Q9450 OC first time

[karol4]

1)Now I can oc q9450 to 3ghz or less but I read if I just bump fsb and leave voltage on auto it will over compensate and over volt. I did test and set the overclock setting to manual and I don't see the available voltages or can't even tell my stock voltage, so is direct key input the only way do it and does it require approximation?



2)Everest home edition reports my CPU VID 1.2125 V , is this really my stock voltage?

CPU-Z reports my core voltage as 1.84 but it fluctuates to 1.60.


3)I would like to achieve this on a stock voltage if I can even figure it out, and is 3.0ghz stock a good goal to shoot for? This is my fists time overclocking after reading how common it is.

4) to set manual voltage how do I check my current volatage and do I need to run prime95 to see if its stable?

Thanks for your time


CM STORM CASE
Q9450 2.66ghz HYPER 212 PLUS
ASUS P5E-Deluxe MOBO
4 gb 2x2 XMS2 Corsair, 12:10 DRAM:FSB RATIO
570GTX
700W psu


my temps

Motherboard 25 °C (77 °F)
CPU 35 °C (95 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #1 54 °C (129 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #2 51 °C (124 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #3 53 °C (127 °F)
CPU #1 / Core #4 50 °C (122 °F)
GPU 35 °C (95 °F)
SAMSUNG HD753LJ 25 °C (77 °F)
WDC WD1200JD-00HBB0 32 °C (90 °F)
WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0 27 °C (81 °F)

 

[karol4]

bump

 

[jsc]

1. You should not use the Auto voltage setting for the core voltage. You do not want to approximate either. 3.0 Ghz is a relatively simple OC.

2. The VID is sort of the "stock" voltage for your CPU. 1.2125 is lower than average. Lower is good.

3. Set your CPU voltage to the VID. Then start pushing the FSB freq upwards until Prime95 fails. Increase the CPU voltage a couple of steps and continue testing. Work back and forth between FSB and CPU voltage until either you reach 1.45 volts or 70 C load temps on the cores.

4. You should test for stability with something. Many of us use Prime95. There's a fair amount of discussion about how long to test. Consensus is 4 - 6 hours is long enough. I stress test for 24 hours.

This is a good place to start:
Core2 Overclocking Guide
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/259899-11-core-overclocking-guide

 

[karol4]

ok i will come back with results.

 

[azconnie]

If it helps, I have a Q9450 sitting on a P5N-D. My settings:

CPU 3.0 GHz @ X8 (1500 FSB, 375 ref)
VID 1.2500 volts
Current voltage 1.12-1.36 (load dependant)

Core #1 44 °C
Core #2 45 °C
Core #3 46 °C
Core #4 44 °C

Tops out about 58-60 when stress testing. Games may hit 55.


Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 4-4-4-12 @750 MHz
~1.9V

You can drop your voltage a good bit from 1.8 and be stable at 3.0GHz. I could probably get 4.0 out of 1.8, but I don't wan't to haer the fans.

Good luck.

 

[karol4]

ok i set

Ai Overclock to manual

cpu ratio setting to 8x
PCIE Freq to 100
V CORE Voltage to 1.21250

everything else is on auto.

Is that ready to OC?


now to oc I set FSB to what ever setting I want and go from there basically?

 

[azconnie]

Yeah, now your set, you may need to adjust the VRAM later, but for now start setting your reference clock up in incriments of 5, and run a stress test with every boot.

 

[jsc]

You can drop your voltage a good bit from 1.8 and be stable at 3.0GHz.

Core voltage at 1.8 volts?
I missed that. Intel's max recommended voltage for the 45 nm Core2 CPU's is 1.45 volts.

Here's where the "1.45 volts" figure comes from.
http://download.intel.com/design/processor/datashts/320467.pdf page 17.

 

[karol4]

yeah im leaving my voltage at stock and pushing 3.0ghz if possible, im not messing with any ram settings since im a novice.

 

[azconnie]

In that case just copy my settings, and bump the Vcore slowly (if needed).

RAM really isn't that hard to OC. Get you CPU up first, then try downing your timings slowly after you get 3.0 stable.

 

[karol4]

will that boost my performance by a lot? im mainly oc ing to reduce the minor bottleneck my 570gtx has on my q9450. 3.0 ghz should eliminate it?

 

[karol4]

i ran prime95 for 4h and its stable at 2.8ghz. push it to 3 now>?

 

[Romeka Bonaface]

i ran prime95 for 4h and its stable at 2.8ghz. push it to 3 now>?

I'm not sure if you are, or rather, you did actually use 1.8 volts to power your CPU, or if you were mistaken. If that was your voltage, the CPU will not last another 6 months... if it lasts another 6 days. It is very dangerous (for your hardware) to run that much power into the chip, and as jsc explained, the absolute maximum voltage for your processor is 1.45v.


Anyway, it would help to run cpu-z and check to make sure your voltages and clocks are correct. If you don't have cpu-z, you can download it from this website: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares.html

If prime95 ran for 4 hours at the stock voltage you posted, then that's a great start. You should certainly turn up the voltage though if you'd like to try for 3.0ghz. Try ~1.26

And yes, at 3.0ghz you should be using all of the GTX 570.

 

[karol4]

My voltage is my stock VID, so its 1.2125. So how long should I run prime when I of to 3 ghz ? I am leaving my RAM at stock for stability reasons.

 

[Romeka Bonaface]

If you're running at 2.8 ghz with 1.21 volts, that's very good. Try ~1.26v at 3.0 ghz, and let it run for about an hour, or rather, let it pass 4 seperate tests and go into the 5th. If no instability, lower the volts to ~1.248.

If it is unstable at 1.26v, try ~1.28v.

 

[karol4]

I got 10h stable at 3ghz on stock voltage in prime 95 blend test and i did intel burn test 20 runs, no crash or anything errors. Is this good enough?

 

[Romeka Bonaface]

I got 10h stable at 3ghz on stock voltage in prime 95 blend test and i did intel burn test 20 runs, no crash or anything errors. Is this good enough?

Yes, that is enough good enough. 3ghz is stable. Awesome chip, great job!

 

[karol4]

yeah thx a lot everyone.

 

[karol4]

i wonder how far could push it. i think my ram setting will need tweaking thats what is stopping me.