Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

[profJim]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

Are you using 450 x 8.5 = 3.825GHz or 475 x 8.0 = 3.80GHz?
450 x 8.5 might be easier to get stable.

Don't be afraid to increase MCH Core to 1.26 or 1.28 if needed.
I would increase ICH I/O and ICH Core up 1 click.

[Zach_]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

Right now I'm on 450*8 and I was thinking of using 450*8.5 for 3.82GHz, will try that later on.

Should I try 3.8 with the same Vcore and just raise MCH Core, ICH I/O and ICH core or up the Vcore as well?

[profJim]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

I would first increase cpu vcore one or two clicks higher. VTT might not need to be increased.
Increasing ICH I/O and ICH Core seems to help with higher overclocks.
MCH Core settings differ with each system, even when two systems have nearly identical hardware.
Boot loops can result when MCH Core is too high or too low.
tRD that is too low will often cause boot loops.

[Zach_]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

Thanks Jim, I'll try that.

About the memory tRD, I manually set it to 10, but the BIOS still shows 11?

Also I wasn't able to see exactly how it is set in Memset, did you see it in my screenshot? Is it ok?

[profJim]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

In post #88, Memset shows tRD (aka Performance Level or Static tRead Value) is set to 10 for both memory channels.
Right now tRD = 10 is safe, and tRD = 9 with your 2.00D memory multiplier would probably be stable at 450MHz. You can tweak tRD later.

Don't worry if your bios looks like:
Static tRead Value ----- 11 -------- : [10]

[Chike]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

Yes don't try to compare temps of different processors, did they measure core temperatures?

[Zach_]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

[Chike]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

I think those theps can't be trusted, 23c idle? no way unless ambiant is 17c.
The max temps re 18-23c above idle, what is the difference between idle and load you had?

[Zach_]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

My idle is somewhere between 28-33 and load is about 20C above that...

Jim, I tried to PM you but your box is full, I have another PSU question.

I just got back from the store with my new Gigabyte 6950

The guy in the store asked me what PSU I have so I told him I have the Enermax and he said that its right on the borderline for this GPU and for a Q9550 @ 3.6 GHz, in fact he said that I should not stress the card at all until I replace my PSU.

This puzzles me, because the maximum draw of the 6950 is 200W, lets say 230W once unlocked to 6970, so that still leaves with me 300W of power to use for my CPU, Mobo, memory, 1 HDD and 5 120mm fans... which sounds reasonable to me.

I did a PSU calculation at http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp and it told me that for my setup I need a recommended supply of 483W whereas the minimum is 440W.

Can this be trusted? Will my PSU be able to handle the CPU and the card? If not I might have to upgrade to the X-650...

Thanks

[profJim]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

A quick review check (Radeon HD 6970 Power Consumption and Thermals | bit-tech.net) stated that the 6950 2GB card system power load was about 250 watts and the 6970 2GB card power load was 306 watts while running 3DMark06 Canyon Flight test, 1,280 x 1,024 0xAA 16xAF.

With my N460GTX Hawk, E6300 (R0), P35-DS3L 3.60GHz "super wimp" setup, the power load during graphics benchmark tests often reached 275 - 325 watts. My FurMark testing power draw was up to 375 watts. During these tests, my video card o/c was 910 - 920MHz using the maximum 100mv gpu voltage increase.

Running with your 525 watt Enermax psu, the maximum recommended sustained safe power load is about 420 watts (525 x 80%). I agree that your current psu output is borderline IF you run demanding games at high resolution with highest game settings for an extended period of time. Your Enermax psu should have excellent OCP and OTP, over-current protection and over-temperature protection, where the worst that would happen is the psu would simply shut down.

If you have a friend with an A.C. clamp meter, you can measure the amperage draw from the wall socket. Volts X Amps = watts. To calculate the power load that the psu delivers, multiply the calculated A.C. watts by 85% (average efficiency). Keep in mind that your psu can probably safely deliver about 20% more than its rated power for a short period of time. Reread the HardwareSecrets rewiew, paying attention to the table that displays the test results at 20 - 100% loads and the table that follows it that shows the maximum short term load that the psu delivered before it safely shut down.

Don't worry be happy, but...use moderation with gaming resolution and quality settings until you upgrade your psu. Your best bet might be to upgrade to a 750 watt Seasonic if you think that you will run a crossfire setup in the future.

Hope this helps.

Are you still stuck with a half-fast system at 3.60GHz?

