[SOLVED] Can I Overclock?: AMD fx8320, GTX 960, msi 970 mobo

[Alexmx5]

Currently running stock bios at 3.5 ghz and I'm wondering if it's safe for me to try to push to 4.0 ghz and even worth it to do so with my current specs.
extraction fan above cpu
a cooler master lite cpu cooler I idle at 20-25c

16 GB G.Skill Ripjaws x ddr3 cx600 power supply as previously stated AMD fx8320 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 msi 970 "gaming" mobo From what I understand it sounds like I should be fine, but I have no idea if it's worth trying to squeeze extra power out of these specs. Thanks!

 

[clutchc]

Sure. 4GHz won't be that much to stress that system as long as your CX PSU is of the newer variety and you have a decent CPU cooler. I presume this is your board.

 

[Ralston18]

The motherboard is the reference point: you need to know exactly what it will support.

Then, after that, is the existing 600 Watt PSU capable of supporting the build? That may be an issue for your current build.

Add up the power requirements for all installed components. If a power range is given use the high end value.

Use the GPU's recommended PSU wattage.

Total the wattages and add 25%. How close is that final value to 600 Watts?

There are online calculators to help with such things. Apply two or three to determine if a consensus value is reached.

The PSU is a very critical component. If it cannot provide the necessary power then problems will occur.

 

[Alexmx5]

Sure. 4GHz won't be that much to stress that system as long as your CX PSU is of the newer variety and you have a decent CPU cooler. I presume this is your board.

It is the cx 600 80 plus bronze. and i do believe it is the V2
Correct that is my board!
Thanks for the insight I really appreciate it. Thank you man.

 

[Alexmx5]

The motherboard is the reference point: you need to know exactly what it will support.

Then, after that, is the existing 600 Watt PSU capable of supporting the build? That may be an issue for your current build.

Add up the power requirements for all installed components. If a power range is given use the high end value.

Use the GPU's recommended PSU wattage.

Total the wattages and add 25%. How close is that final value to 600 Watts?

There are online calculators to help with such things. Apply two or three to determine if a consensus value is reached.

The PSU is a very critical component. If it cannot provide the necessary power then problems will occur.

Wow, thank you so much this is super useful and ill be sure to apply this, I appreciate it!

Okay the highest number I could possibly get was 585 using the method you discussed.

468w is the recommended wattage for my build according to https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

"
Load Wattage:418 W
Recommended UPS rating:850 VA
Recommended PSU Wattage:468 W
"
418 +25% = 522
current psu is cx600 v2

 

[Karadjgne]

V2, not that bad, definitely a Longshot better than the 'builder' cx600.

MSI 970 gaming is a great board to OC with, it's one of the few that'll handle a FX 9590, so an 8320 is chump-change in comparison.

The 8320 is iffy, it's the least binned version of the 8/9 125w+ series cpus (they are all the same) so the exact height of OC is a guess. Most people don't have many issues getting to 4.5GHz, some got lucky and can hit 5.0GHz or better.

All of which (taking the above into consideration) will be determined by 1 thing alone. The cpu cooler. Anything with the word 'lite' in the title or description is next to useless. For decent 4.4-4.5GHz a minimum of something like a CM hyper212 , for higher start looking at cryorig H5, Noctua NH-D14, NH-U12A etc.

 

[Alexmx5]

V2, not that bad, definitely a Longshot better than the 'builder' cx600.

MSI 970 gaming is a great board to OC with, it's one of the few that'll handle a FX 9590, so an 8320 is chump-change in comparison.

The 8320 is iffy, it's the least binned version of the 8/9 125w+ series cpus (they are all the same) so the exact height of OC is a guess. Most people don't have many issues getting to 4.5GHz, some got lucky and can hit 5.0GHz or better.

All of which (taking the above into consideration) will be determined by 1 thing alone. The cpu cooler. Anything with the word 'lite' in the title or description is next to useless. For decent 4.4-4.5GHz a minimum of something like a CM hyper212 , for higher start looking at cryorig H5, Noctua NH-D14, NH-U12A etc.

Thank you for the reply I appreciate, I'm gonna be testing some bios settings today and keep on eye on temps and see how things look with some stress testing.
The cooler master cpu cooler I have is a water-cooled fan system, would you still recommend looking for something a little more robust in the near future? Thanks for the insight it's making this process much easier!

 

[clutchc]

I've had several FX 8350 over the years (don't ask). Most were able to hit 4.7GHz with nothing more than a 212 EVO w/push-pull fans. The one I still have sits in an Asus M5A99X EVO motherboard/RX 590. So the FX-8320 should have little trouble hitting 4 GHz (unless you're really unlucky and got a poor chip)

Just played a little Doom Eternal on it @ Ultra nightmare setting today. 120-ish fps max @ 1080p. Never dipped below 60 fps.

 

[Alexmx5]

I've had several FX 8350 over the years (don't ask). Most were able to hit 4.7GHz with nothing more than a 212 EVO w/push-pull fans. The one I still have sits in an Asus M5A99X EVO motherboard/RX 590. So the FX-8320 should have little trouble hitting 4 GHz (unless you're really unlucky and got a poor chip)

Just played a little Doom Eternal on it @ Ultra nightmare setting today. 120-ish fps max @ 1080p. Never dipped below 60 fps.

Haha several huh? Good to know! Been testing games at 4-4.2 GHz all day today and I'm already seeing much better performance in terms of fps and my temps are still relatively the same. I will try to safely get to 4.5GHz and see if I'm happy with the performance at that point.

That seems glorious, sounds like a very capable system indeed. I'm trying to push as many frames as possible for EFT at the moment so we'll see how that goes! Thanks again for the input it's been very helpful.

Any recommendations in terms of upgrading my rig moving forward? I know its a little off-topic but I just want to see if there's potential I'm missing out on this current setup. Obviously I've been looking at CPU's, hence the need to OC lol

 

[clutchc]

Any recommendations in terms of upgrading my rig moving forward? I know its a little off-topic but I just want to see if there's potential I'm missing out on this current setup. Obviously I've been looking at CPU's, hence the need to OC lol

Once OC'ed, the CPU can probably handle a faster graphics card. My RX 590 doesn't seem to be too badly bottlenecked in the games I prefer. And your 960 is probably only a 4GB card. So a GTX 1060 or RX 580 should be doable.
If you don't already have one, get a SSD. At least big enough for everything except your games. They can live on the HDD.