Overclock With Q9450

[Nagasama]

v-dubb i havent seen any lower than 1.15, im sure they are out there...proly not mainstream unless you get really lucky...now some of them will RUN lower than that...i think my lowest stable voltage at stock speeds was like 1.025 or something close to that. most folks seem to be getting 1.2-1.25 it seems.
i dont know how low they go.

 

[dark strike1]

Nagasama, may I ask what your idle temps are at 3.5? Mine are around the low 40s which is kinda high to me since my old Q6600 sat in the low 30s. Just wanted to compare

 

[Nagasama]

np. right now mine with 4 windows open in explorer are:
39/35/38/35

 

[dark strike1]

Is that with your tj max set to 95 or 100? I have no idea why my temps are so high now, they are hitting around 50 idle....

 

[Nagasama]

tj max is 95*C
and yikes thats too hot for idle. how'd you put the paste on? i find the way that works best (and i've pretty much tried them all) with the direct-touch heatsinks is to put a small amount on the heatsink base and smear it all over. then, take a flat piece of plastic that is at least (wider is easier) as wide as the HS and scrape it off, leaving paste only in the cracks between the pipes and the aluminum. then, i put a VERY light layer over the entire ihs of the cpu.
are all your cores that high? i just RMA'd a 9550 that ran that hot, but only on one core.

 

[dark strike1]

Intel stated that the tj max for all q9000 series should be 100C, I think they stated that this month. But all of my cores are sitting at those temps idle, I don't know if it may just be due to my room temps. or the xigamatek is just not good enough.

 

[Nagasama]

its good enough. what is your room temp? did you try and re-seat the xigmatek using the application method i explained above?

 

[dark strike1]

My room is about 75 to 80 degree's Fahrenheit. Which is usually normal room temps. I have reseated this heatsink 4 times and with the same results. Each time I used a different method of applying thermal paste. I have tried the following methods:

1. Applying thermal paste and smearing it lightly while wearing a glove.

2. Applying and flattening evenly with a credit card.

3. Applying in the middle and letting the weight of the heat sink disperse it.

4. Applying a horizontal line in the middle and letting the heat sink disperse it.

All of those method gave me the same temps.