So you're saying I should RMA my power supply? I just tested near 10 hours straight of Prime95 and was rock solid the whole way without my case cover on.

I'm suspecting a heat issue, but one that's related to my power supply... Should I upgrade to a HX620? I've also had my Corsair HX520 for nearly 3 months.

I'd get an OCZ (600w min), If It kills something OCZ will replace the psu and in My case It wiped out an old motherboard(P5W DH Deluxe), So the dead 700w is now a 900w OCZ modXstream psu, I'd already replaced the motherboard with a used P5K Deluxe for about $92 total, So I'm happy as a clam. :)

I need a modular power supply cause too many cables will cause more heat. So for overclocking, 520W is not enough and I need to get 620W? I don't want to get more confused...

For now, I'm gonna reset my everything to stock and wait for a response.

Try a OCZ modXstream, It's modular for the peripherals and non-modular for the motherboard and Your 1st video card, Just like the 900w is. I just found out that the smallest modular OCZ psu is a 780w model, But that is just fine for a quad cpu.


600w stealthXstream - Non-Modular


780w and 900w modXstream psu - Modular

These are some reviews of the 600w and the 780w psus.

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

So you're saying I should RMA my power supply? I just tested near 10 hours straight of Prime95 and was rock solid the whole way without my case cover on.

I'm suspecting a heat issue, but one that's related to my power supply... Should I upgrade to a HX620? I've also had my Corsair HX520 for nearly 3 months.

I'd get an OCZ (600w min), If It kills something OCZ will replace the psu and in My case It wiped out an old motherboard(P5W DH Deluxe), So the dead 700w is now a 900w OCZ modXstream psu, I'd already replaced the motherboard with a used P5K Deluxe for about $92 total, So I'm happy as a clam. :)

I need a modular power supply cause too many cables will cause more heat. So for overclocking, 520W is not enough and I need to get 620W? I don't want to get more confused...

The problem with modular power supplies is that the metal contacts that connect the power cables to the supply itself present one more point of corrosion during the aging process.

From PC Power and Cooling's website:

3. DON'T LOSE POWER WITH MODULAR PLUGS

Due to their look, convenience, and cost savings for manufacturers, modular plugs have become a popular power supply feature. Unfortunately, there has been little or no discussion of the impact of this feature on overall performance and reliability. The fact is, modular plugs limit power by adding to electrical resistance. The voltage drop can be as much as would occur in 2 feet of standard wire. Worse yet, modular plugs utilize delicate pins that can easily loosen, corrode, and burn, creating the potential for a major system failure. That's why professional system builders specify uninterrupted wire!

I regard PC Power & Cooling as the best PSU company of them all. They've been world class for over 25 years. The rest of the PSU Myths on that page are very informative as well.

So you're saying I should RMA my power supply? I just tested near 10 hours straight of Prime95 and was rock solid the whole way without my case cover on.

I'm suspecting a heat issue, but one that's related to my power supply... Should I upgrade to a HX620? I've also had my Corsair HX520 for nearly 3 months.

I'd get an OCZ (600w min), If It kills something OCZ will replace the psu and in My case It wiped out an old motherboard(P5W DH Deluxe), So the dead 700w is now a 900w OCZ modXstream psu, I'd already replaced the motherboard with a used P5K Deluxe for about $92 total, So I'm happy as a clam. :)

I need a modular power supply cause too many cables will cause more heat. So for overclocking, 520W is not enough and I need to get 620W? I don't want to get more confused...

The problem with modular power supplies is that the metal contacts that connect the power cables to the supply itself present one more point of corrosion during the aging process.

From PC Power and Cooling's website:

3. DON'T LOSE POWER WITH MODULAR PLUGS

Due to their look, convenience, and cost savings for manufacturers, modular plugs have become a popular power supply feature. Unfortunately, there has been little or no discussion of the impact of this feature on overall performance and reliability. The fact is, modular plugs limit power by adding to electrical resistance. The voltage drop can be as much as would occur in 2 feet of standard wire. Worse yet, modular plugs utilize delicate pins that can easily loosen, corrode, and burn, creating the potential for a major system failure. That's why professional system builders specify uninterrupted wire!

