My QX9650 / Abit IP35 Pro that wont overclock!

Right, I have had just over a week with this chip and up until now have relied on PMs with Dominick and Deanzo, but I am still having problems. So I turn to you guys!! I know the QX9650 users are very few, but I would like to know if anyone has run across people with similar issues I have.

Firstly, my motherboard is the Abit IP35 Pro (version 1) with the beta 16.3 BIOS. This is the exact same setup as Deanzo. The biggest concern is the fact that the motherboard seems to undervolt extremely! I am talking I need to set nearly 1.60 vCore in BIOS to get CPUz reported ~1.40 at idle, and dips lower during load.

BIOS settings aside, I have been using CPUz as my vCore reference. With reported 1.38 vCore, I seem to Prime95 fail almost instantly. I get one or two cores that will fail within seconds of each other. For reference, Deanzo (same setup) can run 4GHz effortlessly at 1.30 vCore which is in line with most other users on various P35 / X38 platforms.

I will say, I have done all of the obvious... CE1, EIST, etc are all DISABLED. Temps are fine and monitored with CoreTemp 94.5. My multiplier is set 400x10 right now, but I have also tried running with a higher multi and lower FSB. I have tried various MCH voltages all the way up to 1.5x, but I am sure its not a FSB problem when I used higher multis.

This damn thing just will not clock! I am at a loss whether to RMA this chip or try a new motherboard. This board did work flawless overclocking my E6850 up to 4GHz 24/7 for the last 4 months or so. Is my QX9650 just a garbage overclocker??

Desperate for advice here guys.

do me a favor install and use uguru for the cpu voltage just to see if they do match, in cpuz and uguru.

what voltages have you messed with? have you upped the cpuvtt at all,what about the CPUGTL%?

Evilsizer said:

do me a favor install and use uguru for the cpu voltage just to see if they do match, in cpuz and uguru.

what voltages have you messed with? have you upped the cpuvtt at all,what about the CPUGTL%?

Click to expand...

I have uGuru installed (new one). I know the beta BIOS is flaky because the CPU temp reported by bios (uGuru) has been anywhere from 0c - 275c! Certainly not right. uGuru vCore roughly matches CPUz within +/- 0.01v

I have played with everything. CPUvtt has been cranked up, CPUGTL% I have had mixed reports... some say take it to 70% for quads (made no difference for me). Another QX9650 user told me he had best results at 64%... didnt work either. Mine is set back to the default 65% right now.


*EDIT* One of my PMs with Deanzo was to take all of his settings to get a baseline since he has pretty much an identical setup as mine. I found he was using even lower settings (vCore, MCH, CPUvtt, etc) than I was, yet I still fail my 4GHz testing.


*Edit* Missed a decimal place for your uGuru / CPUz reported vCore. Meant to say within +/- 0.01

well going on what you stated, i have come to the conclusion you need to wait for a newer bios. that or just go with a asus board since abit is a tad slow at release new bios's. why i say that, cause the 45nm cpu uses less power then the 65nm cpu so ocing is not problem for the board. i still think that abit and getting the ocing worked out is taking a while though. thats what happens when your one of the few with a new cpu... i went thru the same thing with my Abit AB9-Pro board so i feel your pain.

Evilsizer said:

well going on what you stated, i have come to the conclusion you need to wait for a newer bios. that or just go with a asus board since abit is a tad slow at release new bios's. why i say that, cause the 45nm cpu uses less power then the 65nm cpu so ocing is not problem for the board. i still think that abit and getting the ocing worked out is taking a while though. thats what happens when your one of the few with a new cpu... i went thru the same thing with my Abit AB9-Pro board so i feel your pain.

Click to expand...

I would have jumped motherboard a week ago, but what has me hesitant is the simple fact Deanzo has been clocking his like mad on the same board / BIOS.

Is there a possibility my QX9650 is just a rotten one of the bunch?

My problem chip!

L739A643

Dude, the FIRST thing I would have done was got myself another mobo, either the same model or something different, bet your issue is with mobo, not CPU.

Ace-a-Rue have any idea when the Andantech guys are due with that new beta bios for the IP35 Pro? I'd hate to drop $200-$300 on a new motherboard only to find its been addressed simply in a bios update.

That said, I havent heard good things on Abit's ability to get BIOSes out quickly enough.

I just ditched my Striker Extreme because it wouldn't boot my QX9650 either. New BIOS or not. Put the chip in a gigabyte (DQ6) board and it was flawless. I wouldn't think it's a processor problem, I'd give the advice above a try and put it in a different board. If it still shows signs of issues, RMA.

fed-ex the chip to deanzo and have him drop it in his rig... then u will know for sure

Here is another person (eva2000) over at XSystems that claims he has a crappy overclocking QX9650. He is using the Gigabyte X38 DQ6 motherboard. This guy is a very experienced overclocker and knows what he is doing. He also takes a massive amount of vCore to get 4GHz stable.

It's posts like this that still make me question the processor itself.

Here is his thread and screen:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2586466&postcount=726

its a new chip.

i bet the bios in the mobo aren't fully supporting the chip.

atm743 said:

its a new chip.

i bet the bios in the mobo aren't fully supporting the chip.

Click to expand...

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=536645

^^Exact same board, bios, and chip.^^

(His air results are later in the thread)

Surfrider77 said:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=536645

^^Exact same board, bios, and chip.^^

(His air results are later in the thread)

Click to expand...

hmmm thats odd

only thing i would do is do what nikhsub1 said.

Well, considering it takes me so long for a turn around on parts living overseas I went ahead and covered all of my bases.

I have RMA'd the processor and also purchased the following:

Gigabyte X38T DQ6 motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128068
4x1GB of Corsair DDR3 1800 modules: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145188

I also grabbed a Areca 1231ML Raid Contoller for when my 4 MTron SSDrives show up from Dominick. Thanks again Dom!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816151016

Its funny enough, I have already lost excitement for the QX9650 processor and am sooo much more eagerly anticipating the SSDs to show up. That is going to be an exponential boost in what used to be a bottleneck in HD speed.

I should have updates in a couple weeks.

yea those SSD's are going to give your comp a big kick when doing things... no more waiting for apps and the HD to think about it.

whoa man, what raid are you going to be using with 4 Drives? 0+1?

ChinStrap said:

whoa man, what raid are you going to be using with 4 Drives? 0+1?

Click to expand...

more then likly a raid 0 setup since each SSD is only 16gig in size..

Yea, RAID0 for OS and games / apps.

I already have a 320G RAID1 for all my storage.

Hmmm, I've got the DQ6 and it works flawlessly with the latest BIOS... I guess the best way to determine if it's the chip is with another board. Memory looks good.