OCing q9400(help needed)

Klapp

New member
So I'd like to try a mild overclock on my Q9400(3.2ghz or something) and I need some help...

SPECS:

Q9400

ASUS P5QL

2x2gb Elixir DDR2 PC8500 1066MHz 1.8V CL6 Nanya chip

Scythe Mugen 2

Load temps are(stock clocks):

CORE1:39C

CORE2:23C

CORE3:39C

CORE4:39C

(something about those temps isn't right, because the temps only move 1-2C max)

What settings should I use and what ram timings? i tried 5-5-5-15 and 5-5-5-18..I got it up to 3178mhz, booted into windows and then it crashed... also i kept the ram under 1066mhz so that shouldn't be the problem.

doesn't matter what clocks I'm using, its still very unstable.. lets say its at 2800mhz and then running prime95 = insta reboot.
 
have you upped the voltage to the chip? you cant always run stock volts when your overclocking not always the case but is usually the first place to look for correcting stability issues
 
I tried increasing CPU voltage to 1.2V and 1.25V, but it was no use.. should I try higher?

I think its ok if i leave the voltage for ram on AUTO, because the ram was bellow its stock clocks...

TY for your reply anyway :)
 
put your ram's voltage to what its rated at cause something it gets undervolted and thats gonna cause instability aswell

yeah try and raise the voltage till you can get it stable at the highest overclock you have managed i have a q6600 here that can do 3.2ghz on just a litlle over stock voltage

i just had a little look about online and it looks like you can go to 1.36v no problems just make sure ur temps on load are fine
 
I'll try that later, but i have a question..

http://asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=Sa4tSsNbg7dJwvhd

According to this it says that my motherboards max FSB 1600(O.C)MHz. Does this mean that the max overclock i can get out of it is 3.2ghz? If i set my FSB from bios to 400 i should get 3.2 ghz(8x400=3200), but it just crashes and if i go back to BIOS I can see that my motherboards FSB is a little over 1600. Can this be causing the problem I cant go over 3.2ghz?

It should stay exactly at 1600 if i have my settings at 8x400.
 
I will try that later, but I have another question.

According to Asus's site it says that my Motherboards max FSB 1600 is (O.C)MHz. Is this limiting my overclocking meaning i cant go over 3.2ghz? If i tried 8x400 to get 3,2ghz, it crashed and I went back to BIOS where i saw my motherboards FSB a little over 1600, So is this causing the crashes?
 
i wouldnt think that was a problem ive never experienced a bus speed limiting me over such a small overclock my other q6600 has a bus speed of only 1066 and ive managed to get that to 3.5ghz, whats the highest multiplier you have? cause maybe you can lower your FSB and up the multiplier to get the same speeds

but i would more than likely say if anything its it needing more voltage, if you can get it to boot into windows with an overclock write down the voltage you are using in the bios then install and open cpu-z and look and see what voltage that is reporting to see if you are suffering some vdroop
 
I guess i had my CPU voltage too low.. I got it up to 3448Mhz and stable :) I'm gonna keep it at 3.4Ghz, CPU voltage is 1.2850 or something like that, that should be ok, because I ran prime95 for 2 hours and my temps were: Core1: 37C, Core2: 35C, Core3: 41C, Core4: 41C. The difference between CPU voltage on BIOS and CPUZ is 0.036V - 0.052V.

Also I'm using a Fortron Blue Storm II 500w and ATi 5870 with it, maybe the PSU is overloaded and thats causing the dropping in voltages? tho 12v rails never go under.
 
it wont be the psu dropping the voltages it will be your motherboard, do you have LLC on your mobo, load line calibration controls the vdroop you end up with? cause u will want to turn that on to lower the vdroop cause thats quite a bit of a drop it was similar to what i was gettin b4 i put on LLC mate

but as you said mate if you are happy with 3.4hz then thats good glad it will worked for u mate
 
Im still getting some reboots @ 3.4ghz, how can i enable LLC? I didn't find anything about it from BIOS.
 
what does CPU-Z say your voltage is in the OS and what are you puttin in the bios? just keep uppin the voltage till you get it stable mate its trial and error, check online to see if your mobo supports LLC but i suspect it should man its a good mobo its in the advanced tab near the bottom will either be called Load Line Calibration or LLC
 
Seems like my mobo doesnt support LLC, I couldn't find it in bios.. I've got my CPU voltage from BIOS set to 1.3, but CPUZ is showing 1.28 or something(bios too). Im going to keep it like this and see if its stable.

My RAM timmings are 6-6-6-24, are those ok or should I try something else?
 
i just looked and it looks like ur mobo does support LLC

21o8za0.jpg


have you got things like speed step and C1E and that disabled?

and have you set your ram in the bios to the rated voltage so its not gettin undervolted, and are those your stock timings? if not try and set them back to stock and see if that stops instability
 
I will try it out in a second. but i was wrong about it being stable... it works if i test it with prime95, but i get like an instant crash if I run linpack/intelburntest. also it my CPU temps go higher than they go with prime 95 for a second, untill it crashes.
 
Ram timings of 6-6-6-24 are common for the generic pc2-8500 modules but the more expensive stuff runs at 5-5-5-15 or 5-5-5-18. Try looking in the spd tab of cpu-z, it usually contains those settings. Compare those with the settings shown in the memory tab of cpu-z.
 
those temps are nothing near worrying about mate if thats on load another 20 degree's more and id understand man

if you ram timings are stock i wouldnt worry about that just make sure u set the voltage in the bios thats all
 
and what are you using for gettin your temps? i recommend gettin realtemp i always find it to be closer to the temps i get in the bios
 
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