Q9450 Overclocking

[Flt. Sgt. Powderhound]

OK, I've finally got around to properly overclocking my new PC, but I'm a bit worried about my voltages.
I've read elsewhere that people are running a Q9450 at 3.2GHz with just 1.25V, but if I try running Prime95 at that voltage it stops working (No BSOD, just Windows says an error occurred), and this has also happened at every interval up to 1.3V, which I'm currently testing. It works at 3.2 on auto voltages, but got toasty to say the least (Almost 70C), so I'm trying to get the voltages as low as they can go. Even if 1.3V works fine (Albeit at 60C under load), it doesn't seem right to me, so does anyone have any thoughts as to what the issue might be?

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

Every chip is different, some chips will clock higher with lower voltages and some will need a bit more to push them up. Mine requires 1.425 to boot even 3GHz

What multiplier and FSB are you using? Have you tried bumping the NB voltage up a touch?

[Flt. Sgt. Powderhound]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

400x8- that should be no problem for the motherboard as Asus advertise it as supporting 400MHz FSB (Although, of course P45 officially only supports 333MHz). The NB is on auto.

And I wouldn't leave your PC at that voltage for long. :p

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

Try doing all the voltages on manual and find a stable level that way, auto cant necessarily be trusted to balance between the two voltages correctly and int he most efficiant way.

My CPU is fine up to 1.5v look - http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SLA95

Yours is ok upto 1.3625 http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SLAWR

[Flt. Sgt. Powderhound]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

Try doing all the voltages on manual and find a stable level that way, auto cant necessarily be trusted to balance between the two voltages correctly and int he most efficiant way.

My CPU is fine up to 1.5v look - http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SLA95

Yours is ok upto 1.3625 http://processorfinder.intel.com/det...px?sSpec=SLAWR

Fair enough; I thought you were running a 45NM chip at that voltage long term... :p

I'll have a dabble around with the NB later. As it stands, I have just passed the 1 hour mark, so fingers crossed.

[=98=]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

Yea, you need to up the Northbridge voltage as well, but not as high as with older boards since the chip dies are smaller (90nm > 65nm).

If you are running a lot of hard disks, also up the Southbridge voltage, i have mine at 1.3v.

Have a dabble with the CPU PLL voltages and FSB termination voltages :)

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

Have a dabble with the CPU PLL voltages and FSB termination voltages :)

How do these voltages effect temperature i.e. what part of the system would get hotter?

[=98=]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

CPU and FSB and VRM's funnily enough.

[Flt. Sgt. Powderhound]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

Is 1.3V safe, because it seems to be stable, peaking at 66C (Once very briefly on one core- usual max is about 60C)

[=98=]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

Yeah, 66c is fine.

If you look up your CPU here http://processorfinder.intel.com/ it tells you exactly what the max operating temperature of your CPU should be. Most are around 60c-65c but hardcore models like the Q6600 G0 are rated by Intel to take 70c max.

[Flt. Sgt. Powderhound]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

Yeah, 66c is fine.

If you look up your CPU here http://processorfinder.intel.com/ it tells you exactly what the max operating temperature of your CPU should be. Most are around 60c-65c but hardcore models like the Q6600 G0 are rated by Intel to take 70c max.

The C1 Q9450 takes 71.4C, so I'm OK.

I'm really pleased with the boost that overclocking the CPU and GPU has given my 3dmark score as well. :)

[Flt. Sgt. Powderhound]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

Bah! It's stopped working again now... I've turned LLC on to see if that helps; I realised it was on auto.

EDIT: A little more research suggests that this is a bad move with 45nm CPUs, so I've disabled it and nudged the NB up to 1.12V. :)

[Flt. Sgt. Powderhound]

Re: Q9450 Overclocking

OK, six hours of Prime95 later, I'm fairly sure it's stable.