Phase2: Receiving, Building, & Overclocking New Gaming Rig

[Hameister]

I'm jealous; I live to live with this stinking, lousy HAF 932

I understand you were being sarcastic you dummy, I just don't know what "I live to live"..., means? Maybe it was supposed to be love to live, or have to live or like to live, want to live, or can't live, or ....

With that CPU concentrate of CPU voltage and CPU multiplier. Use RealTemp to monitor temps and CPU-Z to verify the overclock. Use EVGA Precision X to overclock the 680. Use GPU-Z to verify GPU overclock. I do not exceed vendor recommended max voltages, temps, etc by more than 10%; I have never blown a CPU or vidcard using that rule of thumb. But while you are learning do NOT exceed vendor recommendations, go in small steps, and watch temps very carefully. Use Prime 95 Blend test to check stability. Use this url to look up Intel recommendations for your CPU: ARK | Your source for information on Intel® products

Here's something showing all those apps:

+1^ All good advice...

However, I prefer MSI AfterBurner for over clocking the GPU. I find the GUI easier to use than eVGA Precision. They both work well, so it's just a matter of personal taste, and mine is generally better than Wizzers.

 

[Computear]

I don't plan to overclock the GPU at all. It's already the "superclocked" EVGA version of what I'm pretty sure is the most powerful single-GPU on the market right now, so I'm not even gonna touch it. But I do want to try to get a good overclock on the CPU.

How long should I test stability after each step up? I've read a lot of differing opinions on that one. I don't want to rush it.

 

[Hameister]

I don't plan to overclock the GPU at all. It's already the "superclocked" EVGA version of what I'm pretty sure is the most powerful single-GPU on the market right now, so I'm not even gonna touch it. But I do want to try to get a good overclock on the CPU.

How long should I test stability after each step up? I've read a lot of differing opinions on that one. I don't want to rush it.

It's more fun to OC the fastest card available to make it faster. A true enthusiast, would over clock it until it smoked.

As far as Prime95 stability is concerned you're right, you'll hear various opinions. I personally have found, if I can run the CPU for about a 1/2 hour without any core shutdowns, or blue screens, I've got a good over clock. Others will say anything less than 3 hours in not proof certain. Still others insist on over night, about 8 hours.

I cannot see stressing expensive processors to that degree. The worst that can happen with an over clock that wasn't stressed long enough, is you'll be gaming, a few days later, or even weeks later, and you'll suddenly BSOD. Just go into the BIOS and kick the Vcore up one bump, and you're good to go.

 

[Computear]

It's more fun to OC the fastest card available to make it faster. A true enthusiast, would over clock it until it smoked.

As far as Prime95 stability is concerned you're right, you'll hear various opinions. I personally have found, if I can run the CPU for about a 1/2 hour without any core shutdowns, or blue screens, I've got a good over clock. Others will say anything less than 3 hours in not proof certain. Still others insist on over night, about 8 hours.

I cannot see stressing expensive processors to that degree. The worst that can happen with an over clock that wasn't stressed long enough, is you'll be gaming, a few days later, or even weeks later, and you'll suddenly BSOD. Just go into the BIOS and kick the Vcore up one bump, and you're good to go.

As long as it BSODs and not catches fire, that sounds good to me

And I guess I'm no enthusiast

 

[Hameister]

As long as it BSODs and not catches fire, that sounds good to me

And I guess I'm no enthusiast

Nahh, nothing will catch fire. You may experience a difficult start, (reboot), after a particularly bad over clock. This may manifest itself as a very long time for the post beep, and post start up. Or, it may start to reboot, and just sit there with a black screen forever.

Don't be concerned. If that happens, just disconnect the power, or throw the power switch on the back of the PSU if there is one. Wait about 45 seconds to make sure the caps are drained, and then fire it up again, and all will be fine.

Now, take heart out of mouth, and continue.

 

[Computear]

Now, take heart out of mouth, and continue.

Best part of the advice. Thanks!

 

[Bad_Machine]

Given my incredibly limited experience overclocking, I'm catching up on some reading. Anybody have some good articles or tips?

