q9450 overclocking dont know what to do

[rubber5]

hi guys i have debate on what to do i have a
gigabite ep45-ud3r mobo q9450 and
4 sticks of 2gb=8gb corsair xms pro memory @ 800mhz 4.4.4.12.t2
and a asus gtx 280 gpu (no oc)

im curently getting 3.2ghz out of my cpu normal clock is 2.66ghz
but if i take the fsb up any more it ups my memory speed and i dont know how much to push the memory before it unsafe i have had the cpu at 3.5ghz but it overclocks the memory by 76mhz i dont know what to do my options are
(1) keep the 3.2ghz (no memory overclocking)
(2) take it to 3.5ghz (with 76mhz overclocking on memory)
(3) upgrade to 1066mhz memory to get a higher overclock on the cpu

can anyone help me i really dont know what to do
if its a memory upgrade please let me know what the best 4x2gb or 2x2gb kits there is out there in the uk only please dont want to import becuse of cost
thanks to anyone that can help me :)

[Leeghoofd]

Have you tried relaxing the ram timings to 5-5-5-15 ? if they are good they should go up to 900-1000mhz easily. For hassle free OC'ing I would only opt for 4Gb's.

Just see how high you can go with the looser timings... would be a shame to sell them 8gbs

[celemine1Gig]

I absolutely agree. Why sell your current RAM, if you don't even know what it can do. Otherwise you don't seem to have understood the whole idea behind overclocking. :)

Prepare a Memtest+ CD, install LinX or something similar (Burntest or whatever it's called) and then try to overclock your RAM without overclocking the rest of the system beyond known to be stable clocks.
Important: Don't boot your OS before you haven't made sure that at least Memtest runs error free. Memory errors can easily damage a lot of data! After having run Memtest you can then move on to booting the actual OS.

This way you can find out what your RAM can do and also if it will limit your CPU overclock.

But remember: No errors in Memtest don't necessarily mean no RAM problems under normal OC operation. Some more chipset and/or RAM voltage might be needed in the end.

[rubber5]

I absolutely agree. Why sell your current RAM, if you don't even know what it can do. Otherwise you don't seem to have understood the whole idea behind overclocking. :)

Prepare a Memtest+ CD, install LinX or something similar (Burntest or whatever it's called) and then try to overclock your RAM without overclocking the rest of the system beyond known to be stable clocks.
Important: Don't boot your OS before you haven't made sure that at least Memtest runs error free. Memory errors can easily damage a lot of data! After having run Memtest you can then move on to booting the actual OS.

This way you can find out what your RAM can do and also if it will limit your CPU overclock.

But remember: No errors in Memtest don't necessarily mean no RAM problems under normal OC operation. Some more chipset and/or RAM voltage might be needed in the end.

ok i have tried to get the cpu over the 3.5ghz but the pc locks up no matter what i do i have uped the voltage on the cpu and the ram but it dont work what else can i do im not really sure what to up on the other voltages

[wez3570]

To find you mAximum cpu frequncy, try the lowest ram divider then up the fsb, when u hit a wall add some voltage to the cpu. There are some fine tuning tweaks u can perform to try get even higher but it may simply be 3.5ghz is the max oc for your CPU. I couldn't get my q9450 past 3.6ghz without losing stability.

I found most of the info I was looking for (when overclocking my q9450) by using the advanced search button. Believe me, there's tons of info on your motherboard and the q9450 on xs.

Good luck, let us know how u get on.

[rubber5]

To find you mAximum cpu frequncy, try the lowest ram divider then up the fsb, when u hit a wall add some voltage to the cpu. There are some fine tuning tweaks u can perform to try get even higher but it may simply be 3.5ghz is the max oc for your CPU. I couldn't get my q9450 past 3.6ghz without losing stability.

I found most of the info I was looking for (when overclocking my q9450) by using the advanced search button. Believe me, there's tons of info on your motherboard and the q9450 on xs.

Good luck, let us know how u get on.

ok after testing a little i have done 20 passes with intel burn test on 64bit vista ultamate on standerd and it passed and was stable

my q9450 is @3.7ghz now but hits 76c under load is this ok
my motherbord bios settings is as follows

8x multy for cpu
fsb is 463
c.i.a disabled
performance enhance disabled
system memory multy 2.00b
memory frequncy normal 800mhz @926mhz 5.5.5.15 timings

VOLTS

load line calibration (enabled)
cpu v core 1.200 1.24375
cpu termanation 1.200 1.200
cpu pll 1.500 1.500
cpu referance 0.760 0.760
mch core 1.100 1.260
mch referance 0.760 0.760
mch d.ram 0.900 0.900
ich 1/0 1.500 1.500
ich core 1.100 1.100
d-ram 1.800 2.100
d-ram termanation 0.900 0.940
d-ram channel a 0.900 0.940
d-ram channel b 0.900 0.940

i am getting 18201 on 3d mark 06 and i wanted to know if it sound about right
quick specks
gigabite ep45ud3r mobo
q9450 @3.7ghz
8gb ddr2 800mhz @926mhz
asus gtx 280 (not overclock)

thanks guys for your help plese let me know if this overclock is ok or wether someting is to high/low thanks again