I would avoid Windows 8 ... there is NOTHING in Windows 8 that anyone other than mobile users would want. Sadly, it's by far the worst OS Microsoft have released to date -- many 3rd party vendors (GoFlight and others) are recommending to NOT use Windows 8. Personally I'd wait for Windows 9 and "hope" Microsoft don't do more of the same - I'm a software engineer so I'm a little bias.

 

As for overclocking, I haven't done much Ivy Bridge overclocking, but with Sandy-E you actually do NOT want to increase voltage ... you want to turn off some key options in the EFI (aka BIOS for those old school folks) as this will actually provide more headroom without requiring significant changes to voltage and/or risk of damaged CPU. I'm using a rather simple Corsair H100 water cooling and have no issues reaching 4.6Ghz on a 3960X and 5Ghz on a 3970X. And one VERY important point is that you want to AVOID vertical mounted motherboard cases. Out of the CPUs I've destroyed over my many years of overclocking I finally noticed a significant problem, gravity! What happens in vertical mounted systems is that the heat expands and contracts (power on/off). The fasteners of the cooling block (even with backing plates) begin to loosen - over time the block has less and less evenly distributed force on the CPU which ultimately results in an overheated area and then CPU failure. If you are using vertical mounted motherboard cases, then lay them flat with stoppers keeping them elevated so side cooling isn't impacted too much -- because of most of the good case designs are vertical mounted MBs, this is almost always how I have to position my case.

 

The tools I use for Stability are SiSoftware Sandra Personal 2012 (haven't tried 2013 version yet), Prime95, RealTempGT, and CPU-Z, and then my final test is done with Cinema 4D overnight render (about 12 hour render maxing all cores and RAM). I like SiSoftware Sandra because it can help me maximize RAM performance - it's a balance of Memory Bandwidth, Cache & Memory Bandwidth, and Cache Bandwidth - it also lets you measure L1D, L2, and L3 cache performance. You also want to select tests that are more like to emulate what you see real world such as using In-Page Random Access Pattern vs. Full Random Access Pattern ... Full Random Access Pattern is closer to what you'd see in FSX.

 

If you are overclocking and you have occasional cold boot problems (BIOS reports overclock failure) then you are definitely at risk for CPU damage -- it's just a matter of time. However, if you upgrade frequently, long term durability of the CPU may not be a concern ... I typically refresh once a year and if something significant comes out maybe twice a year.

 

Hope this helps, Rob.

I would avoid Windows 8 ... there is NOTHING in Windows 8 that anyone other than mobile users would want. Sadly, it's by far the worst OS Microsoft have released to date -- many 3rd party vendors (GoFlight and others) are recommending to NOT use Windows 8. Personally I'd wait for Windows 9 and "hope" Microsoft don't do more of the same - I'm a software engineer so I'm a little bias.

Well I, maybe stupidly, went for it... and so far am very well impressed... But yes, I did install "start8" :-) Also, strangely, some legacy apps that gave me some headaches installing in win7pro, were installed with no problem in win 8 Pro, and even Office 2003, said to be incompatible, works flawlessly :-) Regarding OC, I am very reluctant about it / never did it... I'd rather buy a more powerful CPU / GPU / MB if I'm not satisfied with what I get - IMHO....

If you are overclocking and you have occasional cold boot problems (BIOS reports overclock failure) then you are definitely at risk for CPU damage -- it's just a matter of time. However, if you upgrade frequently, long term durability of the CPU may not be a concern ... I typically refresh once a year and if something significant comes out maybe twice a year.

 

 

Now that I think about it, I did get an occasional message (about once every 2 weeks or so) where It would say "bios settings failed, Press F1 to load defaults". I would then go in and load the presets for my overclock and it would reboot. I guess this was the warning I should have listened to.

Anyhow, Im not overclocking anymore. The new CPU and MB seems to be running fast enough for me to enjoy all my flightsim stuff, so I'm happy. I'll chalk this up as a learning experience.

 

Rob

Overclocking is learned thru experience and I've had my fair share of failures as well as success, but this is going way back to 80486 when I started overclocking.

 

Overclocking is definitely not for everyone, I've seen many more people do it wrong than do it right. I've also dialed back my extreme overclocking adventures with Liquid Nitrogen and Thermoelectric cooling with trace wires and sometimes up to 3 power supplies, etc. ... these days I just go with basic off the shelf simple water cooling and focus more on stability and less on turning my office/game room into a hot box or having to run AC in the house when it's 40F outside

I would avoid Windows 8 ... there is NOTHING in Windows 8 that anyone other than mobile users would want. Sadly, it's by far the worst OS Microsoft have released to date -- many 3rd party vendors (GoFlight and others) are recommending to NOT use Windows 8. Personally I'd wait for Windows 9 and "hope" Microsoft don't do more of the same - I'm a software engineer so I'm a little bias.

 

 

1. Windows 8, while I believe there is not much reason to upgrade to from Windows 7, Windows 8 is not the worst OS Microsoft has released, that my friend easily falls under VISTA, VISTA sucked and still sucks in terms of performance and stability, I refuse to even acknowledge Vista as an OS but rater a "virus" that must be removed by installing either 7 Professional (my personal choice) or 8 Professional. BTW I have been a MS PC Tech for over 8 years now, been to college for it, and have 8 years field experience in case you wanted some "credentials".

 

 

 

 

2. Yeah your CPU either got too hot or your board short circuited. Overclocking puts stress on both the MB and CPU, you have to watch your TDP and over voltages, when you start to do serious overclocking remember that the "big guys" that do this are usually using either liquid nitrogen or liquid helium and are using an electroceramic paste. For most moderate CPU overclocking (20-25% at most) look into Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste for conductivity and a custom LQ system with a refrigerant, for regular over clocking (10-20% at most) again use AS5 Thermal paste and either a really solid air cooler or a pre-filled liquid like an H100i (the H100i will yield better cooling than a typical 3rd party air cooler). Just remember that voltage and heat are shared by both the MB and CPU directly, so a failure on one can cause a failure on another. Overclocking while easier to do today is still dangerous if you do not understand how to build a system that is "meant" to overclock, build smart and build ahead.

I had the same problem. My 2600k was overclocked to 4.9 and then one day it never booted again. Now with my IB and 3770k I have to say it is a much better platform IMO. Cheers jja

With overclocking, there's always the danger that your hardware will go "poof".