Retail Q9650 Overclocking Thread

[xguntherc]

THANK YOU Leefhoof.

Yes I'm happy with my setup.. and yes it does 4.205 Ghz STABLE.. so ya, if I got another board.. and spend $200 dollars, maybe, maybe I could get 4.3 or 4.4 Ghz.. but really. what is 200mhz going to do for me that my 750 FTW at 4.205 Ghz Can't.. get a few points in a benchmark. Not !

I have mentioned a few times that I wouldn't mind a new board, but I've never said that it was a great board. I've only mentioned that it's done it's job Well for me. and for him to Continuously call my setup a POS, and that talking to me is like a Brick Wall is just a little insulting. I've listened to him. and simply stated how my board has performed. Yes there may be better boards. but for the SMALL.. SMALL increase i "Might" get. it's simply not worth it. I don't care what board I use, I'm not going to get anywhere near 4.5 or more like Napalm and others have. I'm not that extreme. then he started getting all defensive about my system being junk, ya the board isn't that great. but it's not a complete POS. and a waste either. For you to say the CPU is a complete Waste in this board is just retarded. When I'm hitting 4.2 Stable with no problems, or hard work. thats not a waste. like I said above in this post. if I spend $200 and got a better board, plus more $$ for DDR3 I'd maybe, maybe get to 4.4 Ghz, at most.. maybe more if I'm lucky.. and that small increase isn't worth $200-$300 bucks to me, but for him to just start attacking my system and bashing it just because he has personal hate towards Nvidia is just stupid.
Nice work there kill a wat. Nice oc so far. See he is on a X48.. with H20, and only at 4.275.. and I'm doing 4.205 Ghz stable on Air with my "Junk" board.

Anyways I'm done, thanks for your Kind input on other motherboard options. oh and Nice work there Pauly D. thats pretty good also.

[PaulyD]

use DRAM Skews mate, start on 50ps delay, that's how i put my gskills on 1267Mhz 2x2GB stable PL8 and 1200 PL7

DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A1: 50ps
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel A2: 50ps
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B1: 50ps
DRAM CLK Skew on Channel B2: 50ps

Tried going from 25ps through to 100ps both delay and advance but still stuck on DET DRAM

To be honest I can get the basics of overclocking down fine but its the tweaking at the top end that eludes me

But lookin good so far And another thing, are you watercooling the chipset? Reason is my chipset is aircooled and I want to know if I should even bother going for 4.3+...

Mine so far is at 4.275Ghz 1.38v (1.25VID). Oh and I sold my dominators so I'm using my mediocre Corsair 1333Mhz DDR3 2x2gb for now and have not fiddled with timings etc yet

Sorry i should have said before, got my CPU and NB under water in the same loop (PA120.3, Fuzion V2, EK NB block, DDC 18w with alphacool top and single bay res)

BTW in your blend test i believe you have the TJ Max set wrong for the Q9650, its 95c i believe not 100c - someone correct me if im wrong

It was small FFT's i was testing. Before it used to always fail blend within the first self test but since putting in the CPU and NB skews it passed 2 self tests. Went to try IBT and BSOD, upped voltages on CPU and NB and did the 15 run test above. Left it doing the small FFT overnight and was going to do blend tonight if it passed but failed after about 5 hours, will blend it once CPU has passed priming ok though have been on PC all day and not had any crashes or issues (so far!)


for 475x9 i needed 1.352 load so your really not far off this chip at all

Give 4.3 a go and tweak it from there, what are your temps like on your chipset?

Must say thanks to a lot of people in this thread as well, wouldn't have got half this far without your input as have been lurking in the background!!

Xguntherc - thanks and i completely agree with you, if your happy with the performance and its rock stable and what you want then why change?? 4.2ghz is not to be sniffed at whatever board its in!

[kill_a_wat]

Xguntherc 4.2 is fine by my standards

To be frank i'm very pleased with what I'm on now and will leave it. Since my chipset is on air if I set my NB volt anything above 1.35v it fails prime blend... I can't see the temps as I'm using a P5E3 Premium x48 unlike Rampage Extreme (which I was considering a while back)

Oh and my TJMax on Real Temp is set to 100 which I believe is correct. My watercooling on my CPU is very average or needs a service/check up LOL

[xguntherc]

yes, the TJ Max is supposed to be at 100c for these chips.. so thats correct.

Yea. I'm happy with 4.2 I run 24/7 on 4.0 Ghz and I bench with a easy to switch to profile with 4.205 Ghz settings, then bench there. I've actually never tried for farther.. So I'm thinking I could. After all i have a stronger PSU now, better ram. and my air temps at 4.0 are only 30c give or take 1c on each core.

oh and thanks for backing me up.

