Overclocking....

[chrisbard]

Last night...

System completely stable not OC. Start OC different stages...in 15 minutes baaaaam

1. Inside windows first error message: Nvidia RAID USA failure loading....
2. My computer/Network NB icons appeared named as "folder" and were partialy working. I also had anomalies with ie/ctrlpanel.

What I think happened is that the FATinfo was corrupted or something. I had to reinstall windows but before that I moved latest nvidia forceware drivers to another partition so that I can easily install them. After installing windows (I lost nvidia raid few times having it not posted after bios initialization) when installing the forceware (the same that worked great first time), baaaam, computer reboots and when xp logo is to appear nothing happens. Reinstalled windows again and use original mobo cd and everything is ok. This leads me to think that not only the fat but maybe the data on the hdd was corrupted. I had RAID for at least 3 years and the worse I had was that at the windows start some files would appear truncated and they were solved by the windows management, no harm done. This RAID I had was based on ITE 8112 and it was STRIPED with 2 IDE Seagate discs.

My question is this. If an OC can damage instantly my windows installation how am I going to find out what is the best I can get from my rig? Why did this **** happened? Is it common for SATA RAID to just screw things up so badly? Am I the wrong factor here?

Thanks guys

/end rant/

[Aedan]

Overclocking has always run the risk of screwing up your Windows partition, even if there's a PCI lock in place.

Recommendation I would make would be to set up your Windows partition so it works (with few or no apps), then use Symantec Ghost (or similar) to make an exact copy of the partition. That way, when things go bang, you can then just use Ghost to put the working Windows back on the hard disk.

[madcatmk3]

download 3dmark 05 when you get windows working and look at system info andit will tell you your clock maximum with that mobo. Very useful.

[Quickbeam177]

Sounds like what happens when you forget to lower your HTT multiplier before crankin' her up. If that was the case you've probably already realized it though.

Don't know what else to tell you sir.