Thinking about overclocking

deadbeatrocknro

deadbeatrocknro

deadbeatrocknro

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Thinking about overclocking (Updated with 1st attempt results)

Hi there

Just upgraded to an i7 950, giga x58a UD3R, and 6g Corsair XMS3 6GB 3x2g and Asus GeForce GTX 460 Direct CU TOP 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card. The PSU is an Antec Truepower Quattro in a NZXT Phantom case with the stock fans (one top, one rear, 2 side). CPU cooler is the stock fan.

I downloaded easytune 6, but I'ma little nerous just pressing a big old red button and hoping!

I've read the stickies here, but it all seems a little daunting. Is Easytune a good option? I noticed a similar bundle using my components sold clocked at 4g, but ET6 red button is 3.6.

Thanks in advance.
 
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The cooler is one of the most important parts of the system. Having spent that much money on a new build I am suprised you have not budgeted for that. Get yer pennys together and go water, buy it right once and you will never have to worry about buying air coolers again.

Don't even consider clocking on a standard cooler - thermal runaway will be rife.

Nice spec btw :)
 
Hi, thanks for the reply.

I've decided to go for a Noctua NH-D14, as I've seen some pretty impressive reviews.

I can't really justify the watercooling option cost wise.

I think I'll end up trying the easytune 6 route once I have the coller, as I really can't find any guide to overclocking that puts it in terms I can easily grasp. Which is a shame, becuase I really fancied the 4g route, especially as this setup is sold at 4g on OCUK.
 
Watercooling will pay for itself in performance alone - but I agree it is a fairly large initial outlay (hence why my rig is not under water yet) - if you've got it, it's worth it - if not, it's just a dream lol
 
Stock is fine for small overclock, just keep an eye on the temp. I wouldn't suggest water cooling to start with unless it's a straight forward all in one solution like the corsair h50/h70. But then they don't really offer much temp advantage over top end air coolers to warrant the price premium IMO. But beware that if your ram has tall heatsink it will interfere with large air coolers like the Noctua dh-n14.

I can see the appeal of oc software like easytune supplied with your motherboard. But you can almost always get away with much higher/stable overclock at lower voltage if you tweak the settings yourself in the bios. I know it seems complicated but if you post up your settings here I'm sure people with similar setups will be more than willing to help :)
 
You could just raise your BCLK to 166 and see how your temps go. (Get CoreTemp)

I would also check the voltages on a default Gigabyte bios. Sometimes the 'auto' voltages are way off. You generally want to see DRAM below 1.65V, QPI/DRAM below 1.4V and Vcore below 1.39V or so. As long as they're not higher than this then the 'auto' settings are OK.

And yeah XMS 3's are low; a Noctua clears them. However, the fans on a Noctua don't run particularly fast so they're not ideal for beast overclocks. Not bad for moderate OC though.
 
As above, BIOS is the best place to be for overclocking. Changing the voltage too high is the only concern you should have, everything else is fine. Really if the board doesn't like the overclock it will let you know right away and you can apply default settings. The only way you will damage the board/CPU is if you put the voltage so high that it fries!!
 
Thanks for your replies. Not sure how much of this is relevant, but my current settings are below. I ordered the new cooler which will be here tomorrow.
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ok, following on from those default settings...the new cooler arrived today (Noctua NH D14).

My temps ar default settings were about 29-31 deg idle and about 37-41 after running a hi res game for a while.

So....I took the plunge and pressed the big red button on Easytune 6.

After running P95 for a while, it showed that my cpu reached 69-75 deg max during testing, and idles at about 34-37.

CPUZ shows the below info....did this work ok? In theory this should now be running at 3.68.

How would I go about hitting 4g?
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hmm, also, am I right when reading cpuz? It seems to say my cpu is only running at 1.9?

edited to day: I amswered my own question there. I had to put load on the cpu to see the real value.

I'd certainly appreciate any settings/values to overclock this sytem to 4g
 
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Ok, after looking at advice from here and elsewhere I had a go in the bios.
Went with the 20*200 which took my ram to 1600. left all other settings on auto, and left the ampage at 700a
I would appreciate your thoughts. Here is the coretemp etc after 15 mins of P95..(the clock showed 4g under load but now reduced while idle)
oc1.jpg
 
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Your temps are a little high - not to big an issue as in day to day PC use you will never max out all four cores. I do think however that your vcore is rather high. Are you able to pass prime95 with lower vcore?

And could you post all your voltages please that would make it much easier to suggest ways of reducing your heat signature. But as I have said your temps are not unduly out of range.
 
Hi 1Day. Yes, I was expecting a slightly lower temp myself. It's my first oc attempt, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants. Here are my current bios settings. Any suggestion how to lower temp/voltages would be appreciated.

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So basically you have left all on auto and that allows the system to set its own vcore as needed. That is not a bad idea if you are not going to be doing heavy CPU load stuff. Because at the end of the day the CPU will determine when it needs additional voltages - all that stuff is onboard the CPU unless you have deactivated them all. Speedstep and all that.

Like I said it is only marginal the elevated temps and could be to do with the starting ambient temp. If you have the heating on in your house for example and have a nice toasty 24'C room then you can expect your temps to be a tad high. I have my PC next to the window and I am a fresh air freak :D so my temps are lower for that reason I think.
 
I think so too. I just ran another p95 and the ambient temp is lower today. The highest temp reached was 78 deg.

So, I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

I'm really not confident with voltages etc. The only thing I did today was raise the Mv to 800 from 700 as I read this is advised.
 
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