[PaulyD]

yes, the TJ Max is supposed to be at 100c for these chips.. so thats correct.

Thanks, just checked and is indeed 100c, my mistake!

I was really happy with getting to 4.275ghz, though i was always so close to getting 4.4 under "safe" voltages that it kept making me go for it.

Currently done about of hour of blend fine (still running now) will update shortly.

Maybe the PSU thing is a myth, sorry Napalm, but i'm running this rig (in sig) with my water setup (DDC 18w) 4 cathodes, 5x120mm fans and 2x92mm fans on a coolermaster realpower 620w PSU, though everest reports it still has 12.10v on 12v rails

EDIT: here is 3 hour prime blend stable - got bored and played some CSS after this long

[xguntherc]

Nice work.. at only 1.38v.. whats ur vcore set to in the bios?

[kill_a_wat]

Good stuff mate. I knew you'd get it. Oh and managed to get some stability with 4.3

25 run IBT so far....I'll tweak it here and there gotta get back to Mass Effect!

[xguntherc]

oh and somewhere in this Thread over the last few days I remember someone saying they were looking for a Q9650 that was a good deal. I have found a slightly used one for sale if anyone's interested. for $410 and he's hit 4.2 with ease.

oh and question. a guy is trying to sell me a used Q9550. and he says the VID is 1.1750.. thats a really low VID. is that legit. or are they not that low? maybe he had speedstep on or something. or are some that low?

[carepolice]

oh and somewhere in this Thread over the last few days I remember someone saying they were looking for a Q9650 that was a good deal. I have found a slightly used one for sale if anyone's interested. for $410 and he's hit 4.2 with ease.

oh and question. a guy is trying to sell me a used Q9550. and he says the VID is 1.1750.. thats a really low VID. is that legit. or are they not that low? maybe he had speedstep on or something. or are some that low?

VID doesnt matter, just how the cpu clocks.

[xguntherc]

well i know that.. but the VID matters a little. he has it at 3.8 Ghz now, and said he hit that his first try, and never went higher. He's sort of a noob also.

[kill_a_wat]

A small variance in VID like the one above is no big deal for me personally. Main thing is cooling the chip and the general overclockability of it and boy do these Q9650s overclock well

But its good to see a 4.4Ghz on an x48 I have been searching everywhere and could not find one with Prime Blend screenshots. Thanks PaulyD

I guess P45s are not the only boards capable of bringing out the high potential of these chips. Oh a friend sold me his Corsair HX1000 so I'll plug that into my system soon and see if that helps any. I've heard good things about these HX1000s...

[PaulyD]

Cheers guys,

I left it running Prime small FFT's to retest the nudge in the vcore and passed practically 10 hours of it:

Nice work.. at only 1.38v.. whats ur vcore set to in the bios?

Bios has vcore set to 1.39375, it idles at 1.384 and loads at 1.4v. The LLC on this board is amazing. If i set 1.4v in bios it idles at 1.4 and loads at 1.408!?!

Just need to do a long blend test but highly confident this is stable at this now

Nice results there Kill a Wat

[humeyboy]

Let me get a few things STRAIGHT.



1) @ Leeghoofd, I did NOT say you were blind, I DID ask "are you blind", so it was a question.




2 ) @ xguntherc, I did NOT say your set up is a POS, I DID state the NF6 and NF7 Mobos are POS, not the same thing.

[xguntherc]

well 1.39 is still pretty good there man. Nice work. I've been meaning to try for something higher on my board. but I've been busy. I'll do it I swear.


and no worries humey.. maybe you just came across a little different/harsh to us then you thought you did. No worries!

[kill_a_wat]

@PaulyD - your pretty much stable from what I can see. Normally after 3 hours blend its all smooth sailing Although I have had mine bog at 7hours 57minutes before .

[xguntherc]

if I can run prime for over 3 hours I call it good and don't worry about it... or if I can run mark06, and vantage, and a SuperPI 16M run then I'm ok.

[Leeghoofd]

It's official Intel will cut prices on this CPU too !!! ow joy 316 dollars

Intel price cuts

Out goes the E8500, in the Q9650 pure folding powaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[Zucker2k]

It's official Intel will cut prices on this CPU too !!! ow joy 316 dollars

Intel price cuts

Out goes the E8500, in the Q9650 pure folding powaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Leeghoofd mate, don't hurt feelings in here. Seriously, 40% price cut is a hell of a deal. My 9550 is going to the bay soon.

