TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Ruru]

That actually the reason I chose the Q9550 for my Lenovo build.

When those were the thing, I can't remember anyone getting those 2x3MB Quads. Some people got the 7xxx dualcores though, but for 9xxx Quads, it was the 2x6MB or nothing.

 

[Mr.Scott]

Pretty easy overclockers too. Here is my Q9550 running a GTX580.

 

[Ruru]

Pretty easy overclockers too. Here is my Q9550 running a GTX580.

View attachment 238744

Pretty nice clocks for a GTX 580.

 

[stinger608]

Golly, I think one of my nostalgic systems is running either a Q9550 or Q9650. Don't think I have even giving overclocking a shot on that. Seeing them numbers @Mr.Scott , I might have to give it a whirl.

 

[MachineLearning]

Pretty easy overclockers too. Here is my Q9550 running a GTX580.

View attachment 238744

I see you've got the P5QC there, seems like an awesome board. Funky layout (24-pin is... where now??), 3 different storage controllers, Realtek ALC1200, D2+D3, Atheros LAN...

In your experience, do you prefer using DDR2 or DDR3 with LGA775? I've never had the opportunity to use DDR3+775 myself, so I have no experience with it.

 

[Mr.Scott]

I see you've got the P5QC there, seems like an awesome board. Funky layout (24-pin is... where now??), 3 different storage controllers, Realtek ALC1200, D2+D3, Atheros LAN...

In your experience, do you prefer using DDR2 or DDR3 with LGA775? I've never had the opportunity to use DDR3+775 myself, so I have no experience with it.

P5QC is a mediocre board. Only reason I kept it is because it runs DDR2 or DDR3. 775 isn't my favorite platform, so it's my only 775 board I have left.
I prefer DDR3 on 775 by a long shot. Big difference compared to DDR2.
Easier to find decent DDR3 ram also.

 

[Ruru]

P5QC is a mediocre board. Only reason I kept it is because it runs DDR2 or DDR3. 775 isn't my favorite platform, so it's my only 775 board I have left.
I prefer DDR3 on 775 by a long shot. Big difference compared to DDR2.
Easier to find decent DDR3 ram also.

And also much easier getting more RAM as in general 2GB DDR2s are the maximum consumer-grade modules.

 

[68Olds]

Here's my Q9650 still chugging along. It's paired with a GTX 970 running Folding@Home 24/7 in the basement. I'll shut it down & bench it every so often though.

 

[Mr.Scott]

And also much easier getting more RAM as in general 2GB DDR2s are the maximum consumer-grade modules.

Board will run 2 dimm max of 8GB DDR3
or
4 dimm max of 16GB DDR2

Although i have never seen 4 gig sticks of DDR2.

 

[Ruru]

Board will run 2 dimm max of 8GB DDR3
or
4 dimm max of 16GB DDR2

Although i have never seen 4 gig sticks of DDR2.

Ah, so it has 4x DDR2 and 2x DDR3 slots. Reminds me of Asus P5GDC* which had 4x DDR and 2x DDR2. I've seen 4GB DDR2s on ebay but they're "AMD Only" and many people have said that they literally are, they don't work on Intel platforms.

*

 

[Mr.Scott]

 

[Ruru]

View attachment 238756

Who in their right mind chose that placement for the 24-pin connector? I know that it's usual with older boards, but that's a question I have every time I see a board with that "problem"..

I have a P5QL Pro in the 775 setup now and it has a similar placement.

 

[lexluthermiester]

When those were the thing, I can't remember anyone getting those 2x3MB Quads.

My first quad was a Q6600 which was FSB OC'd to 3ghz. The second was a Q9400S that was FSB OC'd to 3.4ghz, which was one of those 2x3MB models. Swapped it out later for a Q9650 because I needed the extra L2.

Although i have never seen 4 gig sticks of DDR2.

I have, they're fairly rare though.

 

[Bones]

Copper slug? You're just fine then, those were pretty decent for what they were. Plus C2D/C2Q don't draw too much power overall.

Q9550 is pretty much the best you can get (cheaply) for 775 because of the extra cache, but Q9500 is quite good as well.

Ever considered a 771 Xeon with the 771 to 775 mod?
I have a couple of those and they are good chips plus they didn't cost much. Only thing is to do the mod, aside from that if your board supports the mod it's really good.
Most any P43/P45 board I'm aware of does.
All you have to do is check and see if your board does and if so, you're all but set.

 

[Ruru]

My first quad was a Q6600 that which was FSB OC'd to 3ghz. The second was a Q9400S that was FSB OC'd to 3.4ghz, which was one of those 2x3MB models. Swapped it out later for a Q9650 because I needed the extra L2.


