Originally Posted by focusbob

Hi folks,

I am attempting to overclock my pc:
mobo: P6T deluxe v2, bios 0504
cpu: i7 920 d0
hsf: zalman 9500 w/adapter for i7
ram: 12gb corsair xms3 1600 (recommended settings: 9-9-9-24 1.6v)
video: PNY 9600gt
OS: vista x64

At 3.6 GHz, temps are 69-70C under heavy load, so this appears to be my limit. I am load testing with intelburntest in vista x64 (max ram, 15 runs, 16 threads). Although it passes intelburntest x15, during each run the computer becomes unresponsive for about half the run.

Specifically, the vista equivalent of the hourglass appears, the screen goes black (except for the hourglass), the taskbar reappears (black background remains), and the tabs for intelburntest and speedfan do not maximize. I'd like to know how I can minimally adjust my settings to stabalize my system. Most of all, I'd like to hear if people have opinions regarding what specific settings are causing the instability.

Important clue: When I was testing my system at stock settings with intelburntest (to make sure nothing was DOA), I originally inserted my total amount of RAM in the appropriate box (instead of choosing "maximum") and the same symptoms of instability appeared. When I set this to "maximum" instead, everything went smoothly. Is there a problem with my RAM settings?

BIOS settings (let me know if you need any other settings):

ai overclock tuner: manual
cpu ratio: 19
speedstep: disabled
bclk freq: 190
PCIE freq: 100
DRAM freq: ddr3-1523Mhz
uclk freq: 3047Mhz
QPI Link Data rate: 6857MT/s

DRAM timing: 9-9-9-24
DRAM timing mode: 2N
all other DRAM settings on AUTO

CPU voltage: 1.20625
CPU PLL v: 1.80
QPI/DRAM core v: 1.20625
IOH v: 1.10
IOH PCIE v: 1.5
ICH v: 1.10
ICH PCIE v: 1.5
DRAM bus v: 1.6
all other "ai tweaker" settings on AUTO

PLEASE HELP!!! Thanks!