Overclocking a q9650 to 3.6ghz HELP

so basically i know very little about overclocking. my cpu is bottlenecking my gpu, so i figured an overclock could help me. everyone talks about overclocking these too so i figured it wouldnt be too hard.

current rig:
CPU: q9650
GPU: MSI r9 380 4gb
Motherboard: Asus Commando
Ram: DDR2 gskill 800 (PC2 6400) {8GB total}
PSU: 700w

i have plenty of case fans and an aftermarket cpu cooler (air) so cooling shouldnt be an issue. currently the cpu idles at about 32C and passes the intel burn test.

one thing ive noticed is that i have to set my DRAM to 667 in the bios in order for windows 10 to boot properly... idk why. everything else is on auto atm. i appreciate any help (this includes links to articles that help understand the overclocking process. etc.) Thanks!

Heads up: I would set the FSB-to-RAM ratio to 1:1 first. And enable CPU load line calibration, if the BIOS has that option.

i was able to get it to 3.3ghz just now. everything on auto except pcie @100 and the multiplier at 9x 367. i ran intel burn and it got up to 74C on the 7th pass so i stopped the test. its idling at around 42C, it usually idles at around 36C @3.00 ghz. any ideas? is my cpu cooler old/not working like it should? my vcore in cpu-z said it was 1.392 volts

74 is fine for those chips . what cooler do you have is it stock? 4ghz should be pretty easy on a after market hsf.

This thread should be helpful (found in the Intel Ultimate sticky thread at the top of this section): http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/645416-Intel-CPUs-Ultimate-Sticky-Thread

As far as temps... depends on what cooler, your ambient temperatures, fan setup, etc... What do you have?

P965? Good luck hitting 400mhz.

Keep your ram speeds at or under 800mhz.
Try lowering you ram speeds.
Enable load line calibration.
Keep cpu temps below 70c.
Try upping your NB voltage.
Disable anything in your bios that you don't need.
Make sure you PSU can handle the extra load.
Keep you PCI-E at 100mhz
Make sure you mosfet and NB are not overheating.
Put a fan on your NB and mosfets if they are overheating.

And on last thing , if you cant get 400mhz stable after all that.
Set everything manually to default and not auto, then work your way up changing one thing at a time.


Also that r9 380 is going to be bottlenecked by your setup. A top of the line 775 system will even hold it back, even with the CPU at 4ghz and with ddr3. I should know, I had a 775 system with a 290 and q9650 @4.2ghz and it was being held back.

saturn said:

P965? Good luck hitting 400mhz.

Keep your ram speeds at or under 800mhz.
Try lowering you ram speeds.
Enable load line calibration.
Keep cpu temps below 70c.
Try upping your NB voltage.
Disable anything in your bios that you don't need.
Make sure you PSU can handle the extra load.
Keep you PCI-E at 100mhz
Make sure you mosfet and NB are not overheating.
Put a fan on your NB and mosfets if they are overheating.

And on last thing , if you cant get 400mhz stable after all that.
Set everything manually to default and not auto, then work your way up changing one thing at a time.


Also that r9 380 is going to be bottlenecked by your setup. A top of the line 775 system will even hold it back, even with the CPU at 4ghz and with ddr3. I should know, I had a 775 system with a 290 and q9650 @4.2ghz and it was being held back.

Click to expand...

^^^^ yes x100
i cant seem to get it stable at 3.5ghz because the ram is too close to 800. im messing with voltages some more and the fsb but ill post results soon. i passed intelburn test last night at 3.4 but i want that extra .1 lol

and yeah i assumed that the r9 would be bottlenecked but it was more of an upgrade for future upgrades. i built this current pc for $300 (originally came with an HD6790). it was more a learning experience than a dream build.

