New to overclocking. help?

[Lexxaeus]

I haven't done any overclocking in the past, but i wanted to look into doing it for my new setup. i am running:

COOLER MASTER HAF X
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB)
BIOSTAR TP67XE
Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz
EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti

Stock cooling on this.

any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

[Cilraaz]

1. Stock cooling is a no-no for overclocking.
2. You have a non-k CPU, meaning that its multiplier is locked. Your overclocking is limited at best by that fact alone.

[DeltrusDisc]

Lexxaeus, how long have you had your CPU? If you just got it you should be able to return it (make sure you have ALL the packaging) and pick up an i5-2500K instead... if you have the extra money buying a Corsair A70 would be good too.

[Lexxaeus]

I think i've had it a bit too long to return it. I wasn't wanting to do an insane amount of overclocking. just tweaking it a little bit.


And i was actually looking into the Corsair A70. My idle temp is ~44 C. judging from some of the stuff i've read, i should probably knock that down a bit if i can.

[DeltrusDisc]

Yeah, a non-OC'd 2500K in a decent case/decent airflow with a decent cooler should honestly be in like the 20s Celsius. Maybe touching 30 Celsius. That's a really good case/scenario though too, and a decent cooler.

If you want to tweak though unfortunately your best bet is still the 2500K, and hell, you barely have to tweak it at all to get it to 4GHz, even.

[Lexxaeus]

alright. Thank you for the information. I won't worry about overclocking until i decide to upgrade the cpu, but i will definitely look into some better cooling. I had somebody trying to sell me on a Corsair H60. Should i even bother with that, or go with the A70?

[IRunSoFarAway]

If you do not know difference between 2 cooling device please do not try overlock, you break something.

[Lexxaeus]

i do know the difference between the two, i was just asking if i should bother with the liquid cooling on my setup.

[DeltrusDisc]

I'd personally suggest the A70 over the H60, the only Corsair water cooling product I'd ever suggest to someone is the H100, and I would be like "butttt, it's very expensive and for $30 less you can get an air cooler that is almost just as good. Plus the fans are damned loud at higher speeds, and they tend to speed up if you're causing the CPU to heat up a lot."

[Lexxaeus]

very good point. it would serve as a nice little warning that i need to back something off a bit.

[DeltrusDisc]

Wait what would serve as a warning? The CPU heating up would simply most likely be you using some benchmarking software, not necessarily something needing to be backed off on. :P But yeah I'd just get the A70 if you have the money. What is your budget on CPU cooler anyways?

[Lexxaeus]

i was pretty much saying that i would know if something was up because i would hear the fans kick into high speed.

as for price range, probably around 60 or so would be the most i would WANT to spend, but not necessarily the highest i would go if i found something really good.

[DeltrusDisc]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118054 <-- $41 after rebate, Zalman CNPS9900 NT Nickel one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118046 <-- $50 after rebate, Zalman CNPS9900ALED Copper one. (What I have, love it.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=Corsair%20A70 <-- $28 after rebate, Corsair A70

I'm sure other people will have good ones to suggest, these ones just popped up in my head.

[Deleted]

i was pretty much saying that i would know if something was up because i would hear the fans kick into high speed.

as for price range, probably around 60 or so would be the most i would WANT to spend, but not necessarily the highest i would go if i found something really good.

I still recommend the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...018&Tpk=NH-D14 to pretty much everyone. It's an amazing cooler, and if you're willing to spend that, buy it.

[DeltrusDisc]

That's easily $25 over his budget before taxes and possible shipping fees. =/ Otherwise I would have indeed suggested it to him, or the ThermalRight Silver Arrow (which did beat the D14!) :P