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Overclocking V – 4 GHz at FSB 1600

05:01 - Monday 29 October 2007 by Bert Töpelt
Source: Tom's Hardware UK – Keywords: intel, core2, penryn
Categories: Hardware

Table of content:
10 – Overclocking V – 4 GHz at FSB ...
  1. 1 – Revamping the Core 2 Architecture – New Flagship: Extreme QX9650
  2. 2 – New Dielectric Minimizes Leakage Currents
  3. 3 – 45 nm – Higher Yield, Smaller Die Area
  4. 4 – 12 MB L2 Cache and SSE 4
  5. 5 – The Processor – Intel Core 2 QX9650
  6. 6 – Overclocking I – 3.33 GHz
  7. 7 – Overclocking II – 3.66 GHz
  8. 8 – Overclocking III – 3.8 GHz
  9. 9 – Overclocking IV – 4 GHz at very high Voltage
  10. 10 – Overclocking V – 4 GHz at FSB 1600
  11. 11 – Overclocking – Up to 19% more Performance
  12. 12 – Overclocking to 4.0 GHz – FSB1600 Offers no Advantage
  13. 13 – Sensational: Idle Power Consumption of only 3.79 Watts
  14. 14 – Very Good - 73 Watts for Four Cores
  15. 15 – Lower Core Voltage – 1.250 Volts
  16. 16 – Operating Temperature – 12°C Lower
  17. 17 – Penryn-Based Core 2 CPUs – Models, Prices and a new Boxed Cooler
  18. 18 – Performance Comparison Old vs. New – 6.9% Better Performance
  19. 19 – Intel 45% faster than AMD
  20. 20 – Test Setup
  21. 21 – Software Configuration
  22. 22 – Benchmarks and Settings
  23. 23 – 3D Games: UT2004, Prey
  24. 24 – 3D Games: Quake 4, Warhammer
  25. 25 – 3D Games: Supreme Commander, Serious Sam 2
  26. 26 – 3D Rendering: Cinema 4D, 3D-Studio Max
  27. 27 – Applications: AVG, WinRAR
  28. 28 – Applications: Photoshop, PDF
  29. 29 – Applications: Deep Fritz
  30. 30 – Audio Encoding: iTunes, Lame
  31. 31 – Synthetic: Sandra CPU
  32. 32 – Synthetic: Sandra Memory
  33. 33 – Synthetic: Sandra Multimedia
  34. 34 – Synthetic: PC-Mark
  35. 35 – Synthetic: 3D-Mark
  36. 36 – Video Encoding: Xvid, Pinnacle Studio
  37. 37 – Video Encoding: Premiere, MainConcept
  38. 38 – Video Encoding: HDTV, DivX
  39. 39 – Video Encoding: CloneDVD
  40. 40 – Conclusion: Less Noise, More Efficiency, More Speed and More Overclockin...

Overclocking V – 4 GHz at FSB 1600

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To squeeze the maximum performance out of our Engineering sample (ES), we also benchmarked at 4 GHz with a front-side bus running at 400 MHZ (1600 QDR). For this test, we set the multiplier to 10x.

Intel Penryn 45nm

With the CPU running with these parameters, we first tested its stability using Prime95.

Intel Penryn 45nm

During our overclocking tests, we saw that the new 45 nm generation has a lot more overclocking potential. The threshold between stable and unstable operation is a good deal wider. Where CPUs of the 65 nm generation simply wouldn’t boot if the frequency was set too high, our 45 nm sample was at least able load the operating system. This overclocking behaviour is similar to that of the Northwood and Prescott processors of the Netburst micro-architecture. Even at high clock speeds, you should always at least be able to boot into your OS.

After our initial batch of tests, we can corroborate Intel’s claim that the 45 nm design was created with high clock speeds in mind. It is entirely possible that the chipmaker will release models running at stock frequencies of 3.33 GHz and 3.66 GHz. Even 3.83 GHz are an option if that model used a standardized 400 MHz FSB (1600 QDR) or a half-step multiplier.

We’ll take a look at power consumption and how it changes at higher clock speeds further on in this article, allowing us to cement our findings.