I regard PC Power & Cooling as the best PSU company of them all. They've been world class for over 25 years.

They are now a part of OCZ, Lock, Stock and Barrel.

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

So you're saying I should RMA my power supply? I just tested near 10 hours straight of Prime95 and was rock solid the whole way without my case cover on.

I'm suspecting a heat issue, but one that's related to my power supply... Should I upgrade to a HX620? I've also had my Corsair HX520 for nearly 3 months.

I'd get an OCZ (600w min), If It kills something OCZ will replace the psu and in My case It wiped out an old motherboard(P5W DH Deluxe), So the dead 700w is now a 900w OCZ modXstream psu, I'd already replaced the motherboard with a used P5K Deluxe for about $92 total, So I'm happy as a clam. :)

I need a modular power supply cause too many cables will cause more heat. So for overclocking, 520W is not enough and I need to get 620W? I don't want to get more confused...

The problem with modular power supplies is that the metal contacts that connect the power cables to the supply itself present one more point of corrosion during the aging process.

From PC Power and Cooling's website:

3. DON'T LOSE POWER WITH MODULAR PLUGS

Due to their look, convenience, and cost savings for manufacturers, modular plugs have become a popular power supply feature. Unfortunately, there has been little or no discussion of the impact of this feature on overall performance and reliability. The fact is, modular plugs limit power by adding to electrical resistance. The voltage drop can be as much as would occur in 2 feet of standard wire. Worse yet, modular plugs utilize delicate pins that can easily loosen, corrode, and burn, creating the potential for a major system failure. That's why professional system builders specify uninterrupted wire!

I regard PC Power & Cooling as the best PSU company of them all. They've been world class for over 25 years.

They are now a part of OCZ, Lock, Stock and Barrel.

Yes, I know. I still regard them as the best, even over OCZ's own brand.

So you're saying I should RMA my power supply? I just tested near 10 hours straight of Prime95 and was rock solid the whole way without my case cover on.

I'm suspecting a heat issue, but one that's related to my power supply... Should I upgrade to a HX620? I've also had my Corsair HX520 for nearly 3 months.

I'd get an OCZ (600w min), If It kills something OCZ will replace the psu and in My case It wiped out an old motherboard(P5W DH Deluxe), So the dead 700w is now a 900w OCZ modXstream psu, I'd already replaced the motherboard with a used P5K Deluxe for about $92 total, So I'm happy as a clam. :)

I need a modular power supply cause too many cables will cause more heat. So for overclocking, 520W is not enough and I need to get 620W? I don't want to get more confused...

The problem with modular power supplies is that the metal contacts that connect the power cables to the supply itself present one more point of corrosion during the aging process.

From PC Power and Cooling's website:

3. DON'T LOSE POWER WITH MODULAR PLUGS

Due to their look, convenience, and cost savings for manufacturers, modular plugs have become a popular power supply feature. Unfortunately, there has been little or no discussion of the impact of this feature on overall performance and reliability. The fact is, modular plugs limit power by adding to electrical resistance. The voltage drop can be as much as would occur in 2 feet of standard wire. Worse yet, modular plugs utilize delicate pins that can easily loosen, corrode, and burn, creating the potential for a major system failure. That's why professional system builders specify uninterrupted wire!

I regard PC Power & Cooling as the best PSU company of them all. They've been world class for over 25 years.

They are now a part of OCZ, Lock, Stock and Barrel.

Yes, I know. I still regard them as the best, even over OCZ's own brand.

I'm sure the two together will make even better psus, PC1(3,862.09) and PC2(4,162.33) both use OCZ psus and both run 24/7 at 3.51GHz and have similar RACs too, Although PC1 has been getting some heavier usage for non seti tasks for the last 20 hours or so which seems to have slowed down the processing of WU's there.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

I'm sorry, this is confusing me even more, I need to go down to my local NCIX to discuss this now. Corsair or OCZ...

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What if Fiction was Fact and Fact was Fiction and vice versa?

