Post your system.......

[Dan81]

I finally took the plunge and upgraded:

Gigabyte GA-MA770-US3
AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz
4GB RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1
Delux MT375 case
1x Lite-On DVD-RW drive
Radeon R7 240 2GB PCI-E
AVerMedia AVerTV M733A TV Tuner (PCI, Phillips based)
1TB Samsung HD103SI
Seasonic SS-351HT 350W PSU - OST caps but none bulged - uses silent ADDA fan,120mm.

I also fixed my old S3's camera (GT-i9300) so if anyone wants pics I can provide them.

[momaka]

Originally Posted by Dan81

I finally took the plunge and upgraded:

Gigabyte GA-MA770-US3
AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz
4GB RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1
Delux MT375 case
1x Lite-On DVD-RW drive
Radeon R7 240 2GB PCI-E
AVerMedia AVerTV M733A TV Tuner (PCI, Phillips based)
1TB Samsung HD103SI
Seasonic SS-351HT 350W PSU - OST caps but none bulged - uses silent ADDA fan,120mm.

I also fixed my old S3's camera (GT-i9300) so if anyone wants pics I can provide them.

Pictures? Yes, please!

Looks like you beat me to it with your Athlon X4 CPU.
I finished the build with the Phenom X4 9150e on my Gigabyte board, but I didn't quite like that PC. Even though it's got a decent cooler, the motherboard makes its fan run way too fast and too loud. And the chipset runs scorching hot - I'm afraid to use that PC without a fan directly blowing on the chipset. Also had severe stutter issues with some Source Engine games, regardless if I used the onboard video or a discreet video card. And finally, the motherboard did not like my PCI wireless card. Seemed like PCI timing issues, as the CPU usage was all over the place when the wireless was in use. Not to mention the CPU would randomly decide to boot with all but one cores disabled when that PCI card was installed. What a crap system. All in all, I'm still not impressed with these new builds as I am with my old ones.

I sure hope you have better luck with yours. Looks pretty decent in terms of specs.

[Dan81]

Originally Posted by momaka

Pictures? Yes, please!

Looks like you beat me to it with your Athlon X4 CPU.
I finished the build with the Phenom X4 9150e on my Gigabyte board, but I didn't quite like that PC. Even though it's got a decent cooler, the motherboard makes its fan run way too fast and too loud. And the chipset runs scorching hot - I'm afraid to use that PC without a fan directly blowing on the chipset. Also had severe stutter issues with some Source Engine games, regardless if I used the onboard video or a discreet video card. And finally, the motherboard did not like my PCI wireless card. Seemed like PCI timing issues, as the CPU usage was all over the place when the wireless was in use. Not to mention the CPU would randomly decide to boot with all but one cores disabled when that PCI card was installed. What a crap system. All in all, I'm still not impressed with these new builds as I am with my old ones.

I sure hope you have better luck with yours. Looks pretty decent in terms of specs.

Mine works fine, although I'll have to save some money for a bigger heatsink.

Anyways,here are the pictures. I included a shot of my desk, where my modded crystal Xbox resides. (PAL machine, v1.4 motherboard)

[momaka]

Nice build!
That motherboard looks very similar to the GA-MA78GM-US2H I have. Same era too. Mine blew a FET but I fixed it. So far, so good.

The only thing I don't like about your build is the picture quality. Might as well scale them down to 640x480 and there won't be a loss. Seriously, when I find a decent cheap cam, I'm so sending it your way.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Come on, they're not THAT bad. I do have a cheap cam lying around but it's not too awesome, it's a 4mp Canon with a ridiculously powerful flash. Battery's dead but i have a power adapter for it. Dan81, want it, give me a PM. That is if i remember where it i in the first place.

[Shooter75]

My home LAB.

MBP15-L2008+LG32LM640/C1-118A/LY6000/DC-LPSU 3005/Luckey 850D

:-)

[momaka]

Nice equipment and picture. Sure as heck makes my work area look tidy.
You are blocking a lot of light from your windows with that furniture, though. I personally prefer to work under natural light, as I miss a lot of stuff when soldering under artificial light (LED and CCFL). Incandescent is okay, but you need a lot of Watts to get a good light output, and that's not very nice in the hot summer months.

