Overheating CPU

[mottamort]

Hmmm... I first considered the GPU, but then I remembered that the GPU was already there with my previous MB & CPU. CPU and MB is only components that changed during the upgrade. Haven't considered the PSU. The sparks I saw though, looked like it dripped from the middle of the box somewhere (PSU is at the bottom). I will however try the HWMonitor while playing games again this weekend.

Yeah I'd say confirm that cpu is overheating, then take it from there. Sparks also feels more PSU/power related than CPU heat. Your power requirements might have gone up with new mobo/cpu depending on what was swapped with what. Either that or you have a borked IDE/SATA adapter...i've seen those things short out (causing /switch off/restart) and once even catch fire...not fun times for our client. So maybe just have a look there if you happen to have a little IDE to Sata (or vice versa) power adapter (they look something like below)