Q9550 OC help for totally new OCer

[ronnie76]

Hello everyone,

I've read as much info as I can on OCing, but still have difficulty understanding some of the settings. I managed to get my Q9550 to 3.4 ans somewhat stable. Ran MemTest, CPUKil, and OCCT without errors, but am getting some instability issues, like Windows Explorer (not Internet) crashing randomly, Firefox crashing, Shockwave crashing in Chrome.

If anyone could help with some suggestions for increased stability I would greatly appreciate it. Latest and most stable OC settings below.

Thanks in advance.

System
ASUS P5N-T Deluxe
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
CM2X2048-6400C5
GTX 560ti
PSU Corsair TX850 v2
Cooler Hyper 212 Plus

Tried the following

Over Clocking
CPU Internal Thermal Control - Disabled
Limit CPUID MaxVal - Disabled
Enhanced C1 - Disabled
Execute Disable Bit - Enabled
Virtualization Technology - Disabled
CPU Multiplier - 8.5
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Tech - Disabled - Disabled
LDT Frequency - 5x

FSB & Memory Config
FSB Memory Clock Mode - Unlinked
FSB Memory Ratio - Auto
FSB (QDR) Mhz - 1600
Memory (DDR) Mhz - 800

Memory Timing Setting
tCL - 5
tRCD - 5
tRP - 5
tRAS - 18
Command Per Clock - Auto

Advanced Memory Settings
tRRD - Auto
tRC - Auto
tWR - Auto
tWTR - Auto
tREF - Auto
tRD - Auto
tRFC - Auto

Over Voltage
VCore Voltage - 1.35
CPU VTT Voltage - Auto
Memory Voltage - 1.89
NB BRo4 CHIP Voltage - Auto
1.2V HT Voltage - Auto
NB CHIP Voltage - 1.50
SB CHIP Voltage - Auto
GTLVREF - Auto

 

[glussier]

That board is not a good overclocker. That board overclocks better with speedstep enabled, so try enabling that.

 

[magellan]

When I was overclocking my q9550 (best CPU I ever had for overclocking, I got it to 4.2Ghz, before
it or the motherboard fried) I used to focus first on checking the memory. So I would reduce the multiplier on the CPU to the lowest and test the memory w/memtest. Once you have the memory tested out at a given FSB and multiplier then work on overclocking the CPU.

 

[ronnie76]

That board is not a good overclocker. That board overclocks better with speedstep enabled, so try enabling that.

Thanks for responding. I tried enabling speedstep, but still having same issues. I searched many forums and most OCers have it disabled with this mobo.

 

[ronnie76]

When I was overclocking my q9550 (best CPU I ever had for overclocking, I got it to 4.2Ghz, before
it or the motherboard fried) I used to focus first on checking the memory. So I would reduce the multiplier on the CPU to the lowest and test the memory w/memtest. Once you have the memory tested out at a given FSB and multiplier then work on overclocking the CPU.

Thanks for responding Magellan, I really appreciate it.

I will try your process. So, I should move the multiplier down to maybe 6.5? Keep FSB at 1600? Leave timings and voltages same as current to test correct?

 

[EarthDog]

There is a guide we have here in the intel section in a sticky thread on how to do this... check it out! -> http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=515316

Also, Speedstep in that generation was usually disabled. Generally speaking we disable it when trying to find a stable overclock. Once that is found enable it. Keeping it enabled is just one more thing that can cause instability...hence why most leave it disabled, at least initially.

 

[False Christian]

I've got SpeedStep 'Disabled' on my Asus Z68-V/GEN3. My i5 2500K 3.3GHz at 4.5GHz stays a 4.5GHz all the time. It doesn't drop down to 1.6GHz anymore thankfully.