# Q9550 - Uneven core temperatures



## epergrem (Feb 14, 2012)

I bought a used Q9550, that I had hoped to do an overclock of. I ran CoreTemp, RealTemp, SpeedFan, etc. and all showed that two of the cores run several degrees hotter than the remaining two. Idle temps are 39-30-30-41.

I did a mild, 3.0 GHz overclock and am running Prime95. Temperatures according to SpeedFand and RealTemp stabilized about 35 minutes after the test began at 63-53-55-54 and have held that for the past five hours. Oddly, CPUID Hardware Monitor shows them at 47-39-37-37, which is about 15 degrees lower than the other two apps show.

I installed a Zalman CNPS5X SZ cooler yesterday, using Arctic Silver 5 and even after taking a chunk off of the P43 heat sink to get the Zalman to face the rear of the tower the cooler appears only marginally better than the stock Intel HSF. My PSU is a Thermaltake TR2 RX Modular 750W, so the PSU shouldn't be an issue.

I should mention that the two higher core temps were also present with the Intel HSF, so the pattern appears consistent.

I know that 63 degrees is to hot, so it's probably not wise to push beyond the current overclock, but is it common for some of the cores to read hotter than others, or is this a sign of an used Q9550. If so, is there anything that can be done to lower the highest core temp, so I could overclock it a notch or two higher?

Thanks,
Ernie


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Speedfan is for fans and rarely gives accurate Temp/Voltages readings.
CPUID would be more trustworthy but the Bios is the most reliable.
PC Specs?
Pre- Built Brand & Model Number
Custom Built- Brand & Model of Mobo-CPU-RAM-Graphics-PSU.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

as above the cores will never all be the same temp regardless of what is going on apart from when idle

please post your full specs

the 9550 is not a very good overclocker but you should be able to get a bit more out of it.


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## epergrem (Feb 14, 2012)

Thanks for answering. 

I'm only going for a 20% or 3.4 GHz tops, which the Q9550 should be capable of. I could buy faster RAM, but I don't plan on pushing the FSB past 400 MHz, so I'm not sure that there is much point in spending the extra money.

I let the CPU idle 30 minutes this morning and got 33 for the system and 36 for the CPU. That's within a degree or two of what Everest shows in XP.

System specs are:
CPU: Intel Q9550, E0 Stepping
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPSX SZ - 92mm fan, pointed toward exhaust fan
MB: Gigabyte GA-P43-ES3G ver1.1
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 RX Modular 750W 80+ Bronze
- CyberPower UPS is reporting a 221 watt load at two hours into the Prime95 (blend) test.
Memory: Kingston PC-6400 ValueRam 1.8v
GPU: XFX GeForce 9800 GTX Plus
Intake Fan: 80mm - 3-pin
Exhaust Fan: 92mm - 3-pin
Case is a generic that I've owned for several years.

Hope this helps..


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you should be able to clock it but be aware a 10/20% oc wont show that much of a gain you should go for as max as possible.

do you know what you are doing or do you want me to tell you what to do?

before you do anything though use hardware monitor or real temp for temps and not speed fan.

The bios is most accurate.


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## epergrem (Feb 14, 2012)

> do you know what you are doing or do you want me to tell you what to do?
> 
> before you do anything though use hardware monitor or real temp for temps and not speed fan.
> 
> The bios is most accurate.


I've done some research on the Internet, but to say that I know what I'm doing would stretch truth to the point of breakage. :smile: Please feel free to offer any recommendations. 

Honestly, if I could get 3.4 GHz out of the CPU I would be happy. Anything more would be a bonus, but funds are limited so the amount of $$$ required is a consideration.

As an aside, I upped the FSB the 368 MHz this morning and have been running Prime95 (blend) for the past 2 1/2 hours. Results so far are:
CoreTemp: 55-56-47-50
RealTemp: 56-46-49-48
HWMonitor: 41-31-33-34 (system: 37, CPU 49)

It's actually running several degrees cooler than the 358 MHz FSB tests did yesterday. Perhaps the Arctic Silver is setting in.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

artic silver take 200 hours of normal usage to set in.

This is how you overclock

You up the fsb by 10Mhz save and reboot if you get into windows without any problems repeat.

Once you have increased the FSB by 60MHz run OCCT for one hour running the full linpak test. monitor the temps and make sure you dont go over 60 degrees c

repeat the above with the following

Set your PCIe frequency to 100

Also manually set you ram voltage to whatever the manufacturer states. Manually setting the ram timmings is optional and not needed.

If you get a bsod whilst trying to boot into windows you need to go back and either scale back the overclock or up the voltage. Only ever increase the voltage by the next available increment.

You may also wish to set the northbridge and southbridge voltages. Set these at the lowest possible settings (this will help with heat).

repeat the fsb increasing etc untill you get to an overclock your happu with. Once you are there run prime 95 for atleast 6 hours whilst monitoring the temps. You do not want to go above 60 degrees c.


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## epergrem (Feb 14, 2012)

Thanks.. I set the PCI frequency to 100 yesterday before the first bump. I had left the RAM voltage at auto, but since Kingston specifies 1.8v for their ValueRam products I probably should set the value to that to make sure it doesn't go higher.

Regarding the Northbridge temperature; the BIOS shows a "MCH Core" entry. Is this the Northbridge voltage? 

Do I interpret "above 60 degrees c" as the CPU temperature in the BIOS, or the highest single core temp shown in Real Temp? If it's the core temp then I'm screwed because it goes over 60 degrees c even with a minor OC. If it's the CPU temperature, then I'm in good shape.

I have Prime95, but will download a copy of OCCT and run it today.

Thanks,
Ernie


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## epergrem (Feb 14, 2012)

I ran OCCT and it showed a max CPU temp of 61 degrees. As an experiment, I secured a 80mm fan to the back of the Zalman CPU cooler using some plastic tie wraps, so that it blows air through the fins. The CPU idle temperature dropped nine degrees and the System idle temp dropped four degrees. I reran OCCT and the max CPU temperature was 58 degrees c. Still not enough to make me want to push the CPU past where it is. For now, I'll leave the settings as they are and search for better cooling.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

60 degrees c means both bios and real temp you should go no where near it really.

I have my e8400 overclocked to 4GHz have done for four years my max temp is 58 degrees in some when stressed at 100% and 52 in winter.


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## epergrem (Feb 14, 2012)

It appears that I may have hit the max on my CPU OC due to cooler limitations. 

Other than the stock HSF, I have tried both a Zalman CNPSX SZ and more recently a Cooler Master Hyper TX3 and neither seem to provide any significant reduction of CPU temperatures beyond the Intel cooler. Part of this is likely due to dimensions imposed by my computer case. I have tried both Arctic Silver 5 and the Cooler Master grease, with no great differences. 

At this point I think the best strategy is to be content with my lot and put any additional money that I would have spent pursuing a higher overclock towards an i7. Thanks for everyone's help.

Ernie


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

if you can find one and have the room in your case I would highly recommend the the tuniq tower 120. This is the cooler I use on my e8400. Its a great cooler but its very big and a bit fiddly to fit.


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