cooling the 4GHz q9400

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stevexyz

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 7, 2010
Messages
176
hi all. this is my first post here:)

i have a C2Q Q9400 on a Gigabyte ep45-ud3p, cooling with a Coolermaster N520 heatsink. i'm test running it at 4GHz (8x500) with the following setting:

Vcore = 1.4125@BIOS (CPU-Z shows 1.376v)
Vram = 2.2v
other voltage settings are set AUTO
other no-use features like c1e are all disable.

so far no error running prime95v25.9 (on all 4 cores) for about 5hrs now. the min temperature@idle of the cores are 31-31-39-41C , max temp@load are 75-74-75-75C (average about 70C, sometimes only as low as 59C). room temp is about 19~20C.

is this normal? with two cores running hotter than the others at idle? also, is the temperature a little too high? my [email protected] (9x460, Vcore=1.3125v@BIOS, 1.28v@CPU-Z) on the same mobo and cooler everything (even BIOS settings are the same except multiplier/FSB and memory speed) is only at 27-26C min idle, 53-50C max load.

maybe i should manually tweak the voltages for FSB and NB? when i tried my E8400 on this same board, i couldn't get it to pass 450FSB (even at lower multiplier), no matter how i tweaked the voltage manually (even with V-FSB over 1.55). the only way i could get it to run at 460FSB was the set the other voltages at AUTO. that's why i started with auto voltage settings with this Q9400.

so what do you guys think? any suggestion or comment?
 
8 hours prime95 now, still going strong:D

will let it run overnight and see if it can hold up:)
 
It's normal for Intel multi-core chips to have a slight variation in temps across the cores. Nice temps and nice OC. Also, you can't really compare the temps of your old dual-core to you new quad-core, since it's pumping out more heat since it has essentially twice the computing ability.
 
update: 4th core failed after 12 hrs, 1st core failed after 17 hrs. so i need to do a little more tweaking, maybe pumping up the voltage? but i don't wana push the temperature higher tho:(

i have a Mugen 2 cooler coming. it should be able to cool the cpu better. will see how it goes:)
 
SicKlown42012 said:
It's normal for Intel multi-core chips to have a slight variation in temps across the cores. Nice temps and nice OC. Also, you can't really compare the temps of your old dual-core to you new quad-core, since it's pumping out more heat since it has essentially twice the computing ability.
Click to expand...

i know the quad is pumping out more heat. but at 75C, is it safe for the cpu to run at temperature this high?
 
stevexyz said:
i know the quad is pumping out more heat. but at 75C, is it safe for the cpu to run at temperature this high?
Click to expand...

Intel chips can handle up to 100C before they throttle. Keeping temps under at least 80-85C should be your goal, as it still gives you a nice safety margin.
 
SicKlown42012 said:
Intel chips can handle up to 100C before they throttle. Keeping temps under at least 80-85C should be your goal, as it still gives you a nice safety margin.
Click to expand...

thanks for the heads up. i'll try tweaking the bios settings a little more and see if i can get it at least 24hr prime95 stable:D
 
update:

my Q9400@8x501=4008MHz finally passed 24hr prime95 with Vcore set at 1.41875v (CPUZ shows 1.392v)! the Mugen 2 is indeed a better cooler than the N520. with the voltage up a notch, it still managed to keep the core temps at 72-67-70-70C max@load, average 5C lower than using the n520! i'm impressed:D

now i'm trying it at 8x510=4080MHz with the same settings (it failed at 8x515 within 30min when i tried earlier). so far 3hrs prime95 with no error. will see if it can pass 24hr:)
 
update:

8x510 failed after 13 hours. but i don't wana push the envelope. as a daily system, i rather keep it at lower voltage and temperature in sacrifice of some speed:)

so i'll start it at 8x488=3.9GHz and see how low the voltage can go to keep it stable. so far at 1.3125v (CPUZ shows 1.28v) prime95 has been running for 1hr no problem. the max temp is 57-56-57-57C with room temp about 22~23C (couple degrees warmer). not bad:D
 
update: down to 1.2625v@BIOS(1.232v@CPUZ), same speed @3.9GHz, 1hr prime95 no problem:D
 
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