# Q9550/4Ghz  {The Final Assault} Overclocking (take 3)



## FreedomEclipse (Jul 28, 2009)

after doing a little reading on teh interwebz wut voltages ppl were pushing through their NB on their P5Q Pro I decided to have a final attempt at trying to hit 4ghz...

So what I did, - upped the NB voltage to 1.4v (i was running it at 1.3v previously) & upped the FSB till i got to 4.2Ghz & started testing in OCCT, underclocking it by 5mhz each time it failed & playing around with the VTT/FSB Termination Voltage & CPU PLL

I started at around 2pm in the afternoon & I had my final stable overclock around 6-7pm then I spent the rest of the time messing around with my ram, since it was clocked down I tried to tighten up the timings a little.

so heres the result of my days labour.....












Unfortunately i wasnt able to reach full on 4Ghz overclock but I managed to get damn fucking close.

after my Ram past 2 runs of memtest without errors I increased my FSB by 1Mhz to get 4Ghz & went back into OCCT, but unfortunately it wasnt having any of it....

I think my motherboard might suffer from VDROOP/Overvolting im not sure.... but Idle its 1.39v &1.41 when its underload.

so I think its safe to say, I have hit the limit of what my hardware can do unless I decide to up NB voltage to 1.5v - something im definitely not willing to do unless I have better cooling since its sandwiched between 2 hot 4870s.

Ive had enough of this shit anyway. I need some whisky after this not only is my quad stressed - so is my heart.

Let me know what you think - Or dont, i really dont care. but it would be awesome to get some feedback.

yours truely...

Mr. Eclipse.

I  you all




*.:EDIT:.*

forgot to add, default ram timings were 5-5-5-15. I tried it at 4-4-4-12 but it wouldnt post, I maybe able to get timings tighter but thats enough for today i think


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## stanhemi (Jul 28, 2009)

hi nice overclocked,i have a similar problem with my q9550 i finally found 

in the bios ''cpu margin enhancement = optimized'' it a no go  try COMPATIBLE mode

my volt for 4012mhz

vcore 1,35
nb     1,38
fsb    1.34
ram   2.20


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 28, 2009)

stanhemi said:


> hi nice overclocked,i have a similar problem with my q9550 i finally found
> 
> in the bios ''cpu margin enhancement = optimized'' it a no go  try COMPATIBLE mode



awesome!!! I will give that a go right now!!


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## oily_17 (Jul 28, 2009)

Redoing my water loop at the moment but when I tested my 9550 it seemed to love NB voltage - had mine up to 1.65V


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## Bundy (Jul 28, 2009)

I found adjusting performance level looser enables much less NB volts to be needed. This gives much lower NB temp and better stability. As it appears you are at the limit with vcore, maybe this might get you over the line?

Consider the NB like RAM with performance enhance being it's timing. Two factors to consider, frequency and latency, and _both_ influence required NB volts.


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## stanhemi (Jul 28, 2009)

let me know if you hit 4000mhz. I can share my bios setting with you if it help you.i have a p5q-e.

ho and i just take 2 month to reach 4000mhz lol (without help i try every F$#&# bios setting)
now i can post at 500fsb and be stable for 5 pass of linpack.


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## dadi_oh (Jul 28, 2009)

I have almost the same system. ASUS P5Q-PRO with a Q9550 E0 and a Vendetta 2 heatsink. My ram is OCZ Reaper 2X2GB PC2-8500 and I haev a pair of 4870 512MB in crossfire.

I am still playing with getting it stable at 4GHz as well. Doing some reading and puttering away at it when I get a chance. At the moment I run stable at 3.8GHz (see attached) with 1.4V on teh NB but I haven't yet tried bumping my Vcore as high as yours. I did discover some stability at 4GHz with 1.35V vcore but didn't test long enough to know for sure.

I am subscribing to this thread and will share what I learn. I will also try whatever else others post to see what I can do to improve.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 29, 2009)

stanhemi - a thousand thank you's. I never would have made 4Ghz without you - OCCT stable!!!! but it didnt like going any higher



oily_17 said:


> Redoing my water loop at the moment but when I tested my 9550 it seemed to love NB voltage - had mine up to 1.65V



do you have your NB under water too??


