# Overclocking help



## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

Hey, I'm trying to overclock my system but have NEVER done this so want to make sure I do it right, if someone could literally hold my hand it'd be great.

System specs:

-Gigabyte Z68a-D3-B3 Motherboard
-i5 2500k Processor
-Radeon HD 7850 2gb GPU
-630w BeQuiet! L7 80-Plus Bronze PSU (630W be quiet! PURE POWER L7 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply - Aria Technology)
-4gb Kingston RAM (PC3-10700 (667Mhz))
-Factory-Version CPU Heat Sink, but I keep it clean and make sure thermal compound is always perfect.
-3 Case fans, 2x 120mm, 1x 140mm. The 120mm's are stock. The 140mm is mounted as an exhaust. My case is covered in mesh for better cooling.
-At 7% idle load my CPU runs at a maximum of 40 degrees, all 4 cores.
-At 30% load in RealTemp my CPU gets to max 65 degrees, all 4.
-Using OCCT it stops after 10 seconds or so when Core#1 reached 91 -_- So that looks like a problem. Maybe I need to rearrange my fans and get a new heatsink. I've still got another 140mm to put in but I'm waiting for an adapter because the stock fans have Molex connections, then I can add the fourth fan and daisy chain them.


So can someone please tell me what I need to do to make this system able to overclock to atleast 4ghz? Thanks in advance.


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

I wouldn't bother until you get better cooling. Once that is resolved, check out this thread:

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f273/how-to-overclock-an-i2500k-652418.html


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

What do mean when you say the thermal compound is always perfect? Are you removing the heatsink and then replacing it on the same compound?


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

Amd_Man said:


> What do mean when you say the thermal compound is always perfect? Are you removing the heatsink and then replacing it on the same compound?


No.. I clean the compound off and then add a new layer when it's needed.

And yea, I need to know how to go about better cooling. What type of aftermarket heat sink should I look at? And as far as setting up intake/exhaust fans, what do you find works best? As I can put fans in practically any part of my case, side/direction.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

How much thermal compound are you applying? Too much is worse than none at all!


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

Amd_Man said:


> How much thermal compound are you applying? Too much is worse than none at all!


Barely anything. Enough for it to be an almost transparent layer. So the right amount :wink:


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Perfect! Those Intel heatsinks are a bit of a pain to put securely on. Many times the two pins on one side do not secure to the motherboard. I would check to see if that's the case. OCCT should not cause your cpu to reach 91 in 10 seconds even with no case fans running. Just a thought, but you're sure the cpu fan is running? ( sorry but you never know)


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

Amd_Man said:


> Perfect! Those Intel heatsinks are a bit of a pain to put securely on. Many times the two pins on one side do not secure to the motherboard. I would check to see if that's the case. OCCT should not cause your cpu to reach 91 in 10 seconds even with no case fans running. Just a thought, but you're sure the cpu fan is running? ( sorry but you never know)


Those pins are a pain in the ****, they always take ages to re-attach just because I really hate having to put force on the board, but yea they're all in.

I'd bloody hope the fan is running, but I guess thats something I should check in the morning. I've been playing games like BF3 on ultra, pretty high load with no problems, I can tell when its on full load because the fans will be max too, and they don't even reach max playing BF3 so the OCCT is boggling.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

The fans definitly running if you can game with no issues. Have you used Realtemp to check the temp while in Windows and doing some demanding things? 

techPowerUp! :: Downloads


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

Amd_Man said:


> The fans definitly running if you can game with no issues. Have you used Realtemp to check the temp while in Windows and doing some demanding things?
> 
> techPowerUp! :: Downloads


Yea, that was my 30% load test. I used realtemp while running two virus scans, defragging and playing music.

Check out this... What the hell? lol.. : 

http://i45.tinypic.com/73m36b.png


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

That's not right at all! Try powering down when it gets that hot and feel the heatsink to see if it real hot. It should be at those temps.


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

I don't know if it's even possible for it to get THAT hot THAT quickly, surely not? I mean, dayum.

I'll be back in the morning with some answers hopefully, thanks for the help and the replies, it looks like I'll be needing your help more than I first thought -_-


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

One thing to check is in the BIOS for the temps and voltages including the cpu's vcore. If the vcore is too high it will cause high heat.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Also what case do you have?


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

The CPU should be all stock as I haven't touched it at all.

ARIANET Hydra Black Midi Tower Gaming Case - Aria Technology

Just got it because it was cheap and has more than enough room for as much cooling as I need, looks like I'll need all of it.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

I just thought of something. In your BIOS there should be a cpu setting called optimised mode. If it's enabled disable it and then check your temps. I've seen others disable that with high temps on the i5 and it seemed to have helped lower the temp. Is your PSU fan drawing air from the bottom of the case and not the inside?


