Thanks for the reply.
The CPU PLL is set at it's lowest there. I read that you dont wanna go over 1.55V on the Q9550. I think the next increment is 1.6V so I can't really touch it.
My BIOS doesn't seem to be the most overclock friendly. I dont think I can set the frequency of the RAM manually. I can however select from the standardized values. 800MHz, 1066 MHz and lower.
I read somewhere that LLC could be harmful to 45nm CPUs. And that if you weren't gonna go for 4GHz+ OC you could leave it to off.
if the bios pics you posted earlier are from your MB, i think you can.
adjusting the 'FSB strap to Northbridge' should give you some additional RAM freq choices.
my old X38 MB has 233/266/333/366/400 'straps' or something along those lines. each strap or RAM multi gave me a 3 or 4 RAM freqs to choose from.
i can't speek for 45mn chips however LLC on 65nm helped a lot when OC'ing my q6600. i was able to drop the vcore a fair way to keep my 3.7 clock stable (from 1.45v to 1.40v). i however left the power management features enabled (drop to 6x multi and 1.1v when idle).
if you're aiming for 4GHz, you may need to adjust the NB volts & monitor the NB temps so keeping this area (NB chip) properly cooled is important.
also what MB do you have?