New Build, need advice please.

Yeah, stulid gave me a link for a guide to OC an i5 to 5.0GHz. I've only been adjusting the multiplier so far since I know messing with the voltage can possibly break the board. I'm going to have a good read of that guide.

Speaking of the i5, I've read online in the past hour that it's an average that most can get 4.4GHz since some people who are unlucky can only get 4.2GHz while others are really in luck and get 5.0GHz depending on the CPU itself.

4.0GHz seems stable so far through all the test's I've put it through, and I've updated the drivers for the GPU and CPU besides the ones mentioned before. I'm sure I'll get more from it, but I'm going to try and play some more games on it now to see if anything happens.

As for fans, I only have the stock ones currently installed. The one is at the front of the case (I think this is intake) and has a blue light behind it, there's another at the back for exhaust I believe. The CPU cooler is positioned so that it pulls air from the front intake fan which passes the graphics card out the exhaust fan at the back.

Do you think those temps I was getting was normal? I tried another test in OCCT but used a small data set instead which is supposed to generate more heat for the CPU but only got exactly 1°C per core extra on load.

Also, how do I make the system stay on my multiplier all the time? stulid mentioned it and I believe I disabled the right option in the BIOS but it's still slowing down to 16x...

EDIT: Sorry the case is: http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6649

It's called the silicon lottery steve lol Not all cpus are the same, they are rated at 3.3 some can go higher than others. I've done several i5 builds and had them all stable at 4.4 with hardly any fuss at all.....i could well be lucky though.

I usually use the zalman z9 case which comes with 4 fans. I don't set the CPU to run "full chat" all the time but with the same heatsink as you they were idling at 20, under stress testing (running at 4.4) they topped at 45-46 degrees. Of course your home could well be much hotter than mine lol

Did i mention "theHunter" to you? It's a free hunting simulator which looks brilliant!
 
This room can get hot with all the electrics in here. Don't even need the heating on in the winter lol!

As you can see, this case has room for 8 more fans I believe. Would adding one or two improve the temps? They seem to be quite cheap on OCUK. You didn't mention that hunting simulator but I'll go check it out real quick ;)
 
Whoops, I appeared to have placed my graphics card in the x8 PCI slot instead of the x16. I only did that to create more space between the card and CPU cooler. This will be of course effecting the cards performance yes?
 
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3892#sp

Bookmark that page so you can easily get to the downloads section for drivers etc. If you read the Expansion slots section it clearly states to use the X16 slot if you are using only one GPU.....so yes you need to shift it up.

More fans certainly wont hurt your temps. As i said the Z9 I use comes with 4 fans, so i have the standard exhaust fan plus another near it at the top of the case. Your heatsinks 120mm fan is pushing cool air through the fins to the rear of the case, as we know heat rises so it would be nice to have an additional fan at the top.

If you look you can actually mount 140mm fans if you'd prefer, also you could consider changing the stock blue fan to a different size and or colour, to make the rig more customised :) That's an ideal purchase once you get free delivery don't you think? My blank media is posted through the letterbox so i expect a fan would be too.

p.s what did you think of theHunter?
 
Cool. I'll get at least a fan for the top, can't hurt like you said. I have theHunter client downloaded but not installed yet, was too tired last night.

My friend also has a problem with his old disk drive that he transplanted. It's almost 5 years old and nothing special from Dell, but it won't read disks, and it sounds like the laser head/eye is gone, he wanted me to post the sound up here first before buying a new one, so here we go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgcmYp7yaCM

So he'll be buying a new one I imagine. I have to get some food from the supermarket so I'll have to change the card when I get back :)
 
My friend bought himself a new drive, the other is definitely broken. He got it quite cheap. As for the PC, I'll take a few photos of it once I tidy the cables up a bit. Nothing special as of yet, but I'll put them up anyway. Then it's onto thinking about customizing the case =D
 
My friend bought himself a new drive, the other is definitely broken. He got it quite cheap. As for the PC, I'll take a few photos of it once I tidy the cables up a bit. Nothing special as of yet, but I'll put them up anyway. Then it's onto thinking about customizing the case =D

LED fans and LED strips?
 
