Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

[billmaudio]

Hey guys, I was referred to this forum because I am looking for some help on how to OC and was told the community is awesome and would help out a noob like myself.

So basically I understand the very basics of what overclocking is, but I have never done it before and I am a bit afraid to break something haha. I have a q9550 and I am looking to see if I can get some more performance out of it, as I have heard over and over again it's a pretty easy chip to OC. Below are my specs

q9550 2.83ghz core 2 quad
GTX 460 1gb
4gig DDR2 ram (Kingston HyperX DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 Cas Latency 5 )
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3L
windows 7 ultimate 64bit
700watt PSU

I game a ton and I am just trying to see if I can get some more out of the chip, so I don't have to go out and buy an i7, new motherboard and ram.

I really am a noob and I apologize for being dumb, but I'm just looking for some help on what kind of bios settings I should use, etc, etc. Thanks in advance!

[Chike]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

Welcome aboard.

Please read this post and post additional information as explained in steps 1-4.
The EP45-UD3L can OC nicely a C2D processor, no idea how far it can take a C2Q, I guess we're gonna find out.
What is your OC goal if you have any?

[faust1200]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

To anyone that is brand new to OC'ng: Don't forget to make sure you have suitable cooling to OC. As a rule of thumb, you should have something better than a stock cooler to OC. However, it is certainly possible to OC with stock cooling...just not advised.

[billmaudio]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

Thanks guys. Below is all the info you should need ( to start off I am hoping to do a small increase and get the chip to around 3.2ghz )

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3L Ver 1.1
Bios: Award Modular Bios v6.00PG
Intel Core 2 Quad q9550 2.83ghz
Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 ( 4gigs )
EVGA GTX460 1024mb GDDR5 SuperClocked
OCZ ModXtreme 700watt PSU
Zalman Copper CPU fan/heatsink
Antec 900 case
LG W40 series @ 1920x1080

[faust1200]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

Personally, I don't like to use Windows based overclocking programs. You're really putting your hardware at the mercy of the OS. Fortunately, Windows 7 seems more stable than OSs in the past and I've never tried Gigabyte's softawre. If you find that it is causing any issues, you should make the changes in the BIOS...and like i said, I'd do that anyway.

[blizzaga4]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

after OC'ing don't forget to run prime95 and try to see if it's stable....

[billmaudio]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

Personally, I don't like to use Windows based overclocking programs. You're really putting your hardware at the mercy of the OS. Fortunately, Windows 7 seems more stable than OSs in the past and I've never tried Gigabyte's softawre. If you find that it is causing any issues, you should make the changes in the BIOS...and like i said, I'd do that anyway.

I'm planning on doing it all in the Bios. I only provided the easy tuner info because I was asked ( it gives the voltage ). Thanks!

[Chike]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

Some info is missing in the CPU tab of CPU-Z, do you run the 32bit version on 64 bit Windows or vice versa?
Can you post the exact part/model number of the memory?
What is the Zalman HS model number?

Run some benchmarks as a baseline for comparison, MaxxMem, IBT/LynX with 3GB of memory (or max stress level) (GFlops), and video benchmarks.

EDIT: your current BIOS is F8, there is a newer BIOS F9 that lists enhanced memory compatibilities, recommended that you update. Do not use @BIOS to flash BIOS, use the BIOS Q-flash utility.

[billmaudio]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

Some info is missing in the CPU tab of CPU-Z, do you run the 32bit version on 64 bit Windows or vice versa?
Can you post the exact part/model number of the memory?
What is the Zalman HS model number?

Run some benchmarks as a baseline for comparison, MaxxMem, IBT/LynX with 3GB of memory (or max stress level) (GFlops), and video benchmarks.

EDIT: your current BIOS is F8, there is a newer BIOS F9 that lists enhanced memory compatibilities, recommended that you update. Do not use @BIOS to flash BIOS, use the BIOS Q-flash utility.

hmmm not sure what happened there. I re-ran the program and it got all the data. Below is the screen shot.

This is the ram that I bought : Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 Desktop Memory Model KHX8500D2K2/4G


This is the HS:Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

I will run some benchmarks and repost once I get them. Hopefully this is enough info to at least get me started. thanks for all the help guys!

