Teh_Haxxor

Sorry for posting here, I just signed up to Overclock.net and I wasn't exactly sure which category to put this in, so if its wrong, just spam it and ill move it wherever.

Im in need of some help; not please, if you don't mind, try and post help and not start a giant discussion about this brand or that brand or blah blah blah, just had this case in three other forum sites I tried. I hope that this site can finally help me. Im a new builder, I just spent $1,800 bucks on a new build which is as follows;
-Intel Quad Core 2.83ghz
-XFX 790i Ultra MB
-8gb DDR3 PC1333 (Mushkin)
-2 XFX GTX 260's running SLI
-Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU cooler
-Dynamo 850w PS
-Sony Optic 24x drive
-500GB WD Caviar Black HDD
-A+ El Diablo Advanced case
-Im running (until December) Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

Now, after the first MB was DOA I finally got a new one from Newegg, and all was well, or maybe it was. Now me being a first time builder, im not exactly sure the kind of speeds I should be running. Basically i've tried overclocking a bit, Nvidia control panel freezes ANYTIME I try and do anything besides adjust fan speeds, so I downloaded EVGA Precision, and its not the most friendly with my hardware for some reason. I don't feel as if my system is running as it should, no I will say I succesfully overclocked my cpu too 3.4ghz, but I was getting very distant BSOD's and games were freezing for me. My RAM voltages are set from 1.5 too 1.75, should I do this?

Generally I just need some advice from some of your experts on the subjects, and preferably those of you who have or have used some, or all, of my components. You know that feeling when you spend all that money, get your beautifully rig up and running, then just feel like its lagging? Thats what im feeling, and I don't think its right. I run Crysis, all max setting 16x AA at around 15-30 fps, I feel it should be a little higher, things are constantly going wrong with software, such as 3D Mark Vantage will no longer run...is that Vista's fault? I've gotten all the up to date drivers for everything.

And my graphics cards seem to being either giving out, or just giving in, because randomly ill get freezes and my screen will go black saying "Display Drivers have stop responding and have recovered". Anytime I try and really overclock my system I get a BSOD, or wont POST so I have too pull the jumper and reset the CMOS. I built this rig in hopes of a SMOOTH flowing masterpiece, but its turning far from it, I need some help, and I greatly thank any of you who even took the time to read all this. and even more so to those of you who can give me a hand.

Thanks,
Shane

jfizz84

wow in the 1.6's and 7's on air cooling is high. u need to run some stress tests after u up the voltages and multipliers. u cant just not get a bsod and say ok all is good and run it. just cuz its not running a bsod, doesnt mean ur running stable. second that power supply aint all that great. look at the voltages on the 12v rails. u may be overloading one. and if all kinds of software is crapping out u may wanna reload windows or check out compatbility issues, and i know u said u got the latest drivers but double check and make sure. ive gotten ones before for 64 bit and i have 32, happens to all and good luck with that all

Teh_Haxxor

Up the Voltages and Multipliers? I noticed those in the BIOS, what exactly would upping the voltages and multipliers accomplish? And with the 12v rails, how exactly do I control how much each flows to each part, that seems incredibly difficult to do?

exad

Sounds like you're using software to overclock.. That's not a really stable way to overclock, you should Read up on some of the stickies here and start using the BIOS for overclocking. You might even need a BIOS update if you feel like there's problems. I would certainly suggest a clean slate. Clean install and stock settings to start. Make sure everything is running as it should before you start doing any tweaking. Make sure your bios and all drivers are up to date. Run some games and benchmarks and compare to make sure everything is running properly. Then get into the BIOS and start with some mild overclocking to get a feel for it before taking big leaps.

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Exad.

jfizz84

yep i agree with exad, software OC'ing is bad.....u sue the voltage goign to the chip and mulitpliers ion the bios to overclock everything and then test it to make sure its stable. safer and more efficient. as exad said TONS of overviews in the intel section on overclocking. could prob even find ur specific chip

Teh_Haxxor

Hmm, but i've not tried to overclock much, and never greatly. I just feel like my system is un-stable at stock I suppose is what i'm trying to say. Base-line temps run like they should, system sounds great, looks great, but I just feel like it could be doing more, and not dropping display drivers randomly, BSOD'ing on me for no reason, and ultimately lagging here and there. Hang-ups shouldn't be an issue with this build. Period.

exad

Undo any overclocks, do a fresh O/S install, Update the bios and all the drivers. Run memtest and maybe orthos for a few hours to see if you're stable at stock speeds. Run some benchmarks to test your videocard. There might be a hardware problem or it could just be something software but it's hard to tell through a forum that's why I'm telling you the best way to test but you should start from scratch, it's easier to narrow it down that way. For all we know one of your parts could be defective or you could have damaged something while trying to overclock. Like running your ram at 1.7v.

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Exad.

Teh_Haxxor

Thanks, I did all that, got everything up and running, and followed a forum post/video for overclocking an xfx 790i and q9550 quad, got it up too 3.6ghz, ram overclocked, FSP up, and been running a stress test for over 18 hours and its all running SMOOTH. I feel like my systems running alot better. Thanks guys!