Addem note: While running SSSE3 at 55C at 400x8 and 1.45V (average 1.384V load), I don't get a multiplier drop but when I run Prime95 at 55C at 400x8 and 1.45V (actually 1.368v load), I get a multiplier drop (even during the test now).

If the processor is slowing down during use it sounds like a heating problem, typically power supply problems would cause a reboot. I don't recall if you said what setting you are using in prime95 but if it's small ffts, the top check box, it can overheat quite rapidly. At least on my two q6600s and my qx9650. An inexpensive fix you might try is replacing your case fans and cpu cooler fan, if it's replaceable, with higher cfm fans. Most case fans are very underpowered for noise concerns and the same goes for most cheaper cpu coolers as well. I bought a bunch of 110 cfm, cubic feet per minute, fans from newegg when I was putting these together for less than $10 each. For comparison, many of the stock fans are under 35 cfm and quite a few are even under 25 cfm. As an example, replacing the two case fans and cpu cooler fan on one of the q6600s cooled the system temp over ten degrees c and the cpu by 3-4 degrees c. Even if you end up buying a new power supply the additional cooling is cheap and can extend the life of all your computer parts.

In answer to your post directly above this one, your power supply would probably be sufficient depending on what else is in your system. I don't recall if you said what all is in it. One of my q6600s has a 550w and the other either a 600w or a 650w. I don't recall for sure which is in which one but I THINK the 550w is in one that is overclocked to 3284 mhz at 1.280v, under load, the motherboard is set to auto-configure the voltage when overclocking and I've had no need to try any higher manual settings on the cpu although I did have to bump up the ram voltages a bit. I did try to lower the voltage on the cpu a little because my other one, see below, is running lower but it became unstable. This system has an 8600gt video card and a tv card. The other is running at 3105 mhz and 1.216v, again the motherboard set the voltage on the cpu and it works fine, 24 hours on prime95, so I left it but also had to bump up the ram a couple of steps. This system has an 8800gt. Otherwise both are about the same, 2gb corsair ram, single 500gb hard drives, two dvd drives, onboard sound and lan. At the moment heat is the limiting factor on both of them, any increase is clock speed starts overheating. Although I run both of them about 200mhz faster in the winter when the air temp in this room is about 10-12 degrees c cooler just bumping up the clock speed a little, voltages stay the same. So unless you are trying to cram a lot more drives or dual video cards you are -probably- ok.

As to modular for cooling concerns, just keep the unused cables out of the air path and they won't make any difference. Most of the computers I've built either had enough room to stuff extra cables right above the power supply or over top of the optical drives without blocking air flow. Careful cable routing and using ties or cable wrap to keep everything bundled is always a good bet in any case.

Steve ka4iqd

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Steve ka4iqd

Update: I'm gonna try the voltage increment below 1.5V. In the first few minutes of Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on that setting, I had more of the "correct" multiplier setting for a lot more time than in 1.5V. I'm suspecting a wattage overuse from the processor (using more than 95W, the thermal wattage design limit) or a lack of wattage from the power supply (giving less than required) is causing the multiplier drops in Prime95. However, the output calculations are stable even on the lowered speed.

I'm averaging 1.368v with the lowest at 1.352v on AK V8 SSSE3.

Also, The Arctic Cooling is the ONLY CPU cooler that can fit in my Compaq OEM case (a fairly new model too, I might add... the SR5448F). I love how small mATX is compared to the huge chunky standard ATX boards.

Plus, the Corsair HX520 has a 120mm fan that goes into the high CFMs when it's using up at near maximum of it's power.

---

What if Fiction was Fact and Fact was Fiction and vice versa?

Addem note: While running SSSE3 at 55C at 400x8 and 1.45V (average 1.384V load), I don't get a multiplier drop but when I run Prime95 at 55C at 400x8 and 1.45V (actually 1.368v load), I get a multiplier drop (even during the test now).

