q9450 oc'ing?

[rapigan]

I have a q9450 at stock speeds that idles at about 40 degrees and load is about 47 degrees. I have a zalman 9700 cooler and im wondering if i could safely overclock it to 3 ghz but i want it to last me several years. if its possible (im a n00b at cverclocking) what would the optimal voltage be? Thanks alot.

 

[rapigan]

oops i idle at 35

 

[FragZilla]

I got a Q9450 on an ASUS P5E Motherboard running @ 3.2 GHz 24/7 no problem:
Just raise the Multiplier to 8X400=3.2GHz.
With a decent heatsink you won't even see the temperatures change
Done.

 

[rapigan]

do i need to change the voltage?

 

[Witt78]

I too have a Q9450 running on an Asus P5E Deluxe motherboard.

I changed my FSB to 400MHz X 8 which put the processor at 3.2GHz.

This required no boost in voltage at all. I'm completely stable.

(I have a Zalman 9700 LED too btw) (Arctic Silver 5 grease)

- Witt

 

[rapigan]

i have an asus p5k pro, would my mobo still hold up with the smaller nb heatsink? (cause to my knowlege its not as good for overclocking as the p5e delux)

 

[Witt78]

i have a asus p5k pro, would my mobo still hold up? (cause to my knowlege its not as good for overclocking as teh p5e delux)

I'm not familiar with your board, but I am familiar with Asus. Their boards are usually rock solid.

You might have less features in the bios, but you should be fine. 3.2 GHz for a Q9450 isn't a very extreme OC. That chip can go much further. I don't think you will even have to raise your voltage for that OC.

Mine is running like a champ @ 3.2
Look here====>http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/248421-29-light-q9450-here
It's a conversation I've just had.

- Witt

 

[rapigan]

thanks alot, ill try it

 

[blerb]

I'm not familiar with your board, but I am familiar with Asus. Their boards are usually rock solid.

You might have less features in the bios, but you should be fine. 3.2 GHz for a Q9450 isn't a very extreme OC. That chip can go much further. I don't think you will even have to raise your voltage for that OC.

Mine is running like a champ @ 3.2
Look here====>http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/248421-29-light-q9450-here
It's a conversation I've just had.

- Witt

Haha

No, a q9450 can't OC very far. Look at the forums, q9450s can't go higher than 3.6 unless you have a one in a million chip. They simply can't run at a higher FSB, no matter what has been tried. Even with LN2 cooling.

I have a q9450 on an Asus P5Q Pro, Oc'd to 3.0.

Witt, when you said it required no voltage bump at all, I am assuming that you left it at auto. That means that the voltage DID get bumped up. For example, I used to leave the CPU voltage at auto, then I found out that the M/B was pumping a whopping 1.2 volts into it.

I currently have the CPU at 8x375 for 3.0Ghz, with the voltage at 1.68 volts, which is still higher than it needs to be. I could lower this voltage, but it can take a pretty long time to find the lowest stable voltage.

So, rapigan, yes 3.0 Ghz would be easy. Just bump the FSB to 375, then change the voltage to ~1.6 volts. If you find that it is getting too hot, progressively lower the voltage by small increments, then Prime95 it for a while to make sure its stable.

 

[Witt78]

???

1.6 volts will likely fry your chip. Definitely over time.

And if you click on the link I posted. (To another forum thread here) and actually read it... You'll see that I don't have my VCore set to auto. My VCore is dialed into 1.25V and is actually running at 1.22V with a little VDroop.

Yes, Overclocking a Q9450 past 3.6GHz gets extreme... but the chip runs stock at 2.67GHz... By the time you get to 3.6 you're past 40% performance gain... Not sure why you're laughing and ranting. /shrug

- Witt

PS - The VID on my chip is 1.25V (In other words, there was no voltage bump.)

 

[roadrunner197069]

Do not run 1.68 volts. You said 1.2 was high and now you say you got 1.68.

 

[shadowthor]

The chip will probably be dead very soon or slowly dying at 1.6v. Max recommended volts is 1.45 by intel. After that, damage will happen to the chip.

 

[rapigan]

i just did it iand its running fine, i have it on auto voltage and coretemp says its at 1.15 volts

 

[aznguy0028]

lol. omg... thank god some people posted about 1.68v. your chip will be long gone before anything.

recommended voltages for the Q9450 are 0.85V – 1.3625V

don't exceed those if you want your chip to run for the time that it should as stated by intel.

i have my Q9450 at 3.2ghz and i'm using 1.3v. well within the safe limit. i got BSODs at all lower voltages for some reason but i've been lazy to figure it out but it is MOST important to keep it in the voltage range that it was meant to operate in.

1.2v is not very high at all. if it's stable then, all is well.

 

[rapigan]

sorry just a couple more questions. first of all, will this reduce the life of my proc? and second, if it blows one day, will it take my mobo and ram too? (and i set it at 375x8) thanks a ton, this was really helpful

 

[Witt78]

i just did it iand its running fine, i have it on auto voltage and coretemp says its at 1.15 volts

Sounds like you have one of the rarer lower VID chips. Mine runs at 1.25V stock...

That's good. You got lucky.

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Your chip should last a good long time. In all likelihood you will be looking to upgrade/replace it before its even close to dying on ya.

- Witt

 

[1haplo]

blerb, I hope you mean 1.168V and not 1.68, 1.6=dead chip.

Most Q9450 will do 3.4 on air, some will do 3.6 on air.

My VID on my X3350 is also 1.15, and it does 3.4 at 1.2V and 3.6 at 1.30625V.

I have not tried higher due to my cooler (Zalman 9500LED).

1Haplo

 

[X5-769]

Got my Q9450 @ 3.2Ghz with a Vcore of 1.35. Seems you are one of those lucky guys with such a low Vcore.
I was wondering if this 1.35 was an acceptable Vcore voltage ? My temps do not come above 47 degrees Celsius.

 

[Dopekitten]

I've got a Q9450 at 3.6ghz with 1.275V in BIOS, with LLC enabled, so CPU-Z sees core voltage as 1.248V

I've got an Asus P5Q-E

Max temps never exceed 65C, and only exceed 60C during small FFT's length 8k.

 

[urahozer]

I just got my Q9450 on a X48 DS4, obviously amped on unlocking some potential in it. i got it on a true 120 (lapped) and waited till it was late night and cold - i live in canada haha. clocked it to 3.2ghz no volt increase temps at 38-41 across the cores with voltage in CPU-Z at 1.125. One thing i was confused on though is in my Bios you can increase the multiplier by a half point. Bios calls it Fine Tuning or something. But since Q9450s are locked at 8, it seems it shouldnt let me do that? like the option is there to make it 8.5x and the BIOS doesnt mind it, i havent tried to boot with it cause i have no idea what will happen?

 

[rapigan]

now that ive had it at 3 ghz for a couple days i have a problem. Sometimes my multiplyer switches between 8 and 6 automatically (by itself)...Is that because i dont have enough voltage, or is there some way to change it in the bios.

 

[X5-769]

now that ive had it at 3 ghz for a couple days i have a problem. Sometimes my multiplyer switches between 8 and 6 automatically (by itself)...Is that because i dont have enough voltage, or is there some way to change it in the bios.

That's probably because Intel Speedstep is enabled in the BIOS. This is a power saving option which will switch to a multiplier of 6 when the system is idle or under light load.

 

[urahozer]

Yeah thats what it is, dont worry about it as soon is you load it up it will go right back to 8x