Upgrading from a Q6700 to a QX9650

[gavinski]

to all you experienced OC'ers i recently brought my new rig here are the current specs

Q6700 2.66 currently overclocked to 3.25
4gb OCZ Reaper X
Asus Striker Extream flashed to latest bios
2 x ASUS 8800 GTX SLI
OCZ 1100 PSU
Coolermaster Stacker 832
4 x Raptor X 73gb Disks Raid 0
Asus PhysX Card
Bigwater 735 CPU Cooler

i am very new to the world of OC and i was very proud of myself getting the 2.6 to 3.2ghz without the need to spend anymore money but now i want more you guys are proberly the same i have tried to overclock more on my Q6700 but just cant seem to keep it stable so i decided to upgrade my CPU am getting a QX9650 which is stock at 3ghz what could i overclock this to does anybody know ? and if so how do i do it safely a real dummies guide would be great especially if anybody knows the striker extream motherboard settings if you guys need anything else just shout

 

[Lupiron]

You will have to get the processor and list the VID first, since that lists your starting voltage for stock speeds.

Down Load and run either Core Temp with EIST disabled, or Real Temp, and either one should show the VID of your processor.

List them both, if you will. Your q6700 is good for at least 3.6 Ghz for sure...

Your NVidia chipset mother board will just make things more interesting as far as getting to those higher speeds are concerned!

So once we see what your Q6700 VID is, we can then test your VDrop and droop, and then find a bios vcore that gets near what your chip will need for a higher speed!

You may wanna get a 9450, hehehe! And then for the same price, get me one, too! And then we can both over clock them to 3.6 + as well!

--Lupi

 

[gavinski]

so do you think its worth upgrading to the QX9650 ?

 

[Lupiron]

From what I have seen, the q9450 is worth the money, but the rest are not. Yet. When I see some Low VID 9550 and 9650s, then I may change my tune, but if all the VIDs are bad, they wont make good Over clockers.

Run Core Temp, and list the VID of your Q6700.

I hope it is a good one. (The Range is 1.2000 - 1.2350. You obviously want a lower VID, since it establishes your starting voltage for stock!)

--Lupi

 

[sailer]

OK, my two cents worth. I have a QX9650 and it overclocks easy and high. Whether or not its worth it is an individual choice, somewhat dictated by how much money you have. I've achieved 4.1ghz with air, but the temps did get rather hot, so I've backed it off to just under 3.8ghz.

I don't personally care for the Q9450 as it has a low multiplier. Often the Q9450 will not overclock as high using an Nvidia board as it will with a good Intel based board, but since you're running a SLI setup, you're limited to Nvidia boards. I think the Q9550 is better with its higher multiplier. The half step up in the multiplier doesn't look like much, but it becomes big when overclocking. If Intel would actually release the Q9650, it would be about perfect, but we'll have to wait a few months for that.

 

[Lupiron]

What is your VID?

--Lupi

 

[sailer]

The listed factory VID voltage range is .85-1.3625V.

I've presently got the Vcore set at 1.356V. When I did the 4.1ghz run, I had the Vcore at 1.45V. I've read of people raising it past 1.5V with watercooling, but that's getting a bit high. There have been reported chip failures at high voltages. Anandtech was running a QX9650 at 1.52v and they burned the chip, so that was warning enough for me to keep it down.

The ram is set at 2.06V.

 

[Lupiron]

I meant Run Core Temp, or Real temp, and list what it says YOUR chips VID is. They range from 1.1000 to 1.2500.

1.2500 being the worse, and also being what shows signs of intel Overclocking their own chips. If all the higher series are always high VID chips, that it.

Thanks!

--Lupi

 

[aznguy0028]

I think the Q9550 is better with its higher multiplier.

well on technical terms, yes, it is better because of the higher multiplier, but its an extra 200$ over the Q9450. i'm not saying you're wrong and i do agree that to each his own, and money is the factor of how strong you want your CPU to be. its obviously not the best bang for the buck, but again like you said, its personal preference.

@ OP: if you have a Q6700 at 3.2 ghz already, i say that is enough or even more than enough to anything out today. IMO, i would keep the Q6700 and save the money instead of going out to get QX9650. besides, what are you using your computer for?

one more note, if you're gonna go and spend 1,000$+ on a processor, i would rather wait for the nehalems to come out and blow my money on that. from what it seems, nehalems are gonna blow the current gen and everything with it, out of the water. i would think it would be a waste to see a 1,000$ QX9650 go down the drain in value after nehalem hits. just my two cents.

 

[aznguy0028]

BTW @ Lupi. i have a question for you since you seem to be the OC-ing person to talk to.

my VID on my Q9450 is 1.1000 (im lucky)

i have it currently OC-ed at 3.2ghz with 1.2315 voltage in BIOS, i haven't had time to go back to lower the voltage to see if it could run stable on less, because i was getting a few BSOD's back when i was OC-ing it. and now its perfectly stable. i think it was some other minor settings that was making my comp BSOD.

so question, in your opinion, do you think i could lower the voltage to let's say 1.2250 or even lower? reason i'm asking is i really don't have time to prime95 it for another 12+ hours because i'm taking summer school and schedule is packed and i need my computer almost all day, so yea. just wanted your opinion. thanks!

 

[Lupiron]

EIST, hehehe, messes with the new core temp reading of VID!

--Lupi

 

[shadowthor]

When the q9550 drops price, i might pick one up to see how well it overclocks .

 

[Lupiron]

If he decides to list his VID, we can see what kind of a power house q6700 he really has. High will be just 3.8 Ghz, so 3.6 is possible on them all.

A lower VID, 1.25000 will net you 3.9ish!

And lower a bit more with reasonable temps to boot!

--Lupi

 

[gavinski]

hi lupiron how do i get my vid and what is vid sorry for asking such a stupid question

 

[Lupiron]

Oh, just run Core Temp or Real temp. The newest Core temp needs EIST to be disabled.

it will tell ya then.

I have had the worse VID 1.3250, and it easily got 3.6 Ghz.

So that is your worse case deal. Unless the rest of your gear sux! Wait, its a striker, thats fine, heheheh!

--Lupi