This was requested by a few people wanting to see what the Xeon 45nms could do vs the Q9450. While I can't give you the Q side of it, I will do what I can to comprehensively review the Xeon.
First off, BIOS flash to 1004 was necessary on the Maximus Formula SE X38 Mobo, so be ready Asus owners.
On to the OC! For the first test, I just went to 3.2. FSB to 400(x8). Vcore at 1.2 in BIOS, 1.136 under Prime load. I left NB voltage to auto for the moment. Cores are between 65 and 72c during Prime 95 Small FFT. CoreTemp reports that in Vista finally, but I hope it's wrong.
As you can see, the cores are already pretty toasty. I think I have a little more room to play due to the higher Tjunction Max, but it just makes me nervous I hope I have been bitten by the faulty sensor bug I may download RealTemp and compare, Comp says it is the one to trust now.
I will update this as I go, and post the Review portion after locking in the final OC.
Update: I'm retarded and had my fan mounted backwards on my TRUE.....that OC failed anyway, not due to temps.
I'll wait until I get a stable OC to post progress
Update: Can't get 3.6 to load Windows with as much as 1.4 vcore in BIOS.... Sticking with 3.4, which seems stable at 1.3125 in BIOS.
8:24PM - CoreTemp shows a +10c difference to Real Temp. There is no way Core Temp is correct, because as of right now, it's showing cores over 85c. Surely, that would at least throttle the CPU, if not shutdown. I know the shutoff Tcase temp on the 6750 was 72c. I don't know what it is for the Penryn series.
Real Temp seems to be very accurate. Idle temps in the 40s seems possible with a quad at 3.4. Core Temp shows idles in high 50s, can't be true.
I am kind of dissapointed with this chip as far as a great OC'er. I didn't necessarily expect it to be, but I thought I could get at least 3.6 with all of the 3.8s and 4.0s you see everywhere on the QX9650. I wil continue to attempt 3.6 after I make sure 3.4 is stable at lowest voltage needed. I don't wanna have to do this twice if I somehow can't get 3.6.
Interesting side note.. I fail POST at 3.4 with my RAM set to 1066 (EPP Profile stock speed) and stock timings, with proper voltage. I had to slightly underclock the RAM for it to pass POST. Possibly the rumored 4 x 1GB stick is bad for overclocking (on a quad)?
Update in the morning. Stressing overnight.
First off, BIOS flash to 1004 was necessary on the Maximus Formula SE X38 Mobo, so be ready Asus owners.
On to the OC! For the first test, I just went to 3.2. FSB to 400(x8). Vcore at 1.2 in BIOS, 1.136 under Prime load. I left NB voltage to auto for the moment. Cores are between 65 and 72c during Prime 95 Small FFT. CoreTemp reports that in Vista finally, but I hope it's wrong.
As you can see, the cores are already pretty toasty. I think I have a little more room to play due to the higher Tjunction Max, but it just makes me nervous I hope I have been bitten by the faulty sensor bug I may download RealTemp and compare, Comp says it is the one to trust now.
I will update this as I go, and post the Review portion after locking in the final OC.
Update: I'm retarded and had my fan mounted backwards on my TRUE.....that OC failed anyway, not due to temps.
I'll wait until I get a stable OC to post progress
Update: Can't get 3.6 to load Windows with as much as 1.4 vcore in BIOS.... Sticking with 3.4, which seems stable at 1.3125 in BIOS.
8:24PM - CoreTemp shows a +10c difference to Real Temp. There is no way Core Temp is correct, because as of right now, it's showing cores over 85c. Surely, that would at least throttle the CPU, if not shutdown. I know the shutoff Tcase temp on the 6750 was 72c. I don't know what it is for the Penryn series.
Real Temp seems to be very accurate. Idle temps in the 40s seems possible with a quad at 3.4. Core Temp shows idles in high 50s, can't be true.
I am kind of dissapointed with this chip as far as a great OC'er. I didn't necessarily expect it to be, but I thought I could get at least 3.6 with all of the 3.8s and 4.0s you see everywhere on the QX9650. I wil continue to attempt 3.6 after I make sure 3.4 is stable at lowest voltage needed. I don't wanna have to do this twice if I somehow can't get 3.6.
Interesting side note.. I fail POST at 3.4 with my RAM set to 1066 (EPP Profile stock speed) and stock timings, with proper voltage. I had to slightly underclock the RAM for it to pass POST. Possibly the rumored 4 x 1GB stick is bad for overclocking (on a quad)?
Update in the morning. Stressing overnight.