Rob, if you haven't tried this HW Monitor yet, check it out:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

You can monitor all hardware temps from windows.

This is at 3.0GHz aircooled, only IE running:

Prime95 freeware for stress testing:

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/


EDIT: WOAH! CPU shot up to 100% right away, this thing really pounds away. Gonna restart HW Monitor to check what happens as this runs.

My PC just shot through the roof and is now passing over Halifax in a low orbit:




These temps were taken during the 3rd test. I have no idea yet what an acceptable max aircooled temp is so I stopped it.

Removed autothrottle and a few doohickeys in BIOS, changed auto voltage to 1.35; things cooled a bit and voltage dropped.

I didn't want to install Open Office on the gamer yet, didn't want extra tasks running just yet. So I used Paintbrush to do a small graph of all my testing so far. These were the voltages I overrode:

CPU: 1.35v
FSB: 1.4v
RAM: 1.85v
SPP: 1.4v
MCP: 1.5v
HT: 1.25v

This is why forums say not to leave on autovoltage when overclocking. The system is just going to keep on cranking up the voltage to meet the demand.

By limitting the cpu voltage at 1.35v, running at 3.0GHz is only 2 degrees warmer under full load in Prime95 than the default 2.4GHz config.

Right! I had the same result on autovoltage. But you should be able to limit the v to more like 1.45, or maybe that's just for my dual core E8500, which is faster than each of your clocks, and there are only two of them.

Once I know my system is stable again, I'll be OC'ing again too. But for now, 3.2 GHz gets me there.

FYI - I ran regularly at between 1.45 and 1.5 (can't remember exactly) v at 4.1 GHz and the temps never went over 60c. No risk at that temp I think. many gamers run at max -20, if I remember correctly.

I'm going to stay near 50C on air (3.0GHz), I'll see about major speed when I put liquid inside.

I found the FSB hole on my 680i; it's somewhere between 3.24 - 3.5GHz.

It's weird, I run just over 50C at 3.0 and 3.5GHz with revised settings, but shoot up over 60C at 3.24GHz.

EVGA has released Eleet Tuning Utility; it's the same as HW Monitor, both are by CPUID. But it has more features like setting affinity (assign core to processes like Bill Utility).

I still prefer HW Monitor during load testing; it has MIN MAX values. Eleet is dynamic only, you lose how high the temps went.

Tip: Don't run 2 different monitoring programs at the same time with load testing. I shot up over 60C using HW Monitor and CoreTemp 1.0, but came back down to 50C using either one.

You have a 780i, I have a 680i. An nVidia guide for this mobo recommends these max:

CPU 1.5875v
FSB 1.5v
RAM 2.2v
SPP 1.5v
MCP auto
HT auto

They recommended to leave MCP and HT on auto so I put them back. I figure they know more about this than I do.

I used these just to take a peek if the thing at least runs fast. It stayed just over 50 so I'll wait until having running water, but at least I know the BIOS update did wonders to stability.

3.5GHz, 9x389
1555 FSB
800 DDR

CPU 1.5v
FSB 1.5v
RAM 2.2v
SPP 1.5v
MCP auto
HT auto

(I've seen several references that these voltages are used by liquid cooled systems. Some use it on air, but they are few and far between. The more heat I remove, the longer it'll last.)

You did that? Please tell me how. I have wanted to do that too but can't seem to find the directions. That's called flashing, right? Maybe I should read my MoBo manual!

Google BIOS UPDATE DOWNLOAD and your mobo number AB-123-456 or whatever is on your box (or mobo sticker).

Mine was an ISO that I burned to a DVD using freeware Active ISO Burner.

I just rebooted using the DVD, clicked OK or whatever and it went like a charm. Make sure to load the default BIOS settings when you reboot to make sure you pick up all the new stuff, then put your OC settings back in.

Like any BIOS update, you must not power down or else it will suddenly become time to update to a bigger better mobo.

I cannot stress the importance of having a clean airflow through your case. I just redid mine after putting in 4 new fans, 2 front inwards, 1 top and 1 back outwards, and my harddrive temps went down 5 degrees (everything else seems to have cooled 1 or 2 degrees).

Adding that 4th fan in front of the harddrives has done wonders, same as clearing a lot of the hanging cables behind the drive bay. Make sure to cover and tape decorative openings on the front cover, they let pressure out.

There are some fans that go "over" your harddrives, they generally have bad ratings. It's much easier to just slap a large fan in front, mine covers 3 harddrives. Larger gaming cases shine when it comes to fans, they usually have have more fanslots than you can care for.

Problem: unstable system, with or without overclocking.

Possible solution: Clean your registry.


I had to uninstall several windows updates, these most likely left a crapload of loose ends in the registry, especially Win7 SP1. I'm waiting on Norton Utilities v14.5 from Purplus for $13.95. It's mainly the registry features that interest me. The registry can quickly get "dirty", that slows down booting, windows and your programs.

If your registry is full of crap, don't expect your PC to run very well. You can get a LOT of errors from this, right now I can't do any more windows updates 'cause my registry is out of whack. I get a random BSOD with a variety of codes, windows sometimes slows to a crawl and nothing is running in the background.

No virus, I checked.


Note: be careful when running a reg cleaner, some freeware will zap critical DLL files and erase them using NASA-type code, they can not be recovered or undeleted.

So I figured I'd run IntelBurnTest to see how the system held up. I ran it at Standard first and it went up to 55C or so. Hey, why not run it at High just once?

About 45 seconds of terror ensued:



Temps passed 60C mark, I had my finger on Stop button the second it hit 65C but it didn't pass 62C.

Stress Level indeed.

Done! many thanks! Got the ISO onto a CD via active@ISOburner, booted on the CD, and done.



It's suppose to improve this:

"Improved Core 2 duo 1333 overclocking; resolves issues with G0 stepping detecting odd multipliers"

I didn't bother paying attention to the list of stuff my BIOS update corrected. All I knew was that there was lots of chatter on the web about it being a huge improvement, that was good enough for me.

I've been getting less BSOD so it must have done something.