Phase2: Receiving, Building, & Overclocking New Gaming Rig

Hm. I'd really like a 1GHz OC, just for the hell of it. If I can get a 4.4GHz OC with really good temps (I'm confident with my airflow, cooler, and ambient temps I'll have good luck) it'd be safe (or at least not a bad idea) to leave it at that 24/7?

It's not that 4.4GHz is any sort of "sweet spot" or anything, so much as I just want a 1.0GHz+ OC, and I plan to basically "OC it & forget it".

Also forgot a picture, Shipment 4 also came with my surge protector, secondary hard drive, Borderlands 2, and 4x 120mm fans:

It's not just the temperatures, it's really how much juice you're feeding the thing. A CPU with a top of the range watercooled system will not get that hot, but with constant overvoltage its life would be shortened anyway regardless of temperatures.

Still a lot of people do it just for the hell of it. I did it as well. I managed to hit 5.1GHz on my C2 3930K chip, then pointlessly and mercilessly tortured the thing with IntelBurnTest on both High and Very High stress levels. The voltage required to keep it from crapping out while being tortured at that clock was way beyond what is deemed safe, it actually needed 1.6V with temperatures hitting 100 degrees on all cores. I did it just to prove a point but I realize now that it was pointless and stupid, and wouldn't attempt it again.
 
It's not just the temperatures, it's really how much juice you're feeding the thing. A CPU with a top of the range watercooled system will not get that hot, but with constant overvoltage its life would be shortened anyway regardless of temperatures.

Still a lot of people do it just for the hell of it. I did it as well. I managed to hit 5.1GHz on my C2 3930K chip, then pointlessly and mercilessly tortured the thing with IntelBurnTest on both High and Very High stress levels. The voltage required to keep it from crapping out while being tortured at that clock was way beyond what is deemed safe, it actually needed 1.6V with temperatures hitting 100 degrees on all cores. I did it just to prove a point but I realize now that it was pointless and stupid, and wouldn't attempt it again.

How much would it shorten the life of my CPU to leave it at 4.4GHz? Does it depend on the lowest voltage I can get it to clock at 4.4GHz with?
 
You're right Compu, 4.4 would be OK for as long as you finetune your voltage so it is really the least that your CPU needs in order to be stable at that clock. Regarding how much it would shorten the life that's anyone's guess and ultimately depends on how good is your individual silicon wafer, which is luck of the draw really.

I personally wouldn't run it all the time at 4.4. It's pointless really. As I mentioned before, for everyday usage (e.g web browsing, watching a movie etc), I'd leave it at default and only raise it for certain tasks like video encoding, or playing a demanding game for example.
 
Actually I think your CPU is rated for 3.8GHz stock, so if you wanted a 1GHz over clock, you need to stabilize it at 4.8GHz, not 4.4, but hey, what ever makes ya happy.

Those fans look like my favorites, the Cooler Master R4. Did you get with with, or without LEDs?
 
Actually I think your CPU is rated for 3.8GHz stock, so if you wanted a 1GHz over clock, you need to stabilize it at 4.8GHz, not 4.4, but hey, what ever makes ya happy.

Those fans look like my favorites, the Cooler Master R4. Did you get with with, or without LEDs?

CM R4s without LEDs.

And I just meant 1GHz more than it came at. I might settle at 4.2GHz, maybe 4.4GHz, I'll decide later. Not even sure if I'll see how high I can get a stable overclock before I tune it down to my daily setting.

You're right Compu, 4.4 would be OK for as long as you finetune your voltage so it is really the least that your CPU needs in order to be stable at that clock. Regarding how much it would shorten the life that's anyone's guess and ultimately depends on how good is your individual silicon wafer, which is luck of the draw really.

I personally wouldn't run it all the time at 4.4. It's pointless really. As I mentioned before, for everyday usage (e.g web browsing, watching a movie etc), I'd leave it at default and only raise it for certain tasks like video encoding, or playing a demanding game for example.

And like I mentioned earlier, the computer is always either powered off, or being used for gaming/etc, otherwise I generally use my laptop. The computer will see typically 20-50 hours a week of use, 90%+ of that being gaming.

So if I were to raise it only for gaming, I'd just have it raised all the time. With that in mind, is 4.4GHz a good idea, should I tune it down to 4.2GHz, or if its only for gaming should I go even higher? Right now I want to set it to 4.4, but my better judgement is telling me to leave it at 4.2. Or is there no way of even knowing until we get some results from my overclocking voltage and such?
 
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CM R4s without LEDs.

And I just meant 1GHz more than it came at. I might settle at 4.2GHz, maybe 4.4GHz, I'll decide later. Not even sure if I'll see how high I can get a stable overclock before I tune it down to my daily setting.



And like I mentioned earlier, the computer is always either powered off, or being used for gaming/etc, otherwise I generally use my laptop. The computer will see typically 20-50 hours a week of use, 90%+ of that being gaming.

