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Overclocking Q9450 - Never overclocked

S

Seraphic

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 5, 2007
Messages
2,258
Alright, I am interested in overlclocking my Q9450 that I purchased back when the first were released.
Below are my hardware specs. I've always run it at 2.66Ghz stock, but how high could I get it?

CPU: Q9450
MB: GA-X48-DQ6
PS: ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ800
Memory: 8GB - G.SKILL 240-Pin DDR2 1066
HeatSink: Thermalright 120 Extreme (two fans - one on each side for push pull)
Case: Antec 900 (all fans installed max speed)

CPU runs around 24c to 26c using stock settings.
 
With your setup you can probably get it to like at least 3.6. That would be with a 450 fsb since it has a multiplier of 8. You'd want to use a mem divider thats closest to 1066. To be safe I'd try 400fsb at 1.3 volts in bios (which will translate to about 1.27 in cpu-z) first and work your way up from there. That will get you 3.2ghz. Not sure what they require but just make sure you dont take the voltage much higher than 1.35 altogether. You'll start to see temps creeping into the 70's using IntelBurnTest with those volts.

For testing stability you want:

IntelBurnTest (Run at least 10 passes at max load. Each run takes about half an hour)
Prime95 to give you even more stability confidence if IBT isnt enough
CPU-Z (tells you ACTUAL vcore rather than the bios nonsense)
RealTemp to monitor your temps

If you need further help, PM me!
 
I know my way around a computer and most areas of the BIOS. However, never really messed with FSB or voltage settings.
So I guess the risk to damage the board/cpu is quite high, correct?

How much of a performance boost going from 2.6ghz to 3.6ghz?
This was a retail box CPU, so I guess if you overclock it voids warranty, but can Intel tell if you did?
If CPU runs around 25c at 2.66Ghz, could I expect around 50c at 3.6ghz?

Also, these motherboard has (intel c1e and speed step) energy saver and ghz limiter enabled (lowers ghz to save power when no in use) so I'll need to disable those I take it. As it makes the multiplier jump all over the place.
 
Seraphic said:
I know my way around a computer and most areas of the BIOS. However, never really messed with FSB or voltage settings.
So I guess the risk to damage the board/cpu is quite high, correct?

How much of a performance boost going from 2.6ghz to 3.6ghz?
This was a retail box CPU, so I guess if you overclock it voids warranty, but can Intel tell if you did?
If CPU runs around 25c at 2.66Ghz, could I expect around 50c at 3.6ghz?

Also, these motherboard has energy saver and ghz limiter enabled (lowers ghz to save power when no in use) so I'll need to disable those I take it.
Click to expand...

going from 2.6 to 3.6 will be quite a noticeable performance boost. I believe the warranty is only voided if you take the CPU above 1.3625 volts which is intels max spec.

As far as running at 50c at idle, that won't happen. The idea is to get as high a clockspeed with as low a voltage as possible. With 1.3 volts, you can expect idle temps not much higher than your current temps. Its load temps that will change significantly. To put it in perspective, I run my e8500 at 4.2 with 1.32 volts in CPU-Z. I idle at 17c and load at around 60c using IBT. At stock settings, load was around 42c with ~1.2 volts at 3.16ghz.

There is always some risks when overclocking, but it can be done safely.

Another thing. Try go get your NB voltage as low as possible. On my Maximus Formula, the bios had it defaulting to 1.5 volts at stock speeds. I can run it at 4.2 with 1.35 volts which is quite the "undervoltage".

Be patient as well. Proper overclocking usually takes a few days if you want to maximize everything.
 
One other thing. Have you lapped your heatsink? I've never had one but i've heard that those heatsinks are far from flat. It's a cheap mod that is easily done if you have the patience. That will help keeps temps down as well. It may only get you a few degrees but that could mean the difference between stability and instability.
 
No it wasn't lapped. I called Thermalright about how it wasn't flat and they said it is intended to be that way so it melds into the CPU, as that also isn't flat. Plus he said getting around 25c idle is really low for a quad core.

treefortrichard said:
also, this stickied thread is an incredible resource...I am working on my q9550 right now...
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1198647
Click to expand...

That is a lot of information to go over.
Might be hard to understand for someone who never overclocked before.
But looks easy enough to look over.
 
