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Help with overclocking a Q9400.

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Luden

Luden

New Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Hello. I just recently bought an Intel Quad core 9400 and I could use a little help with over clocking it. Here's what I've tried so far and the results.

I disable spread spectrum and unlink the fsb from the memory. At first I tried just bumping the fsb from 1333 to 1350, and everything was fine. But I've found that anything at or over 1400 gives me a message saying, "overclocking failed!) So, I tried bumping up the cpu voltage one notch but had the same result. The voltage at stock is showing 1.2375

I've heard these chips can reach a speed of 3 gig? Cooling wise it idles around 30% C. Any suggestions on what might be holding me back here? I'd like to atleast reach a clock speed of 2.8.

Antec 900
Windows XP home
MSI P7N 750I SLI
WD VelociRaptor 150 gig
Intel Q9400
Ultra X3 1000 watt psu
EVGA GTX 260 216
OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 CL 3 FlexXLC Edition *EOL
Creative Xfi gamer sound card.
 
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Could you post all for your BIOS settings?

Off Topic: Just wondering, is there a reason you have a 1000W PSU? Are you planning a future top-of-the-line system?
 
Here ya go Matt. About the psu, yeah it's a bit overboard. but after I lost my last board and sli setup due to a bad power supply, I decided to future proof my system for the next 20 years..

Bios Version 2.1

Cell menu.

HPET-disabled.
D.O.T. Control-disabled.
Intel EIST-disabled.
System clock mode- manual.
FSB-1350
Memory Clock-800.
Adjusted DRAM Frequency-798.
Adjusted cpu ratio-8
PCI-E Frequency-100.

CPU Voltage- 0.0000V. (weird way of showing voltage adjustments... So it just means it's at the default voltage.)
Memory Voltage-2.10.
VTT FSB Voltage-1.300.
NB Voltage-1.24.
SB Core Power-1.50
Spread Spectrum-disabled.

Memory timing set to manual.

Cas-3
Trcd-4
Trp-4
Tras-15

Everything else was left at auto since these were the spec's my memory was rated at.
I also tried leaving the memory timings and voltage at the default values but it didn't seem to help.
 
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Settings look fine, you're going to have to bump the vcore more than just one notch to get it going.

Set vcore to 1.3625v, lower the multiplier to 6, and see how high your FSB will go (up to 1600), so we can get an estimate of what your board can do.

While doing that keep your RAM and FSB in a 1:1 ratio; for example, 1400FSB/4 = 350MHz (actual FSB), so you should run the RAM at 2x350MHz = 700MHz. Or just look at it as running your RAM at half of the effective FSB (1400 in this case).
 
Post a direct link to your specific RAM. I'm curious as to why you set CAS Latency to 3, when it should be set to at least 4 at 800MHz (assuming default timings of 4-4-4-15, since you have tRCD and tRP set to 4).
 
Ok, I tried setting the fsb to 1400 and the ram to 700 so their running at a 1 to 1 ratio. I bumped the cpu voltage to 1.32 at first, (so the bios setting is 0.0825. increments of 0.0125.) It booted but then frooze at the windows loading bar. So, I tried setting the cpu voltage to the number you suggested. Same thing happened. I also tried backing off the memory's cas from 3 to 4. But again, no joy.

Also when you say lower the multiplier I'm a little confused. Isn't that option locked on most cpu's except for the extreme editions?

Here's a link to my memory Red.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_cl_3_flexxlc_edition-eol
 
You can LOWER a multiplier but not raise them on normal (non extreme edition) CPUs.

1kw PSU, LOL.

Yeah that page says 2.1v CAS 3... Wow.

The 750i board is NOT a good overclocker at all. Though it should still eclipse 350FSB... I would imagine 400+ with a quad has been achieved.
 
Ah ok, I tried lowering it but the message I get says, "you must first disable intel EIST to adjust this option." Funny thing is I already do have it disabled..
 
Ok, silly mistake on my part.. I lowered the multiplier down to six. It boots up but still hangs at the loading bar..
 
Ill give it a try. The really odd thing here is if I set the fsb to 1380 and leave the cpu voltage at stock, it boots and works just fine. It's weird that such a small increase fails to work when it works perfectly just under 1400 at stock voltage?
 
FSB hole? Try pushing past 350FSB like to 360 or so, add a bit more volts and see if it boots.
 
if your running the ram unlinked you will have FSB holes. as in that mode the motherboard can come up with endless possible dividers, not all work.

another thing, 750i=680i, while they gave 750i more tweak-ablility for voltages. i wouldn't expect much past 400mhz fsb out of a 45nm quad core on that board.
 
Yup, the problem was indeed the FSB hole. Once I moved past 1400 it booted with no problems. After trying a few different numbers I eventually bumped the multiplier back up to 8 and easily achived a cpu speed of around 3.0Ghz. I was even able to back down on the cpu voltage and still keep things stable. I think it's close to 1.2 something.. Only thing is I think I'm gonna back off to stock untill I can get my hands on a better cpu cooler. I'm using a Nirvana NV120 which I really regret buying.. At idle my cpu's 0 core is at around 34% C. On load it hits maybe 55.

Evil, that's what I've been hearing whenever I ask about the 750I. I actually went from the 680 to this after it died on me a while back. Thing is the next step up doesn't seem to offer much unless your looking at running more then two cards in SLI. I think one of them also offers a faster FSB.
 
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well even 780i is 680i with a NV200 media chip to add pcie2.0 support. 790i is the only new one since it has both pcie 2.0 support without the NV200 media chip and DDR3 support.

I would have stuck with a Intel based board for ocing... SLI or not, you can get a X2 card if you have/had the money for a SLI setup.
 
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