PC crashing @ high CPU load e8400

Take a close look at the capacitors on your mobo,make sure none of them are leaking or bulging.

^+1
good point...

I just shut it down to look, I don't see anything wrong with it, this rig is only about a year and a half old also.

also I'd like to note that in the bios it shows the voltage as 1.2v under hardware monitor, instead of the sub 1v

what should I set it to? I've never OC'd before so I've never needed to adjust this, always left them on auto.

I attempted that already, I turned it off in bios and it still stayed on in windows.

corsair gs700(only good PSU at bestbuy, didn't feel like waiting for newegg to deliver.), just picked it up earlier because I thought the PSU was my problem.

will test it out in a moment

no, no new software/hardware
no onboard GPU
I have some dust buildup, would that cause this?

Is your BIOS up to date?

Did you also disable C1E Enhanced Halt State when attempting to overclock?

Safe Vcore for an E8400 is 0.85–1.3625 Volts. It will vary in this voltage range depending on if SpeedStep and/or C1E is enabled.

You can use CPU-Z for checking the CPU's Core Voltage to confirm that you're not exceeding 1.3625 Volts.

there's no time to make note of it, it instantly reboots

realtemp log file of it

DATE TIME MHz C0 C1 LOAD%
12/09/10 12:53:26 2497.54 39 39 1.8
12/09/10 12:53:31 2997.05 39 39 95.9
12/09/10 12:53:32 2997.05 39 39 100.0
12/09/10 12:53:33 2997.05 39 39 100.0
12/09/10 12:53:33 2997.05 39 39 100.0
12/09/10 12:53:34 2997.05 39 39 41.2
12/09/10 12:53:35 2331.04 39 39 0.4
12/09/10 12:53:36 2164.53 39 39 0.7
12/09/10 12:53:37 2497.54 39 39 1.4
12/09/10 12:53:38 2997.05 39 39 11.6
12/09/10 12:53:39 2830.55 39 39 3.6
12/09/10 12:53:40 2997.05 39 39 21.4
12/09/10 12:53:41 2497.54 39 39 2.3
12/09/10 12:53:43 2997.05 39 39 8.6
12/09/10 12:53:44 2164.54 39 39 1.2
12/09/10 12:53:45 2830.55 39 39 4.6
12/09/10 12:53:46 2164.53 39 39 0.8
12/09/10 12:53:47 2164.54 39 39 0.6
12/09/10 12:53:48 2331.04 39 39 0.4
12/09/10 12:53:49 2164.54 39 39 0.3
12/09/10 12:53:50 2830.55 39 39 1.5
12/09/10 12:53:51 2830.54 39 39 4.4
12/09/10 12:53:52 2331.04 39 39 1.1
12/09/10 12:53:53 2830.55 39 39 6.2
12/09/10 12:53:54 2164.53 39 39 0.7
12/09/10 12:53:55 2664.04 39 39 2.1
12/09/10 12:53:56 2664.04 39 39 1.4
12/09/10 12:53:57 2164.54 39 39 0.6
12/09/10 12:53:58 2497.54 39 39 2.0
12/09/10 12:53:59 2664.04 39 39 2.5
12/09/10 12:54:00 2997.05 39 39 7.0

it shut down instantly again, but for some reason it kept logging? When it went from 1.8->95.9 I started prime95, that lasted for about 3 seconds

In the log file you can see SpeedStep in action when the CPU speed increases. I thought you had SpeedStep and C1E disabled?

What's really interesting is that the CPU cores' temperature never changes. Are you using Real Temp Version 3.60?

When it's crashing, when you're attempting to do BIOS Setup changes, it's not a good sign.

That's good to hear.

So I take it, Prime95 is now able to run without crashing or locking up your system?

Do the core temperatures now vary with CPU load?

ugh, starting to randomly reboot again, RMA'ing the mobo, they told me I need the original plastic cover for the lga 775 socket that it came with(or they will deny my rma) and I lost it, does anyone know where I could pick one of these up?

took a while to hit me, but ebay has everything, picked one up for $4

Hey Caalem, please keep updating your topic. I have a problem with random freezes and then it continues (can't find the solution either and tried to let it be solved by the pro's here as well but no one solution came out of it) but I've got the feeling that for me it's the PSU causing it since the +12V fluctuates (in HWmonitor (which shouldn't happen)) but i'm not sure. I'm really curious if there is something I could try as well so please keep me/us updated .

Maybe an interesting note, I've replaced my motherboard and CPU, it wasn't the solution. Either the PSU, Memory or hard drive is causing the problem. No error's in memtest, no overheating. And yes, I know how u feel. Don't think I've ever cursed as much to an object as I've did to my computer haha.

EDIT: None of the above is an actual solution or should be regarded as such. I just wanted to tell you I have a sort of similar problem with freezes and crashes with no true indication of what is causing it, and to tell you what I already tried to fix this damned thing.