Overclocking my Q9550 (on Maximus II Formula)

[Digital Parasite]

First, I'm a newbie overclocker. Just to start off, I have been using the built-in ASUS CPU-Up feature to overclock my 2.8GHz CPU to 3.2GHz, it does all the settings for me.

When I run Prime95 Torture test the CPU goes up to 48C (118F). Does that seem reasonable to run 24/7 at? My MB, SB, and NB temps all seem about the same as before the overclock. The POWER temp is at 50C (122F).

Interestingly, when I run d.net OGR with 4 threads, the temp only goes up to 41C (105F) which seems very reasonable and POWER is 45C (113F). I haven't tried any other DC apps yet.

Also, a question about overclocking. So the CPU is now running at 3.2GHz, and according to CPU-Z, my FSB is now at 1504 MHz (376 x 8.5) which seems logical as you have to increase the FSB to overclock on these puppies. Now the Memory used to run at 533MHz, I don't remember what the FSBRAM setting was, but it is now using 451.2MHz at 5:6 for FSBRAM.

Does that mean my RAM is actually running slow than before even though my CPU is faster? So if I have memory intensive applications, they may be slower because the RAM is taking a speed hit?

[gopher_yarrowzoo]

I'm no overclocker myself but I it is possible to overclock the CPU and ram separately this is desirable if the system goes unstable due to the ram being overclocked too much which can happen , some ram makes are better for OC'ing than others, me personally I'd stick in ram that's rated for a faster FSB since it will underclock... or I'd leave the FSB on default and change the multiplier...
memory intensive projects you would notice a hit depending on how intensive it was really, I suppose that would be any project that require large amounts of memory to be available to it at any one time.
48C for a quad core isn't that hot freak I got an old XP3200+ that gets warmer than that when running SoB / BOINC / D.net mind you standard cooling.

[IronBits]

Perfectly normal when running Prime95. It's known for making CPUS sweat, that's why it's called the torture test

[PCZ]

48C is nothing to worry about.
Start to worry at 70C+
Actually no need to worry as the CPU will throttle back if it gets too warm.
Doesn't do that till around 90C though.

Dnet doesn't get your CPU as warm as prime95 as the code isn't so highly optimised.

[Digital Parasite]

So I have been playing around with overclocking more. I have found that IBT (IntelBurningTool) will get the CPU and cores significantly hotter than even Prime95 will. So I'm now using IBT and Prime95 torture test to ensure stability.

Initially I started off with using the built-in CPU-Level Up for 3.2GHz, now I started by changing the FSB to 400MHz (effective 1600MHz) with an 8.5 clock multiplier so it now runs at 3.4GHz. I also set the DDR2 to be 1066 which is what my RAM is rated for. I disabled CPU spread-spectrum and the SpeedStep/CE1 or whatever settings. Everything else was set to auto.

This setting was very stable, no problems, but the CPU vcore was set by the system at 1.32v which puts out some heat. I have been slowing decreasing the vcore to see how low I can go. So far I am now down to 1.225v which has dropped the temps considerably. The CPU is at 50C under Prime95 turture test, and cores around 55C (I think the cores were in the mid 70's at 1.32v). I will continue to drop the vcore until I find the lowest stable point. In the mean time, these are the settings that the motherboard is automatically setting. Do any of those seem high? Is there something I should be targeting next or just leave them as they are?

I'm not trying to get the fastest overclock the CPU is capable of, but I am comfortable with 3.4GHz and want a rock-solid system so now I want to get the lowest heat/power usage that is stable.

CPU vcore = 1.225v (manual)
CPU VTT = 1.29v
CPU PLL = 1.69v
CPU VID = 1.25v
NB11 = 1.29v
SB11 = 1.12v
DDR = 2.10v
DRAM VTT = 1.05v

Thanks.

[Digital Parasite]

For anyone following this, apparently my CPU PLL was in the "yellow" zone at 1.69v so I was able to bring this down to 1.606v back in the "green". The lowest vcore I could get was 1.225v, since load line calibration is disabled it actually runs about 1.18v when under load, so nice temps.

Maybe when OGR is finished, I will play with the board again and see if I can push it to 3.6GHz without adding much vcore.