Q9300 wont go past 2.85 ghz

What mobo and RAM do you have?

MORE info ... MOBO-ram-psu and your settings

Yes i did read the Overclocking guide and still nothing...

Mobo p35-ds3l
PSU 600 watt OCZ Powerstream
Ram Corsair 4GB XMS 6400

Settings currently are

for 2.85

FSB 400 X 7.5 Multiplier
Ram 912 mhz
Voltage settings are on Auto and is completly stable at 2.85

Your problem is your RAM speed.

Change your RAM initially to 667Mhz in the BIOS so when you're at 400FSB, your RAM will be @ 800, which is stock speed for your RAM. If you've already managed to get your RAM to run @ 912Mhz, then you shouldn't have any problem now. Hope that helps!

Wait. You have a Gigabyte Board. Can't remember that BIOS but change whatever setting you need to so that when your FSB is 400Mhz, your RAM is 800. THEN try to go higher by JUST increasing the FSB.

I have tryed this, I don't think that the memory is the issue... My gut feeling is it is a Voltage issue on the processor. Any other Ideas, I dont know exactly what voltages i should set.

yes... ddr2 800 cant go 1000 unless its really not some cheap RAM. loose timing ? set synchro 1:1

I actually do have it running at 3ghz, and the change was the FSB voltage had to be +.3 volts, and memory is at 800

Before I was afriad I would overvolt the FSB but it seems to be working fine, so far. I have done an hour of Prime95 on all 4 cores.

My q9400 needs to be at 1.3125v to get to 3.2Ghz. What's your vcore on your CPU?

Oh yeah i also had to set the Vcore to 1.35 to get it to even post but when I start CPU-Z it shows its running at like 1.3 which i would assume is Vdroop?

What is the Idle temp on your 9400 in the bios?

22-25c

what DDR do you have? Cas4 or Cas5? Cas4 needs to be at 2.1v. Cas5 can be at 1.9v when at 400FSB

K mine is Idling at 27-28 is that alright? Mine i believe is cas5, but even if it was 4 would it matter because the memory speed is the same...

Your temps seem fine. How are your load temps? I wouldn't raise your vcore anymore than 1.36v BTW. I read in Computronix's guide that the max safe vcore on a 45nm chip is that.

They are the same speed, but to maintain 4-4-4-12 timings @ 400FSB, Cas4 needs to have 2.1v to be stable.

Do you have Core Temp? It tells you the VID of your CPU. I'm curious of what it is. 1.35v to get to 3Ghz seems a little high - even for a Q6000 series. Q9000 series shouldn't take that much.

Load temps i would assume are fine Mid 60's when stressing all 4 cores 100%? I have seen not to push it over 1.36. I think my timings are 5-5-5-18 though. I have tried changing them in the past and dont notice a difference. so i leave them at default.

What cooler are you using? The stock cooler? If so, invest $30 and get a Xigmatek HDT-S1283. They're the best-performing coolers out there for that price.

What case do you have? Antec 300's work amazingly well for air flow too.

My temps @ 100% load are low 40's

Scythe Katana 2 which I would assume is getting the Job done?
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/cpu/030/scktn2000_det...

Case is a Thermaltake M9

That's a decent cooler and case. Hmmm...maybe re-seat it? Use better compound? Not sure. But mid-60's with 1.35v seems a bit high at 3Ghz. What program are you using to monitor temps?

Heading out for the night. Good luck bro!

Thanks OCCT which measures and stresses each individual core and that mid 60 temp is the average that im coming up with.

Have a good night, thanks for the help so far.

My Q9400 is running at 3.4GHz, CPU-Z says it is at 1.23v. I did some quick and dirty experimenting right after I assembled it and got it to run at 3.76GHz with a voltage of about 1.3v.

IMO the biggest problem with these processors is that their relatively low multipliers require a high FSB, which puts a lot of stress on the ram and on the motherboard. I was able to get my FSB up to 470MHz without any problems.

Mine crashed again while playing at 3ghz, so what is the next step... If your new to this forum read the past posts...

And will I notice a difference other than Benchmarks in going from 2.85 to 3?

have you raised your FSB to 1.3v? And increase your northbridge Voltages too. What is your graphics card by any chance? You may need more than 600 watt PSU.

2.85 to 3.0 is only 5%, it would be very hard to tell the difference

Ok so I started a stress test on all 4 cores, its been running for 7 hours, would you say its stable? Its at 3 Ghz

Current Voltages
FSB +.3
MCH +.3
Core Voltage 1.3 which i have turned down it was 1.35 and temps have dropped alot - and it also crashed at 1.35
Does this sound alright?

Btw I just wanted to be able to hit 3Ghz

Graphics Card is a Overclocked GTX 260

My temps under stress are now not going over 63.

Everything still stable @ 3Ghz for ya bro?

It did freeze last night but I upped the MCH voltage and put the core voltage at 1.3 and gave it another try. I have been stressing all 4 cores for 12 hours as of now... Do you think that is enough or should I go longer. BTW the temps have dropped since I lowered my core voltage.

I actually do see somewhat of a difference in 3 vs 2.85

Go 24hrs. 12 isn't enough. Good luck!

And doing so pretty much means its stable?

Yes. just make sure you select "round off checking" under the advanced tab in Prime95. Good luck!

I did, I'm up to 20 hrs and counting. I'm pretty positive its stable but Ill let it go till 24.

Hey guys So it went all the way to 30 and I stopped it. Joined a COD4 Game and within 4 minutes it crashed, whats going on?

30 Hours BTW!

ram? small fft dont stress ram unless u use the blend feature

Ram was at its default speed though?

OK so I added .2 volts to the memory and played COD4 for 45 minutes with no issues. Does adding .2 volts sound like it fixed the problem.

seems about right. I had to play with CPU-VTT to get mine stable. adding Vcore didnt do anything for me from a certain Speed. NB-SB have some V added. i didnt had any trouble with my memory cause im running it stock speed !

It seems like though by increasing the Mem voltage made it stable even though the speed was the same? Is it just me?

your running your mem @ 800 ? if yes, its supposed to run @ stock V.

IM using 400fsb x9 and 1:1 for the mem. 1.45vcore

But if I dont up the voltage on it its not stable?

not supposed to if you run your mem @ stock speed and timing ....

If you need to put more V to the MEM and your running it stock ... your mem sucks  

Edit : My mem is rated for 1.8-1.9v i run it @ 1.875 and i use 1T

its Corsair XMS 2?

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 ??
or
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 ??

well NM, its not bad mem. Maybe you mem stick just need lil more juice. Your stable now ? you can post your OC spec, Vcore-NB-SB-Mem-timing-Vmem- .......

I have two sets of the 2gb, And lol it crashed again a few ago, Im honestly clueless what to change...