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Q9550 3.4ghz

I

intzero

n00b
Joined
Jan 4, 2011
Messages
18
Folks:

Does a Q9550 @ 3.4ghz good enough for a GTX295 quad-sli setup? I mean in terms of a CPU bottleneck? Or should I go even further with the CPU OC? Mainly used to play Crysis and Metro 2033.

Thanks.
 
I ran a Q9550 at 3.4Ghz with two 4870X2s in a QuadCF setup, it didn't bottleneck me too hard, but it was definitely noticeable. Do you already own the second GTX295? If you don't, I wouldn't bother, you'd be better off swapping the 295 for a pair of modern GPUs like 460s or HD6850s, or maybe even wait until the HD6990 and GTX595 are released if you like.
 
Why don´t you try 3.6-3.8GHz after running some reference Fraps tests in your favorite games? Should be easily attainable even on air.
 
Q9550 itself should be quite easy to overclock near 4ghz even on air which should be more than enough for any game you can throw at it, but I think its overclockability also depends on motherboard quality? My el cheapo MSI P35 Neo3 chokes with quad cores above 3.5ghz, no matter how much I raise voltages, it just isnt stable enough but freezes randomly. NB chip gets incredibly hot too.
 
Like stated above, your CPU is most likely capable of higher overclocks depending on the mobo you have. Quad SLI with gtx 295s isn't really efficient though. Your performance increase isnt' going to be worth it unless you are getting that second 295 for really REALLY cheap. The gtx 560 is about equal to a gtx 295. However, two gtx 560's will scale better than the 4 gpu setup with 2 gtx 295's.

If you can run two gtx 295's in SLI I assume you have a 750 or 780 mobo, which most likely can get your q9550 to overclock higher. So although your CPU (overclocked higher) might not hold you back that much... the second gtx 295 problably isn't worth buying at this point. I would ebay the one I have and get two gtx 560's.
 
Only P45s can overclock to high bus speeds with quad cores really, P35 X38 and X48 are all limited to about 450FSB maximum.
 
My MB is xfx 780i. I am running now at 1600 fsb and memory at 400 (1:1). The MB is rated for 1333 fsb and I am afraid that I am already at or near the safe limits. I could try 1800 fsb but I fear that would be pushing it too far. I would be comfortable doing a 1800 with a 790i but those are hard to find :(
 
I might remember wrong but isnt 780i capable of taking Q9550 to 4ghz? I atleast remember someone overclocking quite highly with that. Afterall, biggest difference between 780i and 790i is that latter has DDR3 support, am I right?

High FSB itself wont break your CPU. It will just crash, be unstable or even refuse to boot if its too high or there is not enough voltage. What breaks CPUs is either the heat or overvoltage, from what I know. So when overclocking, keep CPU voltages within safe specs (1.40V max? I dont remember exactly what they are with Q9550, should be easy to find with google though) and follow closely the temps for few minutes when stress testing that they dont get ridiculously high, below 70C is all good. Oh, and good 3rd party heatsink is a must, dont bother with stock heatsink. Also bump NB and VTT (or whatever that is called in Nvidia mobo) voltages very slightly when needed, one at the time. Keep an eye on NB chip temperatures too when doing so. Its not actually too hard basically, though you might want to read some overclocking guides and google different overclocking experiences with your brand mobo or ones with similar chipsets.


*edit* here is for example a guy a person who managed to take it to 3.9ghz. Apparently it is not a greatest OCing chipset out there, but it can be done with good cooling and healthy dose of good luck. (mobo from good batch and good well clocking CPU)
http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/598704-getting-q9550-stable-4ghz-780i-possible-2.html
 
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I'm surprised there are any working 780i boards left. I'd keep things as they are if I were you.
 
samuelmorris said:
Only P45s can overclock to high bus speeds with quad cores really, P35 X38 and X48 are all limited to about 450FSB maximum.
Click to expand...

Hogwash..
My X48 will run all day at 500 FSB.....as will most other X48 boards.

Also,the P35 should not even be in the same sentence as the X48, let alone compared to it.
 
They're very similar chipsets, so why shouldn't they be? Remember an X48 is just a refreshed X38, it's even on the same 90nm process.
X38 was inherently limited to 455FSB with a quad, there's no getting round that. X48 was not, but depending on the load, was still pretty limited. With a single card and not much memory, X48 boards did reach 500-510FSB. With all the memory and PCIe slots filled, none of the X48s I tested could run stable beyond about 460FSB without going over 1.5V to the NB, which I didn't really like the idea of, so I settled for 400FSB on mine in the end to keep things simple.
The P45s didn't have this issue at all, they'd run at 490+ no matter how much you had running off them.
 
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