[Chike]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

Ouch 2.2v DRAM, I hope that does not mean they heat too much.
I myself install MOS-C1s on the mosfets, just in case.
Lets try get the memory at it's rated frequency.
Before everything load optimized defaults, then make the following changes in BIOS M.I.T:

Performance Enhance ------------------- : [Standard]
System Memory Multiplier -------------- : [3.20B]
DRAM Timing Selectable ---------------- : [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time -------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRCD  ------------------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRP --------------------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRAS  ------------------- ?? ---------- : [15]

Channel A
Static tRead Value --------------------- : [7] <<< try to lower later to 6 or 5

Channel A
Static tRead Value --------------------- : [7] <<< try to lower later to 6 or 5


MCH Core ---------------- 1.100V ------- : [1.16v] << increase up to 1.24v if needed

DRAM Voltage ------------ 1.800V ------- : [2.2v] <<< might need a bit more

The computer may be cought in boot loop due to wrong settings, DO NOT PANIC.
Turn the PSU off press the power button and wait for about 20 seconds. Turn the PSU on and power up. After 1-2 attempts the computer will boot. Enter BIOS M.I.T (a red warning will show up) make changes save ad reboot again. You may need to repeat this process more than once.

It is recommended to run at least one pass of memtest86+ before starting windows, then an hour of Prime95 large FFT stress to test stability.
Run the MaxxMem to compare memory performance.

To capture one window only make it active and press Alt+PrintScreen key.
Windows 7's Paint has a crop funtion that let you "crop" a selected are (and delete all the rest from the image).

[billmaudio]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

Ok, so I set everything, and was able to get right into windows with no problems. I ran prime95 for about 5 minutes before it BSOD. I set things back to default and it ran fine. So me thinks those settings didn't work out too well. Not sure if that means the memory overheated or what not.

[Chike]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

There were ranges to try, did you try them all? If not try the following.

Performance Enhance ------------------- : [Standard]
System Memory Multiplier -------------- : [3.20B]
DRAM Timing Selectable ---------------- : [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time -------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRCD  ------------------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRP --------------------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRAS  ------------------- ?? ---------- : [15]

Channel A
Static tRead Value --------------------- : [7]

Channel A
Static tRead Value --------------------- : [7]


MCH Core ---------------- 1.100V ------- : [1.24v]
DRAM Voltage ------------ 1.800V ------- : [2.22v]

Have you flashed the F9 BIOS?

[billmaudio]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

There were ranges to try, did you try them all? If not try the following.

Performance Enhance ------------------- : [Standard]
System Memory Multiplier -------------- : [3.20B]
DRAM Timing Selectable ---------------- : [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time -------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRCD  ------------------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRP --------------------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRAS  ------------------- ?? ---------- : [15]

Channel A
Static tRead Value --------------------- : [7]

Channel A
Static tRead Value --------------------- : [7]


MCH Core ---------------- 1.100V ------- : [1.24v]
DRAM Voltage ------------ 1.800V ------- : [2.22v]

Have you flashed the F9 BIOS?

I did flash to F9. I tried changing the ranges as well, no dice. I will try these settings though ( I never kept the static tRead Value at 7 ). I will try tonight and let you know what happens!

[Chike]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

For me Static tRead is good at 5 with 1066/5-5-5-15 or 800/4-4-4-12, being on auto it probably was set higher so should not be a problem.
Altho in the data sheet it says 2.2v the web page list 2.2-2.3v, so maybe you can try more DRAM Voltage.

Could be that one of the sticks can't handle 1066, or there's a problem with one of the slots.
Run Memtest86+ first, if there are errors, try individual stick in slot 1, then in slot 3 if both fail. Then slots 2 & 4 if both fail on slots 1 & 3.

[billmaudio]

Re: Ok. I am a noob, and I need basic help

There were ranges to try, did you try them all? If not try the following.

Performance Enhance ------------------- : [Standard]
System Memory Multiplier -------------- : [3.20B]
DRAM Timing Selectable ---------------- : [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time -------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRCD  ------------------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRP --------------------- ?? ---------- : [5]
tRAS  ------------------- ?? ---------- : [15]

Channel A
Static tRead Value --------------------- : [7]

Channel A
Static tRead Value --------------------- : [7]


MCH Core ---------------- 1.100V ------- : [1.24v]
DRAM Voltage ------------ 1.800V ------- : [2.22v]

Have you flashed the F9 BIOS?

Ok, so I tried these settings, ram memtest and prime95 and got no errors! Played some BC2 for over an hour and it ran smooth, with no problems! So this is looking good. ( quick question, I was thinking of adding another 4gigs to the system, with the same exact RAM to bump me up to 8 gigs. Will I need to change these settings when I add more ram? )