Q9550, how much improvement if i OC'ed?

N

NathanP2007

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
1,697
So i havent ever touched my Q9550 in terms of overclocking or underclocking or ANYthing. It is bone stock. I do have "some" experience with overclocking as the PC in my sig use to have a E5200 in it and i OC'ed that to 3.5GHz. I read though about people with my CPU or the Q9650, overclocking theirs to like 4.5GHz....and trying to compare to a i7.

So i was just curious, what type of performance increase (in day to day use, and in gaming) would i see if i overclocked my Q9550 from its stock 2.83GHz to something like 3.5GHz or even 4.0? I know my Mobo is great at OC'ing and i have a hyper 212+ so cooling wouldnt be a issue.
 
I had a q9550 at 4.1 and it felt great, still does today in the wife's rig. I backed it off to 3.6 for lower voltage/quiet cooling and it's still pretty good - stock feels slow though lol. 3.6 should be easily obtainable specially given your motherboard.
 
ziggo0 said:
I had a q9550 at 4.1 and it felt great, still does today in the wife's rig. I backed it off to 3.6 for lower voltage/quiet cooling and it's still pretty good - stock feels slow though lol. 3.6 should be easily obtainable specially given your motherboard.
Click to expand...

Do you know what you changed to get it to 3.6? Like what the FSB and voltage etc are?
 
NathanP2007 said:
So i was just curious, what type of performance increase (in day to day use, and in gaming) would i see if i overclocked my Q9550 from its stock 2.83GHz to something like 3.5GHz or even 4.0?
Click to expand...

Day to day usage, it wouldn't matter much. You would still be limited by the speed of your harddrive.

For gaming, it'll depend on what you play. BC2 your cpu is a definite bottleneck to that 6950. Raising your cpu speed would help with your min fps during major explosions.
 
For me, 1.2v is more than enough to hit 3.8GHz with, I can go lower, but my RAM throws a fit, I tested with some friends 1066 RAM and was able to do 1.18v with it on the Vcore. And yes, day to day I can feel it, I did some testing before and timed everything, and it was indeed a good bit faster and helped in many things.

aee9b1df.jpg
 
The late batch 9550's and 9560 chips are great chips. Most can hit 4.0GHZ no problem. Core 2 Quads are still very fast little chips if you have a decent P35 and up board and the cooling.
 
BlueFireIce said:
For me, 1.2v is more than enough to hit 3.8GHz with, I can go lower, but my RAM throws a fit, I tested with some friends 1066 RAM and was able to do 1.18v with it on the Vcore. And yes, day to day I can feel it, I did some testing before and timed everything, and it was indeed a good bit faster and helped in many things.
Click to expand...

Mine is pretty much the same. With vdroop, it'll fluctuate from 1.184~1.232. Idle is 1.248. Having it at 4.0ghz my system does seem more responsive than when I had it at 3.8ghz.
 
Vengance_01 said:
The late batch 9550's and 9560 chips are great chips. Most can hit 4.0GHZ no problem. Core 2 Quads are still very fast little chips if you have a decent P35 and up board and the cooling.
Click to expand...

I'll definitely really consider OC'ing my Q9550 then considering this response. Seems like i will notice a improvement. I do know my 9550 is a EO stepping. Made sure when i bought it that it was.
 
NathanP2007 said:
I'll definitely really consider OC'ing my Q9550 then considering this response. Seems like i will notice a improvement. I do know my 9550 is a EO stepping. Made sure when i bought it that it was.
Click to expand...

That would be E0, not EO.
 
NathanP2007 said:
I'll definitely really consider OC'ing my Q9550 then considering this response. Seems like i will notice a improvement. I do know my 9550 is a EO stepping. Made sure when i bought it that it was.
Click to expand...

You definitely have a good board for C2Q. There's a plethora of information out for your motherboard and cpu combo. Good luck on overclocking. Doubt you need it with that board.
 
If its anything like my Q6600, 3.4ghz to 2.4ghz is a huge speed decrease in even iTunes, Outlook, and even desktop use.
 
