Cache and 45nm

[Brett_Henderson]

Couple of questions (Nick

[Slotback]

How did you fry your Q6600? What voltage was it at?

Probably is the extra cache, and architectural improvements. Q9450 is 45nm so it should run cooler.

[NickN]

LOL

I love this report because it flies in the face those who claim such an upgrade is not worth the investment

What I am trying to figure out is how you killed a Q6600.. thats pretty hard. I have turned a system on with no heatsink on Core2 quads and they simply shut down without being fried.. not something I suggest people do though.  Sorry you lost your proc.

You are seeing the result of 2 things

First, yes.. the cache.

Second is the 45nm design and the 10-15% increase in optimized internal communication of the proc

Due to 45nm design the Vcore is lower and therefore the chip runs cooler at the same CPU speed


Now, there are RULES around 45nm which are not the same as 65 in CPU VOLTAGE. A 45nm CPU even LN2 cooled can not run a CPU VOLTAGE of higher than 1.40 or damage may ensue. @ 1.50 and above I would say within 6 months the proc is toast if not sooner where with 65nm one could LN2 cool on 1.8v and never see any problem


As for clocking it.. .the Q9550 has a 8.5x multiplier and if it is E0 stepping it will make it to 4.0GHz on about a 1.32-1.36 CPU VOLTAGE and a VTT or FSB TERMINATION VOLTAGE of 1.28-1.30 safely and usually a northbridge voltage of about 1.42-1.55. That high clock does require a proper clocking heatsink to accomplish and a motherboard able to run 475-480MHz

Most Q9550 chips are not E0 stepping and they can be hard to find. If you are lucky to have one it is very easy and stable to clock. The Stepping will be presented on the CPU tab of the software CPUz.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.a ... hKey=Q9550

There are 3 Q9550 steppings and models.. C1, E0 and the Q9550s with a stepping of E0 as well.

C1's are not as easy to clock as E0's

The main difference in the Temp spec is with the Q9550s compared to the other two.

The max temp as read by CoreTemp under a FULL LOAD test using the software OCCT v2.01 is 78c (could be pushed to 80c without problems) however with the Q9550s (ONLY the S version) that expands to 85c

The Tjunction Max or the point of damage is 100c on all but the S chip and 105c on the S model

[Brett_Henderson]

Wellll     I was re-routing a power cable for a slave drive.. I must have nudged the cooling fan loose ('cause it  was loose when I determined what happened)

It shut down on me a couple of times.. I figure now that was the thermal protection, but I just kept rebooting until it would boot no more  :D  :-/

I had already gotten 9 months or more out of it.. so I'm not upset. I probably should have gone with i7, but this board and CPU were in stock at my favorite computer supplier..  it's not much of an upgrade, but will do for now..

[NickN]

Brett

make sure you use CORETEMP to read the processor temps.. you do not want to read the wrong value. Coretemp will read the correct value

RealTemp can also be used but you may need to manually select and input the correct TJMAX value for it to display correctly.

[Brett_Henderson]

Brett

make sure you use CORETEMP to read the processor temps.. you do not want to read the wrong value. Coretemp will read the correct value

RealTemp can also be used but you may need to manually select and input the correct TJMAX value for it to display correctly.

I'm using Real Temp.. but I'll get Coretemp ASAP.. thanks..

Quick question while you're here..  what's the latest/best driver for an 8800GTS ?

[NickN]

Brett

make sure you use CORETEMP to read the processor temps.. you do not want to read the wrong value. Coretemp will read the correct value

RealTemp can also be used but you may need to manually select and input the correct TJMAX value for it to display correctly.

I'm using Real Temp.. but I'll get Coretemp ASAP.. thanks..

Quick question while you're here..

[Brett_Henderson]

OOH.. and THANKS ,  Nick.. for that clocking data...

I'm not sure what I have (but I'll figure it out).. I just went in to get it above 3.0Ghz quickly (to compare to the Q6600)..  It was stock at 333/8.5 ...  I changed it to 415/7.5

Didn't change any voltages.. just had to re-sync the RAM

[NickN]

[quote]OOH.. and THANKS ,

[Brett_Henderson]

The Stepping will be presented on the CPU tab of the software CPUz

CpuZ stepping says  "A" ?

[Brett_Henderson]

OK.. "Revision"  is  "E0"  

I'll get those links up ASAP.

THANKS !

[NickN]

[quote]OK.. "Revision"

[Brett_Henderson]

Motherboard..

http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherb ... uctID=2842


The RAM I recycled from the dead computer.. here's the newest link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145215

[Brett_Henderson]

If I were you I would get a clocking heatsink and take her up as high as possible

I had a Zalman 9700.. but I never did like the  way it mounted (how it was knocked loose).. So I got what he had in stock.. an OCZ Vendetta.. seems to work pretty well (and very quiet)

[NickN]

Motherboard..

http://www.gigabyte.us/Products/Motherb ... uctID=2842


The RAM I recycled from the dead computer.. here's the newest link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145215

OK.. give me sont time to look this over while I sip coffee and I will throw out some values to work with. The primary concern is to not exceed 2.1v on the DRAM VOLTAGE, 1.36v on the CPU VOLTAGE and as long as the temp of the processor remains below 80c, you are good to go

How high you can go will depend on that temp and remaining at or below the max Vcore, which should not be a problem. The advantage of the Q6600 is its 9 multiplier.. you are losing some ability there but gaining on another end



you have a vendetta2 ?

Let the good times roll