Overclock Q9400 Questions

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InvisSoul

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Apr 10, 2005
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So my aging computer will be upgraded soon and I've never overclocked it since I've had this. Its treated me will but I'd like to see about running a nice stable overclock.

I've read posts and looked through different articles on this but I want to get a more current response on this.

I've tweaked it a little just from the few articles I've read.

I've left my voltage alone right now, vcore is at 1.28. I've set my FSB to 400 and set my ram to 800mhz right now and my PCIe to 100 and disabled C1E. So I'm running at 3.2ghz and hasven't had any problems. .

Can anyone recommend anything I can check or change to keep this running nice and stable?

Thanks!
 
Solution
rehed21
You want to look at the individual core temperatures. To overclock more raise the front side bus 10-15 at a time using prime 95 to check for stability and temperatures after every adjustment. If it becomes unstable you need to raise the cpu vcore slightly until it becomes stable. You also have to keep an eye on your memory frequency unless your motherboard allows you to "un-link" it, as increasing the front side bus will also increase memory frequency.

I was doing more reading on the Q9400 - 3.2 is a good overclock and they usually require a lot more voltage to get to 3.4 and usually don't overclock past 3.6. You could push for a higher overclock but I don't think you would notice a significant improvement in day to day computing.
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rehed21

rehed21

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Aug 9, 2013
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That is a relatively low overclock and should not cause you any problems. The only thing to check is the core temperature under load, you don't want the temperature over 70c and lower is better. HWMonitor is a free and easy to use program that monitors voltages and temperatures, but there are others. Prime95 is often used to test the stability of an overclock as it runs the processor at 100%.
 
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InvisSoul

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Apr 10, 2005
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I ran Prime95 for 30mins and the temp went to 52c at the peak. I'm going to run it again and let it go for a few hours to see if it gets any hotter. I'm on air cooling only and have an aftermarket cooler.

Should I look at the cpu temp or the individual core temps? They are very different.
Untitled.jpg


Any suggestions or overclocking this more?
 
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rehed21

rehed21

Honorable
Aug 9, 2013
563
3
11,360
You want to look at the individual core temperatures. To overclock more raise the front side bus 10-15 at a time using prime 95 to check for stability and temperatures after every adjustment. If it becomes unstable you need to raise the cpu vcore slightly until it becomes stable. You also have to keep an eye on your memory frequency unless your motherboard allows you to "un-link" it, as increasing the front side bus will also increase memory frequency.

I was doing more reading on the Q9400 - 3.2 is a good overclock and they usually require a lot more voltage to get to 3.4 and usually don't overclock past 3.6. You could push for a higher overclock but I don't think you would notice a significant improvement in day to day computing.
 
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Solution
I

InvisSoul

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Apr 10, 2005
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Great! Thanks for the tips! Maybe I'll try raising it up after I've used it at this speed for a while.

I let the Prime95 torture test run for an hour this time while I was away and my highest core temp was 52c.

 
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