Im running my q9550 at 3.5 (on a cheap little micro atx board) and its easy to overclock and I see considerable difference in a lot of games. I haven't benched them at stock and oc but I do see a difference in playablility.
 
Hey, Direfox, I'm using a GA-G31m-S2L and a Q9550. But I can only get it to 3.4ghz stable. I used to use an E8400 and that went to 4ghz, well actually maybe it was more like 3.8ghz stable. This is/was all with 'auto' settings.
 
wootlanter said:
Hey, Direfox, I'm using a GA-G31m-S2L and a Q9550. But I can only get it to 3.4ghz stable. I used to use an E8400 and that went to 4ghz, well actually maybe it was more like 3.8ghz stable. This is/was all with 'auto' settings.
Click to expand...

One thing I did is put a new northbridge cooler on it because the stock one is very hot. I couldn't get my overclocks stable before i did that. Its not really that bad of a mobo for a cheapy, and has lot of settings for a budget board.
 
In BC2 I have massive fps gains when I OC.

Going from a stock speed of 3ghz to a OC of 4.2ghz I gain about 20-25fps.
 
§·H·ï·Z·N·ï·L·T·ï;1036913288 said:
In BC2 I have massive fps gains when I OC.

Going from a stock speed of 3ghz to a OC of 4.2ghz I gain about 20-25fps.
Click to expand...

Sweet thats major incentive to OC. I'll have to start compiling info on what OC to look at and re-read the OC'ing methods and get this bad boy up to snuff.
 
I have the E0 stepping Q9550 @ 4GHz and its WAY different from the stock 2.86GHz and 1333 FSB! Two different processors, really.
 
Don't see why you didn't at least mildly overclock that Q from the start, but now would be a good time to do it if you haven't.
 
exdriver said:
Don't see why you didn't at least mildly overclock that Q from the start, but now would be a good time to do it if you haven't.
Click to expand...

I have OC'ed my E5200 but all i ever really messed with was FSB and i dont feel very comfortable over-clocking because i dont feel i have a firm confident grasp on it. So i will slowly probably this weekend start to read up on what i should adjust online and then do it in the bios then run stress tests and make sure its stable. What im not educated on really is things like Vdroop and Vcore and voltage and all that. I lightly understand the concept of them but just cause i know the basics of how a engine works doesnt mean i would feel confident going in on my own and changing the electrical system and push rods and fuel injection system in a car.
 
It's not hard at all. And it's NOTHING even remotely as complicated as a car.

There are really only four critical things you have to know.
1) cpu vcore.
2) RAM voltage/timings/FSB speed. In a 1:1 ratio, the ram speed will be running at twice the FSB speed. So 400 mhz FSB will be 800 mhz RAM with DDR2.
3) Northbridge voltage. The FSB speed you will reach may be limited by some cpu's, but it is also based on the age of the chipset. The first Core 2 supporting 775 chipsets, like the 965P and 975X chipsets were very limited in how much FSB they could reach, as they were designed for 233 and 266 mhz fsb processors (some 333 fsb chips could run on them at 333 fsb), and sometimes, to reach 350-400 FSB or higher required a nice jump in northbridge volts (MCH voltage), Also, since many of these older boards only had two GTL Ref signals (for dual cores), Quad cores were (I think) using the VTT reference signal instead for 2 of the missing signals (for 2 cores) and were VERY limited in FSB speeds. You would be doing VERY well to get 400 fsb on a yorkdale on one of the older boards (in fact, VERY impressive), and you would often be limited to 350-380 FSB.

Newer boards like the P45 and X48 chipsets could clock the FSB very high, like, 500 FSB on a quad, and even up to 600 FSB (if you're very lucky) on a dual wolfdale.

Knowing all that, you're ready to go.
Make sure your RAM is running at proper timings and voltages (1.8-2.2v usually), test the FSB in small jumps, use memtest 86+ on a bootdisk to see if you're EXTREMELY unstable, and use Prime95 blend to test general ram stability, and prime small FFT to test the cpu core and cache. With good cooling, 1.5vcore was considered ok (1.45v was safer) on 65nm chips, and 1.35-1.4v was considered ok on 45nm chips.

