q9550 temps

[gweminence]

Hello everyone.

Just built a new build with the q9550, and was wondering if my temps are normal-ish. I get low to mid 40's at idle, and mid 50's-ish under load my normal useage load, though it goes up to 60 with intelburn. Are those decent temps for 24/7?

I overclocked it to 3.6gHz easily, with no change to voltage, so I actually began lowering the voltage, I think I'm down to about 1.3v now. I had it lower, but it wouldn't boot. I have the xigmatec rifle cooler with a scythe fan.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jimbo6846]

Hello everyone.

Just built a new build with the q9550, and was wondering if my temps are normal-ish. I get low to mid 40's at idle, and mid 50's-ish under load my normal useage load, though it goes up to 60 with intelburn. Are those decent temps for 24/7?

I overclocked it to 3.6gHz easily, with no change to voltage, so I actually began lowering the voltage, I think I'm down to about 1.3v now. I had it lower, but it wouldn't boot. I have the xigmatec rifle cooler with a scythe fan.

Thanks in advance.

Your setup sounds almost exactly like mine, lol. I have a Q9550 with a Xigmatek S1283 cooler, and replaced the stock fan with a Scythe 130 CFM fan.

Anyway, your temps sound fine. IntelBurnTest (IBT) stresses your CPU/RAM far more than any normal application ever will, so the heat it produces isn't representative of normal usage, it creates far more heat than normal use will. And 60*C at normal usage is fine. IBT usually produces at least 15*C more than Prime95 for me. Here are my specs:

Q9550 @3.74 (440 x 8.5)
Ambient temps are 24*C, usually
Idle temps with these ambient temps are 43-48*C per core
Load temps with Prime95 are 60-65*C per core
These temps are fine for everyday usage (preferences per each person may differ, but Intel says it fine at these temps)

So, your temps are fine. One thing that interests me about your post though: You said you lowered the CPU voltage from stock/auto down to 1.3v. What is your CPU VID, and what voltage was your motherboard feeding your CPU before? The max voltage these 45nm processors can handle safely is 1.3625v.

 

[gweminence]

Your setup sounds almost exactly like mine, lol. I have a Q9550 with a Xigmatek S1283 cooler, and replaced the stock fan with a Scythe 130 CFM fan.

Anyway, your temps sound fine. IntelBurnTest (IBT) stresses your CPU/RAM far more than any normal application ever will, so the heat it produces isn't representative of normal usage, it creates far more heat than normal use will. And 60*C at normal usage is fine. IBT usually produces at least 15*C more than Prime95 for me. Here are my specs:

Q9550 @3.74 (440 x 8.5)
Ambient temps are 24*C, usually
Idle temps with these ambient temps are 43-48*C per core
Load temps with Prime95 are 60-65*C per core
These temps are fine for everyday usage (preferences per each person may differ, but Intel says it fine at these temps)


So, your temps are fine. One thing that interests me about your post though: You said you lowered the CPU voltage from stock/auto down to 1.3v. What is your CPU VID, and what voltage was your motherboard feeding your CPU before? The max voltage these 45nm processors can handle safely is 1.3625v.

It defaults to 1.35v. How do I check the VID, I'm not really sure? Also, I looked on the Egg for a 130CFM scythe fan, but didn't see it. Can you link it? Mine's 63, I think, which seems to be the highest on the egg.


EDIT:

Ah, found it. VID is 1.25v. What's that tell you?

 

[unclewebb]

VID is the default voltage that a processor will ask a motherboard for at default MHz and with the core voltage set to AUTO in the bios. After voltage droop, you usually end up with less actual voltage when idle in Windows and a little less voltage again under full load. Use CPU-z to see what you're actually getting for voltage.

Most people believe that chips with low VID ratings tend to be good overclockers.

 

[jimbo6846]

It defaults to 1.35v. How do I check the VID, I'm not really sure? Also, I looked on the Egg for a 130CFM scythe fan, but didn't see it. Can you link it? Mine's 63, I think, which seems to be the highest on the egg.


EDIT:

Ah, found it. VID is 1.25v. What's that tell you?