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## dadi_oh (Jul 29, 2009)

dadi_oh said:


> I have almost the same system. ASUS P5Q-PRO with a Q9550 E0 and a Vendetta 2 heatsink. My ram is OCZ Reaper 2X2GB PC2-8500 and I haev a pair of 4870 512MB in crossfire.
> 
> I am still playing with getting it stable at 4GHz as well. Doing some reading and puttering away at it when I get a chance. At the moment I run stable at 3.8GHz (see attached) with 1.4V on teh NB but I haven't yet tried bumping my Vcore as high as yours. I did discover some stability at 4GHz with 1.35V vcore but didn't test long enough to know for sure.
> 
> I am subscribing to this thread and will share what I learn. I will also try whatever else others post to see what I can do to improve.



Well I tried the recommendation to change CPU Margin to "compatible" but that seemed to give me the same results.

Maybe someone can help me with a question however. I can get Prime95 to run indefinitely at small FFT which means to me that the processor cores themselves are happy. It is only on teh 1024K tests that I run into almost immediate problems. This suggests to me that it is the interface from the CPU to the NB. I know the memory is happy at much higher frequencies so I am positive that it is not memory related. Any thoughts? See screenshots below.


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## dadi_oh (Jul 29, 2009)

FreedomEclipse said:


> http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n210/FinalFreedomEclipse/4Ghz-1.jpg
> 
> stanhemi - a thousand thank you's. I never would have made 4Ghz without you - OCCT stable!!!! but it didnt like going any higher
> 
> ...



Congrats! Was it the CPU margin enhancement that did it for you?

Could you share your bios settings with me? You are using quite a bit higher voltage than I have tried but wondering if there are other settings that may differ from mine.

Also, what are your temps under load at that voltage. You have the same heatsink as I do so I would expect similar results.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 29, 2009)

dadi_oh said:


> Well I tried the recommendation to change CPU Margin to "compatible" but that seemed to give me the same results.
> 
> Maybe someone can help me with a question however. I can get Prime95 to run indefinitely at small FFT which means to me that the processor cores themselves are happy. It is only on teh 1024K tests that I run into almost immediate problems. This suggests to me that it is the interface from the CPU to the NB. I know the memory is happy at much higher frequencies so I am positive that it is not memory related. Any thoughts? See screenshots below.



try a custom P5Q Pro bios - thats what im running.

Custom Bios's can be found >Here< its also a club so, you can join that too since you have a P45 based motherboard


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 29, 2009)

dadi_oh said:


> Congrats! Was it the CPU margin enhancement that did it for you?
> 
> Could you share your bios settings with me? You are using quite a bit higher voltage than I have tried but wondering if there are other settings that may differ from mine.
> 
> Also, what are your temps under load at that voltage. You have the same heatsink as I do so I would expect similar results.



ummm I get around to posting my bios settings up in a bit. but temps generally werent too bad, around 60-65'c which is pushing it a little but its still safe. So long as it aint hitting 70-75'c its fine.


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## SonDa5 (Jul 29, 2009)

Improve your cooling to get your CPU under 50 degrees celsius during full load and you should be able to lower your voltage some and maintain the same speed. Either that or increase speed with more voltage only when you improve CPU cooling.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 29, 2009)

SonDa5 said:


> Improve your cooling to get your CPU under 50 degrees celsius during full load and you should be able to lower your voltage some and maintain the same speed. Either that or increase speed with more voltage only when you improve CPU cooling.



Impossible - I already have 5x120mm & 1 200mm fans running if not at full whack then at medium speeds - It wont get any cooler unless i shell out abouther £50 on a new 'better' cooler

anyway, here are my bios settings....


--------

FSB Freq - 471

FSB Strap to NB - Auto

Dram Freq - DDR2- 943Mhz

Dram Control - Auto/Manual (depends if you want to tweak your ram)

Cpu Voltage - 1.40 (yes I suffer from Vdrop i think)

cpu GTL - Auto

CPU PLL - 1.54v

FSB Termination voltage - 1.60

NB Voltage - 1.40

Load Line Calibaration - Enabled

CPU margin Enhancement - Compatible

-------

C1E setting - Off

Hardware Virtualisation - Off

Execute Disable bit - Off

-------

Pretty much 'my' settings but theres no garantee that you will be able to run the same settings as your not using the same bios as me. (special thanks to alexp999)


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## stanhemi (Jul 29, 2009)

@freedom eclipse   can you try to lower your fsb  before i found the margin enhancement setting my fsb voltage was at 1.52 now i only need 1.34 and nb 1.38 for me this is good for 8.5 x 500 and it stable under occt (4 hour)and linpack(10 pass)


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 29, 2009)

stanhemi said:


> @freedom eclipse   can you try to lower your fsb  before i found the margin enhancement setting my fsb voltage was at 1.52 now i only need 1.34 and nb 1.38 for me this is good for 8.5 x 500 and it stable under occt (4 hour)and linpack(10 pass)



thats because your water cooled lol. Ive had enough sitting around while its been testing today so I will play around with it more 2moro.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 29, 2009)

been testing all day again, & I put all my overclocks that were 1hr OCCT stable though 4hrs of OCCT to make sure they were stable. some failed within 30mins, some failed after 2-3hrs. so i was forced to play around with the set up again.

