Overclock QX9300

I was wondering till what frequency can we overclock from bios to ensure safety of the cpu while gaming and doing other normal daily stuff? I was just wondering what frequency does 16X give, and I was really shocked to see 4.40 Ghz. Do you think that M17X can handle this frequency although it is done from the bios and just incase even if I blow the cpu, Dell gonna replace it. Any suggestions??

Thanks

 

16x266 = 4256mhz.

 

That is not going to happen, sorry. You may be able to run it at 3.06Ghz, but I'd say that the 2.9xGhz is more stable. That CPU is no slouch even at 2.53Ghz. Owned one, loved every minute of it. You won't 'blow' your CPU, just watch those temperatures.

 

It really depends on your personal CPU. Some are more overclockable than others. For example, my QX9300 on my M17x-R1 was rock stable only on ~2.8GHz for everyday use while I was able to clock it to ~3.4GHz for short-term benchmarking.

I suggest to overclock moderately and then run stability tests for (Prime95 64 bit, etc..) and see if it runs stable without crashing or aborting the stability test during ~48 hours. If it doesn't, the system may be considered stable. Like overclocking any system, finding a stable sweet spot will take patience and time.

 

Like the others said it depends on a variety of factors. 2.8-2.9GHz is probably stable for everyday use. Benchmarking I got mine between 3.2-3.3GHz but crashed a lot. Also depends on the chip it's self. Another factor is heat. The lower you can keep temps the more efficient and stable the CPU will be. I've seen the QX9300 clocked up to 4.33GHz, but that was Scooks record and required an increase in voltage+extremely low ambient temps. Your best bet is trial and error.

 

I think you guys are being too conservative. Now that you can use ThrottleStop to unlock both the multiplier and VID voltage, running a QX9300 reliably 24/7 at 3.5 GHz is not out of the question, as long as you can keep it cool. Being able to add a little extra voltage to these has really helped out stability. Just right click on ThrottleStop for the Core 2 Extreme unlock feature.

After a quick Google search, here's how Soviet KGB was doing after discovering ThrottleStop.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6338494-post1.html

 

Yea, uncle webb is right. If using throttle stop all the time, 3.5GHz is pretty easy.

I just need a find a way to increase voltage in a core-i

 

Ah, nice. Would have been nice to have that feature back when I had the M17x-R1. Does the VID voltage unlock and multiplier unlock work with the Core i7 920XM as well or just Core 2 CPUs at the moment?

 

Adjusting core voltage in the Core i CPUs is still a secret that I haven't figured out yet. You can use ThrottleStop to adjust the turbo multipliers and turbo TDP/TDC in the Core i Extreme CPUs.

The i7-920XM is already a beast. I think you are mostly limited by heat and power consumption so I'm not sure how much you could gain with extra core voltage.

 

Very true, I can raise the TDP to a point where I'm struggling to keep temps under control. The benifit for me would be things like 32M Wprime runs and such for benchmarking. Then I can have quick short bursts of 4+GHz stable for better marks. I know it's gotta be possible to raise the voltage. Much like the OC feature is unlocked in the bios, so is the core voltage, at least on the M17xR2. Just gotta find a way in. Of course extra voltage would help of I ever decide to invest enough to do some dice runs on the M17x R2 lol.

 

hmmm so I can go till 3.xx ghz and have a gameplay with safe and stable temperature. If I am in X16 then can't I even go on Windows and use it but no gaming and just daily stuff. I just wanted to make sure before I go into X16 and try that.

 

sprad, I see this quite often - bottom line, if you want to benchmark, then OC the system - if you are looking at everyday use and gaming, stick with the base or OC using the multiplier only via the BIOS. No real reason to OC the CPU for everyday tasks. I actually have my CPU sitting at base speeds 24x7 and have no issues with gaming and everyday use.

Just a thought. In the end, its up to you

After reading webb's post, I think I'm going to do some benching later this evening

 

I agree with BatBoy, when I'm not benching everything is at stock speeds. GPU and CPU. No real reason to overclock for everyday use as the quad core in and of itself is plenty fast.

BatBoy, thats the spirit, should see some interesting results using throttlestop. It helps immensly during benching so long as you can prevent thermal throttling.