1.35v is not too much voltage for the CPU, but it's much more than what's needed to operate at stock speeds. You could probably lower the voltage down to 1.20v or less if you want to keep the processor at 2.83Ghz. If you want to overclock, I have my Q9550 clocked at 3.74Ghz (440 FSB x 8.5 CPU multiplier) and have it stabilized with only 1.30v.

NOTE: For absolute specifics, your mileage may vary. Each chip is different, even if they come from the same batch.

Also, my Q9550 also has a VID of 1.25v. As far as I'm concerned, that means next to nothing because I can lower my CPU voltage down to 1.175v and the system is still Prime95 stable for 9+ hours. As the poster before me stated, the CPU VID is simply the amount of voltage the CPU tells the motherboard it needs if you set it to Auto in BIOS. How Intel derives that number though, I don't know.



Here's a link to the fan I use on the Xigmatek:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054

Keep in mind that fan is 38mm thick, and the stock Xigma fan is only 25mm thick. If you're going to get a 38mm fan, make sure you have the clearance on your motherboard. Some motherboards have the memory banks in the way, luckily mine doesn't (Asus P5Q Deluxe).

 

[gweminence]

1.35v is not too much voltage for the CPU, but it's much more than what's needed to operate at stock speeds. You could probably lower the voltage down to 1.20v or less if you want to keep the processor at 2.83Ghz. If you want to overclock, I have my Q9550 clocked at 3.74Ghz (440 FSB x 8.5 CPU multiplier) and have it stabilized with only 1.30v.

NOTE: For absolute specifics, your mileage may vary. Each chip is different, even if they come from the same batch.

Also, my Q9550 also has a VID of 1.25v. As far as I'm concerned, that means next to nothing because I can lower my CPU voltage down to 1.175v and the system is still Prime95 stable for 9+ hours. As the poster before me stated, the CPU VID is simply the amount of voltage the CPU tells the motherboard it needs if you set it to Auto in BIOS. How Intel derives that number though, I don't know.



Here's a link to the fan I use on the Xigmatek:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054

Keep in mind that fan is 38mm thick, and the stock Xigma fan is only 25mm thick. If you're going to get a 38mm fan, make sure you have the clearance on your motherboard. Some motherboards have the memory banks in the way, luckily mine doesn't (Asus P5Q Deluxe).

Thanks for the feedback. I'll play around with my voltages and freqs. Nice fan, I wonder why the 63 cfm one is twice the price?

 

[michaLcoughliN]

I havn't been around these forums in a long time, looking to possibly upgrade the cpu.

If these chips can hit 3.8 I'de be more then happy to upgrade. current specs in profile. This current setup runs great.

Hope to hear more positive posts on these chips.

 

[gweminence]

I havn't been around these forums in a long time, looking to possibly upgrade the cpu.

If these chips can hit 3.8 I'de be more then happy to upgrade. current specs in profile. This current setup runs great.

Hope to hear more positive posts on these chips.

Well I got mine to 3.6 without doing anything but changing the fsb, and, as previously stated, I even undervolted it. Theoretically, if I was willing to overvolt (I'm not), it seems that 4.0+ wouldn't be impossible...but I'm not going to try.

 

[gweminence]

1.35v is not too much voltage for the CPU, but it's much more than what's needed to operate at stock speeds. You could probably lower the voltage down to 1.20v or less if you want to keep the processor at 2.83Ghz. If you want to overclock, I have my Q9550 clocked at 3.74Ghz (440 FSB x 8.5 CPU multiplier) and have it stabilized with only 1.30v.
NOTE: For absolute specifics, your mileage may vary. Each chip is different, even if they come from the same batch.

Also, my Q9550 also has a VID of 1.25v. As far as I'm concerned, that means next to nothing because I can lower my CPU voltage down to 1.175v and the system is still Prime95 stable for 9+ hours. As the poster before me stated, the CPU VID is simply the amount of voltage the CPU tells the motherboard it needs if you set it to Auto in BIOS. How Intel derives that number though, I don't know.



