Athlon II X4 overclocking?

[madass]

I overclocked my Athlon II X4 to 3.12GHz on the stock cooler, 13x240, FSB RAM ratio of 3:8.
My idle temps went from 44 to 48, and on running everest's stress test, for around 5 minutes, it hit 63. Are these dangerously high?

 

[Herr_Koos]

Still within spec, but I'd look at better cooling to be honest. 44C at idle even before overclocking is quite high. Do you have high ambient temperatures?

 

[madass]

Ambient is usuallt in the 25-35 range.
Might it have something to do with my GPU? It blows air directly onto the CPU.
I have it underclocked most of the time- it still idles at 55.
On load, with full clocks, 80 is usual.
Load, with cut clocks, 63.

 

[Herr_Koos]

The 48xx cards do run quite hot. How is the airflow in your case? Front / side / back fans etc?

 

[beanoslim]

Like Herr_Koos says, better CPU cooling will always help. Have you upped your CPU voltage for your OC?

The CM Elite 335 has space for 1 front and 1 rear 120mm fan which would help if you havn't already got them.

Have you tried adjusting the 4870 fan speed in ATI Catalyst Control Centre, my 4850 was at a default setting of 30% and used to hit 90C until I ramped the fan up to 50%. Ended up putting an Akasa Cool Blue on it, dropped 20C.

How does your GPU blow air directly onto your CPU?

 

[madass]

My cab ahs a 80MM up front and a 120 in the back.

I dont want to burn out the fan. Either way, on VMax it sounds like a vacuum cleaner.

Mine isnt the dual slot version that blows air out of a vent. It takes in air from the side vent, blows over the gpu, and right above it, slap bang onto the CPU fan's intake path.
(shrugs)
It was one of the last 4870's before it was discontinued......what do you expect?

Either way, I'll need to get a bigger cooler right?
Any recommendations within a USD60 budget?

 

[beanoslim]

Your cases spec says 120mm front and rear. That would be a good idea, some nice quiet 120mm fans. If you can generate some more airflow from the front it will help.

These aren't bad but theres loads to choose from, mid airflow and pretty quiet.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999346&cm_re=120mm_fan-_-11-999-346-_-Product

For $60 you could upgrade your gpu and cpu coolers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835110015&cm_re=vga_cooler-_-35-110-015-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212-_-35-103-065-_-Product

With the option of adding another fan to the Hyper if needed. The Antec also acts as an exhaust fan which will help.

This worked well cooling my 4850 down but I'm not sure where you are and if its available to you.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/akasa-vortexx-neo-vga-cooler-with-two-heatpipe-and-uv-reactive-blue-led-fan

Hope this helps.

 

[rey63004]

how hard is overclocking? some says its easy, some says otherwise.. do i really need to buy aftermarket cooler if I want to overclock?

 

[beanoslim]

Its easy if you have an unlocked multiplier, just increase multiplier and voltage when needed.

If you have to increase bus speed then you have to watch the ram speed as well.

With voltage increases comes heat increases and the need for more powerfull cooling.

If you overclock with minimul voltage increase and the cpu stays at reasonable temps then no, stock is fine.

I ALWAYS go aftermarket because they keep things cooler than stock and are much quieter but thats my choice.

 

[rey63004]

@beanoslim

thanks for the reply