Tweak Or Leave My Old System?

chalkywhyte

chalkywhyte

chalkywhyte

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Joined
13 Dec 2008
Posts
134
Hello everyone,

I've recently ordered a "titan Accelerator" and this will now be my main pc where i work.(Army)

My old pc is now going to be home pc.
Which is currently:

Q6600 B3 revision
Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro Cooler
Asus P5N32-E SLI
4Gb Corsair XMS2 6400 Memory
2x 320Gb Western Digital Caviar Hard Drives
640mb XFX 8800GTS XT Graphics Card
620W Corsair HX Modular PSU
2x Lg Dvd Rewriter Drives
All housed in an Antec 900 with Vista Home Premium 64 OS.

As this is over the 1 year warantee i was thinking i could maybe try get a bit more out of it.(it did come pre overclocked to 2.7)

I have a few questions.

1. Is it worth maybe changing the case to the 300 for better cooling?
2. Seeing as this is a B3 Quad could i reach 3.0Ghz with everything as is?
3. Will updating the bios to the newest improve anything in this system? (never done it since i had this system)
4. Shall i leave it as is and start wrapping presents.:)
I've never overclocked before so a bit nervous about messing with it.
The room in which the pc is in is quite a warm room. (could be warm because of this pc tho lol)
These are just starter questions so be prepared for many more.

Thanks for any opinions/advice in advance.

Chalky.
 
Well i downloaded core temp to see how much heat its kicking out and at this moment in time just typing this up my temps are around 68 on all cores. Speed fan says around 55 on each core.
13 degrees difference?
I knew these chips run hot but surely that can't be right is there any other temp programmes i could look at to maybe get a third opinion so to speak.
 
Always pleased to help a man in green! ;)

In answer to your first post:

1. No. Antec 900 provides cooling a-plenty
2. Yes. Although, I am concerned at your load temps with AC7 Pro. What vcore is that? Tried re-seating heat sink and replacing thermal paste for better results?
3. Updating BIOS does not always guarantee a better clock, but is usually a good idea as updates are designed to remove known errors.
4. Always ensure your family/friends have presents to unwrap so they are busy and content leaving you to get on with clocking the nuts off your rig! ;):D
 
Thanks for the reply. I got the missus on the wrapping so thats sorted. :)

I am a complete noob when it comes to insides but i am a willing learner. I imagine that there is dust a plenty inside the case so that probably don't help.

where would i find vcore?

Sorry for noob question.

EDIT If its the core voltage then that is 1.296v
 
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Correct vcore = core voltage.

Assuming all other voltages are stock, try increasing the FSB by small increments (10Mhz or so) and run orthos/prime for 10 mins. Repeat until system crashes/blue screen then up the vcore by one increment. Repeat previous steps until you have reached 3GHz. There are some great guides/stickies at the top of this section that are worth a browse.

You need to watch the temps though, the B3 should be good up to about 75degC. I am concerned at the high temps you are achieving at the relatively low clock and vcore you currently have though; hence my earlier response about potential re-seating. That said the B3 version is known for being a hot bugger anyhow!
 
Thanks again for the reply.

Real temp shows the temps at 53 average. So which one is the most accurate?

If i was to up my fsb do i not have to mess with the memory at all?
 
Not sure about real temp, it is really popular with some on here but I prefer and have always trusted core temp. Someone else maybe better placed to advise on that front.

No need to change RAM freqs as this will automatically happen as you increase FSB. You should be good for 400MHz+ with your RAM at 1:1. Make sure you loosen the latency to 5-5-5-15 whilst you are finding your desired clock. This is in order to ensure RAM is not causing any potential instability thus any instability is likely to be CPU related and not due to your RAM. There is plenty of time to tighten the latency after you have reached your goal! ;)
 
Thanks again mate your a star.

According to cpuz my ram is already at 5-5-5-18-22 2T should i leave that as is and just up the fsb by 10 and keep coming back and bang on prime 95 for 10 mins.
 
Actually i think i'll try reseating fan and getting some more paste first as the temps are around 95 degrees while doing a prime 95 test.

Can't be healthy!!!!!

I've never removed replaced a fan is it easy. And will i have to take the whole motherboard out?
 
chalkywhyte said:
Thanks again mate your a star.

According to cpuz my ram is already at 5-5-5-18-22 2T should i leave that as is and just up the fsb by 10 and keep coming back and bang on prime 95 for 10 mins.
Click to expand...

Those are fine, worth trying to tighten those to 4-4-4-12 for max performance once you reach the clock you are looking for and test for stability. Makes no difference to real world, but all the difference in benching and increases e-peen! :cool:

chalkywhyte said:
Actually i think i'll try reseating fan and getting some more paste first as the temps are around 95 degrees while doing a prime 95 test.

Can't be healthy!!!!!

I've never removed replaced a fan is it easy. And will i have to take the whole motherboard out?
Click to expand...

:eek::D As expected I suppose, don't worry it wont harm the chip for small periods of time.

I believe the AC7 Pro has push click mounting so you should not have to remove the MB in order to remove the Fan mounting. Some AS5 or MX2 should do the trick and re-seat and see whether that makes any difference. Good luck!
 
Cheers for your help mate.

I'll get some AS5 ordered and give my system a good clean out while i'm waiting.

Whats the best for getting in there and cleaning all the dust out from everywhere?
Not to sure whether to get the hoover in there or just wipe it all down.

EDIT: Also i don't know if it'll make a difference but i keep the tower in the tower cupboard of my desk. (the door is open BTW)
 
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Air Duster/Compressed Air for the win!

Is the rear of the tower cupboard open e.g. thus providing the rear exhaust fan and PSU extracts room to exhaust? If they don't then I would move it. The big boy on top should also not be obstructed to maximise the removal of hot air from the case.

If moving the case is a problem then I would just monitor temps by benching both inside and outside the cupboard temporarily and make your decision based on that!

Who are you serving with btw? I was in 2PWRR for 5 years and had a great time!
 
Aye, but still infantry as part of the MG platoon?

Anyhow, don't I feel like the total 'tard now! :o:( I meant no offence, just squaddie banter meant in the lightest way....:)

Good luck with your clocking over Xmas and post back when hopefully your rig will be pumping over 3GHz!
 
No offence taken mate. I know the banter very well.:p

Plus us gunners work 10 times harder than rifle companys anyway.:rolleyes:


Cheers for the help mate and i'll update this thread on any progress.
 
Ok so the following arrived this morning.

Mx-2 :CHECK
Airduster: CHECK
Thermal Material Remover & Surface Purifier: CHECK
Anti static wrist band: CHECK

I've also bought some new fans for my titan accelerator. 3x Xilence 120mm Red wings.

Couple of questions:
1. i haven't got a lint free cloth is there anything else i could use thats probably lying round the house somewhere?

2. While i've got these fans is it maybe worth replacing the 900 fans with these or would they be better used in my 300 case?

I was thinking of taking the 2 intake fans of the 900 and putting them in the 300. Then putting 2 Red wings into the 900.

3. What would be the best way to distibute these fans?


Chalky
 
Ok.
So i've cleaned out the case added new paste. And booted it up.
I've just knocked nearly 20 Degrees off the temps i'm so happy i've never messed with the insides of a pc before so to get that working first time is an achievement for me.:D

Ok would anybody point me in the right direction to overclock this baby to 3 or even past 3ghz.

Never tried overclocking before so would appreciate the help.

Walk through talk through in lehmans terms please.

EDIT: Just been looking through bios and there is no FSB to change. How do i overclock this then?
 
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