Q9450 overclocking above 3.6ghz?

Alright, so i've got my current Q9450 running at 3.6ghz with 1.2625 V

Load Temps (Realtemp): 67 64 61 65 (max)

Idle Temps (Realtemp): 34 34 32 32 (they are stuck i believe)

Currently i am 3 hours Prime 95 Small FFT's stable, and seeing as i haven't adjusted anything other than the FSB and CPU Vcore (so no GTL/VTT/NB Voltage) i think i might be able to go above 3.6ghz (seems like the wall for most people). So, does anybody have any advice (mainly on how to tweak the other voltages to improve stability.

I'm using an Asus P5Q-E, Q9450, Xigmatek S1283 (with bracket), 4gb Cosair Dominators at 1066mhz, and i have this all in an Antec 1200 case.

For overclocking, the q9450 is mostly fsb limited, so the high fsb p45 chipset should do well with it. At 3.6ghz, you're running at 1800mhz fsb, which is only 200mhz higher than the p45's stock 1600mhz fsb. It's natural to not having to increase chipset voltage at that point. But if you go further, you may have to.

Intel's official vcore for q9450 is up to 1.3625, so you should be able to go up to that point without any problems. 1.4 is still okay. You should not exceed 1.4.

Those max temperatures are not good, especially since you use Realtemp, which tends to underestimate. Remember, the system does not care what you think the temperature is, or even the real temperature, only the perceived temperature. It will throttle when thermal threshold is reached, based on what it thinks is the temperature, not what you think, even if you're right and it is wrong.

Just up the voltage, you're guaranteed to be fine until 1.3625.

Lol, bum core.

It happens, try increasing vcore further, it should move at some point.

That's really strange. With 65nm q6600, I get 58C prime95 small ffts at 3.6ghz/1.45vcore, and 69C at 4ghz/1.65vcore. And those are CoreTemp temperatures, which are up to 15C higher than Realtemp readings in some cases.

It might help if you reset the heatsink. Maybe the contact isn't tight
enough, since Xigmatek use pushpins instead of backplate.

i can only hit 3.44 with my q9450,
have you had to adjust your ram at all?
Im only using auto voltage. I have done a hell of a lot of googling and people have reached 3.7 max stable.
Temps with this chip are great, mine seems to only go up 2 degree's max at 3.44 compared to stock.

Also my first core shows inaccurate temps too.

For what its worth, I put a line of AS5 about the size of a grain of rice in the center of the CPU and then spread it evenly across the entire surface of the CPU, leaving no spot bare. The way you're doing it leaves the potential of a non-covered surface, which could cause uneven heat transfer.

As far as the tightening of the Xigmatek, if it doesn't wiggle around after you tighten it down, it should be good. Sounds like you did a good enough job with that.

Ok well have you got a bit of a vaccuum running through your case?
Purely for reference i have a 120mm fan sucking in the front, Zalman CPU cooler blowing out the back, with assistance of another 120mm sucking it out the back. so theres a steady flow through the cooler. Open your case and look at how you can improve your channel of airflow, on old systems i even cut up 1.25ltr lemonade bottles to make channels and stuff. you can easily drop temps up to 5 degrees that way.

Now sorry if its a stupid question, but how do i unlink my memory from the cpu? because when i up my FSB it increases the ram frequency, and i dont know how to stop it. so i have to set my DDR2 1066 to something close like 1048 or to Auto.

Also, any ideas on why i can't boot at a higher NB voltage, (1.2 vs the 1.1 stock). That shouldn't be a problem should it?