q9550 on 780i ftw, 4ghz?

[shevanel]

the NB heatsink is hot when the fan blows away from the NB drawing air from the GPU.. but not so hot where you have to take your finger off..

When the fan is blowing into the NB the NB heatsink is cooler but the GPU gets too hot... 10c+ added

double edged sword

 

[phanbuey]

any luck with the voltages?

NB heat is also a major cause of crashes...

 

[shevanel]

gotta make my daughter dinner.. will attempt to stabalize it later. I'll keep you posted.. thanks for your help too, hopefully you can stop by when i update the thread to offer more.

 

[shevanel]

im staying at 3.6.. it seems to be the most stable @ 1.3vc

 

[Asylum]

Try 3.8Ghz
1.39 cpu
1.4 fsb
1.5 northbridge
And check your ram voltage to see if its getting enough voltage if your running it at higher speeds.

 

[shevanel]

I'm weary to run the cpu at 1.39 TBH..

Ram voltage is 1.92 and all other voltages are right about where you suggested for NB and FSB is 1.325 I beleive

 

[Cold Storm]

I've found that if you want to go and try 4ghz you gotta up it.. and p it good.. lol.. But, for my 24/7 on the system, I did 3.6ghz.. Not bad all around to keep it there.

 

[shevanel]

TBH I think my overlocking skills suck

[edit]

 

[shevanel]

since being introduced to intel burn test ive been trying to gte a stable OC.. even with 1.375 vcore I fail ITB at anything over stock FSB within 1 minute but prime95 can go over 7 hours small ftt's. i dont get it.

Ive tried 1.425 cpu fsb, 1.525 mcp 1.375 vcore @ 8.5 x 1400 and up and nothing lasts longer than 58-59 seconds in standard run of itb with 4 threads...

 

[Asylum]

Its your vcore. Go up to 1.4 and see what you get.
What are your memory timings and what speed are they running when you overclock?
Post a screenshot of CPU-Z with cpu and memory timings when overclocked.

 

[shevanel]

im off/on getting the kid ready for school but here is some quick info...

g skill 1100 mhz pi rated at 5-5-5-15 1.8v, its running 1100mhz 555-15 1.95 volts

ram in cpuz read dual channel 550 mhz 2x2gb

is 1.4 really a safe amount of juice ? i dont run my pc 24/7 but i do sometimes run it for up to 10 hours..

 

[phanbuey]

im off/on getting the kid ready for school but here is some quick info...

g skill 1100 mhz pi rated at 5-5-5-15 1.8v, its running 1100mhz 555-15 1.95 volts

ram in cpuz read dual channel 550 mhz 2x2gb

is 1.4 really a safe amount of juice ? i dont run my pc 24/7 but i do sometimes run it for up to 10 hours..

That could be your problem... Even though your memory is rated for 1100MHz, that speed puts alot of stress on the motherboard. Your NB FSB headroom will be decreased with ram at that speed.

Try to back your ram down to 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15 at 1.95 - if the test lasts longer, then you're on the right track

 

[shevanel]

Okay i will back the ram down and give it a shot

 

[Asylum]

Yea it sounds like it could be a memory problem.
If backing the speed down dont work then its time to break out memtest86 and see if you get any errors.

 

[shevanel]

same 59 second fail

1000mhz mem
1.35 vcore
450x8.5

 

[qamulek]

Do you have load line calibration enabled? Do you have other options in your bios for GTL ref or other ref voltages?

The voltage on my cpu had to ride a fine line to become stable at 450fsb. With load line calibration on I could get an easy initial overclock, but then as I raised the Vcore the cpu would crash due to the voltage pinging up. I turned load line calibration off which meant I had to increase the voltage a bit more due to vdroop, but I was able to reach a higher OC since I could increase my volts without ping up crashing my cpu. Eventually I reached the point where if I increased or lowered the Vcore my cpu would either crash or fail stress tests. Currently at 1.392V at idle and about 1.344V at prime95 load.

GTL ref had a significat effect on the stability of my cpu. Each setup(as well as possibly bios settings) requires a different GTL ref, so you have to vary it till you find a place of maximum stability.

 

[phanbuey]

Well you have a few choices.... You will be able to get stable at 3825 with extreme effort, but it won't be worth it... and it may never be truly 100% stable even if it passes stress tests.

Speaking of stress... the extra 225 Mhz is not worth it...

If you want to go faster, we're probably going to have to think a bit outside the box. With very few exceptions 450FSB is difficult for 7xx chipsets and 45nm quads... if you want 4GHz, you will need a new MB, a 9650, or a new setup altogether.

You can sell the Q9550 for alot more money than its worth... and use it to upgrade to a new platform... or you can sell the 780i and get an 790i, which will OC much easier.

 

[parelem]

increase your GTLVref lanes and test stability using the 32k and 320k prime tests for a few passes each. when you have the GTLVref lanes stabilized you should be able to drop your vcore down a bit. also, instead of running the ram at its rated speed, use a good multiplier ie 6:5, 5:4, 4:3. you'll have much better results

 

[shevanel]

i do have GTLVref lanes, but Im going to have to do some homework and figure out what theyr for

and i have no idea what load line cali is

 

[shevanel]

Ok GOOD news..

I dropped ram to 1000mhz and upped the vdimm up a notch @ 1.95
I increased the sp?>>>MCP bridge .5
Increased Vcore to 1.357 or something and chose "without vdroop"

Prime 95 ran blend test for over 10.5 hours while I was at work then I finally completed a ITB standard run whilst overclocked to 3500mhz...

Should I just assume this is stable and be happy? lol

 

[SK-1]

My 24/7 settings. This Xeon will bench @ 4.3 with 1.36v. My Dual Core E8600 will bench @4.4 on this same 780i.

I also have the pencil Vdroop mod.

 

[shevanel]

readin and weapin'

 

[r9]

I`m not too familiar with Q9xxx but from I have read so far theirs overclocks are FSB limited more than anything elese. If q9550 was unlocked it would go 4.5GHz at 1.5V IMO anyway .

 

[shevanel]

quick question:

Would enabling intel speedstep cause any problems? I would like to try and minimize heat/powr consumption if poss..

 

[Xazax]

Just from personal experience, i couldnt get a Q9550 to 4.0Ghz, but this was on a Gigabyte EP45-DS3R board, which i would hope would of been a better clocking board, this was a build done for my friend and i got him a Q9550 and EP45, Tried OCing for him to 4.0ghz but couldnt do it i had the CPU all the way up to 1.45v and VTT to 1.4v! had NB to 1.45v PLL @ 1.85v and still wouldnt do it, could get 3.7Ghz stable with it, but the temps and heat was too much for a Thermalright 128SI-SE /w only a 1200 RPM scythe fan.

I ended up setting him up with 3.4Ghz(400FSB) /w 1.3v and it ran great and was very cool around 50C load.

Personally, i think its better to overclock your CPU as HIGH as possible ON STOCK voltages, you'll get more life out of the CPU, still get the Extra performance, and keeps your PC cooler.