Overclocking Q9650 2.66 help

**viper1986** · 08-02-2010, 08:58 PM

Hello,

I would like to overclock my Q9650 2.66 to a 3.66 to get a little more out of it but I just can't for the life of me find anything useful in terms of directions to do this. I have a 780i 3-way SLI board from XFX and wondering if anyone could help me out. I am just looking for a "this is what you do" directions as all I am finding right now is people saying they have one and then saying they overclocked it and that's all.

V/R,

Marc

**Bratsche** · 08-02-2010, 09:23 PM

I'm assuming you've never overclocked before? This wikiHow article provides a decent walk through (it's generally the same process for all CPUs).

http://www.wikihow.com/Overclock-a-PC

To summarize the key points: Overclocking consists primarily of raising the Front Side Bus (FSB) in the BIOS screen in order to raise overall clock speed. Your total clock speed (which looks to be 2.66GHz right now) is determined by FSB x CPU Multiplier. If you have an Extreme Edition processor, you can probably increase your multiplier as well, but otherwise you'll just be stuck tweaking the FSB. When you find the FSB in the BIOS, change it by small amounts 5-10MHz, rebooting your system each time to check for stability. When you feel that you've reached a comfortable clock speed, run a stress test like Prime95 to make sure your system is completely stable. Also, keep an eye on your CPU temperatures (I use HW Monitor) to make sure they're staying at reasonable levels. I'm not sure what good temps are for a Q9650, but you can probably look those up.

Now, with all that being said. Do you really need to overclock a Q9650? That's a pretty decent processor to begin with, so I'd only really go through with the process if you think you can get good returns and you feel you need those returns.

Hope this helps.

**jmaker** · 08-02-2010, 09:31 PM

Well your vid card has nothing to do with overclocking your processor. Read this guide from Anandtech.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=47089

Do you have an aftermarket cooler for your CPU? If you want to go that high, you might need one. I have a Q6600 and have it overclocked to 3.0 by just changing the FSB. Of course I can go a little higher by upping the voltage. I was actually trying that out this past weekend. But it runs great at 3.0ghz just using stock voltages.

Everything you need and probably more is in that thread.

**Cheburash** · 08-03-2010, 12:42 AM

As a separate issue from overclocking your CPU, you can also overclock your graphics card(s) and RAM. Those are two separate games though, and I find overclocking the CPU easiest of the three, so I recommend you start with that alone; you should get quite the performance boost already.

Keep in mind that all, and I do mean all, overclocking will shorten the life of the component. You will also have to work really hard at managing your excess heat. That said, Overclocking.net suggests you can go as high as 4.2GHz with the right setup. And since you might as well do the reading beforehand, here's another guide

http://www.overclock.net/overclock.p...uide-intel.htm

**Reaperassault** · 08-03-2010, 02:09 AM

I hope you have your model numbers right for your CPU because a Q9650 runs stock at 3GHz

**Superfast** · 08-03-2010, 03:36 AM

I run my Q9550 at 3.4 ghz. I'm not a big overclocker but i wanted to squeeze the last life out of the CPU. So i bought a bigger cooler. I then increased the FSB in the bios. This with the default multiplier will bring you upwards in speed. The BIOS will post your speed when you boot. Only thing you need to check before trying it is that your memory can support the FSB speed you set it too.

I downloaded the free tool CPU-Z to help me read my settings once in Windows.

**Acreo Aeneas** · 08-03-2010, 03:40 PM

Originally Posted by Superfast

I run my Q9550 at 3.4 ghz. I'm not a big overclocker but i wanted to squeeze the last life out of the CPU. So i bought a bigger cooler. I then increased the FSB in the bios. This with the default multiplier will bring you upwards in speed. The BIOS will post your speed when you boot. Only thing you need to check before trying it is that your memory can support the FSB speed you set it too.

I downloaded the free tool CPU-Z to help me read my settings once in Windows.

Did the same thing. My Q9550 also runs at 3.4 GHz.

For the Core 2 Quads, all you have to do is bump up your FSB core clock. You won't need to adjust voltages or anything for the first 400-600 MHz in effective clock speed.