Well as it stands my current OC on my 965 is 18x210mhz (3.780ghz)

It felt really stable. Last night however, while I was playing BFBC2 my screen just froze for a few seconds, then unfroze. A few minutes later it happened again, this time displaying some artifact looking things before exiting to desktop. I tried to relaunch it but even then, the splash screen even had artifacts!

So I rebooted, saw an OC failed msg during post, but kept my clocks the same and entered windows. Booted MW2 up, worked fine for a few minutes, then hangs, and crashes with a blue screen then reboot.

I think the OC was fine, it was my HSF not cooling enough. See I have this integrated fan controller on my new case, but the little splitter than goes into the HSF connector from the controller is 3 pin, and the HSF operates on a 4 pin fan connector. I didn't think this would make much difference, still not sure if it did or not, but since my fan controller sets fan speed automatically, I think it lowered the rpm's on the cpu fan too low to efficiently keep cool. (Even though the lcd on the controller reads the fan is running full).

I eliminated the fan controller and just wired it right into the mb. Put all my clocks back to stock. Temps are still peaking mid 40's-50.

All games seem to be running fine without any hiccups (not confirmed) but the entire CoD series is acting extremely laggy. Like going from max fps down to 40-50 sometimes. It's bugging me cuz A) this should NOT be happening on my system. and B) this is not the first time where EVERY other game worked flawlessly excluding the entire Call of Duty series, which is why I buy this gear in the first place lol.

Yeah that would throw me for a loop too Phonix.

But feeling stable and being stable are two different things.You have to prime95 that for a little while to bulletproof. If it craps out then you have to figure out why. Ram ( everything from volts to timings to Mhz) cpu, everything from volts, temps, multi etc.

Its why OC'ing can be trying on patience. Personally, I would set the fsb to 200, multi to 18 to give you a mild oc of 3.6 on stock (auto) everything until you get a good cooler.

then you can work on a combination of multi and fsb to oc the cpu and ram alike. Then if ya want to , move on to the NB. But again, back that off until ya get a good hsf.

I did use proper methodology and stress testing after my initial OC. Everything tested fine, it was just last night after my new case install that things started to become unstable. I'm really hoping it was just a bad oc and not something else, and that the issues in CoD I was having are only a one time thing, we'll see tonight... I never saw 50C+ make a cpu unstable, I never see that until at least 65.

So now that you got your H50, is it any difference than your V8? Because if not then I think the V8 is going to be my best bet for 3.9+ and I'll buy one tomorrow. Besides, I still don't think the H50 will fit in my new case anyway. God knows how that beefy V8 will fit either...

honestly I am somewhat let down on the H50.

It doesn't run as cool as a V8 does. I did however just mount it using the stock thermal compound. I am going to give it another day or two for the compound to set - if no change then remove, clean and use different compound and try again.

with two 120mm fans on the rad doing push pull and another 120mm on the door feeding it cool air - it should run cooler than it does. I had to back off the OC for now until this is sorted out.

Ahhhh, maybe not such a wise choice considering the V8 is half the price of an H50...

it definitely isnt double the cooling.

That is what I figured due to the size of the components and amount of liquid contained within the unit. I'm sure there are ways to stretch out the cooling capacities though.

Agreed - but not quite sure what one would get themselves into cutting a tube to increase the loop with added pump, res and rad. Especially with a closed setup like that. One thing is for sure - a mess.

I am going to experiment and see where it leads. Too bad the tubes aren't removable. I wouldnt mind mounting the rad external. I am going to play with it over the next few days and see how she goes.

Phonix - go with a V8 lol