CPU cooling for overclocking

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joshparrish95

joshparrish95

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May 28, 2012
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hi guys,

i have a AMD Phenom II 960T Black edition 3.0Ghz i want to overclock it to get a little more performance for gaming and multi tasking, i have a cooling system i want to buy and i just need a little information.
the cooling system is the Corsair Hydro Series H40 Hydro
http://www.ebuyer.com/309500-corsair-hydro-series-h40-hydro-socket-am2-am3-fm1-775-1155-1156-cw-9060001-ww

i need these questions answering:

1. will i need more thermal paste for this cooling system?

2. what would you advise to overclock to with this cooling system?

3. is there a more effective cooling system for the same/similar price?

many thanks,

Josh
 
just incase its useful for anything heres my specs
Gigabyte GA-770T-D3L
AMD Phenom II 960T black edition
8GB DDR3 RAM
1TB HDD
ATI Radeon 5770 HD 1GB GDDR5 128bit
 
As i have a 960t in my test rig i can help you with this, but i need a few more details please,

firstly what is your PC case and whats its cooling, fans 120/ 140 intakes, exhausts etc etc and are you UK based ?
 
Get a coolermaster 212+ or 212 evo (air cooler) it'll perform as well as the cheap waterjob and cost less.

Thats what I used in the one in my signature which is an unlocked 960T.

Beaware when overclocking that CPU you will also need to increase the Northbridge (NB) frequency.... people forget this. This can actually be a limiting factor as the NB gets very hot if clocked too high and there's a limit to how well the heatsink on it dissapates that heat this factor largely depends on how well your mobo manages that though if you want to go really extreme you can make ways to increase the NB cooling.

4GHz is a realistic target using a 212 maybe a little more maybe a little less depends on your chip no 2 are the same
 
HAHA, did you see what i did with one of those cheap cases for a friend to give him extra cooling.....

IMAG0162.jpg

IMAG0161.jpg


Top exhaust fan 120mm
IMAG0152.jpg

Bottom intake fans 120mm filtered
IMAG0129.jpg


Anyway the fractal is a good case, but seriously consider Corsairs own 400r for that price range as its a better Cooler for your components..
http://www.ebuyer.com/276069-corsair-carbide-400r-case-cc-9011011-ww
w0276069_newpage.jpg


As for your CPU cooler the H60,70 and 80 or even the 100 are all great coolers and will all fit in the 400r and if budgets not a problem then get any one of them as they make for a tidy case, but if budgets a problem then get the Coolermaster Hyper 212 evo as said above.
 
i have actually been considering a major upgrade to my system and making to watercooled, but im not sure the watercooling is worth the hassle, i was going to buy a ASUS M5A99X EVO AMD 990X + SB950 ATX Motherboard - AM3+ socket and a AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8150 8 Core 3.6Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3 Cache 125W and overclock it to 4.5Ghz, would it be worth it? i might then again just keep what i have and upgrade the cooling and overclock to 4Ghz
 
Keep the CPU you have and OC it to 4ghz have you tried unlocking it yet?

It would however be worth upgrading the mobo to the ASUS M5A99X EVO as its a great board, again what i have with an 1100t ocd on it to 4ghz.

So heres what id get.
Corsair 400r
Asus M5A99x EVO
H100 or H80 cpu cooler if money no issue/Hyper 212 EVO or H60 if money an issue

Any left over cash, buy either an SSD 120gb for OS etc etc or upgrade graphics card.
 
I would say the upgrade to the 8150 wouldn't be worth it. Bump up to an i5 before going for an 8150.

The H40 is pretty bad. The H60 is meh. Both have constant water pumps that make ticking sounds (like a HDD seeking). While not loud, the ticking is usually noticeable due to its erratic nature.

For the price of the H60 you could get a really nice air cooler with some quiet fans and get about the same OC. Heck even a $30 CM cooler will do just fine. Starting at the H80 the performance gets good enough to start considering them, but the models below that have very limited advantages (like cramming them into tight cases that don't have enough clearance for big air coolers :) ) I'm not saying they are terrible or anything, I'd just stick to air in that price range.
 
right im gonna order the Corsair 400r now off ebuyer and the mobo off pc world, then tomorrow when i get paid i will order maybe the h80 and i dont know how to unlock the processor, is it done in the bios? or is there some software?
 
and i just thought of an issue, my psu has the fan at the back and one underneath, so the corsair case has the psu at the bottom so what will i do about my psu??
 
Your PSU will be fine with that fan config,
why not get everything from one site like scan...

400r
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-carbide-series-400r-black-mid-tower-gaming-case-w-o-psu

ASUS M5A99X EVO
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-carbide-series-400r-black-mid-tower-gaming-case-w-o-psu

H80
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-h80-hydro-series-high-performance-cpu-cooler-s775-1155-1156-1366-2011-am2-am3

Unlocking the CPU and OCing on the asus mobo is very easy by literally pressing one button in the new lovely UEFI BIOS screen.
 
The PSU just mounts in the same orientation at the bottom as at the top..

detail_400r_rear_dustfilter_2.png


so pulls clean air in through the bottom dust filter, and the little fan at the back just pulls the air in from the case. as per usual.
 
To try and unlock go in to bios and look for the ACC (advanced core calibration) or similar named option just turn it on then prime95 your system to see if the cores are stable.

If they are not you can try slightly overvolting

If that doesnt work try for 5 cores

When you find your stable core number (4,5 or 6) then OC. Remember when you initially OC to turn off c1e, turbo core and cool n quiet (from bios) then OC from the bios not software.

@ Uther

Thats case mod looks awesome! :)

 
I thought I'll leave a quick note, every Corsair Hydro series CPU cooler will have thermal paste already pre-applied to the bottom of the heatsink 🙂

Good luck!
 
right im gonna wait until i have it all set up before i mess with unlocking and oc'ing, so techically i just have the psu upside down, right i think i have it all figured out :)
 
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