Q9400 / Maximums II Formula @ 4.0 ghz (Can I push it further?)

[MacAllah]

Dudes,

There are a few threads on here about my comp already, but they were getting confusing to follow. Here's a consolidation for my (and your) ease. If you're trying to OC a Maximus II Formula mobo, here's how I got it to 3.98 stable (4.00 unstable).

Here are my basic pieces:

ASUS Maximus II Formula (P45 chipset)

Intel Q9400 2.66 ghz (stock)

Tuniq Tower 120 CPU cooler

OCZ Reaper DDR2 1066 RAM

Corsair 620W PSU

EVGA GTX 260 (OC'ed to 650 mhz core from 576)

The screenshots tell the story. Take a look. If I adjust the FSB down a bit I can get the RAM to run at 1140, but it doesn't seem to like it when I change the timing away from 5-5-5-15. 6-6-6-18, for example, won't allow the computer to boot... What I want to do is get my RAM to a more decent speed, so any suggestions would be more than welcome.

 

[°TheMadDutchDude°]

You can't take it much higher than that, you're already on the max safe recommended voltage from Intel so I would stick with it at that and make sure it is 100% stable

 

[D-Cyph3r]

I'm surprised you got that far to be honest. But yeah, you wont get much (if any) further on air.

 

[°TheMadDutchDude°]

You would be able to take it further if you lapped the CPU so that you can keep the temps down!

I would leave it at that, that is a very impressive overclock for a CPU like that. Well done

 

[MacAllah]

Well, thank you. :-D

I was surprised it went so far myself. My previous build was an E8500 and I tried to hit the magical 4.0 ghz. It just sounds good. I would have felt like a failure if I couldn't do the same with this computer even though I began at 2.66 ghz this time around (the E8500 is stock 3.6 ghz).

Oddly, the computer does fine during synthetic benchmarks and stress testing, but seems to be crashing while playing UTIII. The temps are all staying low, so I honestly have no idea what's going on. I may back off 5 mhz on the FSB and see if that stabilizes things.

 

[GavX]

4Ghz on a NB voltage of 1.3v?? I have to hit the 1.65s in my Maximus Formula to get to 3.8

 

[MacAllah]

@GavX

Yeah, I was surprised, too. All other mobos I've ever OC'ed more voltage meant a higher speed. This one seems to be exactly opposite. I had it at 1.45 and it wouldn't boot. Same with 1.5. Only after I LOWERED it to 1.3 did it start letting me push the limits.

Dunno why, but... whatever.

 

[-VK-]

P45 chipsets respond worse to higher voltage, something to do with the way they are made.