torture me!

[Lunchbox!]

OK, I have just purchased a new proc, 1.33GHz (hopefully AXIA or better) to go along with my iwill ka266-r mobo, Crucial 256MB pc2100 ram, and v5 5500 agp(I know, I know, im replacing it!).I have a couple of questions.
1). Where can I dl some torture test software?
2). Which ones should I get?
3). How do I check my temps?
4). can someone explain ambient, c/w, load, etc..that I am steady seeing on HSF reviews?
5). How do I know what default voltage to go with?
6). How is the HSF supposed to sit on the processor exactly?(I know its suposed to touch the die, but should it touch the area around it, or should I get a copper shim to accomplish this...will it help?)

Okay, I know that was alot... so answer what you can, plz tell me which number you were referring to with your answer. I would appreciate any suggestions for cooling, but I'm almost stuck on the swiftech mcw-462, but was thinking about some watercooling...not sure yet though...Thanks for any help! It is greatly appreciated.

[proze]

nice setup choices!!

1. www.tweakfiles.com is very good for a lot of benchmarking software.
2. personally, i test for stability with the following: seti@home for a few hours, looping q3 demos for a few hours, and 20-bot insta-gib match on ut with me as spectator following the leading bot for a few hours. and if i feel like it i run 3dmark2k for a few loops. that generally finds out if my system is stable or not.
3. download a proggie called motherboard monitor 5 from the above-mentioned site. it works with most mobos, so it should work with yours. great program!
4. ambient temps: the temp of the air in the room your testing in. i.e. the temp of the air used by the hsf..
load temps: the cpu temperature under full-load.. eg. during and after running the above tests.
5. the processor will boot at its correct default voltage.. go into bios and make note of it.
6. what you're interested in cooling is the die. shims, imho, are a waste of money, and apparently even raise the cpu temp by conducting heat from the mobo to the hsf. just be careful installing hsfs and you'll be fine.

the swiftech is an awesome cooler, but is very expensive. take a look around at different overclocking sites. many have up-to-date hsf round-ups.. they're not as trustworthy as joe's reviews, but will give you a rough idea of what to look for. personally, i use a pal6035 with the delta fan, and it's magic.

have fun with yer new setup! :)

[portorock]

#5, the best voltage is the lowest one that will keep your rig stable, sounds obvious, but some like to pump up the juice for no reason, and that just adds heat on the cpu. There is no concrete voltage, mine ran 1.33 at 1.65v, but the board had default at 1.75. That doesn't sound like much, but it is.