Hi lads!

I just got my PC to work! It's my first build, so i'm ever so happy!

My CPU is a E8400.
Anyhow, i downloaded some software, CPU-Z, Prime95 and CoreTemp.

And while running Prime95 i noticed that my CPU-Z recorded only around:
Core Speed 2671,5MHZ
multiplier set at x 8.0
rated FSB at 1333.6
Bus speed at 334.0mhz.
Volt at 1.192

Okay. I am aware of speedstep but since i'm stress testing it i assume that this will tell the CPU to work at full throttle! So what is the problem?

I havn't updated my Motherboard yet since i got it out of the box, could this have any influence?

I also have another quick question(s) :
- how long should i be running prime95 (and which test would be suitable? (blend and so on)
- My temp wont raise above 49 while stress testing but my CPU heatsink is litteraly chillingly cold, i have to use midgets to touch it. Is this normal? (that the heat wont dispatch to the whole heatsink?). It's cold all over.

Cheers. And thanks!

I'm not too familiar with the E8400 but the first thing I see is the multiplier. Normally with Intel Core 2 CPUs its 9, and drops to 6 under speedstep, so check your bios to see if it's set to 9 normally.

Also, as far as what test you want to use depends on what you want to test. Typically errors show up in an hour or so but whenever I do an overclocking build I do 8-24+ hours (I ran my current build for 72 hours, overkill but I went away for the weekend unexpectedly)

A CPU below 50 with a cold heatsink means that everything's working properly and that heat's getting the hell out quickly

If you're running Vista, check your power management settings. Look at the processor settings, there will be a minimum and maximum setting (in %). If you are using a power saving plan the maximum will not be at 100% and therefore will not let the CPU run at full speed. If it is <100% change it and see if that solves your problem.

Ah. Thank you both.

It was the multiplier! It's at 9x now, i don't know why it was set at 8x.
Also, i changed the power settings from balanced to High performance. . dunno if it changed anything but thank you for the notice.

Cheers

Are you running 2 instances of prime 95?

I recommend you switch to Orthos, its far easier to use and gets the same results.

get it here

http://sp2004.fre3.com/beta/orthos_exe_20060420.cab

Well. . i'm in school now, and at home i'm running Prime95 at fourth hour.

I was wondering, does it stress test both cores in the dual core processor? or only one?

Anyhow, i choosed the setting blend in prime95 and i'm looking forward for the results. . I havn't seen the temp above 49. Even after i changed my CPU to 3ghz.

2 instances of prime95?

Here's a multi-threaded version of prime95:
ftp://mersenne.org/gimps/p95v251.zip

I'm only running one "instance" i think (sorry does this mean, like, one program of prime95? English is not my native language ).

I just downloaded the newest version and ran the program in a blend test.

by the way, your link is not working (or maybe it's mozilla?).

uh well. . when i came back my computer had rebooted :S . . hmm