[Dan81]

A few of my builds. More to come after the 17th.


1:
Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000
Pentium 4 2.8GHz Northwood
Deer DR-A300ATX (recapped and modified)
2.75GB RAM (2x1GB, 1x512 and 1x256)
Palit Geforce FX5500 256MB
RTL8139 PCI NIC
WDC WD800JB 80GB IDE HDD
TSSTCorp SH-222A DVD-RW
Delux MT375 case


2:
ASUS P5GC-MX/1333
Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 3GHz Wolfdale-3M
Torrent Computers LC-B400ATX (recapped)
512MB RAM
Manli Geforce 7300LE 256MB
Seagate 250GB SATA 2.5" HDD
HL-DT-ST GSA-H55N DVD-RW
JNC RJA-52 case


3:
MSI 848P Neo2-V
Pentium 4 2.8GHz
ANS LC-B350ATX (recapped and modified)
1GB RAM
Palit Radeon 9550 128MB AGP8x
WDC WD800JB 80GB IDE HDD
TSSTCorp SH-S162D DVD-RW
Pixelview PV-TV304P+ TV Tuner
JNC RJA FQ-8670 case

[momaka]

Originally Posted by Dan81

A few of my builds. More to come after the 17th.

Cool!

I like the cable management in that ASUS P5GC-MX/1333 system.
The case of the MSI 848P Neo2-V system looks awfully cheap, though (I can see the metal is bent in quite a few places on the HDD cage from the HDD screws ).

Man I need to upload my PCs. I just unbuilt another one today in order to build a better one. Wish I had more full-size ATX cases. On the other hand, I now have more than a dozen of empty mATX cases from OEMs like Dell and HP. Should be able to make some builds with those too, once I sort them in my head what case will go with what hardware.

[Dan81]

Just updated my PC, it's pretty good now:

Frontier black case w/ temp sensor
DFI Lanparty DK P45-T2RS
Intel Xeon E5450 3GHz
6GB RAM (2x2GB Corsair and one A-DATA stick)
1TB Samsung HD103SI
ATI Radeon R7 240 2GB
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo (w/ Spire fan though)
AVerMedia AVerTV Super 009 M733 (Phillips Chipset) TV
LiteOn iHAP222 DVD-RW PATA
Seasonic SS-351HT PSU
Enlight Card Reader (USB)
Windows 7 SP1 x64

And that's all. The funny thing the case is only a few millimeters short and the HSF quite gets in the way of one of the side panels.

[RJARRRPCGP]

FML, I got the cap manufacturer data wrong for the Antec High Current Pro 1200W PSU, it's actually loaded with Rubies!
Some poly caps, too! Thus, I plan to hook it back up, but this time, to the AM3 rig...

Why did I say "Matty" the last time?

[Dan81]

I created a monster, again.

MB: ASUS M3A78
CPU: Athlon 64 x2 4000+
RAM:2GB DDR2-667 (2x1GB)
GPU: Geforce 7300LE (to be replaced soon)
PSU: 500W Pixxo (recapped)
Storage:
-ODD - HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4167B
-HDD1 - WDC WD800JB-00JJC0 - BOOT drive
-HDD2 - Samsung HD161GJ
-HDD3 - Hitachi HDS721616PLA320
-HDD4 - Samsung HD161HJ
-HDD5 - WD800JD-00LSA0
-HDD6 - WD1600AVJS-63WNA0
-HDD7 - Hitachi HTS541680J9SA00
Case: KME CX1667
PCI: ASUS WiFi card
OS: Windows XP SP3 "Integral Edition" (SATA drivers + FF52 ESR, .net Framework and a few other tweaks)

[TechGeek]

Nice.
My main rig is still plugging away, with about 17,350 POH (around 2.7 years) on it's drives.

[goontron]

CPU: Intel Xeon E-2176M (x12)
GPU: nVidia Quadro P2000
Storage: Samsung NVMe SSD (x2), Samsung Evo Pro 840 Sata SSD
Network: Model: Intel Wireless-AC 9560, I219-LM Ethernet controller
Memory: 64Gb DDR4 ECC

[lti]

I think it's time to post mine.

