Unstable CPU or GPU? Or something else?

[EliteRetard]

Ph2 X3-720 on a Gigabyte UD3H. Unlocked to a quad. Had it OC'd 250x15@1.488v (10xHT) and it passed stress testing (temps mid 50s). Playing a game though it would ocassionally crash out. So I lowered the CPU to 14x and found it to be quite unstable...weird. Maybe its HT settings, lowered them 1x as well. Still crashed testing. Memory? It was 250x5.33 for 1333 (it had passed 8hrs of memtest). I decided to try 300FSB 12x CPU 8xHT 4xRAM. Passed stress testing, but when gaming I still get a weird glitchy flash and then a black screen, have to reboot to get the screen back. I set everything back to 3GHz/2GHz HT (and auto volts) and its 100% stable untill I play a game, still got the black screen thing. So I put it back at the 300FSB settings since it actually makes a big difference in framerates and the glitching doesnt seem to happen any more often than at 3GHz. Is it possibly GPU (4850) related...maybe because the monitor being used is actually a 1080P HDTV (hooked up DVI-VGA)? Is it possible that the one unlocked core is actually unstable but only in a game sometimes?

Any suggestions for settings? I dont really know how much or which voltages to boost...do I need extra cooling on any of the heatsinks (theres two HTs? Im not as good at this new stuff)? Wasnt sure where to post this since Im not sure what the actual problem is (Im leaning toward CPU just because of the unlock), thanks in advance for any advice.

Corse there is the fact that its not just a black screen, the monitor actually says there is no connection and then will pop up with its own little screen saver thing. That with the glitchy flash are what I think point toward GPU. I got one of those crappy round coolers that dont cover the RAM but block the use of heatsinks.

Maybe PSU or MOBO? I know at the 1.475v setting it blinks between like 1.48 and 1.45 (and 1.45 is 1.41) which makes things angry so I used the 1.5v setting which gives a stable 1.488.

Anywho...got to go, thanks again for any hints you got.

 

[lifeblood]

Set it back to an X3 and try the game stock and overclocked. The reason it's an X3 and not an X4 may be because of a fault in the forth core that only manifests itself in a game. If it works as an X3 overclocked then it's probably the forth core.

 

[lopri]

720 is Black Edition? Try overclocking with multipliers only. Leave NB and HT to stock. And see if that helps. Depending on your CPU and board, C'nQ should work even when overclocked using multipliers. (I thought it was exclusive to C3 stepping but I was wrong.)

In any case, when you overclock via HTT, keep in mind that you're stressing the whole system. @300 HTT you're running the system 50% faster than it is designed. And if the board has IGP it can wreck havoc even if you don't use the IGP.

 

[tweakboy]

Listen to lifeblood, I couldn't have said it any better.

Also load temps of 50's or 60's are ok. For GPU up to 90c is okay.

So its not your temps. Perhaps unstable OC or what lifeline said. let us know gl,