Friends,
I fixed my i7 920 2.66 freezing issue. I will share with you what worked for me. Before I begin, I need to clarify some things. First, the route I took was a little on the pricey side. Second, though I have been into computers for 3/4s of my life, this was the first time built a desktop on my own, so my terminology may not be exact lol. So here is what worked for me.
I originally had the standard model Asus P6T mobo, X58 chipset, with an i7 920 2.66 processor. 12 gigs patriot viper DDR3 1333 ram, vista then later Win7 64. I had been messing with my components and BIOS for weeks. Got to the point where my computer wouldn't boot anymore, even after a complete unwiring and rewiring, removing the cmos and putting back in, doing the jumper thing... something was seriously wrong, more than likely from my manhandling lol. So what I did, was I ordered the Asus P6T Deluxe V2 mobo, and, because I suspucted I damaged it (fiddling with thermal paste, handling, touching the wong surface, things of that nature...) another processor of the same type. I set up the new mobo with the new processor. I left BIOS at default (XMP would make my old setup freeze even faster). I booted up... THEN IT FROZE! All was not lost. I powered off, unplugged the main cord, and tried one last thing. On the mobo, where there is the big power connection and then that second one that comes with half of it capped off, I removed that cap and used the full connection ( hope I'm making sense). I then powered back on and booted up again. VOILA! It is now stable. So, the only difference between now and before is the mobo, new processor (but same type), and using that full connection instead of half of it capped off. Now, it's entirely possible that that issue, removing the cap and using the full connection, was the issue all along and perhaps I did not need the new mobo and new processor, however I have to tell you that I had already tried using the full, uncapped connection on the old mobo with the first processor, so it's possible that wasn't the issue or not the entire issue. Long story short, this desktop is stable as hell with:
Asus P6T Deluxe V2 mobo
i7 920 2.66 processor
BIOS set at default (I'm not even going to bother tweaking it out)
The smaller power connection fully utilized, i.e. the black plastic cap covering half of it removed and entirely plugged in.
Now it is stable. I hope someone with more experience might gain some insight from this. Maybe you can read between the lines and deduce what the issue could have been and why/how the issue no longer exists for me. Maybe you won't need a new mobo and processor, why spend all that cash if you don't really have to. But all I care about is that my system is now stable.
EDIT: In retrospect... My graphics card is a MONSTER, it's the nVidia GTX 295; thing's huge (but well well worth it...!) Perhaps because of that, my mobo needed as much juice as it could take, so maybe that power connection really was the issue, and perhaps it didn't work when I tried it with the older setup because may have damaged something else in my haphazrd attempts to get this to work.
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