Looks like a lot of people are going for a Quad, so maybe there should be a thread for posting your overclocks, cooling, general quad core overclocking questions etc.
Maybe we could get a list of Air Coolers together, a list of motherboards that play nicely with each stepping, and any tweaks, tips and tricks that you may have
Air Cooling
Thermalright Ultra eXtreme - Requires a more powerful fan to get the best from it.
Recommended by SadikP, Phil_P
Tuniq tower 120 - Tried and tested with dual core, doing well with quad core.
Scythe Infinity - Tried and tested on dual core, seems to be doing well with quad core - more info as we get it.
Recommended by Choo Choo, Pollaxe.
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - For those on a budget, this is a decent step up from the stock cooler, but dont expect massive overclocks with this one. -
Recommended by GSV[Trig].
Will list more here as people add them.
Water Blocks.
D-Tek Fuzion - Excellent block with a mirror finish base, highly recommended for quad core. -
Recommended by Daza, Clunk, fat jez.
Swiftech Apogee GTX - Another tried and tested block, highly recommended for quad core.
AquaXtreme MP-05 Pro LE - Great for dual core, but didnt perform with the quad, so cant recommend this one.
If you are using a different block, please state what you have, including the rest of the stuff in the loop, and how it performs, and I will add it here.
Motherboards.
Looking for personal recommendations here. Doesnt have to be a great overclocker, just rock solid. If it is a great overclocker, please mention that as well. Quad core only though please.
Asus P5B Deluxe WiFi AP - Excellent set of features and a great overclocker, but overshadowed by the P35 chipset boards.
Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi AP - Awesome quad core overclocking, extremely stable, even at high
FSB. -
Recommended by Clunk, fat jez.
Asus P5K Standard/Vanilla Version - Another great performer, although not quite as good and the Deluxe model, and has some voltage options missing and some of the other features are removed to keep the costs down. -
Recommended by Choo Choo.
P5K-E WiFi - Slightly chopped down version of the Deluxe with different power circuitry. Looks to be working well for a few people at the moment. -
Recommended by GSV[Trig]
Gigabyte P35-DS4 motherboard (rev 1.1) "Motherboard
BIOS (F4) supports G0 out of the box and boots up fine with memory at default 1.8v (detected SPD using slower timings).
Recommended by Phil_P
I will include more as people add them.
Misc Coolers/Heatsinks.
Thermalright HR-09U / HR-09 - These are a bit pricey, but they work brilliantly, and with a small, no fuss mod, can be made to fit the P5K boards. These are especially handy when you are using watercooling, or a heatsink that doesnt blow on the mosfet area, and when you are overclocking a quad core, the mosfet area gets extremely hot! You can find some pics of them, and the mod
here,
here, and the entire thread for the P5K Deluxe can be found
here.
Recommended by Clunk.
Applying thermal paste to a quad core.
There is a slighly different way of applying the thermal paste to a quad.
Click
here to open a PDF with instructions.
Tweaking those temps.
This bit will only work if you have a waterblock or cooler fitted that fits on with screws or bolts.
So, you have everything set up, but one or more of your core's temps are much higher that the other's.
Open
Coretemp (or any other program that shows all 4 core's temp's at the same time).
You need to start your
stress testing program so that the CPU is under full load, reach into the case, while keeping an eye on the screen, and turn one of the nuts/screws that hold the block/heatsink down.
As you turn, you will notice that one of the cores will increase/decrease in temperature. Move to the next screw/nut and do the same. You will find that each corner corresponds to one of the cores.
Have a mess around with all of the 4 screws/nuts and you should be able to tweak the temps so that they are within a couple of Centigrade of eachother.
Important!
Temps vary wildly, and depend on many different factors, cooling used, thermal paste, actual contact with the IHS/heatsink, fans, airflow, software used, room temps etc, so please take the temps that people
post, with a pinch of salt.
Also, if you are watercooling, a
backplate can work wonders for your temps. Because of the way that waterblocks (and some heatsinks) fix to the board, a lot of bending occurs around the socket area, and this in turn can lead to poor contact with the block/heatsink and the IHS on the CPU. So, we take out the X shaped black bracket from that kit (you dont need the rest), and then that goes at the
back of the motherboard, and then everything clamps together the same as before, and the board bend is virtually eliminated.
The cost is around £5, and for me, it was £5 well spent. Not everyone will benefit, but for that price, its a no brainer.
If This Info Was Of Use To You - 
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I'll add more later
Quad Core Thread: Overclocking, Cooling, Motherboards, Troubleshooting & General Info
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