Have you set the ram voltage manually. What ran is it specifically, that makes a difference in voltage requirements.

so i got it working! 3.5ghz!!
this is the ram im using https://jet.com/product/detail/37c6...d=403-186171&gclid=CMW_kpPWysoCFRApaQodbu4EZg

What got it going?

so i got it working! 3.5ghz!!
this is the ram im using https://jet.com/product/detail/37c6...d=403-186171&gclid=CMW_kpPWysoCFRApaQodbu4EZg



- - - Updated - - -

here some more




13% increase from original bench!

sorry that temp one is hard to read. during IntelBurn test my temps didnt get above 59C
it idles at 35C right now.
i realized when i originally started this post i had everything on AUTO in the bios, and at 3.3ghz it was feeding the CPU about 1.4v so thats why it got up to 74C so easily

Very good, you can't trust the boards on auto. Maybe you'll have some headroom now Seems like a good clock with good temps. According to that link the ram is CL5-5-5 yours is running at 5-6-6. If you're going to stay where you are I would fix that.

q9650 said:

i was able to get it to 3.3ghz just now. everything on auto except pcie @100 and the multiplier at 9x 367. i ran intel burn and it got up to 74C on the 7th pass so i stopped the test. its idling at around 42C, it usually idles at around 36C @3.00 ghz. any ideas? is my cpu cooler old/not working like it should? my vcore in cpu-z said it was 1.392 volts

Click to expand...

On a P45, going for more should be easy.

OTOH, my Q6600 (65nm) was fussy at 367x9.0 with a bus error during Prime95 blend. My 65nm requires more FSB termination voltage, starting around that bus frequency.

45nm should do better.

Would buying ddr2 1066 be worth it? Or should I save fore a new build? New ddr3 mobo? There aren't many options for the lga775 anymore. also, is the performance gain from 3.5 to 4.0 ghz worth it? im not used to the overclock yet so idk how big of a difference it has made.

q9650 said:

Would buying ddr2 1066 be worth it? Or should I save fore a new build? New ddr3 mobo? There aren't many options for the lga775 anymore. also, is the performance gain from 3.5 to 4.0 ghz worth it? im not used to the overclock yet so idk how big of a difference it has made.

Click to expand...

No, just lower your ram speeds or up your rams timings, try 6-6-6-15 or 6-6-6-20 or 7-7-7-21 or something.
Also you should be able to safely run your ram upto 2.1v

I would also upgrade you bios if you are not already using the newest bios. If you want to stick with 775 then a new mobo and ram would help you OC more, but if your new to overclocking I would sell the ram, cpu and mobo and put it into a new setup. A good I3 setups would be faster then you C2Q system.

If this were my setup I would go buy a P45 mobo and hit 4+ghz. infarct with a good p45 mobo and heat sink you could hit the 4.5ghz range. But you really would need to know what your doing there.


EDIT.
Also its been awhile since I had a 775 system.
but 1.2v seems low for the cpu. I could be wrong, you are only at the 3.5ghz range and I always pushed my 775 systems past 4ghz.
Also if you can try the system with only 4gb of ram.

To bad I don't know you in person. I had plenty of 775 system with q9650's and could be a lot of help. But with not ever using the motherboard you have and my limited language skills I can only be of so much help online.


EDIT2
Anyway 3.5ghz is not bad for that system.
If you cant go any higher get your ram running at 5-5-5-15 and not 5-6-6-15.

I have it at 395 x9 with ram timing at 5-5-5- 15. I know the last time I had the ram at 800 mhz the system wouldn't boot. Should I feed the ram more volts if that happens? My NB is at 1.2v right now. It's stable (passed intel burn not getting higher than 56C)

It's either the ram or NB. That ram is rated for 800 at those timings so it should work at stock volts. That leads me to believe it could need a bump to the NB. Running a quad works the NB pretty hard

K I'll experiment and update later. So to go above 800 mhz with the ram I'd need to up the ram volts, what should I set the timing at? 6-6-6-15 and go from there?

For now I'd leave the timings and just add some voltage. Most 1066 runs at 2.1v. I have found the timings on some DDR2 to be kind of fussy. Like it only likes CL5 so I'd have to set 5-6-6 or 5-7-7 when going way out of spec like 1200 or so