Couple of questions (Nick   )

I recently exploded my overclocked Q6600    (don't ask)

And grabbed a replacement (until I'm ready for i7)CPU and new M/B..

I got a deal (meaning they had it on the shelf and I didn't have to wait)on a Q9550 / EP45-DS3R.. and have it running at a timid 3.11Ghz, and it runs FSX noticeably better than than the Q6600 @ 3.2Ghz..

So... I figure it's gotta be the L2 ?

And to top it off.. it runs ice-cold (30C idle ).. Is that 'cause of the 45nm ?

LOL

I love this report because it flies in the face those who claim such an upgrade is not worth the investment

What I am trying to figure out is how you killed a Q6600.. thats pretty hard. I have turned a system on with no heatsink on Core2 quads and they simply shut down without being fried.. not something I suggest people do though.  Sorry you lost your proc.

You are seeing the result of 2 things

First, yes.. the cache.

Second is the 45nm design and the 10-15% increase in optimized internal communication of the proc

Due to 45nm design the Vcore is lower and therefore the chip runs cooler at the same CPU speed


Now, there are RULES around 45nm which are not the same as 65 in CPU VOLTAGE. A 45nm CPU even LN2 cooled can not run a CPU VOLTAGE of higher than 1.40 or damage may ensue. @ 1.50 and above I would say within 6 months the proc is toast if not sooner where with 65nm one could LN2 cool on 1.8v and never see any problem


As for clocking it.. .the Q9550 has a 8.5x multiplier and if it is E0 stepping it will make it to 4.0GHz on about a 1.32-1.36 CPU VOLTAGE and a VTT or FSB TERMINATION VOLTAGE of 1.28-1.30 safely and usually a northbridge voltage of about 1.42-1.55. That high clock does require a proper clocking heatsink to accomplish and a motherboard able to run 475-480MHz

Most Q9550 chips are not E0 stepping and they can be hard to find. If you are lucky to have one it is very easy and stable to clock. The Stepping will be presented on the CPU tab of the software CPUz.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ParentRadio=All&ProcFam=0&SearchKey=Q...

There are 3 Q9550 steppings and models.. C1, E0 and the Q9550s with a stepping of E0 as well.

C1's are not as easy to clock as E0's

The main difference in the Temp spec is with the Q9550s compared to the other two.

The max temp as read by CoreTemp under a FULL LOAD test using the software OCCT v2.01 is 78c (could be pushed to 80c without problems) however with the Q9550s (ONLY the S version) that expands to 85c

The Tjunction Max or the point of damage is 100c on all but the S chip and 105c on the S model

Brett

make sure you use CORETEMP to read the processor temps.. you do not want to read the wrong value. Coretemp will read the correct value

RealTemp can also be used but you may need to manually select and input the correct TJMAX value for it to display correctly.

Brett_Henderson wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2009 at 10:48am:



RealTemp will work.. I dont know what version you are on but the newer one has a section for inputting the TJMAX in your case its 100c unless you are running a Q9550s

Right now I am on 180.48 however I do use XP too... there have been mixed reports about it with Vista 64

Before that I held fast to the 174.74 beta driver..

..all of which are available at Nvidia in their driver download area. You may need to input for archive drivers and allow beta drivers to appear too.

Brett_Henderson wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2009 at 10:54am:


If you download and run CPUz.exe it will show you the stepping and processor.. it will also show you the memory speed and timing onthe memory tab

If you give me links to the motherboard and memory product I can give you clocking values within reason of your heatsink but you will still need to check the temps under load

You do want the CPU STRAP set to 333..   no exceptions and them set the memory speed based on that divider in use


http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpuz_149.zip

OK.. "Revision"  is  "E0"   

I'll get those links up ASAP.

THANKS !

Motherboard..

http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=284...


The RAM I recycled from the dead computer.. here's the newest link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145215

Brett_Henderson wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2009 at 11:17am:




OK.. give me sont time to look this over while I sip coffee and I will throw out some values to work with. The primary concern is to not exceed 2.1v on the DRAM VOLTAGE, 1.36v on the CPU VOLTAGE and as long as the temp of the processor remains below 80c, you are good to go

How high you can go will depend on that temp and remaining at or below the max Vcore, which should not be a problem. The advantage of the Q6600 is its 9 multiplier.. you are losing some ability there but gaining on another end



you have a vendetta2 ????

Let the good times roll