Q9550 Overclocking Issues

[knoxja]

Hi All,

Just after some assistance overclocking my CPU. To date I have been running the Q9550 at stock, as all of the games I play to date have not warranted an overclock.

However jumping into some newer titles some extra CPU juice might be just what the doctor ordered.

I have:
Q9550s
MSI P45 Neo3
Geil Ultra DDR2 800mhz (clocks out stable to about 950mhz)
Corsair HX650
Zalman CNPS9700

I was hoping to go from the stock 2.83 to 3.6-3.8 Ghz. Currently with fan speed on low the CPU runs a max temp of 39C.

If someone could please post some suggestions on maximum tolerable temp, voltage, FSB and anticipated maximum overclocks that would be great.

Additionally if anyone would like to comment on the potential value of upgrading to an X48 board and if DDR3 would improve overlocking results and overall impact on performance that would be great.

I anticipate going crossfire 6870s, only thing to consider is if I can push my Q9550 far enough or upgrade to an i5760. That said looking at clock for clock benches, it seems like a negligible boost to performance if I can get a decent OC out of my Q9550.

 

[IGemini]

Am I reading right that you have the Q9550S or just the regular Q9550? S would be better, those can run warmer while still being cooler (76C vs 71C). Either way unless you have a C1 stepping CPU your goal should be manageable, looks like you have a good hardware foundation to work with.

An upgrade really isn't practical. Since you've already dropped a high-end CPU into your build an overclock would largely make your speed on par with current high-end hardware, despite the fact it's 775.

The thing is every piece of silicon is different. I highly recommend looking at the how-to guide for Core 2 overclocking sticky. Before doing anything you'll want to manually find out your CPU's stable stock voltage. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=47089

If you look at my sig I probably got pretty lucky since standard VID range for my CPU (i.e. standard voltage at stock indicated in EVEREST) is 1.1v - 1.225v, if you have an S core it's probably lower. I actually figured out my stable OC voltage retroactively since I was going by auto vCore as my basis for overclocking, for a while I was running it at 1.25v for 3.6GHz before I read the guide. Not that it hurt the CPU but it wasn't as efficient as it could be.

 

[superccs]

Drop the multiplier and ramm timings to see how fast of a FSB your board can handle. Then see what your CPU will take using a range of stable FSB settings. Then adjust your ramm timings so they are the fastest stable setting.

*If you want to overvolt repeat this all and then add as much voltage as you are comfortable with adding without frying the whole pile.
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