& Its finally come down to 3.9Ghz that made it past 4hrs of OCCT. Looks like my hardware really cant take it to 4ghz.


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## dadi_oh (Jul 29, 2009)

FreedomEclipse said:


> been testing all day again, & I put all my overclocks that were 1hr OCCT stable though 4hrs of OCCT to make sure they were stable. some failed within 30mins, some failed after 2-3hrs. so i was forced to play around with the set up again.
> 
> & Its finally come down to 3.9Ghz that made it past 4hrs of OCCT. Looks like my hardware really cant take it to 4ghz.



Oh well. The 4GHz is really just a psychological boost anyways. Doubt you would ever notice a difference.

I also am running at 450X8.5 (3.8GHz) right now at 1.300V. At least with that FSB I can run a 5:4 RAM divider and use my Reapers at 1080MHz   It seems that I am going to have to take my Vcore up in the 1.35V to 1.4V range to reach past 4GHz and I am thinking it may not be worth it.

I am toying with the idea of not selling my watercooling loop and instead installing it on this machine to get the max out of my Q9550. Also, it would get some of the heat out of the case. I have a pair of 4870's in there and fortunately their heatsinks pump their exhaust out of the case. Otherwise I might be melting the solder on the motehrboard


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 29, 2009)

Ive still got the ram timings though. but its running a 900Mhz@5-4-4-12 which from what I read is slightly better in real world apps. thats not so say that running ram at 1081mhz (which i was) is a bad thing. but thats more for people who love to bench their rigs over n over again. though the results were purely subjective to what processor you had, but they tested a C2D E6300 & it loved the tighter timings. often resulting in a small 2-3% system performance increase in real world apps. for higher speeds though It did improve benchmark scores around 5% on & off so it really depends how you use your pc.

Ive always been told tighter timings are always better then high speeds. but if your ram can run tight timings at high speeds then that certainly is a bonus!

Unfortunately. my reapers cant do 5-4-4-12@1081mhz


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## SonDa5 (Jul 30, 2009)

The right ram will do wonders for over clocking.

As a rule of thumb when I over clock my cpu before booting into the operating system I always boot to floppy disk and run Memtest86.
If the RAM has errors I tune it up in the BIOS and run Memtest86 till I get a clean run.
A few clear runs on the memory and then I boot to OS.


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## BradleyKZN (Jul 30, 2009)

Im so glad I found this!


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## oily_17 (Jul 30, 2009)

FreedomEclipse said:


> anyway, here are my bios settings....
> 
> 
> --------
> ...



Are you still running your FSB termination at 1.6V ??

I would try lowering it to less than 1.4V, just to be on the safe side.
I read somewhere that any more than ~1.5V for a extended period of time can cause these Q9XX0 chips to degrade.

If I find the link again I will post it up for you to read.


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## InnocentCriminal (Jul 30, 2009)

Nicely done Freedom!

I'm still stuck at 3.75GHz and gaggin' to get to 4GHz unfortunately everyone seems to have a P45. 



Still, nice to see you've hit 4GHz!


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## dadi_oh (Jul 31, 2009)

Well I played around with some settings just to see how high I could bench this thing. I managed to take a few benches at 500X8.5=4250MHz at 1.416V core. I haven't tried for stability at this setting but I kind of doubt it from past experience trying to hit 4GHz. Also a bit nervous about temps since I am on air. Fun for benches though.

3dMark06 = 23644
Wprime 32M = 9.59 sec
Sandra CPU = 70.91 GIPS / 57.85 GFLOPS


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## dadi_oh (Jul 31, 2009)

dadi_oh said:


> Well I played around with some settings just to see how high I could bench this thing. I managed to take a few benches at 500X8.5=4250MHz at 1.416V core. I haven't tried for stability at this setting but I kind of doubt it from past experience trying to hit 4GHz. Also a bit nervous about temps since I am on air. Fun for benches though.
> 
> 3dMark06 = 23644
> Wprime 32M = 9.59 sec
> Sandra CPU = 70.91 GIPS / 57.85 GFLOPS



Well as I suspected this was definitely not stable. About 1 minute into Prime95 it crashed teh machine. Fun while it lasted...


