Follow up questions to Overclocking Guide - ne one have answers?

Hi all,

After having read the 1.7 quad core guide (and even checking out other forums on the subject), there is still a lot of concept surrounding overclocking that I cant seem to get a good grasp around.

NOTE: my stiker II extreme bios (rev 1202 stable) is a little bit different from the bios used in the guide.

First things first, question about voltage:

1-When I set my Vcore to a certain value in the bios (leaving all other settings to auto, except for memory which I set to the values suggested by the manufacturer), a cpuid in windows will always give me a vcore .02XXv to .04XXv more than what I set it to. Is there a way of calculating the final vcore value from the one you put in the bios?
The same happens to my memory, I set it to 1.6v, it goes to 1.64v in windows.

Vcores being reported differently in BIOS and Wn based applications is not uncommon. It's something to do with the way that the voltage signals are processed.

2-In going through other peoples experience with overclocking a Q9550, I noticed several achieved results superior to 4Ghz. From what I could tell from what it took me to get to 3.89Ghz, they definitely have to go over the 1.41v limit suggested by intel. Some even did so with air cooling. Aside from obvious heat issues, does anything else stand in ones way of raising vcore above intel max specs?

[003bff]
Kind of. Exceeding the recommended voltage, even with the best heat sinks in the world, is likely to damage your chip after a period of time, although the cooler it's kept the longer the CPU will likely last for. If you want to play it safe, then stick to the max recommended temp.[/#003bff]



3-I would need more details about the PCIE SLOT1&2, Mhz: 100 / PCIE SLOT3, Mhz: 100 / SPP<->MCP Ref Cloc: auto - Cant find this part in the guide... There is similar, but i need to be sure before touching.

Keep PCIe freq relatively low. Pushing the freq too high will cause permanent damage to anything plugged in to a PCIe port. Between 100MHz and 112MHz shouldn't cause any problems. That said, performance gains (imo) are limited from high PCIe freq.



4-Are the only factors to consider for a stable overclock Vcore and fsb (and memory ratio of course)?? (considering everything else is done properly, like disabling power saving at first, proper boot config, disabling all that needs (vander, spectrum) The guide says to deal with the advanced stuff after a stable oc is attained. Please clarify.

Northbridge is also critical. Southbridge may also need adjusting. Usually a good idea to disable speedstep while your working on the overclock. .



5- Some say they had to crank the voltages on their memory, or change the frequency a little to get it stable, please comment.

Not usually a good idea to exceed RAM recommended voltage although 'tweaking' to get it exactly right may benefit (ref to your first question)

6-When Unlinking my memory (i have 5:4 3:2 or unlinked), My real fsb (i always leave the desired one at 1333 (my memory speed) varies depending on the cpu fsb I try (1833Mhz = 1333mhz ram fsb, but 1834mhz = 1312mhz ram fsb (not exact figues, just gives you an idea). Should I stick with the speeds that give me 1333 fsb? or should I raise my fsb till the actual fsb is properly reflected?

your FSB will change according to how you are OC'ing your CPU. More important is not to push your RAM freq too high above rated speed.

7-My board supports 2000(OC) 1800(OC) 1600(OC) 1333 1066 ram, I am using 1333. What would have happenned if I would have gone with 2000mhz ram? I just wouldnt have used to full potential at fsb under 2000? what does this notation mean? why are some values with the (OC)??? is that just to say to cpu with those fsb stock exist???

Not sure on the question.


Ill leave it at that for now, but Ill bet anything ill have more very soon.

Thanks for your patience and help!!

Also, are there courses (university, college, certificate, private) out there specifically about overclocking today's hardware???? Where did you all pick all this info up?
If I am serious about overclocking and want to do it as perfectly as I possibly can, is going through forums and posting questions the best way to go about learning the ropes?

CHEERS!


Striker II extreme (790i Ultra)
Q9550 stock 2.83Ghz @ 3.68Ghz
Sunbeam Core contact freezer
Evga 9800GX2 @ 700/1750/1100
Corsair XMS3 XHS 4GB DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24
Vista Ultimate 64-bit
640GB @ 7200rpm
Blu ray read