Do that only if you can run Prime 24 hours without errors. There are many posters in the O/C forums who run their system Prime-unstable. Running a system that is not Prime stable is like an organism infected with a dormant virus: sooner or later you will run into problems. You will be able to run FSX, but it will crash now and then, especially with heavy add-ons. Most games can be run on an unstable system, with the occasional crash. Games are not the real problem though. The real problem of an unstable system are the minute mistakes which creep in over time, especially when hard disk operations are involved. Unstable memory will cause wrong information to be written and read, and then copied onto the hard disk. This can be a single 0 and 1, but over time, the errors mulitply, and sometimes they affect sensitive components, like dlls in your operating system. Then the only thing you can do is re-install. Worst case scenario, your system crashes for good and is unrecoverable. Finally, based on the temps your are listing and the bus speeds, I bet yo ucan run a slower bus with optimized memory settings and get better performance at lower temps. But if the system is Prime stable at 400/1600, there is no reason not to go with it. But don't take any short cuts, do test for many hours.

> I am staying here.Yep that should be good for about 10 months. Then , sizzzzzle. snap."What is that smell?""Daaaaaaaaaad?????"Why not turn the AI down 20% and achieve the same result?:)

I don't think so. Someone here told me that an OC'd processor lasts for more than 3 years. Which makes perfect sense, as I know someone with an OC'd Pentium D since the last 4 years.

I will benchmark that using the excellent benchmark tool and give the results. Also, what is the worst error I can get from running Prime95 all day?

>I don't think so. Someone here told me that an OC'd processor>lasts for more than 3 years. Which makes perfect sense, as I>know someone with an OC'd Pentium D since the last 4 years.Ahhhm OK.. Have fun :)http://www.rakaz.nl/nucleus/media/1/20050119-chip.jpg

A few things...that doesn't look like a processor, and also, I turn off my computer when I'm not using it and I have Speedstep and C1E enabled.

>>> I am staying here.>>>Yep that should be good for about 10 months. Then , sizzzzzle.>snap.>>>"What is that smell?">>"Daaaaaaaaaad?????">>Why not turn the AI down 20% and achieve the same result?>>:)>A Q6600 will shut itself down before it fries....have a good longlook at Intel's design notes related to temperature.... Paul

nothing. As soon as Prime 95 encounters a single error, it stops (on that core). Make sure you get the latest multi-core version 25.5. Read the stress.txt file that comes with it. Should tell you everything you need to know.

Well I'm back to 3 GHz, 333/1333, and I will run the benchmark again.400x8...3.2 GHz gave me 15.1 FPS flying through Seattle. There were a few stutters here and there. No blurries.I have yet to try this out.OK, this gave me an average of 13.6 FPS with many stutters and unbearable blurries.I'll post my settings up soon.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/184865.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/184866.jpgNotice here that the LOD Radius is medium. I usually keep it at Large but for heavy density cities I keep it at Medium. Terrain Mesh Complexity I usually keep at 70-100, depending on where I am.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/184867.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/184868.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/184869.jpgI'm beginning the stress test now. Hope it doesn't hurt the CPU. Also, my VCore is at 1.35V. Is this too much, and if so, can someone please give me a specific number which is still safe?Thanks,BoeingGuy

95C Tj will cause the CPU to automatically declock to reduce temperature. 100C will initiate a full CPU shutdown. Intel set these temperature points to PREVENT CPU damage. You cannot hurt this CPU. Electronic components do NoT "wear out." 1.5V is your CPU's voltage limit. Autogen (AG)and AI traffic are the two biggies. Set water down a knotch, but leave the rest on hi. Turn AG and AI totally off. See what you get. It'll run pretty darn good. Now start bringing back in AG and AI. You'll only get so much AG/AI before the system begins to stagger. This will be a CPU bottleneck issue, so . . . If your temps remain under control, take that multiplier to 9. You're gonna need it. My Q6600 runs at 400 x 9, 24/7.

Prime showed no errors so far, and temps NEVER exceed 83C Tj (65 Tc). I don't think I can take it to 3.6. A 600 MHz OC from 2.4 to 3.0 made my temps under Prime95 stress go from 45 to 65. If I put it to 3.6, my temps will be ~95 all the time. And throttling and shutting down all the time...nah, not a risk I'm willing to take. I'll stay here until I get a better cooler, which may be a looooong time from now. Or until I get a new processor :D.Thanks,BoeingGuy