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 31, 2009)

InnocentCriminal said:


> Nicely done Freedom!
> 
> I'm still stuck at 3.75GHz and gaggin' to get to 4GHz unfortunately everyone seems to have a P45.
> 
> ...



Unfortunately not quite  couldnt pass 4hrs stable on OCCT till i cranked it down to 3.9ghz


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## MoonPig (Jul 31, 2009)

I've got my Q9550 at 3.8GHz stable. 1.2625v


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 31, 2009)

oily_17 said:


> Are you still running your FSB termination at 1.6V ??
> 
> I would try lowering it to less than 1.4V, just to be on the safe side.
> I read somewhere that any more than ~1.5V for a extended period of time can cause these Q9XX0 chips to degrade.
> ...



Ive just read it....Im not too sure how to take it tbh,

45nm quads have been out for a while but isnt there more cases like this being reported on the next? All ive found is just andtechs report & them saying how close theyve worked with intel engineers to find out the cause of their QX9770 death... also stating the fact that it wasnt safe to run VTT above 1.4v on 45nm quads.

id this is so true why is this the only reported incident??

I kinda shit my pants when i read it & i logged off straight away & went back to 1.5v which I think is acceptable if your running a heavily overclocked CPU.

I dunno about Andtech. if their afraid to push their hardware to the limits they might aswell quit writing reviews. since im guessing that that 1.4v VTT as quoted by Intel power engineers will set the standard of how high Andtech will push their hardware when it comes to reviews.

With sites like Andtech, Id say its more a case that they really abused the hardware they review - or at least their 'OWN' hardware used to make the review - the Qx9770 was no doubt plugged into countless numbers of motherboards & volted up & down like a yo yo time & time again, with the added factor that each motherboard handles voltages differently no matter if they came off the line at the same time. im not suprised it broke.

you up the voltage to overclock your cpu. why should VTT be seen any different? 
every item has a breaking point it all depends how you use it.


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## InnocentCriminal (Jul 31, 2009)

Well, I've just fiddled with BIOS options and I'm now running at 3.825GHz (450MHz) this isn't usually stable but hopefully the adjustments I made this time (and with my new HX750W) I should see an improvement - stability wise.

I believe the VTT is actually called CPU PLL within the BIOS for my P5E3 - if so I think mine is set pretty high.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 31, 2009)

InnocentCriminal said:


> Well, I've just fiddled with BIOS options and I'm now running at 3.825GHz (450MHz) this isn't usually stable but hopefully the adjustments I made this time (and with my new HX750W) I should see an improvement - stability wise.
> 
> I believe the VTT is actually called CPU PLL within the BIOS for my P5E3 - if so I think mine is set pretty high.



CPU PLL is something totally different. - I have CPU PLL & FSB Termination options in my bios.


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## stanhemi (Jul 31, 2009)

cpu pll is not the same thing as vtt   my cpu pll is set to 1.56 and my fsb voltage at 1.40

vtt= fsb voltage  (a lot of people told me to keep it under 1.50)
cpu pll  ( from what i understand  1.50 to 1.60 max)

freedomEclipse  beat me on this one


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 31, 2009)

Forgot to add, for those of you who would like to read Andtechs 'VTT Killah' report, it can be found >HERE< keep reading down to the very bottom. as the staff try to answer the questions,


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## InnocentCriminal (Jul 31, 2009)

FreedomEclipse said:


> CPU PLL is something totally different. - I have CPU PLL & FSB Termination options in my bios.



As do I, however I do not have a VTT option anywhere. 3.825GHz isn't stable crashes as soon as I launched a game. OK, if VTT is FSB Voltage, why on earth call it VTT when it's not called that? Or is it called that in the P5Q boards/P45?



Not to worry, I'll be moving my rig over to an Antec 300 soon, I'll do a complete rebuild then as I'll have Windows 7 Ultimate by then.


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## stanhemi (Jul 31, 2009)

InnocentCriminal said:


> As do I, however I do not have a VTT option anywhere. 3.825GHz isn't stable crashes as soon as I launched a game. OK, if VTT is FSB Voltage, why on earth call it VTT when it's not called that? Or is it called that in the P5Q boards/P45?
> 
> 
> 
> Not to worry, I'll be moving my rig over to an Antec 300 soon, I'll do a complete rebuild then as I'll have Windows 7 Ultimate by then.



In my bios it is written fsb voltage p5q-e(p45)


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## FreedomEclipse (Jul 31, 2009)

InnocentCriminal said:


> I'll *have* Windows 7 Ultimate by then.



