Next step on my clock?

[vgbaron]

Nick - question re temps across cores

Q6600 was pretty much the same from core 0 to 3 however the q9650 is strange at idle it's
37
33
49
49
and under load it's

56
52
67
67

This is after lapping the CPU and using a small amount of Ceramique. The difference was the same before lapping etc.

Any reason for the 12C difference between core 0 amd 2 & 3?

Normally I'd say I screwed up appliying the paste but I'm pretty careful in tat arena - blew up an AMD chip years ago. Also, I've reapplied AS5 twice and switched to Ceramique with te same results.


Using Coretemp 0.99.3

Should I consider the higher temps valid?

Puzzled.

Thanx,

Vic

[vgbaron]

OK!

[NickN]

Before Clocked Max




After clocked Max





Because of the gear shift on the northbridge at 450MHz you dont need PL6

As you can see your latency remained almost the same but you now have a significat jump in memory write.. much more in line with the read so your now ready to blaze the sky


any questions?

[vgbaron]

Only question - you mention the 'gear shift' on the NB - is this some sort of hardware or firmware coding that takes over?

[NickN]

Think of the data as load a truck is hauling.. think of the road as the communication path to and from the CPU to the memory... think of the northbridge as a weigh-station on a highway... the longer the truck is sitting in that station waiting to be cleared to proceed, the longer it takes for the CPU to get the data and write to the memory as well.

When you buy the right motherboard which has the higher quality parts on it which reduces 'noise' and allows voltage increases, and, you buy the right memory quality that will work with the higher frequencies and a CPU that is designed to run at the FSB/multiplier you are after... you are buying the access to that weigh-station and you are optimizing the amount of time the truck spends in that station through that access

All external northbridge systems are designed to change the latency communication between the CPU and memory through the northbridge.. How much access and how far is based on the quality of the motherboard and its BIOS. Success is based on the memory product and its ability/stability. The BIOS programmer placed latency shift points in the BIOS based on CPU STRAP and FSB.. at approx 380, 400, 420, 450, 480, 500, etc. When you set the STRAP you have set the math the motherboard uses to set the memory speed and calculate from there..

[vgbaron]

So what you have done is what most never do with thier expensive computer purchase... you have taken true advantage of the purchase you made and are accessing the CPU/memory in the way the manufacture of those expensive products intended you to for the price you paid for that CPU/Memory and motherboard.

In other words... welcome to the "Pro Club"

That's a great explanation, Nick - makes it easy to understand.

As far as taking advantage of the hardware - you've made a believer out of me. Even with the Q6600 the difference was noticeable and not just in FSX. Just for example, from the time I push the on button or click restart to ready to go at the desktop - under 1 minute with XP Pro. And my system is not stripped by any means - I tend to run lean but not overly so.

The response with the Q9650 is proportionately better.

It's a good thing I don't have a vidcam on my system or folks would see a bald old guy with a big grin on his face.

Considering the number of hits this thread has had, I'm hoping there are other 'lurkers' who are following along and enjoying the fruits of your expertise.

I like the 'Pro Club'!

Vic

[NickN]

The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys...

[NickN]

Nick - question re temps across cores

Q6600 was pretty much the same from core 0 to 3 however the q9650 is strange at idle it's
37
33
49
49
and under load it's

56
52
67
67

This is after lapping the CPU and using a small amount of Ceramique. The difference was the same before lapping etc.

Any reason for the 12C difference between core 0 amd 2 & 3?

Normally I'd say I screwed up appliying the paste but I'm pretty careful in tat arena - blew up an AMD chip years ago. Also, I've reapplied AS5 twice and switched to Ceramique with te same results.


Using Coretemp 0.99.3

Should I consider the higher temps valid?

Puzzled.

Thanx,

Vic

I must have missed this post

That is strange... I have never seen a 10c difference in the other cores

I do know there can be strange vars in motherbord system for these chips which in some cases requires calibration

the only other thing I can think of is that your water block is somehow warped at the spot where the 2-3 cores are located. Its either that or BIOS calibration. I would go by the highest value for now just to be safe however you cant kill the proc.. it just shuts down it goes over tJunction which is about 25c less than tJMax on most processors. So in your case thats about 75c

[vgbaron]

Sort of what I figured - After 2 hours of 100% utilization in OCCT - max temp on highest core was 71C.

I seriously doubt that I'll run anything other than a stress test to get it that high.

I did remove, clean and reset the heat block

[NickN]

You can still improve in 2 areas...

the video card and the memory

Because you have DDR2 and not DDR3, and, because you are very close to being maxed, the VC would be a better purchase from the standpoint of more result for the investment.

With the system now chugging along correctly for FSX use a GTX 280 would serve you as an upgrade and a good one. The system you are on now and it's tuned ability can now take real advantage of that 280 and not be bottlenecked.


However, strictly from a cost perspective I would probably give it some time and wait a bit... lets see what they come up with over the next several months.. Between now and then driver dev on the 280 will improve and there may be something released that skirts the 280. Only time will tell.

[vgbaron]

Thanx for the heads up Nick. Was thinking about it but I'll give it some time. Was able to bump up the 8800GTS a tad more - 702/1728/854 and all is well so I'm good to go for a while.

[macca22au]

Nick, I know I know,but...  since following you on this forum I have learned a lot, a big lot about the inside of my computer.  But most of this is over my head, and over the head of my tech who is a really good business computer guy.

Having said that I will be going to the i7 as soon as I can.  Is there a video card to match it with?  I will have to have a new mobo, what should that be? and of course DDR3 RAM.

And then how should I get him to set it up, so it is clocked within limits that aren't going to burn the CPU and void the warranty?

Mostly, will ATi or nVidia have a card out to match the new CPUs?

[NickN]

The only card out there that will beat a 8800GTX which is not 'highly' clocked is a GTX 280

[macca22au]

Nick until I can afford to upgrade my entire system, I am having a good four port 3Way RAID controller installed.

I am also going to have my quad core 6850 overclocked, and also the 8800 GTX.

In both cases I just want to squeeze a bit of extra horsepower out of the cards, but keep them inside temp tolerances.

I know you have posted often on the topic, but can you point me to the thread(s) if any about conservative clocking, but still getting a gain?

I count it a service, as I will give the details to my tech.

[NickN]

Clocking the numbers requires knowing the exact specs on the procesor, motherboard and memory

I need to know the processor (Q or QX), memory manufacture and model of the sticks... how many sticks and what motherboard

I cant just throw numbers out there.. the value in clocking is not only tied to the proc, its tied to the memory speed and timing ability