Overclocking q9450

MaX_PoWah · 22 Jul 2008 at 18:53

Following on from my thread... decided to purchase one and well, at this point im regretting it, it doesnt seem to overclock at all, had to give it 1.3v just to get 3.2ghz and mass effect now crashes which it had never done before with my e8400, what sort of settings is everyone else using ?

Cob · 22 Jul 2008 at 19:05

Have you played with the chipset voltages? Overclocking the 45nm quads isn't just a case of upping the vcore and hoping for the best.

MaX_PoWah · 22 Jul 2008 at 19:15

used these settings

cpu ppl 1.5
fsb termination 1.10
northbridge 1.25v
fsb strap 400
pcie 103
load line enabled
cpu and pci spread disabled

Cob · 22 Jul 2008 at 19:22

Set PLL to 1.54v, FSB term to 1.25v and up your northbridge to 1.4v. That should get you a bit further without any more vcore.

MiNxYyY · 22 Jul 2008 at 19:29

I think Cob was made to overclock

MaX_PoWah · 22 Jul 2008 at 19:38

ok ill try what you suggest
what about the transaction booster ?

Cob · 22 Jul 2008 at 19:44

Leave it on auto til you've finished overclocking.

MaX_PoWah · 22 Jul 2008 at 19:49

Got into windows at 420 x 8 using them settings, orthos is failing straight away however, probbably need a bit more voltage as cpu z is only showing 1.288v.

MaX_PoWah · 22 Jul 2008 at 20:05

upped the voltage on the cpu, tried upping the voltage on the ram, nothing seems to get it stable past 400fsb, just fails orthos straight away... frustrating

MaX_PoWah · 23 Jul 2008 at 13:22

hmm i wonder if its my ram causing me problems, its rated at 2.2v to do 1066mhz, seems like a lot that tho ? ive been running it at 2v ish

WJA96 · 23 Jul 2008 at 13:32

A lot of Q9450's are just poor overclockers. I went through 6 before I found one that overclocks nicely, and even that will only just do 4GHz. Most of mine wimped out about 3.2-3.4GHz.

And you really need a P45 board to overclock the 1333MHz quads. Nothing else comes remotely close.

1kiwi · 23 Jul 2008 at 13:46

WJA96 said:
A lot of Q9450's are just poor overclockers. I went through 6 before I found one that overclocks nicely, and even that will only just do 4GHz. Most of mine wimped out about 3.2-3.4GHz.

And you really need a P45 board to overclock the 1333MHz quads. Nothing else comes remotely close.

WJA96 -> is this the same as the 9650? It appears these chips can easily do 4.

reflux · 23 Jul 2008 at 13:51

My Xeon X3350 (Q9450) would be stable at 3.6ghz if I could sort my RAM out; as it is, I run it at 3.5ghz, with middling northbridge, PLL etc. volts.

MaX_PoWah said:
hmm i wonder if its my ram causing me problems, its rated at 2.2v to do 1066mhz, seems like a lot that tho ? ive been running it at 2v ish

Sort your RAM out; maybe run it at slower than it's rated to make sure it doesn't impact on your overclock. Don't go higher than 1.4v on the CPU for everyday usage. You shouldn't really need to anyways as the 45nm chips require less voltage.

WJA96 · 23 Jul 2008 at 13:55

beh* said:
WJA96 -> is this the same as the 9650? It appears these chips can easily do 4.

No, it's a Q9450, 1333MHz FSB with the 8x multiplier - and very, very few will do 4GHz (500FSB) prime stable in my experience. Of course, if you're prepared to hit it with massive Vcore and VTT then it'll clock - for a while, but if you want it to last 6-12 months I'd be careful.

MaX_PoWah · 23 Jul 2008 at 14:26

Id be happy with 3.2ghz to be honest, looking around the internet it seems im far from the only one with problems getting this chip to overclock on a p35 motherboard, i wonder if the early problems with the p5k and the q9450 are making it worse as well ? im tempted to send it back and get a e8500 or something at this point as i cant justify another motherboard, need to decide soon tho...

Cob · 23 Jul 2008 at 15:20

WJA96 said:
I went through 6 before I found one that overclocks nicely, and even that will only just do 4GHz. Most of mine wimped out about 3.2-3.4GHz.

Crikey.

MaX_PoWah · 23 Jul 2008 at 15:40

Its going back anyway, ordered a e8500.