CPU: Core i5-8500
RAM: 16GB DDR4-2666 (some "extreme overclocking" crap)
GPU: Intel integrated
Motherboard: Gigabyte H370 HD3
Storage: 500GB Samsung 970 Evo, Seagate ST4000DM004, some DVD burner
Network: Asus PCE-AC55BT (Intel Wireless-AC 8260 on an M.2 to PCIe/USB adapter )
Case: Corsair 200R (dimmed power LED mod)
PSU: Seasonic S12II 520W (complete overkill, but not many lower power models available new)

The parts I don't like are not the part the "enthusiasts" don't like. This computer is a lot faster than I expected. My only problems with this thing so far (five months) are the WiFi card only working in the PCIe x16 slot and the fan noise from the Intel bundled heatsink.

[momaka]

New year and time for new PC builds, right?

Well, okay, this build isn’t exactly “new” stuff, nor did I start it this year. Rather, some of its parts have been waiting on my shelf since 2015-2016 or so. I actually started the build last Spring (2017) as a test for some of the parts, like the motherboard… but more on that below. First, some pictures of the case:




Yeah, honestly, I’m not really a fan of these newer “gamer” cases, but it fit the style of the whole PC in many ways: for one, this was meant to be as the “newest/latest” gaming PC in my collection, and I feel the hardware inside is equally-matching to the quality/looks (or lack thereof) too. Speaking of which, here are the hardware specs (which are probably still subject to change):

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Motherboard: E-VGA 780i-SLI (model 132-CK-NF78-A1)
RAM: 6 GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS PC-6400 DDR2, 5-5-5-18, 1.80V, ver:4.3
Video Card: MSI GeForce GT 430 GT 1GB DDR3 (model N430GT-MD1GD3/OC/LP)
CPU cooler: Dell XPS 630 (0N764D) 4-copper heatpipe cooler
HDD: 500 GB Samsung (Seagate?) HDD
PSU: 400W FSP/Sparkle AX400-PN REV-1 (recapped)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I Snow Edition

Some parts history “fun facts”:

The Intel Q6600 CPU was a $4 eBay special from a few years back (when they were still worth about $20-25). The seller simply had it mislabeled in the auction as a E6600, implying a Core 2 Duo. So I got lucky with that one, as I literally saw it a few hours before it was ending. No one even bid on it!

The EVGA mobo was an eBay “special” too: it was listed as “for parts or repair”, because seller said his PSU blew up one day and the mobo “released some smoke”. Perhaps it really did. But I think I found the culprit! - A tiny SOT-23 regulator transistor for one of the AUX fan connectors was blown open (literally and electrically).
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1552873811
Aside form that, though, nothing else was wrong with the board. Thus, it ended up being a steal for the $20-odd I paid with the shipping (which is a lot less than these boards still go for currently.)

The CPU cooler… was also from eBay (yes, perhaps I do have an addiction. ) It was just the cheapest 4-heatpipe cooler I could find anywhere – even cheaper than the no-name Chinese versions. And it’s a Dell Precision/XPS high-quality part, so I couldn’t go wrong for $11 shipped, right? Only con was that there was no mounting hardware with it, so I had to come up with my own… but when has that ever stopped me?

As for the RAM, video card, and case – these all came from my last job as scrap parts. In particular, the RAM and video card were recycle-bin picks. The GPU had a completely seized fan and the RAM was actually 4 matched sticks, but one ended up being finicky / not wanting to detect (hence why the system ended with 6 GB). Meanwhile, the case wasn’t a recycle-bin pick… but it was headed there – a co-worker brought it for recycling for a friend of his. I asked why, as the case didn’t seem that awful (despite being a lot more dirty than pictured above), but didn’t get an answer. Since he saw I was interested, he asked if I wanted it. And I couldn’t say ‘no’. Gave him a fiver to get coffee / snack on me.