[Leeghoofd]

I just posted this as some users didn't believe me that they would drop prices on this baby... My dealer confirmed this to me about 2 weeks ago. But honestly I didn't expect this drop... Intel seems to give AMD an even harder time as the 775 quad enthousiasts will go for this CPU for sure... would be nice to see a Q9650 , Phenom II comparison at 4ghz...

[situman]

Anyone here with a Rampage Formula? Sorry thread is too long to read through.

[Zucker2k]

Anyone here with a Rampage Formula? Sorry thread is too long to read through.

I have a Rampage Formula that clokcs my Q9550 past 500 FSB. Like you I'm looking forward to picking up a 9650 too.

[kill_a_wat]

I just posted this as some users didn't believe me that they would drop prices on this baby... My dealer confirmed this to me about 2 weeks ago. But honestly I didn't expect this drop... Intel seems to give AMD an even harder time as the 775 quad enthousiasts will go for this CPU for sure... would be nice to see a Q9650 , Phenom II comparison at 4ghz...

Thanks for the update. My brother is building a new system and that is GREAT news

[Jor3lBR]

I just posted this as some users didn't believe me that they would drop prices on this baby... My dealer confirmed this to me about 2 weeks ago. But honestly I didn't expect this drop... Intel seems to give AMD an even harder time as the 775 quad enthousiasts will go for this CPU for sure... would be nice to see a Q9650 , Phenom II comparison at 4ghz...

This chip is even better then the Q6600 in terms of OC, so with that in mind there is no doubt on my mind that any review trying to compare the AMD with the Q9650 will be futile.

Too bad that I'm stuck a month without testing my Q9650 system but I'm pretty sure I can get it 5000Mhz stable for 24/7 use.

[Jor3lBR]

Hi Guys,

Decided to bench on AIR with a normal priced air cooler (below$35) to keep peoples hopes up on this amazing cpu.

All low volts for people that want 24/7 use: 1.376vcore, 1.400vtt, 1.57pll, 1.40vnb, 1.20vsb (except ram that I needed more juice to keep tight timings and 5:6 strap).

[System Setup]
CPU: Q9650@4400Mhz 489x9 1.376vcore on load and idle 1.40vtt
Mobo: Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
Cooler: Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer
Ram: 4gb G.Skill Pi 9600
Video: X1300
PSU: OCZ Powerstream 520w Adj

[Setup Pics]
**************



[BIOS Template for Gigabyte Users]

******Gigabyte EP45 UD3P******

Q9650 489 X 9 4401MHz 

Robust Graphics Booster.........................[ Auto     ] 
CPU Clock Ratio.................................[ 9        ] 
Fine CPU Clock Ratio............................[ 0        ] 
CPU Frequency 4.35GHz...........................[ 489 x 9  ]

******Clock Chip Control******

CPU Host Clock Control..........................[ Enabled  ] 
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz)........................[ 489      ] 
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz).....................[ 100      ] 
C.I.A 2 [Disabled] 

******Advanced Clock Control******

CPU Clock Drive.................................[ 1000mv   ] 
PCI Express Clock Drive.........................[ 1000mv   ] 
CPU Clock Skew..................................[ 0ps      ] 
MCH Clock Skew..................................[ 50ps     ] 

******DRAM Performance Control******

Performance Enhance [Standard] 
Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)....................[ Disabled ] 
(G) MCH Frequency Latch.........................[ 333MHz ] 
System Memory Multipler.........................[ 2.40  ] 
Memory Frequency 1066...........................[ 1174  ] 
DRAM Timing Selectable..........................[ Manual ] 

CAS Latency Time................................[ 5        ] 
tRCD............................................[ 5        ] 
tRP.............................................[ 5        ] 
tRAS............................................[ 15       ] 

******Advanced Timing Control******

tRRD............................................[ Auto     ] 
tWTR............................................[ Auto     ] 
tWR.............................................[ Auto     ] 
tRFC............................................[ 52       ] 
tRTP............................................[ Auto     ] 
Command Rate (cmd)..............................[ Auto     ] 

******Channel A Timing Settings******     

Static tRead Value        [ 7 ] ................[ 8        ] 
tRD Phase0 Adjustment     [ 0 ] ................[ Auto     ]
tRD Phase1 Adjustment     [ 0 ] ................[ Auto     ]
tRD Phase2 Adjustment     [ 0 ] ................[ Auto     ]
tRD Phase3 Adjustment     [ 0 ] ................[ Auto     ] 

tRD 2rd (Differnt Rank)   [ 8 ] ................[ Auto     ]
tWR 2wr (Differnt Rank)   [ 8 ] ................[ Auto     ] 
tWR 2rd (Differnt Rank)   [ 7 ] ................[ Auto     ] 
tRD 2wr (Same/Difft Rank) [ 9 ] ................[ Auto     ] 