Tips:

1. VERY IMPORTANT: If you are a beginner in OCing don't fiddle with voltages. This is something that you may try later on, when you learn more. At the moment only push your CPU for as far as it will go without crashing at its default voltage . Most modern BIOS can also auto-OC to a safe level, I would recommend for beginners to use this option rather than doing it manually.
2. If you really have to do it manually and you are confident that you know what you're doing, then this is what you should do first: Have a couple of copies of a recent Windows backup just in case it all goes tits-up. A single copy of your backup is not enough, you should have two of them at least, stored in two different disks, one of them always stored away from the computer, and both of them verified once every few months at least to make sure that corruption hasn't creeped in. It's horrible when you think you have a valid backup, and when the worst happens and it's time to restore you realize that your single backup copy is corrupt and unreadable. You should also have some sort of startup media (bootable optical disc or bootable USB stick) that contains a bootable version of your backup program, this will enable you to restore even when Windows cannot load.
3. You should OC the CPU bit by bit, leaving everything else at default clocks. Try setting yourself an OC base, which means a reasonable overclock that has a good chance of being stable, with all the other components at defaults. Test that OC for stability with Prime95 or IntelBurntest. IntelBurntest can be quite ruthless so use relaxed settings with it (do not go higher than the Standard Stress Level). If your CPU passes 10 repetitions with IntelBurnTest at Standard, then this is a good indication that your current OC is stable. After you have established that your OC is stable, save that setup on your BIOS/UEFI as a profile in order to be able to use it as a future base for trying further OCs.
4. After this is done and your base is stable and saved in the BIOS, try to raise your CPU multiplier a single digit at a time. Go into Windows every time and test it again. Allow enough time between tests for your CPU to cool down, don't overstress the thing by running repeated tests for hours. With this methodology you'll be able to discover the ceiling of your CPU slowly, but relatively safely. When the system crashes for the first time your quest is over: Take the multiplier down by one digit, then save this BIOS profile as the max OC that your CPU can safely take.
5. REMEMBER: A system doesn't have to be highly OCed all the time. For everyday usage (e.g web browsing etc.) I would leave the system at defaults.

Hope that his helps!

 

[OS-Wiz]

I understand you were being sarcastic you dummy, I just don't know what "I live to live"..., means? Maybe it was supposed to be love to live, or have to live or like to live, want to live, or can't live, or ....

Yup, I'm the dummy: should have been: I have to live ...

 

[Hameister]

Tips:

1. VERY IMPORTANT: If you are a beginner in OCing don't fiddle with voltages. This is something that you may try later on, when you learn more. At the moment only push your CPU for as far as it will go without crashing at its default voltage . Most modern BIOS can also auto-OC to a safe level, I would recommend for beginners to use this option rather than doing it manually.
2. If you really have to do it manually and you are confident that you know what you're doing, then this is what you should do first: Have a couple of copies of a recent Windows backup just in case it all goes tits-up. A single copy of your backup is not enough, you should have two of them at least, stored in two different disks, one of them always stored away from the computer, and both of them verified once every few months at least to make sure that corruption hasn't creeped in. It's horrible when you think you have a valid backup, and when the worst happens and it's time to restore you realize that your single backup copy is corrupt and unreadable. You should also have some sort of startup media (bootable optical disc or bootable USB stick) that contains a bootable version of your backup program, this will enable you to restore even when Windows cannot load.
3. You should OC the CPU bit by bit, leaving everything else at default clocks. Try setting yourself an OC base, which means a reasonable overclock that has a good chance of being stable, with all the other components at defaults. Test that OC for stability with Prime95 or IntelBurntest. IntelBurntest can be quite ruthless so use relaxed settings with it (do not go higher than the Standard Stress Level). If your CPU passes 10 repetitions with IntelBurnTest at Standard, then this is a good indication that your current OC is stable. After you have established that your OC is stable, save that setup on your BIOS/UEFI as a profile in order to be able to use it as a future base for trying further OCs.
4. After this is done and your base is stable and saved in the BIOS, try to raise your CPU multiplier a single digit at a time. Go into Windows every time and test it again. Allow enough time between tests for your CPU to cool down, don't overstress the thing by running repeated tests for hours. With this methodology you'll be able to discover the ceiling of your CPU slowly, but relatively safely. When the system crashes for the first time your quest is over: Take the multiplier down by one digit, then save this BIOS profile as the max OC that your CPU can safely take.
5. REMEMBER: A system doesn't have to be highly OCed all the time. For everyday usage (e.g web browsing etc.) I would leave the system at defaults.

Hope that his helps!

Always good advice from the Bad_Machine, Wizzer, and occasionally even me.

 

[rio1]

I let it OC my 3570k on auto and I got a blue screen around 4600MHZ while it was doing the auto tuning, then it restarted itself and tuned in at 4517mhz and 1.25v and CPU temps are in mid 50c.
I did get another blue screen after the 3dmark11 was done not sure what happened there.
By the way the system for the most part runs at 1600mhz seems like, should I leave it like that? Also what you guys think about the number above?