Help me get Q9550 @ 4Ghz!!

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IceVip

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May 2, 2013
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First of let me say that the reason i want it at 4Ghz is because 2 weeks ago i bought a 7870 Sapphire OC ed. and that thing is getting bottlenecked LIKE HELL.

Judge yourself by the picture below.(Settings: all at VH and FXAA, 720p)
asdfzj.png


Thats a picture with the cpu at 3.595 Ghz(3.6).
When i turn down the clock to default which is 2.83 the
GPU usage goes down to 45%, FPS is 19 and CPU usage stays the same.
Every single game i try the usage is always under 99% except
if I'm not looking at the sky or something. Assassin's Creed 3
is hilarious, GPU usage at a total maxout and 2048x1152 is 30%.
And yes i game at 2048x1152, my monitor is Syncmaster 2343NW.
My previous card was AMD 6870 OC'ed, didn't have any problems with it though.

Here are all the PC Specs.
GPU: Sapphire 7870 OC Edition.
CPU: Core2Quad Q9550 - with Cooler Master V6 GT
PSU: Diamond Black 400W 80+
MB: Asus P5QL (Just P5QL, not Pro not anything, keep in mind.)
RAM: 2x2GB Kingston 800Mhz

Here are the Bios Settings, ill just post 3 pictures.
img20130502212932.jpg

img20130502213004.jpg

img20130502213029.jpg


There's something else you need to know.
If i bypass 422FSB, just say i put 423 my internet dissapears, (Its not visible in the Device manager, nor anywhere.)
like there's no lan card intergrated into the motherboard, i tried this
with 2 different mobo's and it does the same thing if i bypass 422 the
internet is gone, i think by getting an external lan card it may fix it but
that will be a total experiment cuz i have no idea im just randomly guessing.
And last thing, Don't get all geeky because I technically have no idea
what I'm doing when I'm touching the volts, nor any other setting, I can
only overclock a graphics card properly, not cpu..
 
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You really need to read a guide on how to overclock that series of chip. The 1st bit of advice I can give you is that when motherboard features stop working, it usually means the PCI bus speed has been changed from the default of 100 Mhz. There is usually an option on most motherboards that allow overclocking to Lock the PCI Bus at 100 Mhz, if not, look for a manual setting, and keep it at 100Mhz. Worst case scenario is that it is synced with CPU bus speed. Then you will have to reduce the PCI bus speed in the same % that you are raising the CPU bus speed, so that the end result is the PCI bus speed is around 100Mhz.

Let me know if you have the option to lock the PCI bus at 100Mhz. Also check to make sure Spread Spectrum is turned off.
 
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I have an option to manually lock it to 100Mhz, should i do that anyways? Even though I'm stable at 3.6 atm and everything seems to be in order, About the Spread Spectrum I've seen many people comment about it being of but i don't have such option in the bios.
 
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Re: lock the bus to 100Mhz- yes do that. Please also download CPU-z and check the bus speeds BEFORE you make the change, so you can see what its at, and what it goes to when you change it.

Re: Spread spectrum - usually located in the CPU overclock section, most modern motherboards default is Off anyways, so don't fret.
 
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System failed to boot and setted bios to default settings when trying to change it manually to 100.
I guess its probably running higher than that lol.

Btw i had spread spectrum and i probably set it off long time ago, just forgot that i had it as an option.
 
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Well even though the setting for FSB in the bios is set at 422, in CPU-z it shows BUS Speed: 423
Which is odd, and if i touch the pci-e freq in the bios i get a boot failure so i can't check the cpu-z
info with 100mhz freq.
 
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The pci freq options were 100 and above, no 99 or less.

And how can i tell if my ram is being overclocked too far :\? its at 846Mhz atm
With the older motherboard i had it running at 960, when the FSB was at 400.
 
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Your RAM is being overclocked if its at 845 Mhz. Try dropping it to the next step below. Don't be concerned about performance from the RAM - read the articles at Toms and others that have tested memory in the modern age, and show that at most it has 1-2 fps difference, usually not even 1 fps. This may help out the overclock. Also, try the PCIe lock again once the RAM is adjusted slower.

There is also an option for FSB strap to Northbridge - try changing this from Auto to some of the other settings. It adjusts the Northbridge timings, and may let you boot past 422 mhz.
 
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Well 846mhz is the lowest the ram can go, every other option is just up up and away, so check that off from the list.
If i touch the FSB strap to northbridge, and set it manually to 400, and then adjust the timings(even if i don't), usually it crashes when the windows is loading, it just freezes on the loading screen.
 
