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Help OC a qx9650

marcoi

marcoi

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Messages
1,369
Hey all, i had a chance to get a used qx9650 cpu to replace my long time q6600. I like some help with OC this chip. Below is my current build.

MB: ASUS MAXIMUS EXTREME LGA 775 Intel X38
Ram: CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1800 (PC3 14400) Dual Channel Kit
Video:MSI NX8800GTX OC Liquid GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB 384-bit

Custom WC setup cooling cpu and NB.
With my q6600, i was able to get stable 425fsb x 8 = 3400ghz with memory running at 1700. I don't recall all the bios settings, I think the vid was between 1.4 and 1.5. Temps ran around mid 30s c at idle to mid 50s c at full load.

So with the new qx9650, i can run it at stock speeds. 333x 9 = 3000, memory at 1333, etc. The cpu stays extremely cool, idles at 35 c and at full load its goes to 41c. Seems incredible to me considering my old q6600 ran so hot, but i guess 45nm cools a lot better.
Also of note is the VID from cpu-z shows at stock speeds around 1.21.

So far I can boot into windows at 425fsb x 9.5 = 40xx. I had the vid set to 1.435. But it fails prime95 within seconds, rounding error on one of the cores. So far I haven't had much time to play with settings. So was hoping to get some advice on what I can try out.

Also I have another board I got when I bought the cpu, it is an eVGA 780i FTW (all-digital PWM edition) board and 4x1GB Corsair DDR2-800. Would I get better performance/OC if I swapped my main mb/ram for this combo? Originally I plan to put the q6600 in that board and use it for my htpc build.

Thanks in advance for help,
Marco
 
I have my doubts about the 780i chipset. I've seen numerous complaints online about failed boards. Then a few weeks ago my friend's 780i started malfunctioning due to extreme Northbridge overheating. He had to RMA it. I'd say stick with the X38 for overclocking. Also, I believe 2 DIMMs of memory is more overclock-friendly than 4 DIMMs, but the memory should be a non-issue if you keep it at or below stock speeds during CPU testing.

You're going to need significantly more vcore to hit a stable 4.0ghz. I'd guess at least 1.48v, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up requiring 1.5v or higher. An FSB of 425mhz should be pretty tame and shouldn't require a heavily overvolted Northbridge (maybe +.1v to be safe) . Again, make sure you don't run your memory at above stock speeds when testing your CPU's stability.

Use IntelBurnTest instead of Prime95 to quickly check for stability and maximum temps. Just a few passes should let you know if your CPU is stable or not.

EDIT: Have a look at this article: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3184&p=3
They claim to have been able to hit 4.0ghz with only 1.28v... and it could run at the stock 3.0ghz with 0.98v... crazy stuff. I'm guessing they just got a lucky chip, though.
 
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x38 chipset along with nvidia crap suck for 45nm quads, get p45 for better results.

9x400 (multixfsb) should net 3.6 with stock volts ie 1.35 in bios easy.
 
I am working on OC fsb and memory prior to oc the cpu. I have a question about fsb/memory speeds.

I'm trying to determine if it is better to keep my FSB higher at 450 to have memory stay at rated ddr3-1800 speed. Or would it be better to stay at a lower FSB say 400 and put the memory at a lower speed of 1600.

Would would be a good balance of performance and stability?
What effects the system more in terms of performance, the fsb speed or memory speed?
With Extreme cpu i can change multiplier to whatever I like, so FSB OC is not the limiting factor anymore.

thnks,
m
 
The CPU frequency is going to have the largest impact on overall performance. If you can run it at 10x450mhz, then go for it, but I'm assuming that would take a ridiculous amount of CPU voltage. 10x400mhz would be optimal in my opinion. DDR3 1600 will not be noticeably slower than DDR3 1800. If you really want to keep your RAM at stock speeds, though, that's also totally possible with 9x450.

The stock FSB is 333, correct? You'll likely need to overvolt your Northbridge if you want to hit 400mhz or higher (forget what I said earlier).
 
Stock on qx9650 is 333 or 1333. I had my old q6600 at 425 fsb and memory at ddr3-1600 and it was stable. So i might try keeping it around there.
 
Trouble is that the cpu is NOT your old q6600. New cpu introduces a whole new set of variables that may or may not let you even meet or exceed old settings.

As mentioned above, cpu clock is much more powerful and important than memory clock/bandwith unless you are running someing like a real time credit card transaction database etc. that is very memory intensive.

I suggest you lower you memory speed to a 1:1 ration (try it locked and unlocked) and determine where your CPU tops out by adjusting its FSB, voltages, NB voltage etc. and basically experiment with the CPU to Northbridge part of the system doing all you can to take memory out of the picture. One you establish those limits it is easy to go back and fine tune the memory subsystem (memory to Northbridge) and see what you can get out of that part of it as you may find it necessary to underclock the memory as an unlocked memory speed and the available choice of mulitpliers might require you to underclock the memory some in order to run at the CPU's sweet spot. Point is that until you test you are just flopping around. But, that can be fun too. Carry on.
 
So with the multiplier being unlocked, would it make sense to keep the fsb at 333, and just up the multiplier on the cpu to up the freq? That would keep memory at 1333 speeds.
 
So far with all the overclocking and reading ive been doing I favor the higher fsb with a lower multiplier... With my e8500 my benchmarks are better @ 510fsb x 8.5 then my 482 x 9 by a personally significant margine. Im now working with a x8 multi, considering some peeps are hitting 550+ but what do i know =\
EDIT: Oh and that freq is just over 4.3ghz and ive booted at 4.8ghz on air ^_^ wish i was [H] enough to keep it stable =(( oh and stick with the 1:1 ratio
 
how do you get 1:1 ratio?

say i put my fsb to 500 with 6 multiplier on cpu, thats 3ghz speed, what would the memory need to be at for 1:1? This is ddr3 not ddr2 memory if it makes a difference.
 
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