, maybe It will help some. Go ahead and post yours up so somebody else might chime in.

I'm a noob here also, and FAR from an expert in anything.


Do you have your profile saved for the 3.6 that was stable for you? (in BIOS) That would be a good starting point.

 

[Rotem46]

Hey guys, sorry for the delay but I didn't have internet connection for the past couple of days...
Now, I don't think I saved the profile...but its running now (for a week or so) at 3.53Ghz but I still have to check and see if its stable.
My voltages right now are:
CPU - 1.35000v (1.3625v is what Intel say is max)
DDR - 1.75v (1.8v is max according to Corsair)
FSB - 1.35v (1.41v is the max according to some forums)
Other then that, my PCI-I sets to 100 and the SPD are on Auto (I think 9-9-9-24) which is the default values to my RAM.
I didn't touch anything else, I know there is something called MCH and CPU clock skew but I don't even know what that meens...
If someone here can help me out it will be great and if you need anything else please ask.
Thanks so much guys!!!

 

[bigsnyder]

I have heard that too much voltage to this chip can actually hinder overclocking headroom, at least for the E0. Can't say for sure if the C1 also falls under that assumption. How much voltage are you running the G(MCH) at? I have a GA-EX38-DS4 and right now it only needs an increase of 0.15v to push 450Mhz and that is with 8GB of ram running 1:1. The FSB voltage is set to only 0.1v increase. The vcore is set to 1.275v, but again my Q9550 is an E0. Also what kind of cooling are you using on the chipset? I removed the logo plates and installed a small fan on the north bridge to help out things.

 

[73chev]

bigsnyder's right, too much voltage can hold you back. Personally what I did is went into the BIOS and manually entered most of the voltage values. I just went and looked, I'm getting my boards mixed up. MY q9550 is running @1.375v (vcore), .3 (fsb), .325 (mch), clock skews are "normal" load line "disabled". This is with an EO @3.8ghz, on my x48T-DQ6 (bios f5d). (I was confusing it with my ep45t-extreme.) I will almost guarantee these settings WILL NOT work for you, I just wanted to give you an idea.

If I were in your shoes, I'd lock down, drill down my voltages as much as possible and stress test. Get yourself a good working point, something to fall back on before you start going further. The OCing sticky covers most of this.