Finally, the PSU: I got it in a bundle of PC hardware also a few years back… from eBay again, of course. (Yup, definitely an eBay junkie. ) I was mainly after a cheap 80 GB WD HDD, but then saw the seller also had a socket 754 mobo going for cheap, and a PSU in another auction. No one bid on the items and the seller re-listed all of them even cheaper. After no one seemed to be interesting again the second time, I decided to try getting them all… and I did. The K8V-SE Deluxe mobo is actually still running in the repainted/restored Pac-Man case I posted on BCN.

So anyways, that’s all for the parts. Now for some internal shots…
WARNING! Try not to fall off your chairs from laughing.





Did anyone say this belongs in the Ghetto Mod Thread? I hear you! And I don’t disagree at all. Indeed this is far from a clean build… but quite regular for my “toy” / “gaming” PC boxes, which I typically literally slap together just to try some new game (or set of games) that I haven’t tried/played before. Case in point with the slapping together: the beautiful cable management. But it’s more than just a mess of wires if you look closely. In the 2nd and 3rd pictures for example, you can see some telephone/ethernet wire strands going between a floppy connector and a fan connector – that’s for the rear 120 mm fan, which is wired for constant 7V (positive wire to 12V rail and negative to 5V rail for 7V difference ). And while at it, why not run the GPU’s ghetto-mounted 70 mm fan also from that same tap by shoving the wires right into the rear fan’s connector? Makes sense, right? Speaking of the GPU, and why I modded it – more on that here. But hey, at least I have a very short SATA cable going between the HDD and motherboard, so that is clean. (Though the real reason for this is that I have quite a few short SATA cables from scrapped Xbox 360s that I don’t have much use for… so any chance I get, I shove them somewhere ).

The 4th picture shows the mighty Dell CPU cooler. It is quite nice actually. What’s not so “nice” is my way of mounting it to the motherboard:

Yup, those are wooden “nuts”. But hey, they work quite well and at least I am not warping the crap out of the board, like those stock Intel heatsinks. This is because the Dell cooler actually has spring-loaded screws.

In terms of cooling, this Dell tower cooler is quite good, thanks to its 4 heatpipes and 92 mm, 3600 RPM fan - a real screamer no doubt! (Probably a Delta, I imagine.) Of course, being PWM and all, I have it running much slower. In fact, when the PC is idle, the CPU fan spins at around 700-800 RPM, keeping the CPU to around 38-40°C in a 18-20°C ambient room temperature. Under load, however, it’s quite different. I set the fan curve to kick at max speed when the CPU is at 70°C. This means for temperatures in between, the CPU fan varies between 800 and 3600 RPM. To see how the fan/cooing performs, I tried OCCT’s Intel LinPack test on all cores. With that, the CPU reaches around 50-53°C and the fan kicks up to about 2500 RPM – which is rather audible. But I like to keep things cool. In practice, of course, no matter how I load the CPU (even in newer games), I never see the CPU use (and Pd) go as high as the OCCT LinPack test. Thus, the CPU fan rarely goes above 2000 RPM, if even that.

Of course, worth noting is that I do have the CPU running at stock 2.4 GHz speed *and* under-volted to 1.16125V, which does reduce the heat output (CPU is perfectly stable at that voltage in OCCT LinPack). This is probably what allows the PC to stay quiet, more or less. In fact, the loudest part about this build is the Northbridge fan.

Speaking of which, the stock NB fan that originally comes with this motherboard is just a puny 50 mm screamer that can barely keep the NB under 55°C running full speed in 20°C room temperature (and an open case, at that). With hotter ambient temps, one has to wonder how high the NB temperature goes. And of course this being an nVidia chipset from the bumpgate era, it’s no wonder why there are just as many of these motherboards dead as there are working ones.