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

Amd_Man said:


> I just thought of something. In your BIOS there should be a cpu setting called optimised mode. If it's enabled disable it and then check your temps. I've seen others disable that with high temps on the i5 and it seemed to have helped lower the temp. Is your PSU fan drawing air from the bottom of the case and not the inside?


Couldn't find anything called Optimised Mode.

There was something in the memory settings though, Performance something or other? And the description said after overclocking disabling could increase stability but, thats memory so yea.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

A cpu can reach 100 c is 1 second.

When I add thermal compound I never do the grain of rice method or spread the paste out with a card or my finger. I follow what artic silver say about the line across the middle or horizantal through the centre then when I put the heatsink on I go around each screw tightining one slightly then the opposite one slightly and go around until all the screws are the same. This makes te heatsink wiggle slightly until it is fully tightened.

What a lot of people dont realise is that the whole heat spread does not have to be covered with paste although doing my method ensure nearly all of it is. It is only the cores that really need the thermal protection.

If you have c1e or hyperthreading disabled enable them. Thes are power saving functions having them disabled makes the cpu run at full speed all the time, generating more heat although if your overclocking at first it is good to disable them until you get a stable OC.


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

I've read that my processor doesn't support multithreading.

I still can't find anything in the BIOS relating the "Optimised mode" but have seen a post or two from other people with 2500k's mentioning it.

I've ordered a new heatsink (https://www.aria.co.uk/Products?search=FAN-CPU-UCACO-FZ130-)

As well as a fan controller, and a new PSU. My PSU is new as is but I'm returning it as it's multi-railed and has 2x 4 pin 12v connectors, so the 600CX Corsair one has been ordered as according to Aria it has 1x 4 pin connector and overclocking with my current PSU only being able to plug in one connection isn't great?


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

The PSU is bottomed mounted in that case so which direction do you have the PSU's fan. It ideally should draw cool air in from the bottom of the case. When setup like that it will not disrupt the cases airflow. It also should not be on carpet. I have ceramic tiles placed on the carpet and my case on the tiles.


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

Facing upwards I think? I'm not entirely sure, I need to check. The PC is on a wooden desk.

I'm sure the cooling flow in the case is far from great, as I have no clue and pretty much just bunged them in there, but it's crazy it can make that much of a difference! I'd gladly keep taking tips, my heatsink etc should arrive tomorrow so I can dive into it then.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

The front case fan pulls cool air in and the top rear exhausts the hot air. It matters on the way the fans go and there are arrows on them that show the airflow. As for the PSU I had my mounted with the PSU fan facing up and the sheer size (even though it doesn't spin fast) draws alot of air and was starving my cpu fan causing it to run over 40 at idle and near 60 on load. Put it the right way (drawing from the bottom) and my cpu temps dropped alot.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

the cx and gs models ae not recommended as they are not made by seasonic, you may get issues with it if you overclock.


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

The seasonic ones I looked at were too pricey really.

I flipped my PSU around, and alone obviously it hasn't made much difference other than make it idle 3 degrees lower. Tomorrow my heatsink comes which should help a tonne.

I cancelled the PSU I ordered as after opening my case and seeing how UGLY all the wires were and how they probably effect the airflow quite a lot too, I'm going to order a Modular one tomorrow.

So, any suggestions for a 600w+ modular PSU please? It need to have a P4 connection. After looking at a lot of PSU's I see most of them are multi-railed and only have "4+4 EPMSP (orwhateveritscalled)" connectors, and my mobo only has a single P4 atx12v connection available, and I was told only being able to connect a single one of those in isn't good if I'm overclocking.

The whole PSU 4pin thing has just confused the hell out of me to be honest.


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

Anyone? need some Modular PSU suggestions


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## Overclockme (Aug 12, 2012)

Success! Put the new heatsink in, and now OCCT doesn't take my CPU over 55 degrees.

It was a major pain though, as obviously me being me, decided that taking everything out would be silly, instead I'll just mount the heatsink while everything is in the case, it'll be easy.

45 minutes of cursing my man-hands later, it's finally done..


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Overclockme said:


> Anyone? need some Modular PSU suggestions


All SeaSonic- All XFX- Most Corsair (not the CX-GS-M Series) are top quality and all offer Modular versions of the 650W that you need.

Newegg.com - SeaSonic M12II 650 SS-650AM 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Semi-modular Power Supply

Newegg.com - XFX P1-650X-XXB9 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650M 650W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Semi Modular High Performance Power Supply


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