Hi,

I've got my system running pretty well, thanks to everyone here! 😄

What I'm wondering is does anyone do initial boot testing of overclocked configs using a USB boot dongle? I'd like to try this so I don't goof up my 3 RAID arrays. Some of my OC testing would crash the C:\ (RAID 1 SSD Samsung 840 Pro) and the only recovery would be an image restore...which itself requires a reboot to a flash drive. Particularly, when I get a stable CPU...say 4.2 @ 1200mv, my Muskin 2400 memory will run at the slower, non-XMP speed. So, as I try to tweak the memory timings, to get it closer to 2400 than 1600...maybe 2133, etc. then I get boot problems and corruption.

So, I could boot to the flash drive first...but there's no utility for generally testing windows, AFAIK. I could get an XP boot image with some FFT or performance test on it. It's not my Windows 8.1 system, but it could work. There may also be a utility I can include on the Win8.1 recovery USB dongle that may give me a modicum of sanity check, before a real boot.

For what it's worth, I AM using my M6F's CrossChill on my loop! (Some worry about the anodized aluminum, but my Mayhems X1coolant is supposed to work with all metals, and I trust the ROG engineers!) The VRM and CPU are very cool and it doesn't seem to care if I push the pumps at full-speed or as low as 30% of the flow. I can do large FFTs all day at 55-58 deg C, with stock clocks and 2400 MHz RAM, with about 25 deg C ambient, and 28-30 deg C idle CPU temps. I'm going to not try to max out the performance...but by the same token, I don't want to leave a few hundred MHz off the table, if it's easy and safe to do.

If anyone has a URL with a good image to boot, or a way to get the Win8.1 recovery disk to run some stress tests, please let me know!

Cheers,

-Ambi