ned99

Hello everyone. This is both my first post and my first time overclocking so apologies if this is a newbie question.

I've overclocked my q9550 to 3.4 Ghz with the core voltage at 1.256v and CPU FSB at 1.30v on an EVGA 750i FTW. I've got an Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro using its stock thermal tape and the room temperature is about 22 c. On idle Real Temp is reporting between 36-37 degrees across all 4 cores, and on load (1 hour with Prime95) it fluctuates between 58-60 degrees. Are these acceptable temps?

Thanks.

Eastrider

It looks good.

You may want try to push it a bit further. With that voltage, I'm so sure that with a high end HSF (like the TRUE or the Megahalem) you'll be able to hit 4GHz.

What GPU do you have? RAMs? Mobo?

milkcow500

it's fine for a push pin cooler type like that, you'll obviously get better temps with a better cooler. I always like to keep Q9550s at around 60c on load just to be safe.

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ned99

Hi, thanks for the reply. Here are my complete system specs:

Intel q9550 at 3.4 Ghz
4 gb Corsair Dominator DDR2 1066 at 5-5-5-15 2.1v
EVGA 750i FTW motherboard
EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB harddrive
Corsair 520HX modular PSU
Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro

I have no idea what brand of case I've got since I bought it at a local store years ago but I've got 2 80mm exhaust fans, 1 80mm intake fan on the side, 1 120mm intake fan on the front, plus a 120mm exhaust fan that's part of the PSU. I've also got a 60mm fan ziptied to the NB heatsink that's blowing into the CPU cooler instead of onto the GPU.

GigaByte

Welcome to OCN, go here to fill out your system specs. Is your RAM 4x1GB or 2x2GB configuration? If its 2x2GB you may want to try reducing the vcore and VTT a little, I have my Q9550 @ 3.70GHz with 1.22v and 1.20v VTT. What is the stepping and VID of your Q9550? You can find that info with CoreTemp.

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Eastrider

The case is not that important. If you're into overclocking go buy a TRUE.

If you're into gaming, for the double of money, can SLI a 260, what gives amazing results, and can be handled by a Q9550 at 3,6 with no problems.

Nice setup you have!

ned99

Thanks for the replies, I'm relieved to see that my temps are okay. My stepping according to CPU-Z is A and the revision is E0 while Core Temp tells me that my VID is 1.2500v while my ram is 2x2gb sticks of Dominator. I tried lowering the VTT to 1.20v but the system would hang when windows loaded, I've left the NB and SB voltages on "auto" should I change those too?

NickOulton

Those temps are good. You dont have to worry until you get to 75+ since anything lower shouldnt affect your CPU lifespan that much

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GigaByte

VTT = FSB volts

Your Q9550 has the same VID/stepping as mine, and you got 2x2GB so thats good. Give 3.70GHz a try with a vcore of 1.20v ~ 1.25v and VTT of 1.20v ~ 1.25v, you may want to add around +0.10v to the NB as its a 750i.

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ned99

I get a "hardware malfunction" BSOD when I try Prime95 at vcore 1.25 vtt 1.25 and set at 3.7 Ghz. I'll try to lower the volts incrementally at 3.4 to get the lowest stable setting again. Actually I was wondering what the formula for calculating the FSB (QDR), Mhz number is?