[Thermodynamic]

Am attempting to o/c a Q9550 CPU, with all 4 RAM slots populated, on this mobo. (the RAM is Corsair, two matched pairs, rated at DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 @2.1v and known stable at DDR2-1000 @2.1v (5-5-5-15))

The CPU at 1.3v, the system boots, is fast , but Prime95 konks out almost instantly when not having a core fail within 10 seconds (always worker thread 2/core #1 for some reason; I'm only presuming threads 1-4 conform to cores 0-3 respectively...).

I'd read that most Q9550s don't need any voltage nudges to get to 3.8Ghz, and I'm already doing +.05v...

I'd also read the P5Q series is not as much CPU voltage but other factors, and of course I'm stressing the NB more by using all 4 slots -- RAM I do need for various functions (virtual boxes, photoshop, 3D rendering). The PC will eventually be on for ~72 hour periods, shut down, restarted later on but anything that's deemed "safe" 24/7 is ideal, even if I have to live at 430MHz FSB instead of 450, but trying is half the fun...

My NB voltage is 1.50 already (the color indicated is purple -- if I go up to 1.60v it turns red and also says a new NB cooler is needed ) Right now, ambient mobo temperature is 32C (no different than when I had the NB at lesser voltages, e.g. 1.3 or 1.4)

I've passed RAM tests before using lower NB voltages (1.4) and upping to 1.5 has yielded only a small stability improvement.

My FSB term is at 1.32v right now (I can try to go up to 1.4 if recommended)
My CPU PLL is 1.56 (too little?)
vCore is 1.30 (I know 1.341 makes my current setup solid, even 1.337 not being sufficient)

AI Performance Booster is at 10 (default is 05)

I'm also posting this as a continuation of those other threads as I'd already gone on enough tangents and wanted to consolidate... (I hope I'm not coming across as a spammer. A naive person, yup, but any spamming has not been intentional...)

I wish someone made decent 4GB modules, so I can just get two and - in theory - circumvent most of this, but then I'd eventually load up on 16GB and go through all this again anyway...

As always, thank you much for your time!!

[jason4207]

I was reading in your other thread and just noticed something.

AI Performance booster...Are you sure that is PL? Did you confirm w/ memset? Is there a disabled option for that?

On my mobo Transaction Booster and Static Read Control both affect PL. I leave SRC disabled and just use TB to adjust it. If you have TB set it to Boost level 0.

You shouldn't need that much voltage on the NB, but I wouldn't be afraid to try it to see if it helps at all. I doubt it will based on my experience.

Have you posted up all your BIOS settings yet? That might help.

[Thermodynamic]

Originally Posted by jason4207

I was reading in your other thread and just noticed something.

AI Performance booster...Are you sure that is PL? Did you confirm w/ memset? Is there a disabled option for that?

On my mobo Transaction Booster and Static Read Control both affect PL. I leave SRC disabled and just use TB to adjust it. If you have TB set it to Boost level 0.

You shouldn't need that much voltage on the NB, but I wouldn't be afraid to try it to see if it helps at all. I doubt it will based on my experience.

Have you posted up all your BIOS settings yet? That might help.

Haven't postedf all the BIOS settings yet (only the main ones; most of the others are 'auto') - I installed memset; will reboot and peek around...

I did mention in another thread (thanks much for your help btw!) that I think my CPU is simply flaky at higher FSBs. 425 seems stable, but 440+ has led to problems (BSODs with inadequate voltage) or with seemingly proper voltage, 'working thread 2' keeps konking out. Always #2... methinks I've a limp core. ANd while Realtemp claims I have 3 bad temp sensors (cores 1, 2, 3 - core 0 is fine), all 4 cores report reasonable temp increases under load -- though core 0, between coldest and hottest, has a 12 degree span while the other 3 cores are around 6~8... not major enough for a warranty replacement and I've never dealt with Intel directly before. Besides, any subsequent replacement might be worse.

[jason4207]

I think you'll find that most peoples CPUs always tend to 'flake out' on the same core. Have you played w/ GTLs at all?

[boonet]

hi,

for the oc stabiltiy in prime 95, i had the same issues with my P5Q pro and q9550 on large fft's, it gave an error in under 1 minute running..

What i did was: In Ai tweaker u have all the way down 'cpu margin enhancement' ( on P5Q pro, i dont know if its also there in deluxe). I changed it to compatible and suddenly i had a stable 4ghz overclock!!!! ran prime for 6 hours, stable. occt, stable... I dont really know what its for, or what the settings change, but asus have put it in for the low budget C2D's to be able to reach a greater fsb... But it is rather an instability for non low budget C2Q's...

So maybe if u change it to compatible or play with the options, you might get a sudden stable oc..

no i have another question: i have 8 gigs of dominator (1066 mhz, 4 slots used) at 2.20 v, but i gives errors when i run memtest. I already upped my nb to 1.52, but is it safe for a 24/7 oc to up it some more??

( sorry if my english is bad, im belgian ectually)

Boonet

[rainless]

Originally Posted by boonet

hi,

for the oc stabiltiy in prime 95, i had the same issues with my P5Q pro and q9550 on large fft's, it gave an error in under 1 minute running..

What i did was: In Ai tweaker u have all the way down 'cpu margin enhancement' ( on P5Q pro, i dont know if its also there in deluxe). I changed it to compatible and suddenly i had a stable 4ghz overclock!!!! ran prime for 6 hours, stable. occt, stable... I dont really know what its for, or what the settings change, but asus have put it in for the low budget C2D's to be able to reach a greater fsb... But it is rather an instability for non low budget C2Q's...

So maybe if u change it to compatible or play with the options, you might get a sudden stable oc..

no i have another question: i have 8 gigs of dominator (1066 mhz, 4 slots used) at 2.20 v, but i gives errors when i run memtest. I already upped my nb to 1.52, but is it safe for a 24/7 oc to up it some more??

( sorry if my english is bad, im belgian ectually)

Boonet

Sure. 1.52 is more than safe.

If you're getting errors running at stock mem speeds then the memory could simply be bad.
Can't imagine you're hitting more than 500FSB @ 8.5 multi

[boonet]

ok, ill up it 1 notch, then it should be stable...

I dont know what the normal nb volts should be on that fsb, with 4 stickies of ram...
Does somebody ectually know what the cpu margin options change??

boonet