Dimm 1 Clock Skew Control.......................[ Auto     ] 
Dimm 2 Clock Skew Control.......................[ Auto     ] 
DDR Write Training..............................[ Auto     ] 

******Channel A Driving Settings****** 

Drive Strength Profile..........................[ OC-1333 ] 
Data Driving Pull Up Level......................[ Auto     ] 
cmd Driving Pull Up Level.......................[ Auto     ] 
ctrl Driving Pull Up Level......................[ Auto     ]
clk Driving Pull Up Level.......................[ Auto     ]

Data Driving Pull Down Level....................[ Auto     ] 
cmd Driving Pull Down Level.....................[ Auto     ] 
ctrl Driving Pull Down Level....................[ Auto     ] 
clk Driving Pull Down Level.....................[ Auto     ]

******Channel B Timing Settings******     

Static tRead Value        [ 6 ] ................[ 8        ] 
tRD Phase0 Adjustment     [ 0 ] ................[ Auto     ]
tRD Phase1 Adjustment     [ 0 ] ................[ Auto     ]
tRD Phase2 Adjustment     [ 0 ] ................[ Auto     ]
tRD Phase3 Adjustment     [ 0 ] ................[ Auto     ] 

tRD 2rd (Differnt Rank)   [ 8 ] ................[ Auto     ]
tWR 2wr (Differnt Rank)   [ 8 ] ................[ Auto     ] 
tWR 2rd (Differnt Rank)   [ 7 ] ................[ Auto     ] 
tRD 2wr (Same/Difft Rank) [ 9 ] ................[ Auto     ] 

Dimm 1 Clock Skew Control.......................[ Auto     ] 
Dimm 2 Clock Skew Control.......................[ Auto     ] 
DDR Write Training..............................[ Auto     ] 

******Channel B Driving Settings****** 

Drive Strength Profile..........................[ OC-1333  ] 
Data Driving Pull Up Level......................[ Auto     ] 
cmd Driving Pull Up Level.......................[ Auto     ] 
ctrl Driving Pull Up Level......................[ Auto     ]
clk Driving Pull Up Level.......................[ Auto     ]

Data Driving Pull Down Level....................[ Auto     ] 
cmd Driving Pull Down Level.....................[ Auto     ] 
ctrl Driving Pull Down Level....................[ Auto     ] 
clk Driving Pull Down Level.....................[ Auto     ]

******Motherboard Voltage Control******

Load-Line Calibration [Enabled] 
CPU Vcore         [ 1.23750 ]...................[ 1.41250  ] 
CPU Termination   [ 1.20    ]...................[ 1.40   ]
CPU PLL           [ 1.50    ]...................[ 1.570  ]
CPU Reference     [ 0.766   ]...................[ 0.871 OR 0.886   ] 

MCH Core          [1.1      ]...................[ 1.400  ]  
MCH Reference     [0.760    ]...................[ 0.926   ] 
MCH/DRAM Refernce [0.900    ]...................[ 1.150 ] 
ICH I/O           [1.500    ]...................[ 1.570  ] 
ICH Core          [1.100    ]...................[ 1.200  ] 

DRAM Voltage      [1.800    ]...................[ 2.300    ] 
DRAM Termination  [0.900    ]...................[ 1.150   ] 
Channel A Ref     [0.900    ]...................[ 1.150  ] 
Channel B Ref     [0.900    ]...................[ 1.150  ]  

******Advanced BIOS Features******

CPU Multithreading..............................[ Disabled ] 
Limit CPUID Max to 3............................[ Disabled ] 
No-Execute memory Protect.......................[ Disabled ]  
CPU Enhance Halt (CIE)..........................[ Disabled ]  
C2/C2E State Support............................[ Disabled ]  
C4/C4E State Support............................[ Disabled ] 
CPU Thermal Monitor.............................[ Disabled ] 
CPU EIST Function...............................[ Disabled ] 
Virtualization Technology.......................[ Disabled ]

[Stability Test Prime95 Blend]

3 hrs Load:



11 hrs Idle:


Temps where high but I think I can squeeze 4500Mhz on air (500x9) just need a little better Air Cooler.
Hope this helps Q9650 users!

[pascalbrown]

You've got a good chip there. I can't get mine prime stable at 4.4GHz with voltages higher than yours. I've tried all that I can with all the GTL Refs and skews but it's not happening. Plus I've got a TRUE and I'm pushing towards the 80's!!!