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help me spend one ££ please

Ian Jones

Ian Jones

Ian Jones

Associate
Joined
2 Jan 2012
Posts
803
Location
Cambridge
Hi all

i have been playing bf3 ok on my current set up, but new with borderlands 2, my graphics card is struggling, and i think i need a new one.

with my current card, i haven never been able to get the correct working drivers for it, and when a game loads i get a bsod. to get around this, I have to turn of A.I in CCC and then it works fine (only using one core i think)

this is my spec

asus P5G41T-m LX INTEL G41 mobo
Corsair Vengeance 8gb ram
4870x2 graphics card
q6600 cpu with freezer 7 pro cooler
ocz zs 750w psu
windows 7 ult 64 bit

I have been looking in the clearence section of overclockers and there looks like some bargine to be had. I would like to spend as little as poss, but get something better than what i have now please

many thanks
ian
 
Well, I have the same cpu + cooler as you, and my last card was a 4870X2. You'd be best off trying to perform a basic overclock; it should breathe some life into the performance in games, and your desktop performance will be more responsive. For the sake of a minute or two of effort, your system will run significantly better; I managed to knock mine up to 3.4 (stable).


Download a temp monitoring program like coretemp :

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Then, when booting up your system, hit delete to enter the BIOS. All you need to do is change the FSB to 333 to get an overclock from 2.4 to 3.0 - see if it's stable at that and keep an eye on the temps - which shouldn't be a problem with that cooler, but it's sensible to get into good habits. Ideally, you want to be aiming for at least 3.1 / 3.2 with a card like that. If, after all that, you're still not satisfied with the performance, then by all means you 'could' pick up something like a 7850, but you'll still be hampered without overclocking your cpu, and most likely even more so than before.

To check what revision your Q6600 is, download cpu-z to find out :

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

From memory, a 'GO' revision is usually one of the better ones for attaining a good overclock, while the 'B3' are generally the poorest - but even these should reach around 3.0ghz.
 
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cool, thank you,
so all i need to do is Then, when booting up your system, hit delete to enter the BIOS. All you need to do is change the FSB to 333 to get an overclock from 2.4 to 3.0

then watch the core temps?

ive downloaded the programs, what core temp should i not go above?

thanks
ian
 
Your mobo manual will tell you how to access the BIOS, but I know a common method is to use the delete key (that's how I access mine, though I have a different mobo).


Yep, try simply changing the FSB to 333 from its current value, which is 266 iirc. Then, in my case, I press F10 to save and exit, but you'll see what to do there in the options. It'll then reboot and load with your new settings. Don't do anything else at this stage, just watch the temps for each core and report back your findings. You should have a reading for :

core 0 =
core 1 =
core 2 =
core 3 =
 
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cool, thank you. i have found it and changed it to 333. in the windows test thing proccessor and ram were 7.1, now it is 7.3.

temps before the test were
0= 57
1= 58
2= 58
3= 58

ill have a go at borderlands now, and report back on temps
 
Hmmm...when you say 'test', are you saying that those temps you wrote were before the overclock? If so, I'd say that is on the high side. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I just wanted to clarify details for obvious reasons.
 
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just had a game of borderlands, but i have noticed that it has crashed a couple of times, saying borderlands is not responding.

max core temps after game
0=59
1=60
2=59
3=57
 
Have you checked to see what revision the Q6600 is?

Is your cpu cooler relatively clean? As I'm sure you aware, a build up of dust will increase the temperature.

It would be interesting to see what your temps are like without overclocking?

You could try dropping down the overclock to say from 3.0 to 2.8, and see how it fares.
 
i have had a look at the name, in that program, does kentsfield mean anything?

to run 2.8, what number to i need to replace the 333 with please?
 
Try 312 (I think) for 2.8 - you can just type a number in and it will tell the result once you hit enter.

There is a thread on overclocking which I feel would be in your best interests to have a look at :

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17612922

There is a lot of info there, but it doesn't necessarily mean you need to know everything inside out, and all at once. Obviously 'FSB' is essential and 'PCI Express Frequency' is something else you'll read about, which is also worth changing - again, dead simple.

Do keep an eye on the temps! As I said before, post your stock / pre-overclocked temps at stock as well. :)

With a decent overclock, you could breathe some life into your card, otherwise you're looking at a new cpu and mobo (forget buying a new card, as you'll only be getting even more bottlenecked). If you bought a new processor and motherboard but still kept your current card, I'll bet you'll be surprised by just how much your fps would shoot through the roof. A decent mobo isn't that expensive and something like an Intel sandybridge 2500k / ivybridge 3570k cpu would do your games wonders. ;)

A mod might move this thread over to the cpu sub forum (just in case it goes missing). :)
 
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Ok, well now at least we know that the temps didn't go up much from stock, so no worrying results there.

It looks like you have a pretty warm running chip there (not that uncommon for a Q6600 B3), and my early thoughts are that you won't get a good enough overclock to push much more out of even your current card, let alone a new one.

I'd be inclined to post any further questions in the sub forum I linked to above, and see what others have to say. :)
 
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