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Well, not sure if you saw this page while searching, but I poached it from some forum. Just remember to monitor temps if it succeeds in booting.
(This is from a Asus P5QE)(Also, you could try getting 1066Mhz RAM to run at 848 or 896Mhz -just 1 stick to test with)

Settings for Q9550 for 3.6ghz - should be possible for every Q9550

Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
CPU Ratio Setting : 8.5
FSB Frequency : 424
PCIE Frequency: 105
FSB Strap to North Bridge : Auto (p5q pro has some problems with straps)
DRAM Frequency: Auto, this will be set to 848Mhz (or change to the mhz of your memory)
DRAM Timing Control: Auto (adjust to your timings of your memory)

DRAM Static Read Control: Auto
Dram Read Training : Auto
MEM OC Charger : Auto
Ai Clock Twister : Auto
Ai Transaction Booster : Auto

CPU Voltage : Set what you need, this will range from 1.20-1.4v
CPU GTL Reference: Auto
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.50
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.30
DRAM Voltage : 2.1
NB Voltage : 1.2-1.5v (quads are alot harder than dual cores to clock, the NB voltage helps with the higher FSB on quad)
PCIE Sata Voltage: Auto

Load Line Calabration : Enabled
CPU Sread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled
CPU Clock Skew: Auto
MB Clock Skew: Auto



Settings for Q9550 for 3.8ghz - Might not be possbile on every motherboard (all motherboards overclock differently). CPU should be capable.

Ai Overclock Tuner : Manual
CPU Ratio Setting : 8.5
FSB Frequency : 448
PCIE Frequency: 105
FSB Strap to North Bridge : Auto (p5q pro has some problems with straps)
DRAM Frequency: Auto, this will be set to 896Mhz (or change to the mhz of your memory)
DRAM Timing Control: Auto (adjust to your timings of your memory)

DRAM Static Read Control: Auto
Dram Read Training : Auto
MEM OC Charger : Auto
Ai Clock Twister : Auto
Ai Transaction Booster : Auto

CPU Voltage : Set what you need, this will range from 1.20-1.4v
CPU GTL Reference: Auto
CPU PLL Voltage : 1.6
FSB Termination Voltage: 1.30-1.40 (try 1.3, and if its not stable, raise it)
DRAM Voltage : 2.1
NB Voltage : 1.2-1.5v (quads are alot harder than dual cores to clock, the NB voltage helps with the higher FSB on quad)
PCIE Sata Voltage: Auto

Load Line Calabration : Enabled
CPU Sread Spectrum : Disabled
PCIE Spread Spectrum : Disabled
CPU Clock Skew: Auto
MB Clock Skew: Auto
 
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Well, i tried the settings for 3.8, the pc did not post, i didn't try the other ones because its kinda pointless cuz i already have a stable 3.6
 
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@IceVip 4ghz is a lofty goal bordering on impossible with your hardware and a Q9550, when you increase the FSB you're increasing the Kingston 800mhz memory speed, and Kingston was not very accommodating back in those days as allowing to be pushed too far past it's spec'd speed.

I overclocked my Q9550 to 4.0ghz so your title pulled me in, in hopes you had the hardware that could actually get you to 4ghz which IMO you do not have, and your 4ghz goal is just not going to happen for you.

However I would absolutely love for you to prove me wrong regarding this, it's just from my experience I know what's in store for you, and how hard it is to get a Q9550 to 4ghz.

Your motherboard specs listed it could run DDR2 1066mhz memory, which would have given you more of an edge, but still not enough to get you to 4ghz.

Those of us that reached 4ghz shopped at the time for the best of the best overclocking motherboards that could run DDR3 memory and I reached 4ghz running 2,000mhz memory, simply because the memory could handle jacking up the FSB, then fine tuning the PLL, VTT, and GTL voltages.

Have you even considered possibly upgrading to maybe a Sandy or Ivy bridge setup, because even a Sandy bridge 2500K not overclocked will deliver your gaming desires.

 
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Meh, if i had the money i would buy a 3570k right away, but sadly i don't so i can't.
And about the ram oc' ability, if i do 400 FSB and put the ram to 960mhz, it runs stable 😛.
But if i put 423 FSB and 850Mhz it won't even post.
 
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Sorry!

Even without overclocking the extra memory speed would help your gaming, and should help you overclock further.

It was just a suggestion.

You can sift through the link below and maybe find someone that overclocked with your similar hardware that posted their settings and maybe you'll find what you're looking for.

http://www.overclock.net/t/422093/the-q9550-club-please-read-first-post

 
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