If the processor is slowing down during use it sounds like a heating problem, typically power supply problems would cause a reboot. I don't recall if you said what setting you are using in prime95 but if it's small ffts, the top check box, it can overheat quite rapidly. At least on my two q6600s and my qx9650. An inexpensive fix you might try is replacing your case fans and cpu cooler fan, if it's replaceable, with higher cfm fans. Most case fans are very underpowered for noise concerns and the same goes for most cheaper cpu coolers as well. I bought a bunch of 110 cfm, cubic feet per minute, fans from newegg when I was putting these together for less than $10 each. For comparison, many of the stock fans are under 35 cfm and quite a few are even under 25 cfm. As an example, replacing the two case fans and cpu cooler fan on one of the q6600s cooled the system temp over ten degrees c and the cpu by 3-4 degrees c. Even if you end up buying a new power supply the additional cooling is cheap and can extend the life of all your computer parts.

In answer to your post directly above this one, your power supply would probably be sufficient depending on what else is in your system. I don't recall if you said what all is in it. One of my q6600s has a 550w and the other either a 600w or a 650w. I don't recall for sure which is in which one but I THINK the 550w is in one that is overclocked to 3284MHz at 1.280v, under load, the motherboard is set to auto-configure the voltage when overclocking and I've had no need to try any higher manual settings on the cpu although I did have to bump up the ram voltages a bit. I did try to lower the voltage on the cpu a little because my other one, see below, is running lower but it became unstable. This system has an 8600gt video card and a tv card. The other is running at 3105MHz and 1.216v, again the motherboard set the voltage on the cpu and it works fine, 24 hours on prime95, so I left it but also had to bump up the ram a couple of steps. This system has an 8800gt. Otherwise both are about the same, 2gb corsair ram, single 500gb hard drives, two dvd drives, onboard sound and lan. At the moment heat is the limiting factor on both of them, any increase is clock speed starts overheating. Although I run both of them about 200mhz faster in the winter when the air temp in this room is about 10-12 degrees c cooler just bumping up the clock speed a little, voltages stay the same. So unless you are trying to cram a lot more drives or dual video cards you are -probably- ok.

As to modular for cooling concerns, just keep the unused cables out of the air path and they won't make any difference. Most of the computers I've built either had enough room to stuff extra cables right above the power supply or over top of the optical drives without blocking air flow. Careful cable routing and using ties or cable wrap to keep everything bundled is always a good bet in any case.

Steve ka4iqd

You can also achieve a good sized reduction in temps by just removing one side of the PCs case too.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

You can also achieve a good sized reduction in temps by just removing one side of the PCs case too.

That's what I did for my 10 hour Prime95 test, but even doing that won't stop the multiplier even at 52C. I highly suspect a wattage problem.

---

What if Fiction was Fact and Fact was Fiction and vice versa?

You can also achieve a good sized reduction in temps by just removing one side of the PCs case too.

That's what I did for my 10 hour Prime95 test, but even doing that won't stop the multiplier even at 52C. I highly suspect a wattage problem.

Hopefully C1E and a few other settings are disabled, Also that the AI overclock is set to manual.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

You can also achieve a good sized reduction in temps by just removing one side of the PCs case too.

That's what I did for my 10 hour Prime95 test, but even doing that won't stop the multiplier even at 52C. I highly suspect a wattage problem.

Hopefully C1E and a few other settings are disabled, Also that the AI overclock is set to manual.

C1E affects an overclock? I'll try that...

And what does "CPU TM" mean on a ASUS BIOS?

Edit: No effect, still drops in multiplier.

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What if Fiction was Fact and Fact was Fiction and vice versa?

You can also achieve a good sized reduction in temps by just removing one side of the PCs case too.

That's what I did for my 10 hour Prime95 test, but even doing that won't stop the multiplier even at 52C. I highly suspect a wattage problem.

Hopefully C1E and a few other settings are disabled, Also that the AI overclock is set to manual.

C1E affects an overclock? I'll try that...

And what does "CPU TM" mean on a ASUS BIOS?

Edit: No effect, still drops in multiplier.

No idea, But experiment some and kill It. Also You could disable Vanderpool Technology(Unless You like running a Virtual OS inside Your OS), Speedstep disable that, then see what happens.
Manual for the p5k-vm motherboard(pdf file) Look down on page 2-22 and 2-23 of the manual.