Legit??


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## InnocentCriminal (Aug 1, 2009)

FreedomEclipse said:


> Legit??



Yeah, I'm an IT Technician remember. Perks of the job!


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 1, 2009)

InnocentCriminal said:


> Yeah, I'm an IT Technician remember. Perks of the job!



well, if you got money to spare thats cool   I'l just stick to my warez for now until something goes terribly terribly wrong....& if nothing happends past march then I dont need to buy a new copy of Win7


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## InnocentCriminal (Aug 1, 2009)

I'm not buying it. Like I said, perks of the job! Doesn't the RC start shutting down ever 2 hours come March?


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## Homeless (Aug 1, 2009)

May I ask what your VID is on that chip?  I find 1.4v for 4ghz extremely high as I have seen many lower.  I just got a 1.2875 VID chip (quite high) the other day and I only need 1.312v to get 4ghz


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## InnocentCriminal (Aug 1, 2009)

Mines 1.25 if you were addressing that remark to me.


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 1, 2009)

Homeless said:


> May I ask what your VID is on that chip?  I find 1.4v for 4ghz extremely high as I have seen many lower.  I just got a 1.2875 VID chip (quite high) the other day and I only need 1.312v to get 4ghz



I think my VID is just under 1.4v & those CPUZ screenies are old & dont mean anything since i wasnt able to keep it stable at the speeds. whatever it is, I just think my Vendetta2 does a pretty half arsed job at keeping it cool so i could gain higher clocks on lower voltage.

Im not entirely fussed at the moment but I will be seeking a new cooler when i get the funds.


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## dadi_oh (Aug 2, 2009)

FreedomEclipse said:


> I think my VID is just under 1.4v & those CPUZ screenies are old & dont mean anything since i wasnt able to keep it stable at the speeds. whatever it is, I just think my Vendetta2 does a pretty half arsed job at keeping it cool so i could gain higher clocks on lower voltage.
> 
> Im not entirely fussed at the moment but I will be seeking a new cooler when i get the funds.



The Vendetta 2's are actually quite a decent cooler and can hold their own against much more expensive coolers. However, being a direct contact heatpipe the application of TIM is a little different than for other flat finished heatsinks.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...8580-ocz-vendetta-2-cpu-cooler-review-10.html

For thermal paste application guide for these types of heatsinks see the following link.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=38


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 2, 2009)

thats easier said then done - Id like to reapply my thermal jizz but given the size of the Antec 902 (last time im buying a mid tower case) id have to completely dismantle the pc more or less & the pushpin system on the cooler really gets on my nerves, its just really awkward to fit tower coolers like the Vendetta2 on. unless its got its own fitting system like abackplate that goes underneath the motherboard or something.

I'l get around to it some time. but I just dont want to hassle myself at the moment, but i am aweare that it needs to be done. I think I had AS5 on it.


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## Mr.Amateur (Aug 2, 2009)

A backplate for the Vendetta 2 you say?  You can use the xigmatek bolt through kit made for the dark knight hdt coolers for the vendetta 2.  It makes thermal paste reapplication or cpu switching much more hassle free, though I have yet to see changes in temperatures.  

I had no idea other had a q9550/p5q pro/vendetta 2 setup like me, but I have already upgraded to the incredible q9650 and ep45-ud3p


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 2, 2009)

thanks, I didnt know something like that existed lol. OCZ have released retention brackets too for the Vendetta series so I'l see about getting one


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## dadi_oh (Aug 2, 2009)

FreedomEclipse said:


> thanks, I didnt know something like that existed lol. OCZ have released retention brackets too for the Vendetta series so I'l see about getting one



I am using that OCZ bolt through kit. It works quite well although I did not really see a difference in temps... maybe a degree or two. It is more of a convenience thing. I discovered that the best way to remove and attach the heatsink is to unclip 2 of the rubber clips on one side and then rotate the fan 90deg so I can get access to the front two screws. I am able to remove and reattach the heatsink without removing the motherboard. This also works for the pushpin style. I just re-did the Vendetta 1 heatsink with push pins  on another motherboard using this method and it was no problem. I use a large slotted screwdriver to push and turn the push pin clips BTW. Easier than getting my fingers down in there.


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## FreedomEclipse (Aug 2, 2009)

that maybe true, but it could be slightly eaier for you because your power supply is mounted at the top so it might give you a bit more room to play with. with my 902 the Vendetta2 comes dangerously close the the top 200mm fan. so I dont have much room at all to fit a small screwdriver down there


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