Whats the max fsb achievable for a q9550?

[simon1980111]

I'm trying to figure how to get my q9550 to perform at optimal speeds - if cost wasn't an issue what's the best motherboard vs. type of ram ie. 800ghz or 1333ghz ram? The product specs of the q9550 lists fsb as 1333ghz, am really trying to figure out best motherboard and ram to buy to optimise the rig, any help would be great : )

 

[SpinachEater]

Mhz, not Ghz

The FSB of the quads are 333Mhz. So Multiply that by 2 to get your 1:1 DRAM frequency which is 667. So DDR2 667 is all you need for stock settings. If you want to mildly OC, DDR2 800 will work best. Divide by 2...that gets you to a FSB of 400Mhz just to run your RAM at stock speeds.

If you OC, you won't be getting your FSB past 450 unless you are water cooling or have some N2 cooling or something like that. DDR2 800 happens to OC quite nicely and will happily run at DDR2 900 frequencies.

You can go nuts and get into DDR3, but it is still pretty expensive so that is your choice.

The "best" mobo for ocing will be the x48. You can't abuse the x48 though and not OC if you do get one. Catch my drift?

 

[1haplo]

People say that the 45NM quads hit a wahh at about 475-480.

If you are overclocking get 1066 because if you get DDR2-800 yes some may make it to 900+, but you can get duds that wont go over 850..

Plus if you are only going to lets say 400 FBS then you can run the 1066 at 800 with tighter timings.

I my self purchased DDR2-1000, it was cheaper then the 1066 and I will not hit 500 FBS on with my quad.

Good overclocking boards look at the X48 boards and I look at the ASUS P5Q Deluxe (P45) It has 16 phase CPU power design and 2 for the RAM and 2 for the chipset. It is a good overclocker and only $209US at newegg

1Haplo

 

[Scotteq]

Achievable FSB speeds are more dependent on the Motherboard, rather than simply a function of a Processor.

The 1333 you see in the specs is the stock FSB speed of the processor, and what the system *Will* default to when you boot it for the first time.

As for what is the "Max", the answer is "It Depends".

It depends on the quality of your components - INCLUDING THE POWER SUPPLY FOR ANY CHEAPSKATES OUT THERE WHO MAY BE READING THIS. Cheap PSU's feeding top of the line components make baby <deity of your choice> cry.

It depends on your knowledge and skill as a overclocker

It also depends on the individual components - Some may be blessed (or cursed...) and will run better than others.

IMHO - A 400 (1600) FSB on quality components should be child's play. 450/1800 will take a little more work, but should be doable. If you can meet/exceed 500/2000, then quite frankly you don't need me telling you what to do....

 

[Guest]

^ yeah my core 2 duo e6420 bumped up to 1600 fsb on stock volts =D

sadly... if I raise it any higher i have to increase voltage.... like if i wanna hit 1800... I have to put 1.45 volts through from 1.3... which really raises the heat... I can feel the difference in my room =( and to get it even higher than that I have to feed it much more... but I don't think I choose a great mobo for OC, o well it was my first build next time i'm going for a really good motherboard

 

[sailer]

Achievable FSB speeds are more dependent on the Motherboard, rather than simply a function of a Processor.

As for what is the "Max", the answer is "It Depends".

It depends on the quality of your components - INCLUDING THE POWER SUPPLY FOR ANY CHEAPSKATES OUT THERE WHO MAY BE READING THIS. Cheap PSU's feeding top of the line components make baby <deity of your choice> cry.

It depends on your knowledge and skill as a overclocker

It also depends on the individual components - Some may be blessed (or cursed...) and will run better than others.

IMHO - A 400 (1600) FSB on quality components should be child's play. 450/1800 will take a little more work, but should be doable. If you can meet/exceed 500/2000, then quite frankly you don't need me telling you what to do....

I agree with all this. When overclocking, many things fall under the label "It depends". One person may do a build and manage a 450 FSB without problem, while someone else does an identical build and can't get past a 410 FSB. Heat can be a major problem as well. Do not expect high overclocks with anything less than a very good heatsink. Go to Anandtech and read their reviews on high performance heatsinks. I bought a TRUE for a reason, and that was handling the heat.

And I highlighted the part about PSUs for a reason. I get tired of reading about people's computer problems when the real problem is that they bought the cheapest PSU they could find, or one that lacks enough power for the build, or a combination of the two.

 

[simon1980111]

Hi all, thanks for your comments, I agree with you there sailer re: psu's/ cheap etc, I'm new to custom rigs but I never buy anything just cause it's cheap (I saw a comment on tom's hw saying "don't buy the cheapest watercooler you can find or one that is in kit form, the results can be terrible" I felt bad for this guy but if i was going to have a watercooler anywhere near my PC I aint going to go kit or cheapest option, no way.

For Ram I say I'll go for the 800 ghz, I'm getting 8 gig of it, not sure what this'll do but heard it helps for Vista 64. Also I am trying to find a mobo with a 64 bit front side buswidth or better, I don't know yet whether this fairly standard these days or whether 32 bit buswidth is still the standard, if anyone knows please tell me huh? Thanks again : )