So if I were to raise it only for gaming, I'd just have it raised all the time. With that in mind, is 4.4GHz a good idea, should I tune it down to 4.2GHz, or if its only for gaming should I go even higher? Right now I want to set it to 4.4, but my better judgement is telling me to leave it at 4.2. Or is there no way of even knowing until we get some results from my overclocking voltage and such?
See: Desktop 3rd Gen Intel® Core? Processor Family: Datasheet, Vol 1
Desktop datasheet, Data sheet Volume 1, pg 82 for min and max voltages: note max CPU Vcore = 1.520.
Each mobo maker sets nominal Vcore for each CPU. That's why they vary across makers.

I like to see how high I can overclock at "stock" voltage first. So, just let the stock voltage be set by the mobo/BIOS and see what it is; then manually set that voltage and see how high you can bump up the CPU multi at stock voltage using Prime95 Blend Test to check stability. Note by setting Vcore manually you stop the BIOS from automatically adjusting it for you. Then consider bumping up Vcore a notch at a time to see how high you can get the multi. Use Realtemp to check CPU temp with each bump while running Prime95. Turn SpeedStep and C1 state off during overclocking. Back on when done.
 
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Hey Compy,

Since your primary interest is gaming, perhaps you'd prefer to set up a "Gaming Overclock".

Now this is something you can do manually if your BIOS is flexible enough to allow it. I have no idea what features are included in your BIOS.

However, I have taken a couple of screen shots of my BIOS for you. As you can see the first shows that I have simply selected a "Gaming Overclock".

You can see in the 2nd screen shot all the BIOS did was lock the BCLK at 100MHz, and then allocated different multipliers to each of the 6 cores. In your case it would be 4 cores.

Notice, it selected a 4.7GHz OC for the first 2 cores, a 4.6GHz OC for the 3rd core, a 4.5GHz for the 4th core, and a 4.4GHz OC for the remaining 5th, and 6th cores.

If your BIOS has this feature, or if your BIOS will allow you to over clock by individual core, you can do the same thing. You may want to OC the 1st & 2nd core, at 4.6GHz, the 3rd core at 4.4GHz, and the 4th at 4.2GHz. The theory behind this kind of OC is that the CPU will tend to utilize the first 2 cores to the max. while there is less work required of the 3rd and 4th cores. Thus, this kind of OC allows for a cooler running CPU while still peaked for gaming.

You'll discover that there are many, many ways to over clock a CPU.
 

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Hey Compy,

Since your primary interest is gaming, perhaps you'd prefer to set up a "Gaming Overclock".

Now this is something you can do manually if your BIOS is flexible enough to allow it. I have no idea what features are included in your BIOS.

However, I have taken a couple of screen shots of my BIOS for you. As you can see the first shows that I have simply selected a "Gaming Overclock".

You can see in the 2nd screen shot all the BIOS did was lock the BCLK at 100MHz, and then allocated different multipliers to each of the 6 cores. In your case it would be 4 cores.

Notice, it selected a 4.7GHz OC for the first 2 cores, a 4.6GHz OC for the 3rd core, a 4.5GHz for the 4th core, and a 4.4GHz OC for the remaining 5th, and 6th cores.

If your BIOS has this feature, or if your BIOS will allow you to over clock by individual core, you can do the same thing. You may want to OC the 1st & 2nd core, at 4.6GHz, the 3rd core at 4.4GHz, and the 4th at 4.2GHz. The theory behind this kind of OC is that the CPU will tend to utilize the first 2 cores to the max. while there is less work required of the 3rd and 4th cores. Thus, this kind of OC allows for a cooler running CPU while still peaked for gaming.

You'll discover that there are many, many ways to over clock a CPU.

This is a great idea!
 
Im installing my H100, so far so good... a few questions...

I have the radiator mounted to the top of my case, I want the fans blowing air through the radiator to outside of my case, right? And my 4x side 120mm fans pulling air inside? That's my current set up but I got high right after I took all the old fans out and forgot which way they were before.

Also what is this push-pull set up for the h100 I keep reading ?

Update:

H100 and GTX 680 installed... Booted up fine, not going to finish installing the fans or test / overclock / benchmark until tomorrow after work.
 
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First, I don't think that getting "high", is an option while building a computer, or anything else for that matter.

As for the radiator fans, I have found that mounting them so that they are pulling in outside air, and blowing that cool air down through the radiator fins, is the most effective cooling. Generally 2c to 5c cooler than blowing the internal case's warmer air into the radiator and out the top of the case.

For push/pull cooling, just take a look at the photo I've attached of my own machine. It simply means sandwiching the radiator between the fans. In my case as you can see, the top two fans are pushing the air through the radiator, while the bottom two fans assist, by pulling..."push/pull".

Yes, the 4x120mm mounted on the side panel should be blowing air into the case, as shown in my photo below.
 

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