Overclocking my q9450

[Mike145]

Alright first have all, I am a huge noob with computers, and as this is my first custom built computer I don't even know how to put it together myself :S. Anyways this is the system that I have purchased.

Two Vistiontek Radeon 4870

Patriot 4gb PC2-6400

Intel c2q Q9450

Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 Motherboard DDr2

Seagate 500gb 7200.11 32mb SATA II

Samsung DVDRW

Antec 900

Corsair 750 W w/ 140mm fab

Windows Vista Home premium 64 bit


Alright, so I tried reading the overclocking guides but Im still pretty confused about the whole thing. Looking at my parts can anyone maybe give me a picture or step to step process of what to do in the computer BIOs to overclock my processor to about 3.2 Ghz. Keep in mind I've never done this before so state what to you might be obvious because I probably dont know it. Thanks for your help.

 

[level101]

try this
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide

 

[level101]

-in the BIOS go to Advanced BIOS features, disable CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) & CPU EIST Function
-then go to MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
-enable the CPU Host Control
-set the CPU Host Frequency to 400
-set the System Memory Mutiplier(SPD) to 2.00
-Save, boot computer, run Prime95 Small FFTs Test to check for stability

 

[Mike145]

No voltage changes?

 

[level101]

only if its unstable

 

[Mike145]

this might sound stupid, but would I install the OS before or after overclocking, cause it sounds like to get this Prime95 program id probably have to have vista up and running

 

[level101]

install OS first

 

[level101]

you can get Prime95 here
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Prime95_d4363.html

you need to keep CPU core temps under 65c

 

[Mike145]

K a couple more questions (thanks for your help so far btw I appreciate it)
First why do i set the memory multiplier to 2?
Next, if my system is unstable after changing the FSB and memory multiplier, how would I adjust the voltages to stablilize it, and is it just guessing and testing, or is there some forumula to it as well?

 

[level101]

The FSB affects the CPU & the RAM. Since your RAM runs at 800MHz, you want to set the memory mutiplier with the FSB so it stays around 800MHz. 400 x 2 = 800, 333 x 2.4 = 799, etc..

My Q9450 runs @ 3.4GHz @ stock voltage. You can probably hit 3.2 without changing cpu voltage, but you might not. Every chip is different.

If your computer want boot when set the FSB to 400, then you know it's not stable & you have to lower the FSB or up the cpu voltage. Once it boots, run Prime95 for 8+ hours, no errors then its stable. If not stable Lower FSB or raise cpu voltage, but don't go over 1.3625v. The higher the voltage the higher the temperature, so the lower the voltage the better.

 

[tomski1981]

how come EIST function should be disabled? (also new)

tom

 

[Mike145]

i believe that 3.2 is the highest i can overclock to anyways with 800 mhz ram tho right? Im completely happy with that number though. Also I forgot to ask, I have heard that with the Antec 900 you dont need an extra CPU cooler because it cools so well itself. True or false? and thanks for your reply.

 

[level101]

You can go higher, but you'll be overclocking your RAM. If you have good RAM you can probably get 900MHz or more. If you can keep stable temps on stock CPU cooler then you'll be fine, but I doubt it though.

 

[level101]

Speedstep (EIST & C1E on Gigabyte Mobo) can cause stability issues when trying to overclock. You can enable it after you reach your overclock.

 

[Mike145]

ehh. overclocking my ram seems like a bit more trouble than its worth. besides q9450 at 3.2 ghz should pretty much kill anything i throw at it. Im just hoping I dont have to buy a cooler, cause I would have no clue how to install it myself :S

 

[level101]

Your RAM will overclock automatically if your FSB goes above 400MHz. If you can build a PC you can install a CPU cooler

 

[Mike145]

Thats the thing, I didnt build it, they are doing it at the store for 20 bucks. I have no clue how to lol

 

[zipz0p]

You should definitely get an aftermarket cooler for overclocking, though the stock cooler may do the trick.

I haven't disabled EIST, (Speed step) on my motherboard, even when overclocking. SpeedStep enables the processor to clock back the frequency and voltage during idle to save power. It's a pretty neat feature, really.
I did disable the silly auto-overclocking features, whatever those are called. You don't really want to have those enabled when doing a manual BIOS overclock.

Also, read some of the other excellent guides and threads already around on how to overclock. A 3.2GHz overclock should be a piece of cake (relatively speaking) for that setup, though tweaking to get the most out of the system is of course something you can fiddle with later if you feel geeky enough.

I don't think you should be afraid of putting things together yourself. Most of us did it a first time as well. It's generally a good experience and makes it easier to understand how things fit together and work for later reference.