How to overclock 4690k?

[Fuseymore]

Hi, can someone tell me how to overclock properly or provide a link to help me overclock. Just got my aftermarket cooler today, but have never overclocked before seeing how i always used non k cpus.

Thanks in advance

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3P
Cpu cooler: Cryorig H7

 

[Darkbreeze]

Intake fans need to have good static pressure. Exhaust fans do not, but you want them to have a high CFM rating. The reason being, intake fans have to to "push" air into the case, even when the air pressure inside the case may be higher than the air pressure outside the case or to overcome restrictions to airflow as with heatsink cooler fans.

Exhaust fans on the other hand, have the pressure inside the case working FOR them to help push air out of the case, which makes their job easier, plus there is less pressure and no real resistance to the airflow going out of the case, so all of this means that in some cases it makes sense to use two different fans for intake and exhaust. You can of course just use a high static pressure fan for both locations, but since they're typically more expensive, on budget systems it's sometimes more sensible to use a different one for the exhaust that's maybe not AS expensive.

Bearing type is crucial as well. While fan blade design has a lot of effect on how much noise a fan makes, the bearing type and quality is probably even more important, AND has everything to do with how long the fan will last or if it will run well when horizontal or vertical.

Anyhow, just a primer on fans really, not actually relevant to making a recommendation, but at least you get a little of the bigger picture as to why certain fans are better than others.

It also matters what KIND of fan they are. Some are Pulse width modulation controlled while others are Voltage controlled. Voltage controlled fans are generally 3 pin while PWM fans are 4 pin.

Your board looks like it has two 4 pin PWM fan headers, one 4 pin CPU fan header and a single 3 pin system fan header. Which headers are your front and rear fans connected to and are any splitters being used. How many wires/pins are each fan type, regardless of which header they are connected to?

Sometimes, on some boards, not all, three pin fans will work on four pin headers, but four pin fans don't ever work on 3 pin headers except as a "full on" configuration. Exceptions to this are found on fan hubs where a single four pin cable runs to one of the four pin headers and then three or four pin voltage controlled or PWM headers, usually four or more, are all controlled via the signal from the one header that's attached to the board. Usually these also connect to a PSU molex or SATA power connector to supply the fans with power and control speed.

In order to know what fans will work best for you, I need to know how many wires/pins each fan has.

 

[Fuseymore]

(All fans are 3 pin)
My exhaust fan is plugged into a 4 pin, and my 2 intake fans are plugged into a 3 pin with a splitter because the other 4 pin doesn't work

They all have molex connectors as well

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'll get back to you with some recommendations after while.

 

[Fuseymore]

Cpu is reaching 61°C under full load, room temps is 21.6°C

 

[Darkbreeze]

That's not terrible, but considering it's at stock speeds, it's not terrific either. Probably I'd still double check the cooler mounting. It might not be well seated or you might have used too much or too little paste. Or it might be fine and is simply due to airflow through the case. If the heat can't get out, then the cooler has to start reusing some of the already heated air to try and cool with.

 

[Fuseymore]

I'll wait until I install the new case fans to reinstall the heatsink since I will need to take it out to get to the exhaust fan and temps are safe at stock for now

 

[Fuseymore]

I heard that corsair has good AF and SP fans, this true? Also high performance vs quiet versions? i would think the quiet ones would still perform better than the stock ones

 

[Darkbreeze]

Corsair fans are for fanboys, no pun intended, but they are generally much better than the stock fans you'd see come with something like that DIYPC case. I was thinking more along the lines of something like these, which, while not really high end like Noctua and Thermalright, are very good fans with low noise and fairly high airflow and static pressure.

One of these in front and in back would probably be a great improvement over the stock fans.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case Fan: Cougar Vortex 60.4 CFM 120mm Fan ($13.04 @ Amazon)
Total: $13.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-25 16:25 EDT-0400

 

[Fuseymore]

Ok thanks, so I don't need to get a different kind for the exhaust and intake, that one will work great for both?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes. If you want to start building up to a REALLY decent system, which at some future point will certainly require a better case as well, then spending a little bit more money would be a good start to doing that by going with something like these instead.

Two of these can be used on the four pin header your exhaust is currently connected to, using the PWM splitter that comes with them. Do not use the low noise adapter extension that comes with them, as it will drop voltage to 7v and won't move as much air that way.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($19.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $19.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-25 22:12 EDT-0400



Or these, which will REALLY move some air but are almost twice as loud at full speed, which they'll probably NEVER need to be at anyhow so they might still be a good choice and have massive static pressure.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM 109.9 CFM 120mm Fan ($22.49 @ OutletPC)
Total: $22.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-25 22:14 EDT-0400



Or these would be ok too. Pretty good quality, airflow and reputation.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case Fan: CRYORIG QF120 Performance 83.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($13.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $13.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-25 22:20 EDT-0400

 

[Fuseymore]

What do you think I should get? It's either 2 cougar fans for $30 or 2 noctua fans for $40. Are they that much better that I should go for them?
This is my last question then this thread can done 😛 you've helped me so much the past few days. I can't thank you enough!

