Core 2 Quad Q9550 overclocking

I have just installed my Q9550 E0 and have not started to overclock yet.

Question #1
Using CPU-Z I found that the multiplier fluctuates from x6 to x8.5 and the clock speed from ~2.00GHz to 2.83GHz. Is this normal? Is this something I need to fix in the BIOS, if so, how?

the following screenshot shows the fluctuation on CPU-Z and the Hardware Monitor values are at idle.



Question #2
I am new to overclocking and was reading the C2Q/C2D overclocking guide and see that ram should be capable of keeping up with the FSB you set for the CPU.

I have two matched pairs of the following RAM:
Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-5400 DDR2-667
(4 x 1GB sticks of RAM)

I see that a popular choice of overclocking is to set the FSB to 400MHz (from 333MHz) to achieve 3.4GHz on the CPU.

Will my 667Mhz RAM (333MHz effective?) be able to keep up with the 400MHz FSB setting I would like to use to overclock the Q9550 to 3.4GHz?


Question #3
based on my system specs and Hardware Monitor Values, should I be able to overclock at all?



System Specs

ASUS P5Q PRO

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 E0

Arctic Freezer 7 Pro (MX2 thermal paste used)

4x1 Corsair XMS2 PC2-5400 DDR2-667 CL 4-4-4-12

Powercolor HD6850 1GB

Corsair TX750

Generic Mid Case with 1x120mm rear and 1x80mm side exhaust fans

Windows XP SP3 32 bit

answer 1. Thats intel speedstep, you can turn it on and off in the bios, its a power saving feature.

answer 2. for a 400mhz fsb, you should be running your ram at 800mhz (for ddr2, it should run at twice the speed of your fsb, try overclocking the ram to 800mhz, it might work, also the older p45 boards would overclock better with 2 sticks instead of 4 sticks of ram, so perhaps a ram upgrade would be worth while)

Answer 3. I have a Q9550 in an older rig, in which I have overclocked, the answer, Yes, your system will overclock, just as to how far is the question, every chip reacts differently. For voltages, just try to keep your core voltage below 1.35V to be on the safe side, if you want to push further, do so at your own risk. Also just keep an eye on your load temps.

jameseboy said:

answer 2. for a 400mhz fsb, you should be running your ram at 800mhz (for ddr2, it should run at twice the speed of your fsb, try overclocking the ram to 800mhz, it might work, also the older p45 boards would overclock better with 2 sticks instead of 4 sticks of ram, so perhaps a ram upgrade would be worth while)

Click to expand...

thanks for the reply.

I ordered 2 x 2GB Kingston hyperX ddr2 1066MHz, cooler master Hyper 212+, windows 7 64bit home, and a Kingston HyperX SATA3 SSD (which will be running on SATA2 with my current motherboard).

the windows7 and the ssd will be moving on to another system once i decide to upgrade so I didn't mind the added expense.



When I go to overclock the CPU, how do I know if I have to up the voltage on different areas (north/south bridge, RAM, etc)?

I am looking forward to quick boots and stable overclocking!

ram and nb/sb voltage shouldnt need touched, your ram will be fine up to a 516fsb, which I doubt the chip will take. but generally if your getting bluescreens at 1.35v upping your nb voltage ever so slightly MAY help

new specs:

ASUS P5Q PRO

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 E0

Cooler Master Hyper 212+ (2 x 120mm fans for push/pull)

2 x 2GB Kingston hyperX ddr2 1066MHz planning to run at 800 MHz (1:1 FSBRAM ratio)

Powercolor HD6850 1GB

Corsair TX750

Generic Mid Case with 1x120mm rear and 1x80mm side exhaust fans

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Kingston Hyper X 120GB SSD SATA3 (running the OS, SATA2 speeds on my motherboard)



I am planning on trying an OC of 3.4 GHz this weekend. I will post my results.

screenshot after 30 min of running prime95 64bit large FFI, it completed 1024K and 896K all successfully passed.