I have, they're fairly rare though.

Q6600 was indeed hella popular back in the day when its price dropped from the original MSRP.

 

[Bones]

Q6600 was indeed hella popular back in the day when its price dropped from the original MSRP.

The Q6600 was known to be the best value for the buck regarding what you got and how much it could be made to do overall.
Still wish I had my REX but had to sell it, in good hands so I'm good with it.

 

[Ruru]

The Q6600 was known to be the best value for the buck regarding what you got and how much it could be made to do overall.
Still wish I had my REX but had to sell it, in good hands so I'm good with it.

Yeah... people got either a Q6600 or E8400 back then. AMD wasn't even a budget option as there were those Pentiums which overclocked pretty nice.

 

[MachineLearning]

Ever considered a 771 Xeon with the 771 to 775 mod?
I have a couple of those and they are good chips plus they didn't cost much. Only thing is to do the mod, aside from that if your board supports the mod it's really good.
Most any P43/P45 board I'm aware of does.
All you have to do is check and see if your board does and if so, you're all but set.

Actually yes, I have a modded X5470 from AliExpress but I haven't tried it with many boards (and I don't think with P45 yet). I'll give it a try soon, I just need to find a BIOS that formally supports it for the P5Q Turbo.

Q6600 was indeed hella popular back in the day when its price dropped from the original MSRP.

For $7 USD today, it's one I'm quite fond of just because of that. I usually put them in locked (usually OEM) systems because of their reasonable performance, and for some mobos where Kentsfield is the end of the line. Plus BSEL tape mode allegedly is awesome, haven't tried it myself yet.

 

[Ruru]

For $7 USD today, it's one I'm quite fond of just because of that. I usually put them in locked (usually OEM) systems because of their reasonable performance, and for some mobos where Kentsfield is the end of the line. Plus BSEL tape mode allegedly is awesome, haven't tried it myself yet.

I have that Xeon X3230 which I mentioned, practically a Q6700 and it's BSEL modded. Got it as a freebie with few other 775 chips some time ago.

Personally I like overclocking Pentium 4/D more just because they achieve higher clock speeds.

 

[Bones]

I have a couple of Harpertown chips which is the same thing as a Yorkfield except it's a 771 chip.
These can and do clock well for what they are but like the Yorkies you gotta keep them cool.

 

[Mr.Scott]

Actually yes, I have a modded X5470 from AliExpress but I haven't tried it with many boards (and I don't think with P45 yet). I'll give it a try soon, I just need to find a BIOS that formally supports it for the P5Q Turbo.

Here is your bios modded for Xeon.
As far as bios's go, I almost always have what you need.

 

[MachineLearning]

Here is your bios modded for Xeon.
As far as bios's go, I almost always have what you need.

Holy shit, thank you so much! How hard is it to inject microcode into a BIOS? Namely, I usually use this modded BIOS for the P5Q Turbo. It has some minor adjustments I appreciate. You don't need to do it for me, if you show me the tools

 

[Bones]

Working with a BIOS can be a very tricky thing, unless you've successfully done it before yourself I'd leave it to the experienced guys.
If for example you get the checksums wrong to the file it won't work. If it's saved incorrectly after the modifications are done, it won't work and may even lock the chip it's flashed to...
Permenantly.

There is alot that can go wrong so unless you really have some experience modding a BIOS just leave all that to the "Experts".

As for the X5470 that's going to be a teriffic chip when you get all that going.
My X5462 and X5420 were good as well, just not as high of a model as yours so can't get the speeds you will have but still good chips themselves.

 

[Ruru]

Working with a BIOS can be a very tricky thing, unless you've successfully done it before yourself I'd leave it to the experienced guys.
If for example you get the checksums wrong to the file it won't work. If it's saved incorrectly after the modifications are done, it won't work and may even lock the chip it's flashed to...
Permenantly.

There is alot that can go wrong so unless you really have some experience modding a BIOS just leave all that to the "Experts".

As for the X5470 that's going to be a teriffic chip when you get all that going.
My X5462 and X5420 were good as well, just not as high of a model as yours so can't get the speeds you will have but still good chips themselves.

Luckily it seems that it has a socketed BIOS chip if something goes permanently wrong. P5Q Turbo, I mean.

 

[Bones]

Luckily it seems that it has a socketed BIOS chip if something goes permanently wrong. P5Q Turbo, I mean.

Doesn't matter, if the file is borked you can literally lock the chip into a frozen state once that's flashed in.
When that happens it can't be written to, meaning the BIOS chip itself is locked.
You can't even erase it with an external programmer like I have if it happens.