VTT (FSB termination voltage) and GTL Refs were needed for higher FSB's, where the stability issues were related to the chips hitting their max FSB speeds, instead of the northbridge/RAM/mainboard.

There are a lot of core 2 overclocking guides on overclockers.com forums, and xtremesystems, that will get you going easily.
 
have had my Q9550 running at 3.83 almost since i've got it, so i can't tell you what 2.83 felt like. But I also have an E0 stepping, but an ep45-ud3p mobo. easy overclocker. 1.28 vcore, 451 fsb i believe.
 
A few essential things:

If you aren't sure ask, you're in a good place to do that.
Know your limits for voltages and temperatures.
Keep your drivers up to date.
Write down where you start and what you change and your results.
Change things in small steps.
 
exdriver said:
A few essential things:

If you aren't sure ask, you're in a good place to do that.
Know your limits for voltages and temperatures.
Keep your drivers up to date.
Write down where you start and what you change and your results.
Change things in small steps.
Click to expand...

Yeah , i have the 3+ page thread i created full of Q's from when i OC'ed my E5200 to prove im not shy asking lol. I also kept a detailed log on paper (also about 2 pages long) with every single thing i adjusted and changed.
 
This is one chip that is absolutely safe to overclock, been at 3.6ghz for three years, never any stability problems.
 
NathanP2007 said:
Yeah , i have the 3+ page thread i created full of Q's from when i OC'ed my E5200 to prove im not shy asking lol. I also kept a detailed log on paper (also about 2 pages long) with every single thing i adjusted and changed.
Click to expand...

You're already much better than you think, then ;)
 
nxcess said:
You definitely have a good board for C2Q. There's a plethora of information out for your motherboard and cpu combo. Good luck on overclocking. Doubt you need it with that board.
Click to expand...

Agreed, the P45 UD3R is a great board and you should be able to hit 3.5ghz+ with ease.


I only need 1.31v to hit 3.6ghz with my Q6600(9x400) and I really wish I had a cpu like yours to try out with my rig.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!
 
I've had no stability issues overclocking 3 different C2Q's by 600MHz on stock voltage. The two Q6600's went to 3.0GHz (2.4 stock) no issue and Q9400 went from 2.66 to 3.2 before my terrible motherboard had issues with the fsb over 400MHz (stopped recognizing HDD).

Anyways, it's a huge boost and for what I do (engineering), all the clock speed I can use helps a bunch. If you have a decent mobo and cooling, you can really push these things and it should be easy to tell the 25%+ speed improvement.

If you don't know how to OC, start by changing voltages to manual and bumping your fsb til it crashes. Then bump the voltage a TINY amount. You'll need temp (HWMonitor), settings (CPUz), & stressing (LinX) tools.

Make sure to turn your RAM speed to minimum until CPU speeds are found. You should be able to get several hundred MHz increase in an hour. Burn in with Prime95 when you're done. Run Memtest86+ to check any memory settings. Make sure to look up manufacturer specs for voltage and temp limits.
 
dalauder said:
I've had no stability issues overclocking 3 different C2Q's by 600MHz on stock voltage. The two Q6600's went to 3.0GHz (2.4 stock) no issue and Q9400 went from 2.66 to 3.2 before my terrible motherboard had issues with the fsb over 400MHz (stopped recognizing HDD).

Anyways, it's a huge boost and for what I do (engineering), all the clock speed I can use helps a bunch. If you have a decent mobo and cooling, you can really push these things and it should be easy to tell the 25%+ speed improvement.

If you don't know how to OC, start by changing voltages to manual and bumping your fsb til it crashes. Then bump the voltage a TINY amount. You'll need temp (HWMonitor), settings (CPUz), & stressing (LinX) tools.