For this reason, I gutted the stock 50 mm NB fan and installed my own 70 mm fan. Originally, I had an Xbox 360 fan on that too (it was the one from the GPU, actually), and it worked quite well. But I didn’t want to risk the fan wiring coming loose and letting the NB overheat. So instead, I installed a normal 3-pin 70 mm fan connected to the motherboard’s NB fan header. This allows me to (supposedly) control its speed from BIOS too (which doesn’t seem to work that well on my board, actually.) Either way, my NB temperatures didn’t improve at all: about 52°C with the motherboard sitting idle in 18-19°C room and close to 55-56°C after several hours of gaming… which, BTW, also raises my room temperature to 20°C (so this PC nicely doubles as a space heater! ) But at least my 70 mm NB fan runs more quiet than the stock 50 mm one. If one really wants to improve the NB/SB cooling on this motherboard, the stock chipset cooler needs to go. I’m not sure who designed it (whether it was EVGA or Intel, as this motherboard is made by Intel), but there are just so many flaws with it. It seems to mostly spread the heat around the board and not really actually remove it. I bet even a stock AMD Athlon 64 CPU heasink on the chipset will cool it better (and this is what I might actually do some day.)

But for now, that’s all there is to this PC.

[BigTroll]

I like the case looks like you had alot of fun building it!

[RJARRRPCGP]

I suspect that 3.0 Ghz only requires default Vcore (but could require a bump to compensate for the Vdroop) I'm spoiled by my Asus socket 775 motherboards, for having CPU load line calibration, which keeps the Vcore as steady as possible and then manually set the Vcore to the listed VID in Real Temp. (or Core Temp)

You shouldn't get a bus/interconnect error report at 3.0 and FSB at 333 Mhz, with the FSB-to-RAM ratio set to 1:1.

(That usually starts occurring at around 360 Mhz FSB and when that happens, you then need to bump the FSB termination voltage to at least 1.3 V or closer to that, but that's if you want the cores to 3.3 Ghz or 3.2 Ghz and the Kentsfield is known for sucking about 240 W for the CPU alone at 3.2 and 3.3 and you'll at that point need 1.4 V for the Vcore or 1.39 V.) (Unless you got a better batch that can do 3.2 at less than 1.39 V Vcore)

(I have a hunch that you're scared to even get it to 3.0, much less 3.6, LOL! (3.6 is not for the faint of heart with a Kentsfield!)

(And don't even count on your CPU booting the BIOS at 3.6, definitely zero guarantees for 3.6 with a 65nm Core 2!)

I also have a hunch that you need a bigger heatsink, if not a liquid cooler for 3.2+ in a warm room...

(If Linpack fails, it usually means not enough Vcore) (An "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" BSOD when running Linpack, is most likely not enough Vcore)

(And a bus error-related BSOD can also strangely occur, with high temps during the OC)

(A bus error is a machine check exception, it will appear as a "***STOP:0x00000124" BSOD (WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR) ) (When running blend Prime95)

Linpack sucks for checking bus instability, you need to use Prime95 and select blend.

[momaka]

Originally Posted by BigTroll

I like the case looks like you had alot of fun building it!

I did! - In all of the 60 or so minutes it took me. Most of that went towards making the wooden thumb screws for the CPU HS. Otherwise, the OS install went pretty quickly to... Windows 7 Pro, by the way (as I had a COA sticker with that from another PC).
What took me a lot more time was playing with the silly NB cooling - trying all the fans mentioned above and whatnot. I'm still not happy with the results of what's there currently, but it's "passable" for now.

[momaka]

Originally Posted by RJARRRPCGP

I suspect that 3.0 Ghz only requires default Vcore (but could require a bump to compensate for the Vdroop)
...
(I have a hunch that you're scared to even get it to 3.0, much less 3.6, LOL! (3.6 is not for the faint of heart with a Kentsfield!)

Actually, it's funny that you mentioned this.

The above post was actually typed a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't get to posting it until now, as I hadn't gotten the pictures organized yet.

