Overclocking help

[MightyMar22]

i bought a ThermalTake Kandalf LCS. thats what im using.

Kandalf LCS- VD4000BWS

[ccperf721p]

That kit on a dual core should be enough. I'd remount the block, just to make sure.

best advice I can give you at this point is rather than just plug in some numbers and run prime, start out with stock voltage, memory on a 1:1 ratio and start bumping up the FSB a little at a time, testing along the way. Once it fails prime, up the CPU voltage a notch and test again. Once you have the CPU clocked then start working on the memory.

[MUff1N]

Looks like a kickass watercooling system.
Then it has to be how you mounted the waterblock...
There has to be air bubbles in between the heatspreader & waterblock.
Did you follow the application instructions to a T?
I've found this is absolutely the very best way of applying it as this prevents this from happening...
"If all else fails, read instructions first"

Carefully apply Arctic Silver 5 directly to the heatspreader of the CPU. Only apply thermal compound to the top of the actual CPU heatspreader. Put a very thin line in close proximity to the center of the heatspreader as depicted in red, like the photo at left. Be CAREFUL to apply the thermal compound in the CORRECT DIRECTION. To apply a line in the correct direction, do the following: Make sure to orient your CPU heatspreader with the triangle mark on the chip pointing down and to the left. You can see the yellow arrow on the photo pointing to this triangle mark. The red line in the photo depicts the amount and size of Arctic Silver 5 you will be using. Note the bottom photo at left. This is an Intel Dual Core processor as well but with the heatspreader removed. Notice the elongated chip and how the line of thermal compound will vertically cross the dual core chip when properly applied.

[MightyMar22]

i just spreaded a thin coating of as5 on the cpu cover and a thinner coating on the water block.

if i need to remount the water block, what is the best practice? i mean all the tubes are filled with coolant.

can i just dismount the water block while the water houses are still attached?

[ccperf721p]

Best practice is to leave the hoses attached, should be enough slack to move the block out of the way. Clean both pieces, I use carb spray (must be careful not to get on plastic pieces) but lighter fluid, rubbing alcohol or acetone will work just fine.

Use as little AS5 as possible, you are only trying to fill the microscopic voids in the CPU and block that will not seat metal to metal. Too much will actually create an insulator.

How tight you run the block will make a difference as well. Not too familiar with the blocks in that kit so I can't say how tight other than to go by the specs. Run them too tight and the block will bow away from the CPU in the center, too loose and the won't be enough contact to cool properly. I run my stuff pretty tight but I have a complete machine shop and put a .002" bow in the block to compensate for flex.

[MightyMar22]

ok, ill give this a try. hopefully i wont make matters worst.

[MightyMar22]

it turns out the water block was so lose a 4 year old culd have taken the thomb screws out.

I took it out clean it and the cpu, applied a very thin line of as5 as suggested by muffin and remounted the water block. this time very tight

i left the cpu to stock speed and the mem settings at 4-4-44 2.25V.

Prime95 has been running for 2hours and the max temp so far is 39C. isn't this still a bit high for stock speed?

[ccperf721p]

39 degrees is decent for stock speeds.

[MUff1N]

That's only 102F at full load @ 3Ghz...
This is actually quite good considering what it was at which was 163F!!!
Your full load is almost the same as my idle temps which are 37c...

[MightyMar22]

i was constantly trying to get the system stable at 4ghz, so i was mostly changing the timmings on the mem. found that even the higest settings wouldn't work and prime 95 would crash quicker than when the mem had 4-4-4-4 timings.

after that i ran sandra and the system froze, i had to hard boot it.
windows wouldn't boot all i got was a black screen. i umpluged the power, put it back in and powered on.

set the bios to default settings and then i was able to boot.

after this happen any type of OC i try failes, all i get is a blank screen and widows never loads.

[MUff1N]

What kind of powersupply are you using?
What's the efficiency rating on it?
This is the only thing I can think of that would be causing these problems is vdrop & irregular voltage.
Although I could be totally wrong in this assumption...

[MightyMar22]

im using a SeaSonic S12-430 430W that has 85% efficiency. i also have a thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W but this has less efficiency.
the SeaSonic PS is supporting 6xfans, 2xsata drives, water pump, cpu and mobo. i also have a ASUS EN8500GT but that card doesn't take any external power.

I wasn't having this problem a couple of days ago though, even i tried 450fsb and the mem timmings at 4-4-4-4 the system would boot fine. now everything i triy i get a black screen just before the windows logo is supposed to show. im using win xp sp3 by the way.

Newegg.com - SeaSonic S12-430 430W ATX12V Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, DEMCO, NEMCO, SEMCO, FIMCO, CB, FCC, CCC - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply 115/ 230 V UL, CUL, TUV, FCC, and CB certification - Power Supplies

[Samuknow]

You may have corrupted your OS with a bad OC.

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by Samuknow

You may have corrupted your OS with a bad OC.

That's what I was going to say too...
So now you have 2 opinions that you have corrupted the operating system with a bad overclock.
Time for a format and reinstall (at default system settings) of Windows.
Another good reason to use backup recovery software like Acronis True Image.

[MightyMar22]

i do have acronis and i did have a backup. i loaded the image i had but i get the same results.

im not 100% sure if my last image came before or after the pc locking while running sandra.

i guess ill have to install again to make sure, think ill give vista a try though.

[MUff1N]

If you install Vista, make sure to tweak the services or the operating system will run slow & the memory usage will be ridiculous...
Just doing this alone will really speed up Vista and free up a lot of resources from the 130 background running processes (most of them are not needed) that are set to autorun by default!
This also gave me 20 more FPS when playing games too...

Windows Vista SP1 Service Configurations
DEFAULT Ultimate ~ What Bill G. thinks should be running on Windows Vista Ultimate. This may use 250+ MB with 130 Services listed.
Windows Vista SP1 Service Configurations by Black Viper

[MightyMar22]

ok, thanks for the tip. since i don't have a copy yet i just rebuilded xp.

just need to finish installin programs and then backinf up the os before i try anything.

[MUff1N]

Given a choice between XP PRO SP3 & Vista Ultimate SP1, I choose to run XP PRO for the best overall system's stability & performance.
But mostly run it because it uses a lot less resources & memory so my gaming is better running XP.

[MightyMar22]

i reformated and rebuilded the system. still i have problems.

on the first try i set the FSB to 400 (auto V) and the mem at 5-5-5-15 (2.2 V) and the system booted but once i logged in it froze and i had to hard boot.

sencond try i set the FSB to 400 and everything else on auto and now im back to sqare one. i get a black screen but windows never loads.

[MUff1N]

If you can bootup at default settings, then I would test your memory to see if you have a faulty memory module.
It just may have given out on you when you gave it more juice because it wasn't up to snuff so to speak & that was enough to push it over the edge and make it go bad.
That's my guess.