q9550 + IP35-e 366 FSB wall?

[vsboxerboy]

So I got my new quad in and I've heard all of these great OC stories and I know that my IP35-e had no problem running my e6300 at a 2.8GHz (50% overclock) with no voltage increases whatsoever.

I'm running the latest beta bios - probably the absolute latest because abit has closed up shop - and I can't get my quad past 3.11 GHz. I can run at FSB 366 but 367 won't boot and it doesn't seem to matter if I'm at 8.5 multi or even 6. I ran the ram at 800 MHz via a divider and tried upping all of the voltages and nothing has seemed to help.

I guess the short answer is that I should get a new motherboard but I'm really hoping to avoid that as the quad and new video card drained my upgrade budget.

IP35-e w/ bios 18 beta
q9550 e0
Earthwatts EA650
GTX 260

 

[BillParrish]

It may not be the motherboard. The board in my sig would run my 6300 at 475 FSB and did so for two years. Changing nothing but going to a quad Q6600 I cannot (and I have tried EVERYTHING) get it to go past 370 FSB and it just will not do it even with 2 x 1GB memory I used on the old 6300 setup.


I have come to the conclusion that I got a dud cpu, it happens, So all I am saying is that when you do get the cash for a new MB, I would think about finding a buddy that wiould let you try that cpu in a different board to make sure it is your board. I am assuming you are running 2 x 2GB memory modules, If not and have 4 x 1GB, take 2 out, reboot, clear the cmos, load factory defauts, reboot, resetup you bios settings and see what happens. (The cmos clear and load defaults makes sure all internal timings are reset to factory fresh values and nothing is left over from the old setup).

Did you go as high as 1.4ish (1.45 is Intel rated max so I recommend 1.4 max for short test runs and 1.375 ish max for day to day - other opinions vary) ?

Have you done the heatpipe mod ? Cooling the MCH is very important as you approach 400FSB.

 

[vsboxerboy]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to try that. Luckily I bought 2 q9550s - one for myself and one for a friend. I'll have to convince him to let me try his in my board and vice versa to see whats up. In addition, I really should do some testing at stock speeds if it even works

I don't know how I would feel about returning a product which does work at it's rated speed but would a chip degrade overtime to cause instability at stock speed if it's FSB wall is only ~30 MHz higher than stock speed??

I do have my memory in a 2x2GB setup. I went as high as 1.36v for the chip and increased the mch volts as well. It's really annoying because 366 boots fine but 367 the fans turn and my video card stays at 100% fan. Nothing happens, no response to CTRL ALT DEL, the reset button, etc. I have to disconnet the power and remove the battery to get it to start again. It's not like it even makes it to the bios splash screen with that 1mhz difference. It's really weird.

 

[spacecowboy]

Is your GTL Ref set to 67% ?

 

[HenryBravo]

OP I can guarantee that the problem lies in your MB (either the way you're tweaking it or your board is not up the task). I have not heard of a q9550 (especially an e0) that can't hit at least 400 mhz FSB. As a matter of fact 471x8.5 is a very reasonable goal with the proper combination of motherboard, tweaking and cooling.

Something else that is very important for overclocking these quads is the CPU termination voltage (VTT). You can raise your vCore all day long but if your VTT is too low, you're not going to get anywhere. Maximum safe VTT for 24/7 use on your CPU is 1.4v but of course the lower the better. My guess is you need VTT around 1.3v. And don't be afraid to raise your MCH into the 1.4v - 1.5v range to get the board stable. Also, be sure to play around with memory multipliers to prevent the memory from overclocking until you reach stability with the CPU, and then you can focus on OC'ing the memory.