Gigabyte CPU phase LED concern, first build please help!

[hejira]

please help, this is my first build and im unsure about the safety of my newly purchased hardware..

just put together the following build:

MB: GA-EP45-DS4P
CPU: C2D E8400 (stock cooling)
GPU: MSI R4870 512mb
RAM: Kingston DDR2 2x2GB 800
HDD1: Samsung SATA 3.5" 500GB
Burner: Pioneer SATA DVR-216
PSU: Antec Neopower 650w Blue
Case: iCute S901 5G1

it turns on & will enter bios, seems to be running fine, all fans are running, im just concerned however, that it seems it might be stressing the CPU out for some reason as over the first 60 seconds of being on, the fans seem to be constantly accelerating, & the phase LEDs are always showing full CPU load. is this fine, or a warning sign that something is wrong?

the tweaker menu in the bios says its running by default at x8 multiplier & 2.66GHz, but thats not what the E8400 specs are supposed to be at all..

the PSU fan LED is on & red because nothings connected to that socket (doesnt seem to need to be as the PSU fan runs anyway & there is no 3pin fan wire from the PSU.)

does it seem like im doing something wrong with the hardware so far?
am i at risk of destroying the CPU if the phase LED's show its at full load even though all ive done is enter the bios so far?
does the CPU load mean how hard its working, or how hot its running?
should i let it run longer than a minute or two?
should i change the bios to meet the proper CPU/RAM specs?
should i ignore the phase LED & go ahead & install an OS?

thanks for your help, eager to get it running.

 

[kubes]

Go into your bios setting and check what the tempature of your cpu is. If its above 60c then that's probally a warning sign that the heat sink isn't on all that great. Reapply the thermal grease and resink the heatsink and you should be fine. Ideally you want your temps to be around 30-40 idle, and 40-55 under load.

In general starting and shutting down a pc can be one of the most resource intense things a computer can do. So its ok to see your cpu working hard when starting up. So yes you should be fine with installing your OS. Just keep an eye on everything to make sure nothing seems to be overheating.