Oh Asus is being sneaky, Read this page here!

John wrote:

CPU TM Function - Disable
That fixed it, now holding steady

http://www.overclockingwiki.org/forums/showpost.php?s=4405bd37757c005ab21d1fc26a761842&p=19961&postcount=5
Don't disable this though as It protects You: Execute disable bit.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

You can also achieve a good sized reduction in temps by just removing one side of the PCs case too.

That's what I did for my 10 hour Prime95 test, but even doing that won't stop the multiplier even at 52C. I highly suspect a wattage problem.

Hopefully C1E and a few other settings are disabled, Also that the AI overclock is set to manual.

C1E affects an overclock? I'll try that...

And what does "CPU TM" mean on a ASUS BIOS?

Edit: No effect, still drops in multiplier.

Here's a thread over on the HardOCP that deals with this motherboard(as to what It's capable of at least).
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1201758
This thread is where I found the HardOCP thread

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

You can also achieve a good sized reduction in temps by just removing one side of the PCs case too.

That's what I did for my 10 hour Prime95 test, but even doing that won't stop the multiplier even at 52C. I highly suspect a wattage problem.

Hopefully C1E and a few other settings are disabled, Also that the AI overclock is set to manual.

C1E affects an overclock? I'll try that...

And what does "CPU TM" mean on a ASUS BIOS?

Edit: No effect, still drops in multiplier.

CPU TM seems to mean CPU Thermal Management, I'd Disable It. From some research I've done on this here: http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=5679543&postcount=8

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

I've disabled everything but XD (Execute Disable) and it's working... No longer dropping in multiplier...

Also, I suspect the overvoltage thing in my PSU tripped when I went to 1.5v, causing the power outage like restart (voltages sometimes can fluctuate above and below 1.5v sometimes). I'm finding the step below that is stable too so I'm using that now.

Edit: Well, actually, lowest voltage dropped again on Prime95 on the notch below 1.5v so I've reverted to 1.5v to possibly make it survive the whole 24 hours of the test. I know anything below 1.35v on load makes it unstable and likely to BSOD. I'll post again if it pops power-wise again.

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What if Fiction was Fact and Fact was Fiction and vice versa?

Just a couple of things to check,

I've found that on board LAN and video chips can fall over at FSB speeds around 400MHz and cause the system to crash, see this thread. If your still having problems it might be worth disabling your on-board accessories one at a time to see if that has any effect.

I've also found you don't need to crank the voltage up too much, unless your going totally extreme. My two Q6600's are running quite happily at around 3.2GHz/1.35V. You are better off peaking the memory timing. Use Memtest 86+ V2.01 adjust your timings for maximum memory bandwidth until it breaks on tests 5 and 7, go back to the timings on your last successful run then back the clock off 5MHz.

I've found that for SETI Crunching, memory bandwidth is much more critical than straight out processor speed. Sometimes a slower memory speed with tighter timings will out perform a higher speed with 5.5.5.18 or longer.

e.g. On one of my E7200's 2.8GHz with the memory divider @ X2 (giving 800MHz DDR speed) and 3.5.3.8 timing is a faster cuncher than what it was at 3.2GHz @ X 2.5, (1066MHz DDR speed) 5.6.6.18. This change brought the Mem B/W up by just over 1MB/s. The memory is 2nd string 667 MHz Corsair DIMM's meant for an office workstation it's definitely not "performance" RAM. But I got a similar boost in the other E7200 fitted with 1066MHz RAM when I tuned following the same method.

<Edit> I should have mentioned that the above changes resulted in an average improvement of 5.5 minutes in the crunching of a 43 credit WU in the first machine

Brodo

Also, The Arctic Cooling is the ONLY CPU cooler that can fit in my Compaq OEM case (a fairly new model too, I might add... the SR5448F). I love how small mATX is compared to the huge chunky standard ATX boards.

