Before=stable@aircooling - now=unstable@watercooling

In any case your problem is not because you now have watercooling, unless you have a leak or the mount is really bad.

You need to start eliminating causes. Try 2 sticks of RAM instead of 4, then try using your old videocard and disconnecting other non vital components.

Have you cleared the CMOS? You need to start clocking the system from scratch, 500fsb is quite the achievement. Try higher multi and lower fsb for the same speed. Also, 45nm chips do get worse over time with high VTT / vFSB. I even noticed this on my 65 quad, that would do 3.8Ghz 1.3v at first but then got a lot worse over time. This was with excellent watercooling.

Having a jiggawatt PSU doesnt mean anything, it can still have problems with that particular motherboard for example.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Talonman

Just wondering if you installed a new NB or SB backplate on your mobo during the upgrade?

Odd thinks can happin if you have 2 contact points shorting out on a backplate.

Long shot I know. :)

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I did - there was a new backplate with the GTZ, however that came with an adhesive center pad. I doubt anything is touching the mobo outside the center pad, but anything is possible, so thanks for the heads-up.

The NB block is held down with two screws that are held with a nylon washer and two counter-locking nuts on the back, so no backplate there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by v0dka

In any case your problem is not because you now have watercooling, unless you have a leak or the mount is really bad.

You need to start eliminating causes. Try 2 sticks of RAM instead of 4, then try using your old videocard and disconnecting other non vital components.

Have you cleared the CMOS? You need to start clocking the system from scratch, 500fsb is quite the achievement. Try higher multi and lower fsb for the same speed. Also, 45nm chips do get worse over time with high VTT / vFSB. I even noticed this on my 65 quad, that would do 3.8Ghz 1.3v at first but then got a lot worse over time. This was with excellent watercooling.

Having a jiggawatt PSU doesnt mean anything, it can still have problems with that particular motherboard for example.

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I will try 2 sticks of RAM instead of 4, but I cannot try my old videocard as I've already sold that...:rolleyes:

Yes, I've tried clearing the CMOS, but only to reload "old" settings.

I will probably try to overclock from scratch, I just think it's REALLY weird that it crashes that fast.
I've never seen that in the past - either it wouldn't post or it would simply freeze when booting windows - or it would boot just fine. Never seen these reboots during harddrive detection or inside the BIOS setup.

Problem solved - for now at least.

I disassembled everything from the case and it's now lying on a cardboard box on the floor looking like a bird's nest, BUT now it's running prime@4.25GHz.

I re-seated both waterblocks and disconnected everything but the harddrives, monitors, mouse, keyboard and sound.

I still haven't found the cause of the problems, but at least it wasn't the PSU.
If so - it must be a loose connection somewhere.

Thanks for all your suggestions!

Any suggestions for other software for stability testing besides Prime (that actually works)?

MemTest 3.8 - best RAM<-->NB stressing program
IntelBurnTest 1.8 - Burning CPU only like hell.

OCCT - not the most complete CPU/FSB tester, but it tends to find its errors pretty quickly. Once it's clear, you can run heavier-duty programs to make sure everything is stable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MpG

OCCT - not the most complete CPU/FSB tester, but it tends to find its errors pretty quickly. Once it's clear, you can run heavier-duty programs to make sure everything is stable.

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Thanks.

Are the heavier-duty programs the ones WaterFlex refers to?

If not - can you tell me which you had in mind?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by njl

Thanks.

Are the heavier-duty programs the ones WaterFlex refers to?

If not - can you tell me which you had in mind?

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Yeah. Prime is actually good too, just takes a long time to verify stability - I've gotten more than a few errors after the 10th or even 15th hour of running. But the IntelBurnTest will pretty much get your CPU hotter than anything else, so it's good for verifying maximum temps.