**edit**
A clamp meter only works when its jaws clamp around one of the wires. I got around this with a short, high quality extension cord where I carefully separated one of the cord's power wires so that the jaws clamped around the single separated wire. For testing, I plugged the modified extension cable into the wall socket and plugged the psu power cable into the other end of the extension cable.

[Chike]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

20c above idle is about what they had. I can only assume that if DT from ambiant would stretch so would idle to load, and it didn't.

I just re-calibrated my sensors and tested 3.82GHz. DT from idle was about 24c with Prime95 and 38c with LinX, idle temps are +9c from ambiant

[Zach_]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

Chike, I'm about 20C above my ambient with P95 and around 30 above with IBT... sounds about the same, I guess its the difference in ambiance temp...

Thanks for the reply Jim, I'm not stuck at 3.6, it's perfectly stable, passed 10 cycles of IBT with 3200MB at 48-49 GFlops and 8 hours of excruciating blend test on Prime 95 :)

Had to attend a birthday party last night so no time for testing, but it's going to be a rainy weekend so I'll have plenty of time to move up towards 3.8 and of course will provide updates :)

About the PSU, I AM running games at at least 1920x1080 and on high or highest settings for long periods of time (Probably will be highest now with the 6950...), playing anything below that with a 42" TV is just missing out I feel, so I will need a new PSU because I don't want to push it too much, I'm going to sell it.

I might add a second 6950 in a year or so if games get more demanding, so it might be worth it to upgrade my PSU, the X-750 looks like a really good choice, question is, is 750W enough for 2 6950s?

Or should I just buy a 1000W Antec and be done with it? :) Thanks

[profJim]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

Check out reviews that include 6950/6970 crossfire power loads when overclocked while playing demanding games with highest quality game settings.

Seasonic also sells an 850 watt psu. As I recall, at least one of the Antec 1200 watt power supplies had excellent rating reviews from HardwareSecrets, JonnyGuru and other "best" psu review sites. Most newer Antec power supplies have good to excellent reviews, check them out. I think that 1000 - 1200 watt power supplies are only needed with a three or four video cards. Before you upgrade your psu, see how much power your system draws under a worst case scenario.

For about $50 - $60 (USD), you can buy a fan controller or LED unit that will accurately show your psu power consumption. My Zalman ZM-MFC2 controller displays psu supplied wattage, but it has very limited field of view and isn't the easiest to read.

[Zach_]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

Thanks I'll go over some reviews and see what to choose, btw, did you upgrade your PSU again?! Your signature says Antec TP-750, just a few days ago you bought the X-650, didn't you?

Edit:

Well just read a review about the 6950 in CFX: http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...irex-review/14

The maximum draw of 2 cards when at full 100% load (They stopped using Furmark as it stresses the GPU far more than any other game can and increases wattage by 50-100W per card) is:

Measured power consumption

Note: We'll be calculating the GPU power consumption here, not the total PC power consumption.

i7 965/X58 @ 3.75 GHz

System in IDLE = 184W
System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 473W
Difference (GPU load) = 289W
Add average IDLE wattage ~ 40W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 329 Watts

They recommend 750W for an SLI setup and 850W to be on the safe side if you are using a high end system and plan on doing overclocking.

I think I will probably move on to an i7 and a new board at some point next year, so what should be my choice, 750 or 850?

[profJim]

Re: Q9550 + EP45-UD3P, need help hitting 4 Ghz please

Many newer video cards are "aware" of FurMark like programs and they will automatically throttle the gpu power draw to limit possible damage/wear and tear.

It looks like their crossfire test was with stock settings.
They haven't included data for your probable 6970 "free" bios flash upgrade.

You're looking at buying an expensive, top tier psu that should easily last for five or more years. How much more power will be required if you upgrade to the new high end video cards in 2 - 4 years?

My best guesstimate; 650 watts is ok for now, but another psu upgrade will probably be needed sooner, rather than later.
750 watts will be fine for at least 2 - 3 years, maybe longer.
850 - 900 watts gives you more breathing room for possible future needs.
PSU efficiency is usually highest when your system is running with 40 - 80% psu loads.

I think your best bet is to see if your current psu is able to meet your needs with using high/very high gaming settings. If so, then you don't have to quickly run out and buy a new psu. Can you sometimes buy high quality cpu hardware at sale prices?

I haven't had time to clean up my inbox or to update my forum signature with my new psu, memory (8GB of HyperX T1 ddr2 1066), or DVD.

Are you using an SSD as a boot drive? It is a huge improvment!!
Check out http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte...light=agility2 where I got many excellent forum suggestions for my SSD upgrade.