Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage

JasonPC · 07-11-10, 12:40 AM

Ok my Q9450 has always idled high (in the 50s) and I could never understand why. I have a Tuniq Tower heatsink which is supposed to be pretty decent and have tried reapplying thermal paste and reseating it a couple times but it made no difference.

However I noticed my core voltage was high compared to most stock Q9450s, around 1.265 V. Mine is the C1 revision and I have read that those even require even lower voltages. So I disabled the automatic voltage and fooled around with the voltages in the bios and managed to get the core voltage to around 1.168 after vdroop. This dropped the temperatures around 10 C and is definitely a lot less alarming. All seems stable so far as well and under load it tops out around 60 C.

But this still seems high for a Tuniq tower heatsink. So does anyone have any experience with Q9450s and have any tips for setting the optimum voltage. Once I get temps good at stock I would like to overclock it a little.

07-11-10, 01:10 AM

Hmm my Q9550 is idling at about 30C now and the voltage according to cpuz is 1.216

JasonPC · 07-11-10, 01:14 AM

Yours is the E0 stepping though. Might be a difference because of that. Reading that the E0 stepping supposedly fixed the temperature issues. Not sure if they ever made any E0 stepping Q9450s.

I have a new CPU cooler on the way so I'm hoping that will also help things out.

JasonPC · 07-15-10, 02:30 PM

Installed the Corsair H50 cooler and it dropped temps about 9 C more but I think it's obvious that this stepping Q9450 runs on the warm side.

henrybravo · 07-18-10, 04:22 PM

No stepping of 9450 should idle in the 50's on air or 40's with an H50 unless the ambient temp in your case is high, or you've got a reporting issue. Some early bios versions on some motherboards were buggy in that regard, and had issues reporting proper temps. Also make sure you're using a program like RealTemp which reads the distance to TJMax for each each core, in case you've got one core running higher than the rest which will skew the '"overall" temp reading.

JasonPC · 07-18-10, 08:48 PM

Well I have the most recent bios and my case is not hot as my graphic card idles fairly low. I think it could be a reporting issue when idle because even under a full load the temps barely move. They do move a little but not very much. I can also feel the air from the exhaust is not warm at all. In fact it's fairly cool. So I'm thinking it is a reporting issue. I am using RealTemp and all the temps seem in line with each other with cores 0 and 1 just slightly higher by a degree or so.

Also I saw this picture on the net when searching though not sure what kind of cooling the person had.

His Q9450 C1 stepping is overclocked to 3.6 ghz at a vcore that is lower than mine by default (when set to auto)! His was 1.224 mine 1.265. And his also idles in the 40s. So maybe it's not out of line. It seems like this motherboard by default sets the vcore way too high which obviously results in higher temps.

i SPY · 08-23-10, 03:42 PM

^

he's probably using some pencil modd to get such low voltage..

mine idles from 38-43C (overall temp 28-30C) @ 3.52ghz with 1.31850v in bios or in win 1.289v.

For 3.6ghz i need 1.3560v in bios making it 1.33v in windows, without load line calibration.

Temps stayed around the same, maybe 1C higher..

For 3.7ghz (463mhz fsb) i need huge amounts, 1.389v in bios making it 1.349v in win.

edit: what's your cpu VID? this one is crucial for overall temps..

mine is 1.25v.

JasonPC · 08-23-10, 06:47 PM

My motherboard died so it doesn't really matter anymore

Mine was idling about the same as yours though at somewhat of a lower voltage. I think the VID was the same.

I have no doubt that your X48 motherboard is superior to my crappy Asus P5N-D in every way. I am not missing nvidia chipsets at all. I will stay away from them like the plague from now on. Just was a shame the intel chipsets didn't support SLI.

I upgraded to Core i7 930 and have no regrets. Runs a little on the warm side but cooler than what the Q9450 was. One issue is probably the ambient temps. It's been a really hot summer here.

i SPY · 08-24-10, 09:42 AM

ah all good then

yea its a bit hotter here too, otherwise i would get 3-4C lower

Scendore · 08-24-10, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonPC

Installed the Corsair H50 cooler and it dropped temps about 9 C more but I think it's obvious that this stepping Q9450 runs on the warm side.

A little trick for you if you haven't already done it. I stuck a second fan on my H50 for a push pull out of the back of my case and got at least another 5-8C cooler out of it. It's very easy to do.

Corsair is now making the H70 with this configuration by default with a much thicker Radiator.

JasonPC · 08-25-10, 12:39 AM

Unfortunately due to my motherboard and case layout I don't think I'll be able to put a second fan on (I have one, just need screws). The motherboard heatsink protrudes a fraction of an inch too high. I may be able to rig something to work but screws would not.

I'd LOVE to get Corsair's Obsidian case but the price is just so high.

Scendore · 08-25-10, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonPC

Unfortunately due to my motherboard and case layout I don't think I'll be able to put a second fan on (I have one, just need screws). The motherboard heatsink protrudes a fraction of an inch too high. I may be able to rig something to work but screws would not.

I'd LOVE to get Corsair's Obsidian case but the price is just so high.

The H50 comes with 4 screws... I just used two per side and off set them from each other. Workes like a charm. If you have some MB heat sink stuff in the way that's a different story but I can assure you the second fan makes a big difference.