It doesnt meld into the CPU unless the cpu follows the same shape. That sounds like horseshit to me. You cant harm anything by lapping. Only benefit! :)
 
Seraphic said:
CPU runs around 24c to 26c using stock settings.
Click to expand...
First question: using what program? You should use Real Temp 3.0 with your CPU. Also, idle temps are essentially meaningless when it comes to 45nm Core 2 CPUs, for various reasons. Don't pay attention to your idle numbers; just look at how you're doing while under load.
Seraphic said:
However, never really messed with FSB or voltage settings.
So I guess the risk to damage the board/cpu is quite high, correct?
Click to expand...
The only major risk is with voltage. Make sure to keep your CPU voltage below 1.4V and don't raise your other voltages too much, and you'll be golden.
Seraphic said:
This was a retail box CPU, so I guess if you overclock it voids warranty, but can Intel tell if you did?
Click to expand...
There's probably a way for them to check, but they probably wouldn't anyway. Although the actual chance of you killing a CPU while overclocking and without going into dangerous voltage levels is extremely small.
Seraphic said:
If CPU runs around 25c at 2.66Ghz, could I expect around 50c at 3.6ghz?
Click to expand...
Like I said above, idle temperatures don't mean anything, so you can't use that as an indicator. And anyway, Core 2 CPUs are not limited by temperature but by the chips themselves, so worrying about temps in general is largely pointless. Just stay at least 20C from Tjmax and you'll be fine.
Seraphic said:
Also, these motherboard has (intel c1e and speed step) energy saver and ghz limiter enabled (lowers ghz to save power when no in use) so I'll need to disable those I take it. As it makes the multiplier jump all over the place.
Click to expand...
Leave those enabled. They only affect your CPU when idle, so they don't have any impact on overclocking and will simply end up saving you power. There's no real benefit to disabling them.
CruisD64 said:
I believe the warranty is only voided if you take the CPU above 1.3625 volts which is intels max spec.
Click to expand...
The warranty is voided once the CPU is run at a speed or voltage setting higher than stock.
CruisD64 said:
I idle at 17c and load at around 60c using IBT.
Click to expand...
The temp sensors used in 45nm Core 2 CPUs are not very accurate below 50C, so I seriously doubt that your idle temperatures are anywhere near that good. Plus, you'd have to have a really low ambient temp as well to achieve such low temps.
 
Seraphic,

what's your ambient temps?

Mine are around 25C (77F).

With my q9450 at stock (well cpu-z reads 2720mhz when testing) and a Tuniq 120, I was getting idles of ~45-48C with realtemp 2.70, but now just downloaded 3.00 and it bumped em to temps of ~51C. It shows my tjmax at 100 (i assume is the correct value, its the default).

With Intel Burn Test, i get up to ~66-69C. Seems high for stock, even though it's IBT.
 
Zero82z said:
The temp sensors used in 45nm Core 2 CPUs are not very accurate below 50C, so I seriously doubt that your idle temperatures are anywhere near that good. Plus, you'd have to have a really low ambient temp as well to achieve such low temps.
Click to expand...

My main box is currently in the garage where it is quite chilly. Definitely lower than 17c. Also, 17c isn't unheard of for a 45nm. At idle these chips barely do anything so its not unusual that they'd be close to ambient temps. Realistically though, its probably somewhere in the 20's because of the location of the sensor. I dunno.

Load temps are the important ones though! try to stay below 70!
 
CruisD64 said:
My main box is currently in the garage where it is quite chilly. Definitely lower than 17c. Also, 17c isn't unheard of for a 45nm. At idle these chips barely do anything so its not unusual that they'd be close to ambient temps. Realistically though, its probably somewhere in the 20's because of the location of the sensor. I dunno.

Load temps are the important ones though! try to stay below 70!
Click to expand...
My point was that the sensors are not accurate below 50C, so regardless of what they were reporting, there is a very good chance that your actual temperatures were significantly different.

Also, there is no harm in running a 45nm Core 2 CPU past 70C. They can function perfectly up to 100C (although I wouldn't recommend it). I typically run my CPU at around 65-70C with no ill effects. I would not go much higher than 80C though, since it's always good to keep a nice distance to Tjmax to minimize the chance of the CPU hitting a temperature spike and going past the PROCHOT temperature.
 
is there an idiots guide to OCing anywhere? seriously, how can the average person do this with confidence?
 
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