Overclocking Q9550

[VirtualLarry]

Built a rig for my BIL, he's a pretty hardcore gamer.

Gigabyte GA-X48-DS5
Intel Q9550 E0 2.83Ghz
4x2GB Gskill DDR2-800 (the blue heatspreader ones)
OCZ Vendetta (90mm, not the 120mm V2)
Arctic Silver
Adata S599 64GB SSD
Hitachi 1TB 7200RPM HD
24X SATA DVD burner
Antec TruePower New 750 Blue
2x Sapphire HD6870 in CF

Trying to find what would be a good 24/7 reliable OC.
I first popped the FSB up to 400 from 333, for 3.4Ghz. I increased the voltage to 1.27v, LLC off. Prime95 small FFT ran for about an hour sucessfully.
I then pushed the FSB from 400 to 412, giving me 3.5Ghz. I didn't increase the voltage. Under Prime95 small FFT load, the vcore as reported by CPU-Z is 1.2v steady, although it occasionally dips for a split second.

I have no idea what kind of vcore these E0 Core2Quad 45nm chips require for an overclock, although I understand that the max voltage is 1.365v or something like that. I picked 1.27v on a hunch, plus it was a nice round number. Stock VID is 1.18-something.

Temps, in a 60F room, got up to 71C on the highest core. Cores 2 and 3, both get pretty warm (71C), but core 0 only got up to 66C, and core 1 was lower than that. I think my heatsink mount might not be perfect, but I figure it's good enough, that I don't feel like dealing with the pushpins to remount.

Edit: Anyone know any good video card benchmarks to run? I know that 3dMark06 is pretty cpu-limited, and Vantage isn't free (I don't think).

Feel free to comment if you think I will be CPU-limited in games. I hope not. I know it's no 4Ghz i7, but I had the parts in stock; I would have had to spend $500 on an i7.

Oh, and I installed ATI 10.10e hotfix for Win7 64-bit, and initially, theme was still set to Basic, not Aero. I had to fiddle with that. Also, Crossfire shows as enabled, but the overdrive tab in CCC is completely greyed out. Is that normal? It's a Sapphire reference HD6870.

 

[smakme7757]

I ran my Q9450 @ 3.6Ghz and it was super stable. I'm sure the Q9550 can reach that frequency no problem. I used 1.30 Volts, but only because i couldn't be bothered lowering it or finding that sweet spot.

As for the 3D Benchmarks Vantage basic is only $7 and advanced is $20 so not to bad on the price.

 

[VirtualLarry]

As for the 3D Benchmarks Vantage basic is only $7 and advanced is $20 so not to bad on the price.

Can either one of those be installed on multiple machines, in order to compare?

 

[Spikesoldier]

the q9550 should do 3.4 on stock voltage.

you shouldnt need more than mid 1.2's to low 1.3's to figure out what this chip can do.

 

[smakme7757]

Can either one of those be installed on multiple machines, in order to compare?

I've never had any trouble with it and i format my pc pretty often. So i don't think it has a liscence limit or an install limit.

 

[cubeless]

my 9550 is easy to get to 3.8. takes a bunch more juice to get to 4.0 and gets hot (kid dorm was 72f all the time so no prob, my house is around 77f and i don't want the noise), but will do it... so 3.8 it is...

 

[Spikesoldier]

my 9550 is easy to get to 3.8. takes a bunch more juice to get to 4.0 and gets hot (kid dorm was 72f all the time so no prob, my house is around 77f and i don't want the noise), but will do it... so 3.8 it is...

nice oc on the q9550. i had to settle for 3.7 with my E0.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Nice system man; miss my old UD3R overclocking fun.

 

[Kenmitch]

When I had my Q9550 it would do 4ghz @1.312v's. I did get her up to 4.17ghz but never did try to stabalize it. Too much work for 4.17ghz to try and stabalize it. Took to 4ghz without a fight at all. Was using an Asus PQ5 deluxe board if I remember correctly.

 

[Phunk0ne]

ran my Q9550 @ 3.6 with stock volts. but never bothered to go any higher. Sold it to get my hands on a Q9650 D0 instead, running @ 4Ghz =)

but mine stayed pretty cool, tough I did lapped it, running a lapped true 120 Push-Pull Config.

stresstested on intelburn test @ 3.6Ghz and it had a very hard time reaching 68C with an 18C room temp. unluckily, never took screenshots of it.

 

[DannyVekslender]

I ran my Q9450 @ 3.6Ghz and it was super stable. I'm sure the Q9550 can reach that frequency no problem.

Getting my Q9450 to work at 3.6GHz is a pain in the ass. It starts to do funny stuff at 3.5GHz and works okay at 3.4GHz. I think it's more the fault of the motherboard or just bad luck.

 

[WTSherman]

I'm still running a Q9550, I don't even bother pushing it anymore but can remember 1.40v was the max voltage. I ran mine at 4 Ghz for a year or two.

 

[[N8]]

Just for reference I use Prime95 for CPU OC stability and Furmark for video OC stability. Run em both simultaneously if you want to feel really good about stability.

Still using 3dmark06 for benchmark because I'm old school

 

[Blue_Max]

Still relevant. I'll be overclocking a classic Q6600 b0 for my kid for Christmas. From a C2D 2.0 to a C2Q 3.x is a tasty upgrade, along with a video card.