Q9400 OCing advice needed!

[renkun]

Hi everyone i just want some advice on what voltages etc i should increase next. I have a mostly stable system, but it crashes after a while when doing a prime95 torture test. What i want exactly is what voltages i should increase and how much i should increase it by.

Here are some of my system specs
Q9400 @3.553 GHz (Bus Speed 444Mhz) (Stock cooler, but upgrading to a Zalman CNPS9900MAX coming in a day or two)
KHX 1066 4GB (5-5-5-15)
GTX295
800w PSU
Gigabyte EP45 -UD3 rev 1.0

---- Bios settings -----
clock chip control
CPU clock ratio: 8x
CPU Host Freq.: 4444MHz
PCI-E Freq.: 100
C.I.A 2: Disabled
DRAM Perf. Cntrl
Performance Enhance: Standard
(G)MCH Freq. Latch: Auto
SYS. MEM. MULT. 2.40B
DRAM timing selectable: Manual
CAS LT: 5
tRCD: 5
tRP: 5
tRAS: 15
MB Volt. Cntrl.
Load Line Calibration: Enabled
CPU Vcore: 1.34375V
Termination 1.220V
PLL: 1.5V
Reference 0.772V
MCH/ICH
All on auto
DRAM
DRAN voltage: 2.2V
Others
C1E: disabled

 

[55Range]

Well your v core and ram voltage are already high, as for v core- it will cause a load of overheat. Making the system to crash.
Monitor your temps with hw monitor.. And get the cooler quickly..

 

[renkun]

On the stock cooler im idling at about 40c P95 pushes it to about 80-90, so im sure heat isnt an issue as 100 is the TJ MAX (if i recall correctly)

The DRAM voltage needs to be at 2.2V as its an requirement to run the RAM sticks at 1066 (I was told this directly by a kingston staff)

Anyways im just looking for more advice. If i need to increase voltages or set values for ICH etc.

 

[nativeson8803]

Possibly lower your ram speed.

also, update your bios to the newest version, sometimes that helps. i had a problem getting passed 3.4 with my q9550 but when i contacted msi they sent me a beta bios and i easily reached 3.8. i decided to undervolt my cpu and keep it at 3.5 for longevity. the bios made all the difference.

 

[55Range]

Yeah bios might help. I would say decrease your ram voltage by a little then test again, bear in mind 80 - 90 c is awfully high, just so that you know, tj max is 100 , yes, but that doesnt mean you have so much legroom.
AS for you to know the higher the v core = the higher the temps. Try with just a little below the value you set and test.

 

[renkun]

I will try updating the BIOS.

I tried using P95 and im only reaching 60-70 before crashing.

Ill use lower vcores voltages and see what happens. Thanks for the input so far.

EDIT: Bios updated successfully. Ill try re entering the settings and see how i go from there.

 

[jsc]

I am first going to refer you to two of the THG Core2 OC guides:
Core2 Overclocking Guide (generic)
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/259899-11-core-overclocking-guide

Shadow's Gigabyte motherboard OC guide:
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. Change the System Memory Multiplier from AUTO to 2.00. You gain almost no real world performance trying to overclock memory in a Core2 system. We discuss that here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/251715-29-ratio-myth

At an FSB of 333 MHz, your memory clock should be at 667 MHz.

You shouldn't be running with any core voltage increase with the stock cooler. Keep the vcore under 1.45 volts and the load temps, as monitored with a program like CoreTemp, under 70 C.

 

[renkun]

Thanks for the guides was looking for something like that. Im running just great on a FSB of 444.