Ocing issue

I'm having a serious issue with overclocking my processor. Its really odd because it doesnt seem to have issues under stress at all.

730a mobo-evga
gtx 260 core 216
apevia java 650w
phenom 9950 BE

I try to OC the cpu, just to 2900 mhz, and its totally fine in prime 95, stable for a good while, but then just using windows, it randomly freezes. Could it be my ram? I'm mixing some really lame 1 gig of dual channel ddr2 533 with 2 gigs of ddr 2 dual channel 800mhz ram. Im only using stock cooling but temps dont seem bad at all.

yeah could be ram... or just the motherboard...

are you saying the mobo is like... broken possibly, or just hates ocing my cpu? im going to try taking out the crappy ram and just using my 2 gigs of good ram and see if its stable, but thatll run windows 7 64 slower than hell.

Windows 7 runs pretty good on low ram.. Installed it on a laptop with 1gb today, runs goooooooooooood.

I dont think anything is broken, but yeah try to remove the ghetto ram.
Maybe the motherboard isnt good at overclocking.

well, its that in games it stutters like ass for me. for just running windows its fantastic.

It is not your mobo that giving you a problem here. It is your RAM. Try to play with your timings.
Try to do this:
1. OC just your CPU and drop down the frequency of your RAM a little.
2. Stress test your CPU just the CPU only
3. If stable, go back to the BIOS and OC your RAM
4. Run Memtest86+ for 24hours
5. If stable, stress test both at the same time.

OR... buy a nice set of 2x2gb sticks.. DDR2 ram is almost free these days

730a
mixing RAM

Please, stop.

jesus rice you dont count. you hate amd and ati (i only agree with the ati part :D). ok so rice, is the 730i any good? if yes, go home considering they're the same damn thing. I also am only 15.. dont have a job yet, so mixing the ram was pretty much necessary. I am going to buy some dual channel ram though, and thanks for the confirmation on it being ram. i would HATE to have to buy a new mobo.