Have I got the worst clocking Q9450 ever?

[Columbo]

Looking for a bit of advice or help here.

simply cannot get this chip stable above 3.00ghz regardless of voltage.

VID is 1.0750v so I'd presumed I might be able to get a reasonable clock out of it (say 3.4 - 3.6) but it wont even post at 3.1ghz with 1.3v.

Current clock is below. Voltage is 1.125, nothing above this clock is stable.

Im scared to put anymore more volts through as it its under air cooling.

Rest of rig is:

MSI P35 Neo2 FR mobo (latest bios)
4gb Kingston PC8500 ram
Akasa 966 Blue Aurora CPU cooler
4870 1gb
600w Kingwin Modular PSU (Quad 12v Rail, 20A per rail)

I previously had an E6320 clocked to 3.8ghz under (542 fsb) Prime stable so I dont think its the mobo holding me back and the Ram is currently underclocked.

Any advice appreciated..

 

[Columbo]

Cheers for the advice fella's I tried lowering the multi and setting the FSB to 400 with no luck, still failed posting.

So I thought sod it. Set the FSB to 450x8, vore to 1.3v and guess what......

Posted first time. Not used to clocking chips like this and I cant explain it one bit.

Load temps seem fine thus far. Just running Prime now its about 30 mins in and not failed yet but I'll leave it going until later tonight.

 

[Columbo]

Turns out it wasn't stable at the above settings. Its failed Prime after about 50 mins & Left 4 Dead crashed boths times I tried to play. If I try to lower the FSB then it just doesn't post and more than 1.3v is required for more FSB which I'm not comfortable with.

So new mobo time it is then...
What mobo will allow me to run the CPU and RAM FSB unlinked?

Its something Ive never had and like the idea of.

 

[Columbo]

You'll need an nVidia board to do that, and you'll need DDR3 unless you get one of the old ones.

But I see no need to be thinking about running the memory unlinked. Just buy a P45 based board (ASUS P5Q range would do nicely) and you'll be good for 480-500mhz.

Currently looking at the P5Q Pro as the position of the Power connector on the P5Q is just a nightmare for any cable management options.

Should that be good enough?

 

[Columbo]

Cheers Guru, board purchased..!! Hopefully should see some improvement..!!