Quote Originally Posted by drew and not u View Post
Hi guys, coming out of lurker mode for this. I'm doing some overclocking for a friend and can't get this Q9450 stable at or past 3.8.

Specs:
-Q9450
-Rampage Formula (0601 bios, pencil vMod, active NB cooling[doesn't go above 35c])
-4GB G.Skill 1066
-Seasonic 550W PSU

Ran perfectly at 450FSB with just a small vCore bump and everything else auto.
However it doesn't like 480+ FSB. At 480 I can get it to post and get into windows, but any load causes a bluescreen. Increasing the CPU PLL or FSB termination causes it to not load windows at all, or not even post. I have the CPU multi turned down to 6 while I try to get these higher FSBs to work. The ram is only at 960/2.1v so that shouldn't be it. All CPU features are disabled.

Here are the settings that have allowed me to at least run orthos for about 30 seconds before crashing.

Code:
Ai Tuner: manual
CPU Ratio: 6
FSB Strap: 400
FSB Freq: 480
DRAM Freq: 960
CPU vCore: 1.356
CPU PLL: auto (worse when I increase)
NB Voltage: 1.51
DRAM Voltage: 2.1
FSB Termination: auto (worse when I increase)
LLC disabled (pencil vmod done)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
You'll need to bump your NB voltage to around 1.69 and your CPU voltage to 1.5v in order to get 480+. You will likely hit a hard wall at around 495 or so FSB.