OC potential, based on Q9300

[DrDillyBar]

Howdy TR.

So, I'm about to preform an upgrade on my antiquated Mobo. (Win7 will become 7600 at this time too).
Going from an ASUS: P5WDH Deluxe to an P5Q (notquitelinked) Deluxe. Mobo is already in my posession, so no change on that front.
I`m going to keep my 6GBs of Mushkin DDR2 667 (2x1GB and 2x2GB of the same family/timings). The Blue ones....

So, givin my next mobo, and the fact that I`ll run my memory as close to stock as possible, what are the TR OCèrs experinences with overclocking an Q9300?
Do you think I can hit an 400FSB with this CPU? With my P5W I was happy to get access to reliable 1333FSB! (333, nice work ASUS!) Never debated pushing 400. I like nice round numbers in my OC.

Think my CPU can do it, or is your gut instinct that I should not bother, and just stick with 333.

I`m not desperate for an OC here afterall.

Edit: 16-phase power!
Thx.
Edit2: Got one of These

[crazybus]

Go for it. 400MHz FSB shouldn't be a problem (the motherboard officially supports the 400MHz FSB QX9770), and cpu voltage/thermals shouldn't be ridiculous at 3GHz.

[JustAnEngineer]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14573/16

I bumped mine to DDR2-800 memory speed for a few days to verify that it worked stably. It's run at stock speed ever since.

Edit: I may have moved the memory speed divider at the same time so that the CPU was only overclocked by 20%, not 33%. I don't remember at this point, and I've been stuck with the laptop for quite a while. Here are the components that are in it: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=59057

[DrDillyBar]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14573/16

I bumped mine to 400 MHz FSB with DDR2-800 memory speed for a few days to verify that it worked stably. It's run at stock speed ever since.

Well then.

[mortifiedPenguin]

It's not quite a Q9300 (nor the same mobo, but it's still P45), but my Q9450 has been sitting on a 450MHz FSB for over a year with a minor voltage boost (1.25->1.35). With DDR2-667 though, I think you'll start running into a memory bandwidth bottleneck past a 333Mhz OC but for CPU bound tasks that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

[tfp]

I have a Q9400 sitting at 416 FSB, made the mistake of getting a P43 chipset and it has a hard wall at 419 or so on the FSB (though the board was cheap and it's all very stable). I'm sure there is plenty of room to spare.

[Airmantharp]

I have a Q9400 sitting at 416 FSB, made the mistake of getting a P43 chipset and it has a hard wall at 419 or so on the FSB (though the board was cheap and it's all very stable). I'm sure there is plenty of room to spare.

I was going to comment earlier, but I hit the same wall with my P45 based Gigabyte DS3L. I've also hit a memory speed wall with 4x2GB modules installed, running the 1066MHz modules at 800MHz CAS5. I don't know how nice of a setup the P5Q is compared to the DS3L, so just consider ~400MHz to be the maximum normal overclock, and call anything over that a bonus.

[mortifiedPenguin]

...so just consider ~400MHz to be the maximum normal overclock, and call anything over that a bonus.

I agree. Most P45 era motherboards support 400Mhz FSBs for the QX9770, so pushing it to 400 is often considered "free." You may remember when many Q6600's were pushed to 333 from 266, same story.

[Obsidian]

My Q9300 is rock solid with a 440MHz FSB and I'm guessing that's my motherboard's limit and not the CPU's. I could push it a little further but I think 3.3GHz is a pretty good overclock.

[Airmantharp]

My Q9300 is rock solid with a 440MHz FSB and I'm guessing that's my motherboard's limit and not the CPU's. I could push it a little further but I think 3.3GHz is a pretty good overclock.

That CPU has half the cache of my Q9550- I wonder if that's making the difference, or if it's just a CPU limitation, or my individual motherboard.

[mortifiedPenguin]

I think it's the motherboard. I doubt it's cache alone, seeing as the Q9450 has the same amount of cache. Could it possibly be cooling?

[Airmantharp]

I think it's the motherboard. I doubt it's cache alone, seeing as the Q9450 has the same amount of cache. Could it possibly be cooling?

Maybe for the board; but that would come from being in a P180 case with less than ideal airflow around the NB and VRMs. The DS3L is also not one of the overclocking focused boards, and doesn't have all of the heatsink jazz around the VRMs that the UD3+'s have, either.

[mortifiedPenguin]

Could be. If you're familiar with the Maximus II Formula (or most other ROG boards for that matter), it's got a set of HUGE heat sinks and probably more VRMs (I believe Asus literature refers to them as "phases") than I really needed.

[DrDillyBar]

Update:

So I decided to install the board this morning. The hardware swap went perfectly.
Win7 RTM install demanded a driver before it would proceed. Tried everything except my D2X audio in the end.
Moved on and had Win7 RC boot with the new board. 2 reboots later and everything is hunky dory.

The OC to 400FSB apparently requires I have DDR2800 memory, of which only my 2x2GB modules comply. Chose to run 333FSB with 6GB at 677MHz for now.

Everything went smoothly if you ignore the Win7 "gimme a driver" issue I had.
I'll OC to 400 when I manage to get more 2x2GB DDR800. Likely to match my existing mushkin (5-4-4-10's I believe).

Xmas not far.

Please continue discussion.

Edit: Experience Index
proc - 7.2
memory - 7.2
Graphics - 6.0
Gaming - 6.0
HDD - 5.9

[mortifiedPenguin]

Good to see the transfer worked out.

Tried everything except my D2X audio in the end.

Why not? Was that the "gimme a driver" issue?

[DrDillyBar]

Good to see the transfer worked out.

Tried everything except my D2X audio in the end.

Why not? Was that the "gimme a driver" issue?

To be honest, I thought of it after I made RC boot. So I just file it under "potential issues with next try" for the time being.

[ryko]

just wanted to chime in and say that i have a q9300 @ 430fsb on a gigabyte ep45-ds3l with 4gb of ddr2 1000. had 8gb installed but could only get to 415fsb and at ddr2 800 speeds.