The truth is, I've actually had the CPU OCed to 3 GHz for about 2 or 3 weeks now. And not only did I not use default Vcore, but I under-volted it again.
First time, I tried only 1.16875V (just 6.25 mV higher!) and she POSTed! Unfortunately, that was all - it crashed as soon as I got to the Login screen (it did manage to load Windows, though.)
So I tried two notches higher: 1.18125V. That got me into Windows OK, but as soon as I tried to open anything - BSOD.
So I tried again two notches higher: 1.19375V. This time, no problems running anything I wanted on the desktop. So I tried OCCT. After not even 5 seconds of running that, OCCT played that "errors detected" sound. So I guess she still wasn't stable enough.
Two notches higher again for 1.20625V CPU core... OCCT ran for about 10 minutes without errors and then error-ed. Funny, because at this point, I could play most games without crashing. We're getting closer!
Then I was lik, oh what the hell, we are still under 1.3V core! (All those significant digits on the CPU V_core made me feel as if I am inputing some astronomically-high value... when in fact, I wasn't at all.) Thus, I gave it 1.225V V_core this time - seemed like a nice "even" number. That did it! She was stable in OCCT CPU test and OCCT LinPack CPU test. But just for a good measure, I bumped the CPU V_core up one more notch to 1.23125V. And now we were in business - no crashes in OCCT or games even after several 2-4 hour-long sessions in Fortnite, CS:GO, and a few older games like Mirror's Edge and Test Drive Unlimited. The only crashes I got (and I think I have this ruled out... but still verifying) is from the GPU dropping out at stock clocks, which I mentioned in that link I posted in my previous post above.

Anyways... long story short: CPU @ 3 GHz (1333 MHz FSB) and 1.23125V core is stable all day long.

But how did the increased V_core affect the temperature? Well, that Dell cooler certainly seems to be doing a decent job. With the same 19-20°C ambient room temperature, Intel LinPack test did not push it higher than 60°C. Most of the time, things peaked at 59°C solid every time. Before you say that's too much, worth noting here is that this is the highest temperature reading I took from OCCT monitors. That is, my OCCT had several CPU temperatures: CPU Core, CPU, CPU Core #0, CPU Core #1, CPU Core #2, CPU Core #3. Of these, "CPU" was some temperature I couldn't quite figure... but it was always in the high 40's regardless of load (perhaps my MCP/chipset/NB?), so I disregarded it. Meanwhile, CPU Core #0 and 1 always had the highest temperatures and were about 5-10°C hotter than cores 2 and 3. (Don't ask why. I haven't a clue either. ) And "CPU Core" temperature was just the average of CPU cores #0-3. Thus, I decided to take the "worst case" temperature, which was either CPU Core #0 or 1, and hence the 60°C max figure above. I suppose I did a decent job with that CPU fan curve.

Originally Posted by RJARRRPCGP

You shouldn't get a bus/interconnect error report at 3.0 and FSB at 333 Mhz, with the FSB-to-RAM ratio set to 1:1.

With the 6 GB RAM above, FSB-to-RAM wasn't 1:1, since I had it running @ 800 MHz single channel... so that's @ 2T command rate, naturally.

Originally Posted by RJARRRPCGP

(That usually starts occurring at around 360 Mhz FSB and when that happens, you then need to bump the FSB termination voltage to at least 1.3 V or closer to that, but that's if you want the cores to 3.3 Ghz or 3.2 Ghz and the Kentsfield is known for sucking about 240 W for the CPU alone at 3.2 and 3.3 and you'll at that point need 1.4 V for the Vcore or 1.39 V.)

Yeah, no worries, I'm not planning to push it that high... even though this board probably really can, as it's "enthusiast-level" according to the advertising brochures. (It really is, though - it has tweaks for just about every voltage and clock one could wish for.)

That said, I'm pretty sure even these old 65 nm Kentsfield CPUs can't and won't draw 240 Watts. Intel gives the Q6600 a "worst case" maximum power draw of about 150 Watts. At 3 GHz, I can imagine that climbing somewhere up to 160-170 Watts. In fact, I was able to see this with my Kill-A-Watt meter: @ 3 GHz, the PC drew about 15-20 Watts more power from the wall doing the same Intel LinPack tests. With PSU inefficiencies, that probably translates to 10-15W higher from the CPU. At 3.6 Ghz, the jump in worst case maximum power may increase sharply... but I still doubt it would go past 200 Watts. Most likely 180-190W tops. 240W? - Noouuu. At that power level, the CPU will probably solder itself to the socket pins.