Here's a link to the fan I use on the Xigmatek:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054

Keep in mind that fan is 38mm thick, and the stock Xigma fan is only 25mm thick. If you're going to get a 38mm fan, make sure you have the clearance on your motherboard. Some motherboards have the memory banks in the way, luckily mine doesn't (Asus P5Q Deluxe).

Is it set to 1.3v in bios, or higher, to achieve it when looking at cpuz? Mine seems to be slightly less than what I have it set for in bios, according to cpuz. I tried 440, and it seems to be stable.

 

[jimbo6846]

Well I got mine to 3.6 without doing anything but changing the fsb, and, as previously stated, I even undervolted it. Theoretically, if I was willing to overvolt (I'm not), it seems that 4.0+ wouldn't be impossible...but I'm not going to try.

Technically, you didn't really undervolt, you just lowered the voltage. Undervolting a processor with a VID of 1.25 would mean going below 1.25v.

As far as top ends of the Q9550, I can hit 475 FSB on my P5Q Deluxe. The highest clock speed I've tried so far is 3.9Ghz, which I was able to achieve. I never tested stability, but I'm sure it would've been fine.

 

[jimbo6846]

Is it set to 1.3v in bios, or higher, to achieve it when looking at cpuz? Mine seems to be slightly less than what I have it set for in bios, according to cpuz. I tried 440, and it seems to be stable.

That's called "Vdroop". The actual voltage shown in your OS (whether it's from CPU-Z, Everest, Speedfan, etc.) will be lower than what you have it set for in BIOS. You have to be careful though, because there can be times when the motherboard will kick up the juice and feed what you set in BIOS, so keep that in mind if you decide to increase the BIOS setting to offset Vdroop.

Also, most new motherboards have an option called Load Line Calibration, which reduces the amount of voltage lost from Vdroop.

EDIT: Testing 4.004Ghz right now (471 x 8.5, with 1.35v) in Prime95 with Small FFT test right now. So far, it is 10 minutes stable. Temps are hitting 66-70 per core. I wouldn't recommend this clock speed without very decent cooling. The CPU is certainly capable of it, though.

 

[gweminence]

That's called "Vdroop". The actual voltage shown in your OS (whether it's from CPU-Z, Everest, Speedfan, etc.) will be lower than what you have it set for in BIOS. You have to be careful though, because there can be times when the motherboard will kick up the juice and feed what you set in BIOS, so keep that in mind if you decide to increase the BIOS setting to offset Vdroop.

Also, most new motherboards have an option called Load Line Calibration, which reduces the amount of voltage lost from Vdroop.

Hmm, I haven't seen that in bios, but I'll look. I have an eVGA 780i FTW. Again, thanks for all your feedback.

 

[jimbo6846]

Hmm, I haven't seen that in bios, but I'll look. I have an eVGA 780i FTW. Again, thanks for all your feedback.

No problem I just learned most of this stuff myself, hehe. Glad I can pass it on.

 

[gweminence]

EDIT: Testing 4.004Ghz right now (471 x 8.5, with 1.35v) in Prime95 with Small FFT test right now. So far, it is 10 minutes stable. Temps are hitting 66-70 per core. I wouldn't recommend this clock speed without very decent cooling. The CPU is certainly capable of it, though.

lol wow. You're braver than I am I only tried 3.7 because I didn't have to bump the voltage. Did you bump it for 4.0?

 

[jimbo6846]

lol wow. You're braver than I am I only tried 3.7 because I didn't have to bump the voltage. Did you bump it for 4.0?

Yeah, to 1.35v. The maximum safe voltage for the 45nm chips, as per Intel, is 1.3625v. Anymore than that could (and has) damaged the chip.

I would never keep my CPU running that high, or hot, anyway. Though there's not much harm in testing it, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it there permanently.

 

[BX_TECH_GOD]

I'm trying to set everything back to stock on my P5Q/Q9550 until I re-apply some better thermal paste. My highest temp on load was 64C with the CPU running at 3.4ghz and 1.25v.
Can someone tell me how to restore the CPU voltage back to stock setting in the P5Q deluxe. Thanks!

UPDATE: Nevermind I figured it out.