Ok so offcially, I'm not not meant to be running a Phenom2 x4 940 on a MA-770DS3 rev 1 mobo and I'm fully aware it may be the cause of my problem but I'm confident from what I've read and it can be done.

I decided to test with prime95 and got a bit worried when it got to 70C in about 10 sec then fell back to idle at 36C. I know its a toture test with prime95 but 70C in that time should mean a fired cpu yea? People test with prime95 over night don't they?

Its stock standard HSF, I had knocked the temp down a bit earlier by upadating the BIOS and reapplied thermal paste, it idled at 60C before that and 36C now, Are the temps I'm getting to high? I"m getting about 50C while playing BFBC2 now.

Its turning into a bit of a challenge to see if I'm going to get away with a stable set up with this so called mismatched combo.