overclocking q9450 on gigabyte ga-ep45-ud3r past 3.5. need help.

[rieds]

i'm trying to get my q9450 past 3.5 but i'm not having any luck. heres my hardware list:

 

q9450, gigabyte ga-ep45-ud3r, coolermaster v6gt,  2x2gb 1066 mushkin blackline, radeon 5450 1gb.

 

the only settings I've touched are C1E disabled, cpu thermal monitor 2 disabled, cpu EIST function disabled in the advanced bios, fsb to 500, memory timings to manual at stock timings of 5,5,5,15 2.1v, speed 1051. llc enabled, v-core 1.36250v, cpu termination 3.4v, mch core 1.3v. all other voltages set to normal. I can get to 3.5 with fsb at 438 with these settings but no higher. I've tried several fsb settings between 438 and 500 with no luck. 438 seems to be the ceiling with these settings.

[rieds]

i played around some and can get it up at 3.8 but not stable. it wants more core volts than what everybody uses just to get to 3.5 so its not the greatest chip or well used. I can't get it to idle any lower than 37C. i'm using a coolermaster V6-GT. running prime 95 it gets to 54C average and occassionaly peaks to 57C. thats pretty good. i enabled all the cpu throttling settings in the bios and it still idles that high. from the extra core voltage maybe? i'll go back to all stock settings and see where it idles. i didnt pay any attention to it before i started overclocking.   

Edited March 19, 2013 by rieds

[wevsspot]

Hey Rieds, I think you've gone off on the wrong track shooting for a 500FSB right off the bat.  The best thing for you to do is establish some stability beginning with a FSB somewhere between 440 and 445 and then go from

there.

 

With your FSB set to 500 I'm assuming that you're trying to run a cpu multiplier of x7?

 

Why not set your cpu multiplier back to x8 and start adjusting your FSB from there?

 

Frankly, I don't see that Gigabyte board doing a 500FSB with a Q9450.

 

Here's a handy review that OCC did on your processor;

 

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/intel_q9450/

 

 

 

[rieds]

yeah i'm stable at 3.5. im gonna be happy with that. most people can get that with 1.3625 v-core and stock memory timings. i have to go to 1.38125 v-core and 5-5-5-18 instead of 5-5-5-15. my cpu temp says 15c but my core temps are 37-39c at idle. is there normally that much difference? my multiplier is locked at 8. i don't think this board will let you drop the multiplier if its locked.

Edited March 20, 2013 by rieds

[rieds]

i reset the bios to all the default settings except i set the processor fan for full on. still idles at 37-39C. 

[wevsspot]

The amount of voltage required for any specific cpu / motherboard combination will vary from one sample to the next.  Even when comparing the exact same model cpu and motherboard produced from the same production runs.  So personally I wouldn't be too concerned that my particular setup required less than .02v more to do the same clocks as what a lot of other people have been achieving.  Even at 1.38v you are still within the safe voltage limits of your processor assuming that heat is kept in check.

 

I also wouldn't sweat over the tRAS needing to run at 18 instead of 15 in order to achieve stability.  Of the four primary memory timings tRAS is a minor player in the overall performance of your system.

 

One thing that might help achieve a higher FSB on your board is some active cooling on the Northbridge.  If you don't want to rig up some active cooling for the NB you might even consider just removing the stock NB heatsink and re-doing the thermal paste with something better than the factory TIM.  I know that your board has cooling pipe technology, but you can pop the blue cover off of the NB heatsink and rig a 80mm fan on there instead.  Alternatively, if you remove the blue cover and you have a case with a side panel cutout for a 120 or 140mm fan that can get some airflow over those fins too.

 

Regarding your temps, you can check and make sure your cpu heatsink is making good contact with the cpu IHS.  If either surface is convex or concave (and especially if the irregularities are opposing one another) then it might be beneficial to lap both the cpu heatsink and the cpu IHS flat.  After that, use a good quality thermal grease between the cpu heatsink and cpu IHS.