# [SOLVED] A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)



## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

Hi,

I have a Q9550 (E0 Stepping) and I want to overclock it (mainly because other pc's that have the same specifications as mine get more fps and the only different thing is that they overclock their cpu).

But I have NO IDEA how to do that. 

First of all, my specifications:

Asus P5QL PRO (I would've gotten the P5Q PRO but I was out of money)
Intel Q9550 (currently @ 2.83ghz stock)
Gainward GTX460 GS GLH (800/2000mhz)
600W PSU (I will send some HWmonitor pics)
2x2GB Kingston HyperX @ 1066mhz

So, first thing I want to ask is this:

Is it safe to overclock my CPU? I mean, will it hurt my pc? I am planning for a 3.2 or 3.5 overclock, will 3.5 make my CPU go over 72C on load?

Here are some pictures:

CPU-Z:









HWmontior @ idle:









HWmontior @ prime95 torture test with 4 threads:









Anything more I need to post, feel free to tell me  Please help me out because I an not too good with overclocking...I'm kinda paranoid about doing anything myself about it, even though I've overclocked before without any issues..


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## Niram (Jun 20, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

Start by lowering your ram to the lowest possible speed then raising FSB in BIOS 10 by 10

Once you're unable to boot, get back in bios, raise the voltage by 0.05 and lower fsb by 5, then reboot, check temperatures and stress it, then go back in bios and raise FSB by 10 again until you can't boot again


that's more-less how you do it, though you also need to disable certain settings that your bios has and have an after market cooler


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

Hm, but what things should I disable? Also I'm rly cheap, @ Stock cooler I am 

I'll try that now..wish me luck haha.


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## Niram (Jun 20, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

You need an after market cooler, stock cooler won't do

if the cpu gets to 60°C without OCing then it will get to 80°C as soon as you pass 3GHz

get an after market cooler and then try overclocking, zalman and arctic cooling are the best
pozdrav :laugh:


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

You'll definitely need an aftermarket cooler. I have the same Motherboard (P5QL Pro) and to be honest it's the best I've had so far. Easy to overclock. I have a E2160 overclocked by 50% on this motherboard using a Zalman CNPS7000C AlCu LED CPU Cooler. Under 100% load it reaches 60c, but I've just ordered a new case with a better thermal efficiency as I am still not happy will temps inside the case. *Very Important* is to set the PCIE Frequency to standard ie. Manually set it to 100mhz, I think I read somewhere that by raising the FSB the PCIE freq could also raise accordingly. Just don't set your ram speed too low, otherwise you could make it unstable as it stays in the bios screen, start with 667mhz. I personally have mine on standard 800mhz but inputted manually. If you start getting blue screens you may have to increase CPU volts a little bit. It's basically trial and error, I keep all my settings stored on my digital camera in case I need to insert them again. If everything fails or nothing responds you could just clear the CMOS, which I had to do because I set my NB voltage too high. Hope this info helps and keep us posted, I'm interested in seeing what other guys can get out of this motherboard. PS: Here's a link to a guide I found whilst searching for myself: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/249758-11-q9550-p5ql-overclock. Very Handy.


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

Well I am a bit crazy, I kept my 8800gt on 450W and 85C load for 3 years and it didnt break a sweat (still working at my friends house, 500W lower branding, same temps) 

So I'm gonna try and break my pc, I'll try 3.2 first..I'll see if temps rise above 70C, if not it's perfect for me


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

The max TCASE temp for the Q9550 is 71,4c according to Intel's website so for longevity purposes you should keep it below that. And if you're comparing GPU temps to CPU temps it is like comparing chalk and cheese totally different and irrelevant. A GPU can under normal circumstances run hotter than a CPU, mine idles at 60c and loads at about 80-90, I've even seen 104c on mine before I dusted the card out. Apparently the max temp for a 8800gt on the safe side is approx 90c. Try running your cpu at that temp and check what happens?


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

K guys currently I'm @ 3.4Ghz and I'm totally crazy, the temps so far are fine, 30C idle, I'm gonna put it into a lot of stress and post some pics ;D


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

Nah, it won't work, I'll try to lower it down a bit;

Indeed this is prime95 but I guess it's not good to have these temps: (half an hour)


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

Just put it to 3.2ghz and I'm feeling confident, it looks to be going pretty well too. Temps @ Prime95 are about 68C on the cores and 55 for the CPU (?) and in some games (mirror's edge, ac2, arma2, gta4, crysis, dunno) it's around 60C for the cores and 45 for CPU.


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

Try rather using CoreTemp to monitor temps of the CPU. It looks like you're getting confused by the Different Core temps and the Max Temp of the CPU. In CoreTemp you can set it up so that it shows the core with the highest temp. In the attached image I have outlined how to do this and where it displays it in the taskbar, as all the cores will have different, but similar temps, I just find this program much easier. Those temps you got of between 75-83 for the various cores are going to shorten the CPU life very quickly, glad you brought them down. With a CPU cooler you could maybe run at that speed with no heat issues.


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

Okay I downloaded CoreTemp, and it says Tj. Max is 100C, but now when I run prime95 I get some errors, this one common - FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4.

I tried to work around with CPU voltages, I'm currently @ 1.33V. Tell me how far can I go?


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

Update - turns out its my RAM. Don't know how to fix this but it doesn't seem to affect anything I am doing...if it gets a problem I'll set it to 800mhz.


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

You will have to set ram freq manually otherwise leaving it at auto the fsb will automatically increase it, leading to stability issues.


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

I set my ram manually to 1066mhz.


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*



SMRDcompany said:


> I set my ram manually to 1066mhz.


Sorry, yes that's correct. My ram is only 800mhz that's why I said that. Only checked afterwards you got 1066mhz ram. I've taken my ram to 1000Mhz already. Mine are Transend JetRam DDR2-800 1 Gig sticks in dual channel mode.


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

I had some stability issues in several games, brought the ram down to 800mhz for a sweet 1:1 fsb:ram, and it works perfect now, no Prime95 errors ;D Very stable.

You were wondering what people can do with the P5QL PRO, well with my [email protected] and my GTX460 GS GLH @ 800/2000mhz I can get this (don't know if its good or bad, help me ;D)










Hope u reply soon so u can tell me if its good (btw, the temps are @ 55C max, the only place I've seen it go beyond is GTAIV at approx 62C..dunno what was with 83C earlier, but I'm still gonna get aftermarket soon).


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

That looks like a good overclock there mate. Thanks for the feedback, as I think the next performance upgrade I'll do is probably a Q9550. Is that still on stock cooling? I cannot compare mine cause I'm still running WinXP which doesn't work with 3DMark Vantage.


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## SMRDcompany (Jul 2, 2009)

*Re: A Q9550 overclock question (total noob here)*

Yes this is on stock cooler, Intel C2Q coolers are neat


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