Make sure to turn your RAM speed to minimum until CPU speeds are found. You should be able to get several hundred MHz increase in an hour. Burn in with Prime95 when you're done. Run Memtest86+ to check any memory settings. Make sure to look up manufacturer specs for voltage and temp limits.
Click to expand...

Everything you said made sense and is already in my playbook. However i have never really dealt with "Ram Speeds". Do you mean my timings or the Mhz my ram is running at? My ram has always confusing as far as what it should be set at.
 
Set it 1:1 ratio and you should be good. You'll be at 1000mhz if you hit 500fsb on your board. At 533fsb you'd be at your ram's rated speed.
 
Ok first off can you give me a link to this "LinX" program? I googled it but couldnt find it. Second, how do you adjust your DRAM to 1:1? There are a lot of settings in bios i can adjust on DRAM, but not that are _:_
Third, my DRAM was set to Turbo, which im not sure what it changed, but i just set it back to standard cause my bios said that when OC'ing to put it to standard to be stable.

Ok , so i just turned on my PC, went into bios and put DRAM to standard, and my CPU FSB to 451 on stock everything. It failed to boot, my PC beeped a ton then restarted over and over, i restarted my PC then went into bios, a window popped up saying my PC failed to boot due to unstable Overclock.

I then reduced FSB to 400Mhz, and the same thing happened. I then set my FSB to 354Mhz (3.0ghz) and it booted fine.

CPU-Z is now showing these numbers:
Core Voltage: 1.344-1.360V at idle, and i just turned on Prime 95 and now its at 1.312V
Core Speed: 3009.0Mhz
Multiplier: x8.5
Bus Speed: 354.0 MHz
Rated FSP: 1416.0 MHz

Memory: 566.4MHz
FSB DRAM: 5:8
5.0 clocks
8 clocks
8 clocks
21 clocks
74 clocks
2T


UPDATE: Settings from the bios:
CPU Load Line Calabration:
Vcore: 1.28750 V
CPU Termination: 1.200V
CPU PLL: 1.500V
CPU Reference: 1.760V

MCH Core: 1.100V
MCH Reference: .760V
MCH/DRAM Ref: .900V
ICH I/O: 1.500V
ICH Core: 1.100V

DRAM Voltage: 1.800V
DRAM Termination: .900V
Channel A Ref: .900V
Channel B Ref: .900V
 
Last edited:
It looks to me like you're pushing your RAM too hard. See that 566mhz and 5:8 in your CPU-Z results?

It has been a while since I spent much time in the BIOS, but if I recall correctly you set the FSB:RAM ratio with something called System Memory Multiplier. Right below it it should list the frequency of the RAM.

The GigaByte BIOS for the UP45 series boards lists the multiplier weird, 2.4D, 2.0B or similar. The letter doesn't matter too much, it has to do with the stock speed of your CPU and available multipliers. (But we're not running stock now are we?) What matters is that it the RAM runs at the FSB times the multiplier. So to run your c2q at 3.83ghz you would want to set the FSB to 451, and then select a ram multiplier that doesn't overclock your RAM too far. I'd start with 2.0 for a total RAM speed of 902mhz. (2.0 is 1:1 in GigaByte speak)

It's a little ambitious to try to jump straight to 3.8. Get it sorted at slower speeds and incrementally work your way up. You should be able to leave virtually everything at stock and set the FSB to 400 to get a nice stable speed of 3.4ghz. (See if there is a memory multiplier around 2.6.)

Here's a thread on LinX over at xtremesystems => http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=201670

I use IBT (Intel burn tool) instead...

A note on voltages - the EP45-UD3* boards can be a little crazy if you leave them set to auto and overclock. Set them to normal and only tweak the voltages you need to.
 
Ok so i set my CPU FSB to 400MHz, and the DRAM Multiplier to 2.66D. CPU-Z now shows my system as:
Core Speed: 3.4Ghz
Multiplier: x8.5
Bus Speed: 400MHz
Rated FSB: 1600MHz
Core Voltage: 1.296V

Memory:
DRAM Frequency: 533.3MHz
FSB: DRAM: 3:4
5.0 clocks
7
7
20
68
2T


By the way, my bios shows my DRAM timings at: 5-5-5-15.

