The i5 2500k

Lukewhitworth

Lukewhitworth

Lukewhitworth

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Joined
21 Feb 2012
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283
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Mansfield, Notts
So I am new to pc building, and I have been looking at the bundles overclockers do that come ready set up for OC, they come with a CPU fan etc.

I have had a look on other posts,but I can't seem to get answers for a few questions I have. So I know that OCing can reduce your hardware lifespan ,but does this apply to the bundles OCs make for you or are they set up to last as long as an i5 unclocked if you don't mess with the settings (which I wouldn't because voids warranty with OCers) because I don't really want to be spending about £400 that is fast but in 6-12 months time has died a premature death.

Would the case fan that comes with:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-002-AE

and the CPU fan in the bundle I'm after:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-063-OE&groupid=43&catid=2053&subcat=


make it cool enough? Or do you HAVE to invest in watercooling to OC?


The thing is I really want to build my own pc that's good, but I cannot afford to be buying watercooling kits or having the hardware fail.


Last question, do you require more power to the pc if you OC? I am looking at a 550w power supply. Is that enough for the i5 Oced, I am only having 1 HDD and a blu ray player in it and a decent graphics card at a later date.


Thanks.
 
You don't need to water cool. 4.5ghz on air is easily achievable with minimal changes to the bios

If you don't mind doing it yourself you can save some money buying the parts individually and then overclocking yourself.

The general accepted opinion is that overclocking is only likely to affect the lifespan of your CPU if you over volt the chip. Overvolting is a debatable area but anything over 1.45V is considered unsustainable.

You're looking at a small reduction on a 10 year usage cycle if you push your CPU a lot and I'm sure you would have upgraded by then anyway so it's completely safe and worth doing.
 
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It depends, OCUK only put the bundles together as it is sent from them from the factories it made in, all the parts will still be the same as if you bought it individually.

It also depends on how much you want to oc the i5 will happily cope with high end games etc (with a good GPU) without needing to be overclocked. The sixth element case does have good airflow and should cope fine. and the bundle heatsink should cope easily.

Check your temps once you get it and if you do have heat problems then you might need to watercool.
 
Overclocking is not that big a deal. Unless you do it really wrong you are not going to dramatically reduce the life of your components.

The OC bundles will be done in exactly the same way as you would do it yourself, they will not last any longer.

If I were you I would do the overclocking yourself it isn' that hard and you may enjoy it.

Also cheap CPU coolers are fine if you only want a small overclock, but if you want to get the most out of that chip get a good cooler. Something like an NH-14D.
 
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Good advice above really, overclocking is quite straight forward on the Sandybridge CPUs, there are even specific guides for certain motherboards which makes it even easier. And of course we can help.

Were you building a whole new PC? We can help you get the best components for your money. Just need a budget and what you need (OS, mouse, keyboard etc...)
(you can start a thread in general hardware if you like for this)
 
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