Overclock i7 960

Luffy321

So a quick update.

My 970 arrived today. I just somehow managed to jam it inside my case. While I was doing that I also cleaned my case out. Cleaning the dust filters etc.

I was skeptical but the airflow is much better and knocked off around 8-9c of my temps.

However, even with all that, when I run prime95, it doesnt take more than a few minutes for the cpu to go into the 80s. So I think now there is no doubt about it, if I want good OC temps i'm going to have to get a better cooler. Like I previously mentioned I have the h80i in mind.

Until I can get that part,i'm going to try different settings like disabling Intel Turbo Boost etc and see what happens.

PenguinJim

Why not just spend <£20 on a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo? You're cooling a home CPU, not trying to break world records for overclocking. What's next - move to Finland to nail that final two degrees?

Water-cooling is massively overkill for your situation - I don't know what nutbar recommended using water, especially to someone who's intimidated by changing thermal paste, but ignore that person from now on! £70 would be far, far, far, far, far more cost-effective in your situation being put towards a new motherboard and i5 (which will come with a decent-enough stock cooler).

Luffy321

Dont worry...i'm already saving for a new system, this is just to tide me over till I can get there since the system I have in mind is going to be at the bleeding edge of tech.

I will check out the Hyper 212 Evo, I heard good things about it, but I want a system that is 50-60 at load which is why I had the h80i in mind.

RobTang

Luffy321 wrote: »

I will check out the Hyper 212 Evo, I heard good things about it, but I want a system that is 50-60 at load which is why I had the h80i in mind.

I really really hate those corsair water cool systems, the first gen ones were really nnoisy and pretty unreliable, I had to RMA 3 H100s and thew the last one in the bin because the postage costs exceeded the cost of the cooler itself.
I don't know about the second gen ones but I'm not willing to waste money trying.

I replaced it with a Noctua NH-D14 air cool which runs cooler and quieter than the h100 ever did.

Luffy321

Noctua NH-D14 wont fit in my case.

PenguinJim

Luffy321 wrote: »

I will check out the Hyper 212 Evo, I heard good things about it, but I want a system that is 50-60 at load which is why I had the h80i in mind.

Either will get you to 50-60 at load when overclocked. But one costs nearly four times as much and is a !!!!!! to install.

Luffy321

Thanks for the reply PenguinJim.

I did mention before that spacing was an issue as I was worried the 970 wouldnt fit. Apparently, the Hyper 212 Evo wont fit in my case which is an Antec 902 V3. Classified as a mid-sized rig.

Tropez

RobTang wrote: »

I really really hate those corsair water cool systems, the first gen ones were really nnoisy and pretty unreliable, I had to RMA 3 H100s and thew the last one in the bin because the postage costs exceeded the cost of the cooler itself.
I don't know about the second gen ones but I'm not willing to waste money trying.

I replaced it with a Noctua NH-D14 air cool which runs cooler and quieter than the h100 ever did.

I've got a H100i in my new system built a few weeks ago. Whole system runs pretty quiet. You can hear it in a silent room but it's pretty gentle and with a TV on, or talking, you forget it is even there.

Temperatures seem to stay pretty low. I hit about 55 degrees max under load.

Truth is though, I wanted it mainly for its aesthetics. I've not actually overclocked the CPU. It is much quieter than the air cooler in my old PC though (whatever that was, can't remember now) and as I say, the temps are nice enough. You definitely can do it cheaper though.

PenguinJim

Luffy321 wrote: »

I did mention before that spacing was an issue as I was worried the 970 wouldnt fit. Apparently, the Hyper 212 Evo wont fit in my case which is an Antec 902 V3. Classified as a mid-sized rig.

Do you have a Dremel or equivalent?

Luffy321

PenguinJim wrote: »

Do you have a Dremel or equivalent?

Sorry for the late reply.

I do have a dremel and a drill but i'm not really prepared to mod my case for it.