LED fans and LED strips?

Fans for sure yeah! Might as well get myself some LED fans rather than the standard ones. Just need to decide on what colour I want. Anyway. I've just set the i5 to 4.2GHz and I'm about to do another hour test on OCCT or Prime. I'm pretty sure I'm a bit "unlucky" because of my findings on 4.4GHz but I'm happy with anything stable at 4.0GHz and above.

RAM wise, this Genesis Grey is supposed to run at 1600Mhz right? It's currently running at 1333MHz. Never attempted to OC RAM before, don't you have to mess with the voltages to overclock it?
 
The RAM has a XMP profile which you should find avalible in the BIOS, this sets the speed/timings etc all for you, must be something in the boards manual about it.

Page 36?
 
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So goto that screen and set it.
 
4.2GHz seems stable. Temps were higher than before, but I didn't realise someone left the radiator on in the room, which wouldn't have helped the temps.

Max Temps yesterday @ 4.0GHz under load:

Core 0: 59°C
Core 1: 61°C
Core 2: 64°C
Core 3: 63°C

Max Temps today under load @ 4.2GHz (with damn radiators on lol):

Core 0: 66°C (+6)
Core 1: 67°C (+6)
Core 2: 70°C (+6)
Core 3: 68°C (+5)

As you can see, a clear pattern, all going up by 6°C. That would have probably been because of the warm room, since the intake would have been sucking in warmer air -_-
 
So goto that screen and set it.

Right. I adjusted the SPD to 16x and it changed from 1333MHz to 1600MHz. Before confirming the change, it asked me if I wanted to enhance CPU performance or something similar, being unsure I said no. I assume I did it right?
 
Loading a XMP profile sets all this for you, the frequency/timings etc.

Can you not see "Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)" in the picture of the BIOS above?"
 
Its so much easier to goto that BIOS screen and change the XMP from Disabled to a profile stored in the RAM modules.
 
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4.3GHz seemed very stable last night, even been rendering videos and playing games on it this morning, no problem. I'll have to try 4.4GHz again when I get back later. The BSoD might have been software related since the Mobo drivers were out of date, will keep you posted!

Turn those radiators off :p

lol :) I turned them off at the valve since I never need them on, won't be back on again that's for sure.
 
Okay, about to test the i5 on 4.4GHz. Even have the windows open to cool the room before hand.

I've recorded a few gaming videos on the different speeds, just to test it out. Using FRAPS of course really impacts the fps performance, especially when you're recording to a single drive like me. Once I get a second HDD for storage, it'll improve somewhat. Anyway, I set FRAPS to 30fps since that's the highest YouTube can display the last time I checked and all these games did fine, only Skyrim dipped to 25fps a few times while recording.

1. Battlefield 3

This was on Ultra, maxed out at a resolution of 1920x1080. With FRAPS, 30fps was easy, without it, I was getting some nice fps as well.

CPU: 4.0GHz
GPU: Stock
RAM: Stock

2. Batman Arkham City

Max settings, 1920x1080, DX11. 30fps was easy while recording but I noticed a few micro stutters but game suffers from this anyway, even when getting high fps.

CPU: CPU: 4.0GHz
GPU: Stock
RAM: Stock

3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Maxed out again, 1920x1080. Without FRAPS, I was doing wonderful fps wise. Recording seemed stable on 30fps but sometimes dipped to 25fps, mainly on the cart.

CPU: 4.3GHz
GPU: Stock
RAM: 1600MHz

Keep in mind, I had to render the files in Windows LIVE Movie Maker which is terrible. Think that lowered the quality of the videos a bit. Will be better once I reinstall my Vegas.
 
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