I think this may have been in response to my suggestion of putting a different fan on your cpu cooler. If so, I didn't say to replace the cooler, just the fan, as I saw your previous post stating the size problem. Also, not a bigger fan, just a more powerful one. I'm not familiar with your cooler but many of them have replaceable fans so you could replace it with one the same size, just with a stronger motor. Someone more familiar with your cooler may be able to tell you if that's possible. It's been my experience that all but the top coolers, meaning the most expensive as well, use way underpowered fans so that's one of the first things I look at changing.

edit: typo

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Steve ka4iqd

Also, The Arctic Cooling is the ONLY CPU cooler that can fit in my Compaq OEM case (a fairly new model too, I might add... the SR5448F). I love how small mATX is compared to the huge chunky standard ATX boards.

I think this may have been in response to my suggestion of putting a different fan on your cpu cooler. If so, I didn't say to replace the cooler, just the fan, as I saw your previous post stating the size problem. Also, not a bigger fan, just a more powerful one. I'm not familiar with your cooler but many of them have replaceable fans so you could replace it with one the same size, just with a stronger motor. Someone more familiar with your cooler may be able to tell you if that's possible. It's been my experience that all but the top coolers, meaning the most expensive as well, use way underpowered fans so that's one of the first things I look at changing.

edit: typo

He mentions It's a Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7.

Where would a more powerful fan go?
And what type fan could the OP(Jack Zhang) use to replace the coolers stock fan with?
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=151&disc=
This cooler is inadequate for His Q6700 quad core cpu, as It's only good up to a 90w X6800 dual core cpu according to arctic-cooling.com. Since It can not handle a fan that wasn't made for the cooler, He has two problems, He needs a bigger case and a bigger cpu, I'd aim Him towards a Cooler Master 590 M/ATX case for $83.98 delivered from Newegg and a Xigmatek HDT-S1284 cpu cooler for $43.24 delivered from Newegg and maybe a Xigmatek bolt down kit for the HDT-S1284 for $13.98 delivered from Newegg, These 3 Items shouldn't cost more than $141.20 total(Unless the OP lives in California and that means 8.25% sales tax would be added to that and that's $8.82 for a total in California of $150.02), Since the case is too small by His own admission and the cpu cooler He is presently using is not meant for a Quad core cpu by Arctic Cooling. But since He's a student If what I read by His profile is currently correct, I hope He has the cash, Otherwise He may have to back down on His overclock until He can afford these items and I hope His current psu is an atx psu too so as to avoid another expense like an OCZ 600w or 780w psu possibly. Also as an optional aside to the Xigmatek cpu cooler, You can use a Delta 120x120x38mm fan for an extra $23.95+UPS charges(151.85cfm) from Sidewinder (and I've bought fans and stuff from Sidewinder before and their Good, Very Good) with excellent results instead of the Xigmatek fan. I wish You Good Luck Jack.

arctic-cooling.com wrote:

Application:
Up to 90 Watts
- Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800
- All Intel Core 2 Duo
- All Intel Pentium Dual-Core
- Up to Intel Pentium 4 661 (65 nm)
- Up to Intel Pentium 4 650 (90 nm, stepping R0 or later)
- Up to Intel Pentium 4 551 (90 nm, stepping E0 or later)
- Up to Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz
- All Intel Celeron D

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

@ Jack Zhang

Huhh.. 1.5 Vcore.. (BIOS or real) ..how long you want to play with your Q6700 ?

I let run my QX6700 -2.66 @ 3.14 GHz. [314 x 10]
No change in voltage (CPU/Mobo)
(BIOS stock Vcore 1.35.. and 1.26 - 1.27 real at the CPU)
Intel D975XBX2 mobo.
[OC -> + ~ 20 W more power consumption]
[~ 4 °C higher CPU-temp]

Some funny.. if I let run the CPU at stock speed, the CPU get ~ 0.01 more real Vcore..
So now with OC - the CPU have a bigger life.. ;-D

1066 RAM @ 944 MHz @ 4-4-4-12
[FSB:RAM 2/3]


Why you change the voltage, how fast is the Q6700 at stock Vcore?
You would like to have a so much bigger wattage (power consumption) only for maybe 0.01 GHz more?

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