Q9550 + P35DS3R + 4 DIMMS => Overclock & DC OK?

[smugboy]

I'm contemplating the upgrade path for my current box:

P35 DS3R v1.0
2*1Gb + 2*512Gb = 3Gb (all Corsair XMS2)

upgrade dream involves:

• plopping in a Q9550, overclocking to 3.6
  snagging 2*2Gb Corsair XMS2, swapping for the 2*512s => 6Gb

Q1) Anyone know from experience if this is going to work?

Reading some similar topics around quads & 4 DIMMS has raised, but not fully answered, some technical questions, relating to the incerased stress on the north bridge, that make me think this might get messy, and I don't want to spend cash on the upgrade only to confirm my fears:

Q2) Will my board be OK with the upgrade config & 425*8.5?
Q3) Will I need to get a fan on the puny NB heat sink? (don't want to unless I really have to)
Q4) Will it still run in Dual Channel? Heard that this doesn't really make much difference, but I like it... (one of the reasons i went for the 3Gb set up is that i read that if one pair of DIMMs is electrically single sided i was more likely to get DC)


BTW: no I don't need it (quad core, or >3Gb RAM) yet. I'll try and resist the upgrade urges until Q9550 prices come right down (think a lot of people have this plan).

Bonus questions:
Q5) Could I get away with a Q9450 (450*8)? (conversely would a Q9650 really help)
Q6) If I wait for 4Gb sticks to take hold could I pull a similar stunt, but with 2*4 + 2*1 = 10Gb?

 

[smugboy]

any help on a few of these points?
maybe I should have posted in the memory forum...

 

[zerogear]

I don't have that board, but my Rampage Formula works fine. Q9550 w/ 4 DIMMs, @ 450x8.5 (3.825Ghz). And ram is running at 1080 5:6 @ 5-5-5-15. While my NB is a little heated, I'm not too worried since I'm not having BSOD and I ran over 200 passes of IBT all on non-active cooling NB heatsink. And yes it'll run dual channel. You could get away with Q9450, but for me having the extra 6MB of cache helps encoding.

Are there going to be DDR2 4GB sticks out any time soon? No clue.

 

[smugboy]

Thanks Zero Gear

Sounds like the X48 chipset can run an OC'd quad + 4 "Double sided" DIMMS in dual channel, quite happily.

Just need to find out if P35 can pull the same trick (I'd really like to confirm that my exact board can do it before taking the risk of spening the cash to find out). Planning to get my mate to bring his pair of 2GB sticks round to see if the 2*2+2*1 config works, but I'm running a dual core (E4500 @3.2), so it would still leave the quad affect in question.

Glad to hear that your NB is not too toasty, but another reason I'm keen to find out about my specific board's capability is that is has a much smaller heat sink than the huge lump you've got. Also, the P45 & X48 chips runs cooler than P35 I believe.

BTW - the Q9450 has 12MB cache just like the Q9550 (it just has a 8x multi instead of 8.5 giving stock clocks of 2.66 vs 2.83 for the 9550). The 9400 has the 8x multi & half the cache (think I've got all this right). The 9450 question relates to the higher FSB => greater NB stress => lower OC concern.

regarding 4GB DIMMs - definetly read net stories/rumours. Here's a link to one that looks real:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/0...tter-smaller-4gb-dimm/

Just reminded myself of my board spec, and the fact that maximum memory capacity is 8GB, so that rules out the 2*4+2*1 = 10GB idea.

Also, I haven't seen any sign yet of the 4GB sticks flowing down to retail & sensible pricing.