Originally Posted by RJARRRPCGP

(And don't even count on your CPU booting the BIOS at 3.6, definitely zero guarantees for 3.6 with a 65nm Core 2!)

Actually, it's even more funny that you mention this now.

When I got the motherboard from eBay, I forgot to remove its battery and reset CMOS settings. So when I assembled the mobo+CPU+RAM+PSU on my bench and hit power, the CPU fan was running at full blast all the time. So I played around in the BIOS with that and set my temperature curves, thinking this should cure it. -Nope! CPU cooler fan was still running at full blast. I checked the temperature then... and sure enough, the CPU was already running at 65C just sitting in BIOS. I turned off power and inspected my CPU cooler... particularly my ghetto mounting with the wooden thumb screws - were they not holding the cooler on properly? After thorough inspection, I determined that wasn't the problem. I then started thinking more: perhaps it's the cheap thermal compound I used? (Some eBay 30 gram tube for under $3 shipped. Makes me wonder sometimes if it even is thermal compound! ... but it really is, though - I've been using it on large chips with heatspreaders and low-power GPUs for a few years now, and it's never let me down.) But that didn't make sense either, as 105W TDP CPU with 150W max dissipation isn't something this thermal compound hasn't handled before (*looks at Pentium D830 CPU on shelf* ) I then started checking more things in BIOS and eventually found this: the FSB was set to 1600 MHz, making the CPU core clock @ 3.6 Ghz!!! Well, DUH, no wonder why that CPU fan was running full blast. From stock 2.4 GHz to 3.6 Ghz - that's some serious OC there! I'm surprised it even POSTed every time without any issues.

Folks, this is why you *always* reset the CMOS/BIOS settings on used motherboards. Otherwise, you never know who did what before you and what kind of bizarre settings could be left behind. As mentioned, generally I always pull the CMOS battery. But how I forgot this time, I don't know.

So there you go RJARRRPCGP... I did have that Q6600 running at 3.6 GHz for a very brief while. On that note, I wonder if that's what made the "PSU blow up" on the previous owner. Perhaps he/she tried to OC their CPU and were using a crappy no-name PSU that gave up the ghosts? Ah, who knows.

At least none of that can happen with me, as I mostly use high-quality recapped OEM PSUs. Mostly

Originally Posted by RJARRRPCGP

(If Linpack fails, it usually means not enough Vcore) (An "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" BSOD when running Linpack, is most likely not enough Vcore)

Yup, figured just as much when I was playing with my V_core values. I didn't get any BSODs with OCCT, though - just the "errors detected" sound and OCCT crashing. Lucky me?

Originally Posted by RJARRRPCGP

Linpack sucks for checking bus instability, you need to use Prime95 and select blend.

Interesting. Thanks for the info!

I am indeed running into some instability issues that only happen when watching YouTube? I still haven't verified that fully, though, as I've been using the PC for games ever since I built it in mid-January. Funny enough, the CPU never crashes under full load or in games. Only with YouTube, it seems. Perhaps I need to try some regular MP4/MKV movies as well.

What's weird is that before a crash in YouTube, I get looping sound, followed by a BSOD with no error code whatsoever.

And what's even more weird is that I get the same looping sound in videos on another PC (1st gen AMD Phenom X4 9150e) that uses the same RAM (Corsair XMS 2 GB modules, 5-5-5-18, 1.8V, ver:4.7). So I am actually suspecting foul play with the RAM here. All of these Corsair RAM modules came from the recycle bin of a previous job, as I mentioned. What are the chances more than one of them is bad? The interesting thing is that the AMD PC mentioned above does not crash. Instead, the video continues to play after the short 0.5 to 1 second sound looping. But it happens completely randomly in time and never at the same spots in a given video.

So with that said, I still have a bit of troubleshooting to do with that EVGA 780i-SLI PC. I already tried a different video card just for fun - a Radeon HD3870 - and that got rid of the GPU-related problems I was having with the GT430. But I reverted back to the GT430, as it's actually more powerful in modern games than the HD3870. Part of this is due to the 1 GB of RAM on it, which most modern games will take as the minimum.

Anyways, more updates to follow. I just did a few upgrades and I am still testing them.