Unstable system after overclock! Confused!

Teki187

Teki187

Teki187

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15 Sep 2006
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Somewhere in York
Ok, for the past 2-3 weeks my computers been completely unstable.

It will randomly at no given time or action just freeze, the screen will freeze, you cant move the mouse and you have to force restart the system.

Now prior to this, i had 2x1gb Geil 800mhz 4-4-4-12 2T ram and it ran fine. Even had the processor clocked at 3.2ghz and it still ran fine.

Then i got my self some 4x1gb ballistix 8500 and i have them running at 800mhz 5-5-5-15 2T on 1:1 with the processor (processor at 3.2ghz). This is when the trouble started and my computer would just freeze randomly.

My spec is:

Asus P5N-E SLI with Northbridge @ 1.5v (North and Southbridge both have coolers, I have the Zalman Northbridge cooler on the south)
Antec Neo HE 500W power supply
C2D E6400 @ 3.2ghz (1600 FSB) at 1.45v +100mv
Zalman CNPS9500 (with AS5 compound, changing it to MX2 later this week)
4x1gb Crucial Ballistix 8500 C5 @ 800mhz/5-5-5-15 2T and 2.1v
Gainward 640mb 8800GTS @ 600/900 (in games)
Creative X-Fi Gamer Extreme
2x250gb Seagate 7200.10
Vista 64bit Home Premium

Temps are:

Core 1 & 2 at idle 47c and load 70c
CPU at idle 35c and 40-50c on load
Graphics Card at 50c idle and 60-70c on load (going to add some MX2 compound later this week and possibly change the cooler to the Zalman VF1000)

I can run Prime95 for as long as i want sometimes without the computer freezing. I've also ran memtest+ and i've got no errors on the memory.

If anyone could help it would be great, its been driving me nuts and i've crashed twice while making this post.
 
Tested the graphics card and hard drive and no faults.

Going to test the cpu next.

Would the northbridge at 1.5v and a stock asus heatsink be an issue?
 
When you run Prime95 is that on small FFTs or blend?

With regards to the NB, i would give it a feel (the NB heatsink, oo'er)to see whether it is excessively hot to the touch.
 
schumi84 said:
When you run Prime95 is that on small FFTs or blend?

With regards to the NB, i would give it a feel (the NB heatsink, oo'er)to see whether it is excessively hot to the touch.
Click to expand...

I normally run prime on blend.

But i just ran prime on small ffts and my cpu is crashing. its at 1.45v with +100mv

Before i declare a dead cpu, could it be the voltages or the norhtbridge?

Also the northbridge is stupidly hot, you cant even touch it.
 
It may very well be an overheating NB, with running memory in all 4 slots i have read on the forums that this can put an extra strain on the NB.

I suggest either taking out 2 of the sticks of RAM and try it, or try pointing a fan directly at the NB to see if cooling it helps.
 
schumi84 said:
It may very well be an overheating NB, with running memory in all 4 slots i have read on the forums that this can put an extra strain on the NB.

I suggest either taking out 2 of the sticks of RAM and try it, or try pointing a fan directly at the NB to see if cooling it helps.
Click to expand...

Any recommended northbridge coolers?

Been looking at the Thermalright HR-05 and the Noctua NC-U6
 
You still running the stock cooler on the NB? That's your problem. I shoved a thermalright HR-05 on mine and she was rock solid. I would still advise sticking a small fan on that when you install it though, as even the HR-05 would get incredibly hot.
 
Teki187 said:
Any recommended northbridge coolers?

Been looking at the Thermalright HR-05 and the Noctua NC-U6
Click to expand...

Either of those would be easily up to the task of cooling the NB i would have thought, as long as you have a bit of airflow to cool it (either with a small fan or just general good case airflow) then it would be fine.
 
Just ran S&M (CPU (FPU) test) and i got the same crash error as prime95 small ffts. Also vista error reported about the CPU.

Could it be that im not giving the processor enough power?

Or is it just broke?
 
schumi84 said:
I suggest either taking out 2 of the sticks of RAM and try it, or try pointing a fan directly at the NB to see if cooling it helps.
Click to expand...

do the "Lunatics Fan Mod" (you need a bigger/more powerful fan for this)

example

hpim0534ak1.jpg


sorry its blurry, i get massive blur when i remove flash..

Edit: for me that lowers gpu/cpu temps by 1-2 degrees, -- my case is optimised then no?
 
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My mate's brother had to do that exact same thing with a desk fan but it was because his 5 series gfx card was passive and if i had no fan pointing at it then it would lock up very quickly :D
 
I've currently got the desk fan pointed at the open sided case :p

What do you think about the cpu crashing?
 
On a sort of more serious note, am surprised that case companies havent tried to intergrate a bigger desk top style fan into the side of the case, effectively making the side panel a fan.

I suppose they would have to make the case a lot wider, as looking at my 690, is the side of the case was a fan then it would take the Tuniq Tower out straight away :D
 
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