My 3.4GHz OC settings:

FSB: 400MHz
CPU V: auto
multiplier: x8.5
PCI freq: 100MHz
DRAM: auto = 800MHz (1:1)
DRAM V: 1.8V
DRAM timing: 5-5-5-18


cpu & pci-e spread spectrum: disabled
intel speedstep: disabled
intel c-state: disabled
c1e support: disabled

from my results (seen below) the max temp of any core was 60 deg C
the max CPU voltage was 1.29V




I am a little unsure of the next step (decreasing CPU voltage). I assumed I was to take into account my max CPU voltage was 1.29V and go into the BIOS and try entering 1.27V and test; if passes, try 1.25V and test; and so on until i start failing in prime95? at which case I would up the CPU voltage a bit?

I started with 1.275V (bios) which was 1.272V in CPU-Z and passed 5 1024K large FFT tests
I then went to bios CPU Voltages 1.25V (passed 5 tests), 1.23V (passed 5 tests), 1.2125V (passed 5 tests). This was 1.20V under load in CPU-Z.

From what I've seen with other people's results, 1.2125V is pretty low. Should I be running my Prime95 for longer and for more tests?

here are my results after I completed 5 1024K tests with my CPU voltage = 1.2125V (bios setting). I closed out of Prime95 so the current temps & voltages are a bit misleading.

If someone could please tell me if I am on the right track for establishing a good overclock that would be nice.

I tried 3.6GHz
FSB: 425MHz
DRAM V: 1.80V
Vcore: 1.325V

i completed around 10 passes of Large FFT and saw that my max temp was reaching 63 deg C already. I guess my cooling is not enough for 3.6GHz


I went back to 3.4GHz
FSB: 400
DRAM V: 1.80V
Vcore: 1.23V

I ran Large FFT torture tests for over 5 hours without any errors. My max temp was 60 deg C which seems kind of high. I might try taking the Vcore down to 1.2125V again and run torture test that for longer since 1.23V seems stable.

63C is an okay temp for that much of an overclock, keeping it below the 70's is what you want to aim for.

should i keep trying to minimize the Vcore? if so, how much should i lower it each time before i test with prime95?

litterally press the "-" key when you have the vcore selected once. then reboot then test with p95, when it becomes unstable, go back into your biod, press the + key instead of the - key, and thats you stable again

I personally would stay around where your at w/ the 400fsb. You can see how much your vcore has to be increased for 3.6hz as compared to the vcore of 3.4

3.4ghz is probably close to the sweet spot of the cpu w/ the most overclock w/ the least amount of voltage bump.

Maybe try to get a 412fsb stable and see what kind of voltage is needed. If its close to the same vcore need for 3.6ghz then i would keep it at a 400fsb.

Then i would see how much i could decrease vcore from 1.23 w/ the 400fsb and still keep it stable w/ prime 95. Your probably close to the minimum so i would take it down 2 notches and see if it passes 5-8hours of prime 95.

alright, thanks for all the help!

I have my 9550 running at 4ghz and 1.2875v I think.. What my cpu liked more the vcore was fsb vtt, it loves it. My board droops a bit, I think I have that at 1.45, everest showed it at 1.35 heheh... Im at work right now, so I would have to check when I got home

i have win 7 home pre 64-bit sp1
CPU
core 2 quad Q9550 @ 2.83
RAM
6.00GB dual-channel DDR2 @ 333MHz (5-5-5-15)
MOTHERBOARD
P5Q TURBO ( LGA 775)
Graphics
1023MB GeForce GTX 460 ( Gigabyte
power supply
TX650W
CASE
cooler master CM690
HDD
1TB

how do i over clock this cpu

Here is my Q9550 for something to compare yours to.

dylanjd94 said:

How do i over clock this cpu

Click to expand...

By first reading through this guide...

HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - A Guide v1.1
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=515316

... then if you have any specific questions, ask them in their appropriate forums.