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beginner overclocking

D

DanWallace

n00b
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
3
Hey guys. Pardon my noobness, but I just put a new system together last month and now I'm interested in overclocking my CPU, but I have no idea where to begin. Is there a good beginners guide, or could any of you give me any tips on where to get started?

Here are some relevant specs (sorry, I'm at work and citing these by memory):

CPU: Core i7 920
Motherboard: MSI X58 Platinum series
RAM: 6GB DDR3 1333MHz
Video: Radeon HD 4870 1 gig

I'm not sure on the cooling, but the thing's loaded with case fans at least.

I also don't know if the power supply matters, but the one I got should handle pretty much anything you want to throw at it.

I had to go a little cheaper on the motherboard as I was running out of cash and I wanted that damn i7. If I could have afforded the Asus Rampage II Extreme or something like that, I would have. From what I understand though, the MSI Platinums aren't bad for a budget board.

Also, I've been told I shouldn't even bother trying to OC without at least 1600 MHz RAM, but honestly, I hadn't built a machine in probably 7 years when I put this thing together and I didn't know there was such a big difference in speeds of DDR3 RAM.

What do you guys think?
 
one important thing to note is what kind of CPU heatsink are you using? While case fans are great, a good aftermarket CPU heatsink is going to give you MUCH greater OC-ability than anything else. Core i7s run HOT, and a standard intel heatsink isn't going to cut it if you want to take it to 3.8.

Power supplies are important in that they have to give clean, stable power. This doesn't just mean the number of watts (which, is also important for high energy draining setups). DDR1333 ram just means your OC might be limited by the ram. There's some DDR1333 that can run close to 1600 speeds, but you have to be lucky/skilled at tweaking to make that happen.
 
It's the standard Intel heatsink right now. I'll look into a good aftermarket cooling solution, but I just wanted to make sure I have everything else I need before spending any money.

I know the power supply is at least 600W and 80+ Bronze.

I'm pretty sure this is my RAM: Kingston KVR1333D3N9K3/6G 3x2G DDR3 Kit.

I'm not looking to OC the thing to hell. I just want to get a little extra bang for my buck. Eventually I'm going to crossfire another 4870 in as well.
 
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What kind of OC are you looking for? 3.5ghz? I'm quite a newbie at OCing, so I'll just speak from personal experience so far. I have 6gb of GSkill 1333mhz ram and this cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029. Right now I have my i7 920 OC'd to 3.5mhz stable. I've run 8 instances of Prime 95 for over 14 hours w/ this setup with no problems and my temps hovered around 57-60 degrees across all cores.

I'll recommend the Dark Knight cooler because you claimed you want a modest OC and it's a great value for it's performance and it has a bolt through kit that is quite easy to install (although you do have to remove your mobo)

Most recommend the Thermalright Ultra, and probably for good reason as it's one of the best or the Prolimatech Megahalems. They are more expensive and it seems you may not need/or want that level of cooling.

Here's a link that maybe can aid you in your aftermarket cooler decision: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=62
 
3.5 would be awesome. I'll check into the Dark Knight and see how easy it is to install. I might be a little nervous doing it myself, but I'll have to see.

I'm wondering if my MB bios has what I need to do this. Does anyone know about MSI boards?
 
Don't be nervous about the installation of the HSF, the only tricky part is applying the thermal grease to a direct heatpipe cooler like the Dark Knight, that BenchmarkReviews site has a small tutorial somewhere how to do this (don't lap it though, I didn't do that either, so don't worry about that.) Here's the link: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=38&limit=1&limitstart=5

The reason why the thermal paste application is different is because between the heatpipes there are aluminum spacers that leave air gaps. The site shows just putting two lines of thermal paste between the heatpipes then mount and let mounting pressure do the rest. The way I did it was put two line of paste between the heatpipes, put my finger in plastic wrap and spread it around in the area where the processor will touch which filled in those gaps. I then took my Supermarket bonus card and put the edge on the heatpipe and scraped it off the heatpipes leaving a nice even coating of the paste between the heatpipes. I then put a BB sized drop of the MX 2 paste on the processor and did a very thin even spread with same supermarket card on top of the processor, I then mounted it. So it'd be your call, i'm sure the two lines in the benchmarkreviews site will work fine as they tested it, just check it out first. It really wasn't hard. The reason for the Arctic Cooling MX 2 paste is because it's non-conductive and the application, while i wasn't messy, seemed a little messier than a regular polished base.

I'm a total noob at this too if that's any reassurance, but w/ some research things are working out for me thus far.

As for mounting the cooler it's easy, the only pain is having to remove the MB first. The mounting kit that comes w/ the cooler is basically 2 brackets w/ screw holes in them, these get screwed into the base of the heatsink. This is where the screw through bolts will ultimately go through. Next is a backplate, it basically sticks on the back of the MB w/ sticky pads, easy enough. That's it, after the thermal paste application, mount the HS and screw it down in a criss cross pattern until its hand tight and the threads are all in. Now just mount the Fan w/ these rubber grommits. The only unclear part was how to orient the fan. From what I can gather from the diagram and how I mounted it was on the Memory side of the motherboard in a pull config (blowing on the memory). My temps are good, so I figured it must be somewhat right.

You probably don't have to update your BIOS, but you should anyway before you start. Just go to MSI's webpage, look for the latest revision and the tutorial. It's more intimidating than anything because you don't want to screw it up, but it is actually quite simple to do. Just follow their instructions.

Good Luck, do a little additional reading on the parts you ultimately decide to get and you'll be fine.
 
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The problem with the MSI boards, AFAIK, is that they don't show you the actual voltage you're setting it to. Instead, the voltages are controlled in increments above/below the default value. In my opinion, this is more of a hassle because you don't know what actual voltage you're setting it to unless you check CPU-Z in Windows. It's much easier to overclock when you can see the actually voltage that is being set.

Other than that, you're good to go. While DDR3 1600 is certainly better and makes it easier to find the BLCK/multiplier combinations, it's not a requirement. It's usually preferred, though, since it's only about $10 more than a comparable DDR3 1333 kit.

If you do plan on getting a mild-to-serious overclock (i.e. above 3.2 GHz), I would strongly suggest and aftermarket heatsink. The Xigmatek Dark Knight that was mentioned is a very good budget HSF.
 
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