Intel Q9550 running at 2.0ghz...HELP please!(photo inside)

[ivoryplum]

I just purchased an Intel Q9550 to replace my 6300 (core 2 duo 1.86).
It is running much slower than it should be (2.0)
I am guessing it has something to do with the FSB? Idk.
Or is this the speed stepping...?
The only reason it concerns me, is I'm not seeing a noticeable difference between my new processor and old. And am seeign spikes up to 70%, even when nothing was running.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
My motherboard supports Quad cores by they way.

Windows XP SP3
Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L Motherboard
Intel Q9550 Core 2 Quad 2.83ghz
4GB of Kingston Memory
Intel G31 video card
Motherboard supports FSB up to 1333.

 

[cjl]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247006-28-running-full-speed-wrong-multiplier

 

[ivoryplum]

Yes, I read through this.
But even under load it stays at 2.0ghz.
Looking at the photo I provided, do the settings look correct..?

 

[cjl]

The FSB is dead on. It's a 1333FSB CPU. As for staying at the low speed under load, do you have Windows set to power savings mode? It shouldn't stay at a 6x - it should bump up to an 8.5x multiplier, IIRC.

 

[ivoryplum]

How can you check to see if its set to power savings mode...?

 

[ivoryplum]

When I first open CPU-Z it shows it running at 2.83ghz and 8.5x multiplier.
Then after a second of it being opened, drops down to 2.0ghz and 6.0x multi.

Maybe it is running normal.
I was just expecting to see more of a drastic improvement, especially for its cost.
It takes the same amount of time to boot. I see a little speed difference moving around the computer.
The main reason I got it was because I'm a graphic designer. And I don't see any improvements inside photoshop, speed wise.
This is why I'm concerned that its not running properly.

 

[jennyh]

It's fine, it's running in power saving mode. 6x compared to 9x, which is the same as my Q6600.

You can probably trick it out of it by shaking the mouse really hard, that way you'll see it go to 3ghz. Or just run a program like prime95 in a window next to it and you'll see it go full out.

 

[ivoryplum]

Why is it that I read all of these reviews about people seeing a drastic difference in everything they're doing...? And some of them already had Quad Cores.

Is it bad for the CPU to stay at 2.83 all the time...?
I am not using the stock fan that came with it. I have a Cooler Master Hyper TX 2 with Artic Silver 5 compound. So it should stay fairly cool. Last time I checked the temp it was at 23c.

 

[ragsters]

I am pretty sure the processor is running correctly. Every time you open CPU-Z it shows it running at it's load setting but as soon as it goes idle the multiplier drops. If you don't like speed step you could always shut it off in the bios. And with the question of performance what cpu did you have before? Also that graphic card is not going to help with your graphic designing.

 

[ivoryplum]

The graphics card has little to do with anything in photoshop. Photoshop relys on the CPU to do everything. I was planning on upgrading the Video Card intead, but read everywhere that it utilizes the CPU, not the GPU.

And I had the Intel Core 2 Duo 6300 1.86ghz

 

[jennyh]

What kind of load are you talking about Ivoryplum?

Can you do us a favour and try out prime95 so we can discount the chip being a problem? I noticed that your vcore was extremely low in cpu-z so you might have an energy efficient cpu not working the way it should be.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3773/stresst.jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/451/stopstress.jpg

I just tested my Q6600 under load/idle and it is literally a second or two before the FSB drops back to power saving.

 

[ivoryplum]

So I overclocked it to 3.2ghz running at 1600fsb with the voltage at 1.3v.
It now idles at 2.4ghz, which is more reasonable.
Is this safe for it though...?

The hottest the CPU has gotten is 55c, and is now idling at 48c.

 

[cjl]

That's fine as far as voltage and speed is concerned. Run Prime95 SmallFFT though and see what temperature it gets. 48C idle sounds a bit high, but if it stays under 72C or so full load, it should still be OK. Also watch CPU-Z when you run Prime95 - it should run at 3.4GHz (400*8.5) during heavy load, not 2.4GHz.

 

[jennyh]

Yes it's safe.

The idle speed you are seeing is the intel speedstep thing which slows the cpu down unless you are doing intensive stuff. Don't worry about it, anytime it needs to do real calculations it automatically speeds up to it's full speed.

 

[ivoryplum]

I've never used Prime95 before.
Do I just run it with CPU-Z running and watch what it does...?
I do notice when I open up a program, that it jumps back up to 2.83 (or now 3.2).
So it is apparent that its in energy saving mode. Which I guess is fine.

Heres the screenshot of Prim95 and CPU-Z:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/sk8erek/CPUtest.jpg

 

[jennyh]

Looks good.

Yes, most overclockers would keep cpu-z running just as a reference. In this case you can see the cpu increasing in speed while it's working hard.

I use speedfan to check the temperatures of my cpu while running stress tests. Prime95, speedfan and cpu-z basically let you stress your system to the max while showing you what is happening inside the case.

Note that even if Prime95 fails while running, your pc might work fine under normal circumstances. It's a very harsh test that will push your cpu overclocks to the limit, so if your pc can handle a prime95 test for an hour or so, it can pretty much handle anything you throw at it

 

[ivoryplum]

So I saw it went up to 75c.
I wasn't okay with that.
So I turned it down to 3.0 ghz, at 1400fsb.

I was just expecting a much bigger improvement is all.
I'm just not seeing it.

Thanks to everyone for your help. I really do appreciate it.

 

[daship]

If you want faster photoshop get somme OCZ vertex SSDs in raid 0. You will get a 100% speed increase. Or you could get some WD 640 in raid 0 but they wont be nearly as fast but still a noticeble difference.

 

[ivoryplum]

If you want faster photoshop get somme OCZ vertex SSDs in raid 0. You will get a 100% speed increase. Or you could get some WD 640 in raid 0 but they wont be nearly as fast but still a noticeble difference.

You're referring to photoshops "scratch disk" huh...?
I have two hard drives in my comp currently.
One 120gb, and another 250gb (plus an external).
I'm running out of room fast, and was considering purchasing a new one.

An SSD will make a big enough difference in photoshop if I set it as the scrath disk...?

Oh boy, are those expensive though.
They have come down quite a bit though (like any new technology).
I think I'll wait it out until they're are even more mass produced, and the prices can rival regular HD.

I will probably get a new HD though. What does Raid 0 refer to...?

 

[orangegator]

Turn of Speed Step. Also, lower your voltage for lower temps. My q9950 does 3.8Ghz at 1.216V. Run prime95 small ffts for 12h to be sure it's stable.

 

[cjl]

No need to turn off speedstep - it's clearly working properly, and throttling up as seen in that Prime95 shot.

 

[raj_01]

elo guyz...i just bought the q9550....as many of you..i'm having the same problems..its multiplier is @ 6 ...but when my pc first loads its @ 8.5 * 333 (= 2830) then quickly downgrades to 6*333hz (= 1998)...

i played GTA and minized the game ... it was still @ 6 * 333....any idea....

 

[DaeM]

im having the same problem

isnt there a way to set the multiplier to 8.5x steady without it stepping down?