OC'ing Q9400

[john05lian]

Hello,
how do i OC my Q9400 to 3.5ghz??...it can only got up to 3.3ghz....i have 550 watts PSU, 4gb ram and V8 CPU cooler..i put 1.30v at 3.3ghz and its stable.....but when i try to 3.5ghz and put 1.32v or higher it wont work,,,,,,i also turned disabked my CPU halt,thermal and CIEST at advance bios.....is that alright?

 

[jsc]

Motherboard?

I will bet that your memory settings are on Auto. That may be limiting your overclock. If your memory settings are on Auto, assuming you have DDR2-800 RAM, at 3.3 GHz, your memory is running at almost DDR2-1000 speed.

This should be your first stop.
Core2 Overclocking Guide
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/259899-11-core-overclocking-guide

Next stop should be a guide for your particular motherboard. Google is your friend.

If you have a Gigabyte motherboard, Shadow's Gigabyte motherboard OC guide is great:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-245679_11_0.html
It's for an EP35-DS3L but all the Gigabyte Core2 BIOS's are similar.

Go through the guides. Then take your core voltage off Auto and set your memory voltage to factory recommended values. Change the System Memory Multiplier (or whatever your BIOS calls it) from AUTO to 2.00, 2.00B, or 2.00D - whichever you need to set the Memory Frequency to twice the FSB. Then when you increase the FSB, the memory clock will rise in in proportion with it. At an FSB of 333 MHz, your memory clock should be at 667 MHz.

Download CPU-Z to check your FSB:RAM ratio. It should be a 1:1 ratio.

How far you can push your chip will depend on the chip itself and your cooling. If you are at 3.3 GHz and around 1.32 volts on the core you have a lot of room left. Do not exceed 1.45 volts or load temps of 70 C.

 

[john05lian]

still not working though...i have the PC2-8500 corsair 1066mhz....and i tried everything and still not working...maybe i need a new PSU...

 

[john05lian]

i have the ep43-ud3l......i downloaded the latest BIOS the F9