Considering overclocking for the first time:

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Qel

Qel

Qel

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Spec:
Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail
Asus P6T SE Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel (TR3X6G1600C9)
Sapphire HD 5770 1GB Graphics Card
Corsair HX 650W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply
Antec P183 Case
+ 2x 1tb hd.

Basically had the above for almost 4 years now at stock and it's obviously beginning to struggle in games to point where I'm considering buying a new system. On that I'm kind of in two minds, buy now or wait for new AMD/Nvidia graphics stuff later in the year/next year.
The other option I guess would be to finally try overclocking. I've never really needed to before so not even looked into it, let alone done it. I mainly play Planetside 2 which is extremely cpu limited and would be wanting to play Rome 2 and BF4 I guess.

So with that in mind, would it be worth overclocking the cpu in this, and assuming I don't trash the thing buy a newer graphics card like a 7870 or 660Ti? and use that for a year or so. Or am I going to be better off just buying a new system?

There are obviously loads of guides on how to overclock this cpu around the web, are there any that you would particularly recommend? I would just be looking for a decent performance boost whilst being stable, not going right to the limit or anything.

Other than that, assuming it's worth doing and relatively easy for a novice, any recommendations on what I should use in terms of cooler, thermal paste and what if any graphics card to go with this + anything else I'd need. All of that assuming the PSU will allow for any of this.

Appreciate any advice/thoughts on this. Thanks.
 
what cpu cooler are you using? you'll be limited with the stock cooler,maybe 3ghz or 3.2ghz at a push but aftermarket cooler you could achieve 3.6ghz-3.8ghz at the least maybe 4ghz+ if your chip is a decent clocker
 
wazza300 said:
what cpu cooler are you using? you'll be limited with the stock cooler,maybe 3ghz or 3.2ghz at a push but aftermarket cooler you could achieve 3.6ghz-3.8ghz at the least maybe 4ghz+ if your chip is a decent clocker
Click to expand...

As I said it's at stock, guess I should have specified stock cooler too. Towards the end of the post I asked for recommendations on a cooler though :)
 
Easily overclock it to 3.6GHz on low volts, even 4GHz on a D0 is simple enough but will need more volts and more heat to gid rid of. I'd not use the stock cooler though if that's what you have.

I don't think you need to buy a particularly expensive cooler. A single array 120mm fan shod tower cooler will be fine unless you want to go 4GHz.

Thermal paste - The cooler you buy will probably come with some and it'll be adequate to within a degree or two of the leading brand.

Your PSU will be fine.

I wouldn't like advise a card to buy but a 5770 is a bit long in the tooth now.
 
ahh ok,i think an aftermarket cooler is first on your list imo

the noctua d14 air cooler is decent provided your case is wide enough for it to fit inside

a 7850 or 7950 gpu would be good choice depending on budget
 
Think I'll just stick with air, keep it fairly.. simple for a first go :) assuming it's worth bothering.
 
its worth it,i ran my 920 @4.2ghz for years

also owned a 5770 and yh its a good card but newer cards are much faster,even the 7850 will blow it clean out of the water,plus they overclock easy and run cooler
 
wazza300 said:
its worth it,i ran my 920 @4.2ghz for years

also owned a 5770 and yh its a good card but newer cards are much faster,even the 7850 will blow it clean out of the water,plus they overclock easy and run cooler
Click to expand...

Yeah I realise that (the g card) just seemed pointless upgrading it without doing anything cpu wise and like I said never overclocked :)
 
Once overclocked, that cpu will be fine with any modern high end single card. I ran one of my 670's in an i7 920 based setup for a year or so before upgrading to the spec in sig, coped very well with bf3. 4ghz on the i7 920 is achievable with a bit of tweaking, but a good cooler is a must have. Below is a very good guide i used for oc'ing a 920 on a p6t board.

http://www.overclock.net/t/538439/guide-to-overclocking-the-core-i7-920-or-930-to-4-0ghz
 
setter said:
Once overclocked, that cpu will be fine with any modern high end single card. I ran one of my 670's in an i7 920 based setup for a year or so before upgrading to the spec in sig, coped very well with bf3. 4ghz on the i7 920 is achievable with a bit of tweaking, but a good cooler is a must have. Below is a very good guide i used for oc'ing a 920 on a p6t board.

http://www.overclock.net/t/538439/guide-to-overclocking-the-core-i7-920-or-930-to-4-0ghz
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, any particular cooler you'd recommend?
 
Mmm was looking at that, will have to measure everything. Also regarding PSU if I were to go ahead and overclock the cpu, what would be the upper limit in terms of a graphics card to go with it? Probably won't go for the very best I could just about run, but interested to know.

Thanks for the answers btw.
 
Any modern single card would be fine with that corsair as it's a really high quality unit. The latest cards are much less power hungry than those from even a generation ago. For example, my 920 was ran with sli gtx 470's, (notoriously power hungry cards), total power draw at the wall in games was 630w (cards oc'd too). Switching to a single 670 with a very high oc on it saw a drop to 430w.
 
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