07-11-10, 12:40 AM	#1
JasonPC Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 2,103	Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage Ok my Q9450 has always idled high (in the 50s) and I could never understand why. I have a Tuniq Tower heatsink which is supposed to be pretty decent and have tried reapplying thermal paste and reseating it a couple times but it made no difference. However I noticed my core voltage was high compared to most stock Q9450s, around 1.265 V. Mine is the C1 revision and I have read that those even require even lower voltages. So I disabled the automatic voltage and fooled around with the voltages in the bios and managed to get the core voltage to around 1.168 after vdroop. This dropped the temperatures around 10 C and is definitely a lot less alarming. All seems stable so far as well and under load it tops out around 60 C. But this still seems high for a Tuniq tower heatsink. So does anyone have any experience with Q9450s and have any tips for setting the optimum voltage. Once I get temps good at stock I would like to overclock it a little.

07-11-10, 01:10 AM	#2
betterdan Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage Hmm my Q9550 is idling at about 30C now and the voltage according to cpuz is 1.216

07-11-10, 01:14 AM	#3
JasonPC Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 2,103	Re: Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage Yours is the E0 stepping though. Might be a difference because of that. Reading that the E0 stepping supposedly fixed the temperature issues. Not sure if they ever made any E0 stepping Q9450s. I have a new CPU cooler on the way so I'm hoping that will also help things out.

07-15-10, 02:30 PM	#4
JasonPC Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 2,103	Re: Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage Installed the Corsair H50 cooler and it dropped temps about 9 C more but I think it's obvious that this stepping Q9450 runs on the warm side.

07-18-10, 04:22 PM	#5
henrybravo Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 109	Re: Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage No stepping of 9450 should idle in the 50's on air or 40's with an H50 unless the ambient temp in your case is high, or you've got a reporting issue. Some early bios versions on some motherboards were buggy in that regard, and had issues reporting proper temps. Also make sure you're using a program like RealTemp which reads the distance to TJMax for each each core, in case you've got one core running higher than the rest which will skew the '"overall" temp reading. __________________ Intel Core i7-2600K @ 4.7 GHz (47x100 @ 1.375v) cooled by XIGMATEK Aegir SD128264 Mega Killer \| ASUS P8Z68-V PRO \| G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) PC3 12800 eVGA GTX 580 @ 851/1702/2097 \| Corsair M4 64GB SSD (for OS drive) \| Seagate 7200.12 1TB x2, WD Green 1TB x2 in RAID1 \| Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Antec TPQ-850 power supply \| Antec Twelve Hundred case \| HP LP2475w monitor \| Windows 7 Professional x64

07-18-10, 08:48 PM	#6
JasonPC Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 2,103	Re: Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage Well I have the most recent bios and my case is not hot as my graphic card idles fairly low. I think it could be a reporting issue when idle because even under a full load the temps barely move. They do move a little but not very much. I can also feel the air from the exhaust is not warm at all. In fact it's fairly cool. So I'm thinking it is a reporting issue. I am using RealTemp and all the temps seem in line with each other with cores 0 and 1 just slightly higher by a degree or so. Also I saw this picture on the net when searching though not sure what kind of cooling the person had. His Q9450 C1 stepping is overclocked to 3.6 ghz at a vcore that is lower than mine by default (when set to auto)! His was 1.224 mine 1.265. And his also idles in the 40s. So maybe it's not out of line. It seems like this motherboard by default sets the vcore way too high which obviously results in higher temps.

08-23-10, 03:42 PM	#7
i SPY 007 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: You were sayin' Posts: 290	Re: Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage ^ he's probably using some pencil modd to get such low voltage.. mine idles from 38-43C (overall temp 28-30C) @ 3.52ghz with 1.31850v in bios or in win 1.289v. For 3.6ghz i need 1.3560v in bios making it 1.33v in windows, without load line calibration. Temps stayed around the same, maybe 1C higher.. For 3.7ghz (463mhz fsb) i need huge amounts, 1.389v in bios making it 1.349v in win. edit: what's your cpu VID? this one is crucial for overall temps.. mine is 1.25v. __________________ intel Q9450 @ 3.656Ghz [1.3875v, LLC off]\| GA-X48-DS5 [Memory Enhance: Turbo]\|MSi N570GTX TwinFrozrIII OC/PowerEdition\|Kingston HyperX 4x2GB PC 8500 @ 1097Mhz [5-5-5-18, 2.25v]\| Creative X-FI Pro [SB046A]\| Tagan PipeRock 600w [48A]

08-23-10, 06:47 PM	#8
JasonPC Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 2,103	Re: Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage My motherboard died so it doesn't really matter anymore Mine was idling about the same as yours though at somewhat of a lower voltage. I think the VID was the same. I have no doubt that your X48 motherboard is superior to my crappy Asus P5N-D in every way. I am not missing nvidia chipsets at all. I will stay away from them like the plague from now on. Just was a shame the intel chipsets didn't support SLI. I upgraded to Core i7 930 and have no regrets. Runs a little on the warm side but cooler than what the Q9450 was. One issue is probably the ambient temps. It's been a really hot summer here.

08-24-10, 09:42 AM	#9
i SPY 007 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: You were sayin' Posts: 290	Re: Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage ah all good then yea its a bit hotter here too, otherwise i would get 3-4C lower __________________ intel Q9450 @ 3.656Ghz [1.3875v, LLC off]\| GA-X48-DS5 [Memory Enhance: Turbo]\|MSi N570GTX TwinFrozrIII OC/PowerEdition\|Kingston HyperX 4x2GB PC 8500 @ 1097Mhz [5-5-5-18, 2.25v]\| Creative X-FI Pro [SB046A]\| Tagan PipeRock 600w [48A]

08-25-10, 12:39 AM	#11
JasonPC Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 2,103	Re: Q9450 CPU Temps and Voltage Unfortunately due to my motherboard and case layout I don't think I'll be able to put a second fan on (I have one, just need screws). The motherboard heatsink protrudes a fraction of an inch too high. I may be able to rig something to work but screws would not. I'd LOVE to get Corsair's Obsidian case but the price is just so high.