need help overclocking a q9550 on a XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI

sumo0 · Jul 4, 2013

I just got my new CPU cooler today and intend to use it to overclock my CPU.
I never overclocked before but have seen youtube videos and been reading some guides here and there. Also some friends told me it's something i need to do over days to not burn something unintentionally. But still i want to squeeze some more gaming life out of this 2 year old gaming rig.

My system:
Intel Core2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz.
XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI.
XFX GTX285
And then i bought a Noctua NH-U9B to replace the stock cooler.

These are my temperatures with the new cooler with the basics running. The basics being the windows stuff i suppose and skype, internet browser and real temp:

And these are my temps after 50 minutes of Prime:

And this is a sensor test:

I intend to commence operation overclock in 2 days time when i have done some gaming and reading'N stuff.

I would love some advice on what software to use. Maybe someone already did this on this same setup?

Also, how much can this CPU realistically be overclocked to with the temps i have currently? Are there other important things to take into consideration in this regard?

Any advice will be very much appreciated since i'm hungry for information before i go ahead and burn a perfectly working processor.

Thanks in advance,
Sumo0.

Roland Of Gilead · Jul 4, 2013

sumo0 :

Well starting of your temps are ideal for OC'ing, and that combo (780i and q9550) also work well together.

Here is a guide I found which maybe of help :

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=77324

have a good read. When overclocking, knowledge is king, the more you know the less likely to come up with problems (or at the very least you'll know how to troubleshoot problems)

I have a similar setup with a Q6600 + 650i. Overlocking was painless for me, and I simply had to change my FSB from 266 to 333 to get my q6600 to 3ghz. May not be that easy for you, as every chip/setup is different. Don't go for a massive overclock first, do everything in small increases, stress testing along te way to ensure stability.

I use Coretemp, CPU-z, Prime95 and memtest for stability testing.

Coretemp to monitor temps,
CPU-z to get your VID for your CPU, so you have a baseline to increase your vcore if you need to.
Prime95 - Small fft for sabtility testing on the CPU (some people use large ffts or blend, but these do not fully stress the CPU only).
Memtest for checking memory functions okay should you overclock that too.

Intel God · Jul 4, 2013

Old school overclocking at its best. If you can get that beast to 4ghz it'll perform very decently in games

4Ryan6 · Jul 5, 2013

Roland Of Gilead :

I like the guide writer already!

Also, if you dis-agree that's fine. I might be wrong about something. Trust me I'm wrong everyday I have a girlfriend

:lol:

To sumo0, You don't know how much I miss Nvidia making motherboard chipsets and FYI you do have a good overclocking M/B in your possession.

Overclocking the Q9550 took me back to overclocking 101, I had to seriously research how to overclock it and I had plenty of experience under my belt so you have a lot to learn and if you're willing to invest the time studying what you need to know you can do it.

Personally I wish you had bought yourself a better CPU cooler than you did since of what you spent to get it you could have gotten a much better Noctua like the NH-D14 for a little more which is Noctuas best cooling performance offering, the cooler you can keep it, the further you'll get, simple as that.

If P95 takes you to 60c at stock settings you don't have much overclocking headroom.

However you will be able to overclock some with no problems.

So there's a lot for you to learn as a new overclocker so study the guide and ask about what you don't understand.

sumo0 · Jul 5, 2013

Many thanks for the replies.
That guide will be especially useful i suspect.

I probably won't get around to it until next week since it's not a pressing matter. Next week i get my new table and a new keyboard also. Not that i need it but... It's nice to have

[EDIT] Actually the power cable in my keyboard is getting wonky so the keyboard loses power ever so often. Not something i want when i fiddle around in BIOS. [/EDIT]

I will report my results here incase anyone is interested in how it turns out.

Roland Of Gilead · Jul 6, 2013

sumo0 :

cool, let us know how you get on! Don't forget to vote select best answer

sumo0 · Jul 19, 2013

Update:

I have now placed the 2 coolers to blow the air in the correct direction (blowing air into the exhaust fan on the backside of my tower) causing core temperatures to drop by ~2°C on average.

Disaster averted. I made an attemt at OC'ing with the effect that my comp wouldn't boot. It powered up but then no beep(s) or signal to my screen, naturally i was worried at this point. So I removed the CMOS battery and waited 15 minutes before putting it back in again, and it all worked perfectly after the reset'N all. Phew.

I will admit though that i wasn't a 100% sure if i was actually changing the correct settings in BIOS. But i am ready to experiment with this one (within reason) since i have the money for a new comp .

Setting as per the guide: Q9550 416.6Mhz 1666QDR 8.5x 833Mhz =3541Mhz

My changes:
SSP<->MCP Ref clock, MHz - from auto (200) to 416
FSB - Memory clock Mode - from auto to unlinked
FSB (QDR), MHz - from 1333 to 1666
Multiplier unchanged at 8.5
MEM (DDR), MHz - from 800 to 833

I get ~3350 MHz with those settings in BIOS

When i looked at voltage i noticed that the higher voltages are colored red, middle voltages are green and lowest are grey. I didn't manage to find an explanation with google, so maybe someone here have one? Are they just general guidelines?
I was too chicken to meddle with the voltage for my cores (on auto they are at 1.25v (the grey colored voltage area)), so i suspect that i need to change the voltage into something in the green zone (1.37500V-1.5V)?

Roland Of Gilead · Jul 19, 2013

sumo0 :

Well, before you go increasing the vcore. Run Prime95 on small ffts, and keep a close eye on the temps of your proc as it build up heat. Run prime95 for a few hours, or until it stops on a core error. If it runs for say 8hrs plus (that's' how long I run for stress testing, normally over night) and doesn't have an error, then your overclock should be stable enough. Then begin trying to eek out more performance.

Can't say enough about reading guides on the finer details. It will help a lot to figure things out.

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need help overclocking a q9550 on a XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI

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