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Talkback
Bik3r 29/10/2007 03:09
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Bik3r

Just a small typo on the first line on thelast page... i'm sure the word that is meant to be there is "reticent". Other than that an excellent, informative and thorough review, thank you :D

spuddyt 29/10/2007 06:11
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spuddyt

wow... poor amd :(

leexgx 29/10/2007 10:42
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leexgx

the green bars are getting smaller for AMD :(

i still going to get an AMD64 5000+ Black edition as my server needs an new cpu, mobo and ram

i do not want to replace my motherboard just yet as it performs Fully stable for me and i not looked into stable/good OC boards for Intel yet

but darn that CPU has some power behind it lol

Bik3r 30/10/2007 12:30
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Bik3r

Yup.... AMD seems pwned for the time being :( Bad for them and surely bad for us :( I hope their quadcore (on a single chip) solution is a success...

bobwya 30/10/2007 08:57
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bobwya

Are THG listening to the readers? This is a lot better than articles of recent times!! Now what about the follow up article... 'Penryn Hitting 5Ghz on ambient watercooling!!'.

Thanks guys!!

Bob

PS Like the detail on the new SSE4.1 instructions + history of SSE instructions - nice touch!!

mi1ez 30/10/2007 10:00
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mi1ez

I agree with Bob- It's nice to get a decent, in depth technical article, the likes of which got me reading THG in the first place!

thechevron 31/10/2007 07:37
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thechevron

I like the picture at the bottom of page 9. Nice toastie air blowing right into the arse end of that video card, just as well its not a scorchy pentium 4 :))

crackez 02/11/2007 03:49
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crackez

Yes indeed it will be nice to see how well it performs with a watercooling system, who knows even liquid nitrogen will be nice.. If they reach with Intel Pentium 4 more than 5GHz I wonder how much GHz might give a 45nm processor heheh

P.S. With liquid nitrogen I'd like to see how well it performs TOO!! [of course a more simple solutions like a watercooling overcloking still is a good thing, especially if it's in a video to see exactly what is going on]

godman 04/11/2007 11:34
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godman

Sounds like a 805 ... only more expensive, faster and twice the cores :P

crackez 06/11/2007 03:32
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crackez

I thought I left some feedback a few days ago.. oh well I was just saying why not a review of an overclocked intel processor reaching lets say 5Ghz? or even 6GHz with some liquid nitrogen perhaps. I currently have an Athlon 64 X2 5000+(running on more than 3.1GHz on water from 2.6GHz and planning for some peltier stuff soon to reach over 3.5-4 GHz)

anqe 17/11/2007 08:57
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anqe

I think 4GHz is slightly disapointing and production samples will rapidly push past 4GHz once they hit their second spin.

If we're already seeing 3.6GHz+ air cooled on Q6600's @ 65nm then another 20% hike in speed should be pushing it to 4.2GHz easily.

The scary thing for all should be what the hell happens when Intel take away AMD's only defense in the way of adding a memory controller to the die. Low latency access with a shared L2 and ridiculously scalable frequency leaves AMD looking a rather poor second choice.

With Intel sandbaging already and enjoying healthy margin that is only going to be worse for AMD later on.

Danny24 21/03/2008 12:31
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Danny24

Whilst the article makes for very interesting reading why did TH choose to test the QX9650 CPU? This is one of the most expensive processors on the market today and well beyond the reach of all but the most well off users.

I understand that you want to achieve the best results possible and therefore chose the best performing processor for the job. However, this particular processor is the only one available with an un-locked multiplier. The majority of users don't have this luxury and only have an option to increase the FSB if they want to overclock their system. This sort of makes the test you've performed redundant for the majority.

A much better processor to test would have been the Q9550. While it's eventual clock speed wont match that of the QX9650, percentage wise it should be near as damn identical.

Otherwise, great article :-)

bobwya 21/03/2008 10:52
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bobwya

Danny24 :
Whilst the article makes for very interesting reading why did TH choose to test the QX9650 CPU? This is one of the most expensive processors on the market today and well beyond the reach of all but the most well off users.... Blah Blah



Wakey, wakey idiot... This thread is months old and thats all that was out at the time...

Bob

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