Yeah i have IBT and use that too. Hmm, so the Load Line voltages (last thing i listed in my most recent post) i want to set to normal if possible? ( These: UPDATE: Settings from the bios:
CPU Load Line Calabration:
Vcore: 1.28750 V
CPU Termination: 1.200V
CPU PLL: 1.500V
CPU Reference: 1.760V

MCH Core: 1.100V
MCH Reference: .760V
MCH/DRAM Ref: .900V
ICH I/O: 1.500V
ICH Core: 1.100V

DRAM Voltage: 1.800V
DRAM Termination: .900V
Channel A Ref: .900V
Channel B Ref: .900V
)
Or not those?
 
Set your DRAM Multiplier to 2.0 that way you won't run into memory issues when overclocking your cpu. Link to LinX. You need 7zip to open it.
 
nxcess said:
Set your DRAM Multiplier to 2.0 that way you won't run into memory issues when overclocking your cpu. Link to LinX. You need 7zip to open it.
Click to expand...

Will do. So now i just keep uping the CPU FSB until i cant boot or crash/crash under stress test. Then go back into bios and up the CPU voltage and try the FSB that crashed again to see if its stable? And keep going up and up until i hit the Voltage Maximum for my CPU (Btw anyone know it?). Then i can keep it there if rock stable or for peace of minds sake, i can back it down off the line a bit? (For example if i could get to 4.0Ghz stable, not 4.1Ghz, but didnt want it at the line so i backed it down to 3.8Ghz)
 
You might need to tweak some other settings to truly find the max speed your rig can do. As you increase the FSB you might also need to increase the voltage for the RAM, MCH etc. You'll also want to back of the memory multiplier a bit to keep the RAM frequency around 1066mhz.

It might be time for you to try finding one of the excellent overclocking guides for Core 2 CPUs floating around the net.

http://www.google.com/search?q=c2q+...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Personally, I tend not to worry too much about temperatures. I worry about stability. The temps you reach running Linpack (which is the actual test behind IBT or LinX) you will never see under normal usage.

I usually increase fsb in 10mhz increments, and then run 10 cycles of IBT.

My final test procedure is to run 25 cycles on max in IBT. If that passes I'll load up Prime95 and run 4 threads overnight with something 3d running. I'm still a fan of rthdribl, though at this point it is positively archaic.
 
I'm finding that my Q9650 at 3.9GHz is hitting or is very close to 100% usage on some games (Metro 2033, BC2). That's caused me to start considering an upgrade.
 
Decibel said:
You might need to tweak some other settings to truly find the max speed your rig can do. As you increase the FSB you might also need to increase the voltage for the RAM, MCH etc. You'll also want to back of the memory multiplier a bit to keep the RAM frequency around 1066mhz.

It might be time for you to try finding one of the excellent overclocking guides for Core 2 CPUs floating around the net.

http://www.google.com/search?q=c2q+...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Personally, I tend not to worry too much about temperatures. I worry about stability. The temps you reach running Linpack (which is the actual test behind IBT or LinX) you will never see under normal usage.

I usually increase fsb in 10mhz increments, and then run 10 cycles of IBT.

My final test procedure is to run 25 cycles on max in IBT. If that passes I'll load up Prime95 and run 4 threads overnight with something 3d running. I'm still a fan of rthdribl, though at this point it is positively archaic.
Click to expand...

Ok, well with things like those (voltages) il definitely need help but im not at that place yet so im good as of now. And as for the DRAM multiplier, yeah i will back off it a bit.

Beezzer said:
I'm finding that my Q9650 at 3.9GHz is hitting or is very close to 100% usage on some games (Metro 2033, BC2). That's caused me to start considering an upgrade.
Click to expand...

Yeah i noticed when playing MOH (2010) multiplayer that i was at 80% CPU usage. Is that a good barometer of it being time to upgrade though? I mean it makes common sense but i personally dont know if it works like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top