Core i7 build, need suggestions

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I got a problem, imagine that. I unhooked the hard drives and took them out to get the serial numbers off of them so I could register them to get the warranty. I hook just one of them back up and I get the disk boot failure message. So I thought maybe I got the drives mixed up. So I hook the other drive up and I get the Windows Boot manager screen so I know that wasn't the case.

I hooked up the right drive and I still get the message. I have tried both sata cables, the drive is recognized in the bios. I have not changed anything in the bios related to the drives. Is it possible that something could of happened to the drive when I had it out? I handled it pretty careful, didn't throw it around or anything. Is it possible I could have touched the wrong area? Usually I hold it on the sides but I is possible that I touch the bottom of the drive.
 
It's because of how you installed the OS, with both drives installed. You'll find that if you install both drives again in the exact same way you had them it should work.

To fix it, go into your bios and make sure that...
1. The first HDD out of the 'hard drive list' is the boot drive
2. The first boot device is a hdd
 
So you are telling me that I can't take the second drive out which is just used for storage and hook it up as a external hard drive? IIRC, I did that on my last build.
 
You can, but you'll need to make sure the bios settings are still correct when you take it out. It will likely mess up the boot order, etc
 
Okay I got it working again. I had to hook both drives up. I got worried that something physically got messed up when I took the drives out. I will leave them hooked up for right now.
 
I have just started to overclock and I am not to impressed with the cpu cooler. I am up to 3.1ghz and my load temps running prime95 are in the upper 60's already and my idle temps are in the low 40's. I figured it would be better than that. I haven't even touched the voltages yet. I have thought about putting some higher rpm fans on the cooler. Since the middle fan is round, does a round fan have to go in there? Soulphire, what are you load temps?

Also there are some little lights next to the first memory slot. The book says it is for the NB Phase LED, DDR Phase LED, and the DDR Voltage LED. When I first got the computer running, the lights would only come on when I first turn the machine on and then go away. Now they are staying on all the time. Sometimes just one will be on and other times 3 or 4 will be on. Right now there is 3 on, one green, one orange, and one red. What do those mean?

I have been playing BFBC2 with all the settings on high, vsync turned off at 1680x1050 and I am getting anywhere between 60 and 100 fps. Is that normal?
 
I'd say you might have to reseat the heatsink. I got idle temps in the high 30's most of the time, sometimes crossing over to 40-41c on one particular core.
Can't remember my load temps, not at 3.1Ghz anyway.

Just push it up to 4Ghz
20x multi, 200Mhz blck. Set your vcore to 1.3v to start off with, and your QPI/DRAM voltage to 1.3375v. You should easily boot with those settings.
Then start lowering the vcore, you should be stable at ~1.28v still but it'll vary for each person.
Run LinX for 5 minutes every time you decrease the voltage, when it starts to crash/freeze raise the voltage by two notches and run LinX for an hour.

Once you've got the vcore low enough, start on the QPI voltage. Same thing.

Also, I'd recommend raising your PCIE setting from 100 to ~102-103
 
Don't I have to gradually work up to 4.0ghz? I don't know if I can go that high because I think the temps will be to high. I am already getting close to 70 degrees already and I am only at 3.1ghz without touching the voltage.

At stock speeds, my idle temps were in the upper 30's as well. I am at 3.2ghz right now and my idle temps are around 45 degrees. Seems a little high to me.
 
i7 920's can handle up to 100C, they run hot.
At one point (with an older cooler) I was running my i7 at 92C 24/7. It's still just fine

But to be "safe" I'd say try and keep the temp under 85C at max. You've got plenty of room dude, no worries.

And nah, you don't really need to gradually push up the OC. That's a good idea if you don't know how well your heatsink is going to dissipate the heat, or if you don't know how much voltage/speed you can get out of your CPU. But in this case, the i7 can handle a 1.4vcore EASILY and the D14 will also easily keep it cool enough at 1.3v
 
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