Btw at idle my cpu is at 25-30°C, I think I had a video or something running in the background when I checked last time

And yes my weak point in my pc is probably my case, but I was like "ooo pretty blue LEDs" when I bought it and I don't want a case with fans on top anyways because I'd probably spill a drink and it would go right into my pc

"Really decent system" wow shots fired
just because I don't have an overlocked i7 6700k and 2 980tis sli'd my pc sucks.....?
I'm gonna cry 🙁
I think a 4690k and gtx 970 is pretty good seeing how I mostly play world of Warcraft, league of legends and call of duty. Not trying to run tomb raider at 1440p 144hz or anything crazy
That's why I'm not too worried about overclocking I know I bought a little more than is needed for my games so I never has performance issues

 

[Darkbreeze]

#1 rule, no drinks within three feet of the case, ever. That includes friends and family, and of course, you have to police yourself as well. Not having fans on top severely limits the possibilities, but there are a few options and some where the top fan locations are there, but are optional, and are covered with removable vent covers. There are also units with top fans that are NOT open to the top, so nothing spilled could get in there anyhow since they vent out through the sides of the top, like the H440. That or something like it might be a good choice when the time comes.

Lots of new options hitting the market all the time, but personally I'd recommend sticking to cases from NZXT, Fractal Design, Corsair (Some, definitely not all), Phanteks, BeQuiet, BitFenix (Again, some models), Cooler Master (A few good models but most are "meh"), Rosewill has a couple of half decent cases and a whole bunch of crappy ones, Silverstone has some good cases, but also some that are poop.

I think the most important factors in choosing a case are fan options, room for cable management behind/under the motherboard tray and modular/removable/tool free drive bays as well as making sure there is enough room inside the case to work when you have to, which you've already seen for yourself is a PITA when there is not enough room.

The Noctua fans are WELL worth the extra ten bucks. Given the choice, there shouldn't even be a question of which to go with. The Cougar fans are decent, much better than what your DIYPC case came with, but they are by no means in the same league as the Noctua's. Fan bearing, blade design and overall quality are far better on the Noctua fans. Specs are better too. The NF-F12 PWM is one of, if not the, best non-industrial case fans you can get at any price.

And if the color bothers you, you can easily make them solid black with a few light (Several light coats is the key. Do not try to turn them black in one or two passes) coats of this:

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/DPL0/HVP104/N0477.oap?ck=Search_N0477_-1_2717&pt=N0477&ppt=C0171


And they'll turn out looking exactly like my CPU fan shown here, which started it's life the same Noctua brown as those NF-F12 fans.

No offense was meant towards your system at all. I simply meant overall in total capability including additional cooling options, aesthetics and higher quality. Of course there's nothing wrong with what you have now. It's better than 90% of systems out there, I just think given that you DO have a pretty high end system, it deserves a better home. But all in good time. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are solid systems.

To be fair, I'm only running an R9 280 right now because I sold my R9 290x, for reasons. Mostly because my brothers GPU card died and he was crying to me so much about it that I figured if it would shut him up it was worth it.

I plan to get another card but I'm waiting before dropping any cash so I can see if anything interesting comes with Pascal or Polaris. So don't get so jumpy. I wasn't taking any pot shots at your configuration.

 

[Fuseymore]

Ok thanks man, I'll get 2 noctua fans and probably stick with this case for the foreseeable future as it gets the job done and actually has good cable management space, but I'll probably get a new case within the next 2 years

Getting 2 notcua fans will also come in handy when I get a new case because I can add them to it

Yes I've been putting a lot of work into improving my system the past few months as I was using a 750 ti and a cx750m because I didn't know what was a good gaming build and didn't know the cx750m was garbage lol. Then I got the H7 to get away from stock heatsink, and now the noctua fans. So I think my pc is a lot better.

I guess I could get a stand to put next to my desk so my drinks arnt actually on the desk, therefore nothing can spill off my desk right inside my computer
(my desk has a shelf on the right side so the top of my pc is right below the right side of my desk).
Desk --> |""""|,, <-- pc shelf

If you want I can let you know If the new case fans and reinstalling my heatsink lower my temps
(But that probably won't be for 2 weeks)
And I still probably won't overclock till I learn more

Anyways thanks for all your help, can't believe you put so much time into responding to me over the past few days. You have been so helpful!

O ya and, ouch only an r9 280 I feel for ya man, but dang that pc looks nice and that's coming from some1 who hates red with a burning passion

Bye!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Of course I want to know if the new fans help. We do this because we're enthusiasts, not because we get paid, which we don't. Moderators are strictly volunteer and we were all regular members before becoming moderators.

The case had to have red accents, because, well, reasons. Namely, the front emblem and modification scenario.

This is what the front of my case looked like stock.

And what it looks like now. Not the best picture quality, but I'll being doing some much higher quality images once I'm done with the custom cable sleeving.

 

[Fuseymore]

I didn't think you got paid, that's why it's so crazy to me that you have responded with such detail. Any ways I'll be sure to let you know if temps improve from the fans, thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Anytime.

 

[Fuseymore]

Realized my side 140mm intake fan is the one making a lot of noise. Thought I could get away with not replacing it because it moves a lot of air 🙁

So what should I get? It has to use a 3 pin so The noctua NF-A14 FLX?

And just realized I get Amazon prime free trial since I am accepted to college and have an edu email now
So I'll have the fans this week for sure

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, that would be a good choice. Depending on what you like, one of these would also be a very good choice. I've been running four of them in my rig for testing purposes for the last three months. I just haven't bothered to take them out and put my Noctua's back in because they are quiet and perform well. I will eventually, when I disassemble to sleeve my cables, but until then, they are working fine and they look pretty good too.

Reviews on these units are very favorable as well.

They come in black/white, black/gray, black/red and black/blue. They also have four LED lights on each unit that is brighter or dimmer depending on the fan speed. LED color matches the accent color.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case Fan: Aerocool DS 140mm Red 93.4 CFM 140mm Fan ($15.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $15.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-27 16:34 EDT-0400

 

[Fuseymore]

Ok so get the noctua 120mm cause they are pwm, and get the aerocool 140mm cause it looks awesome and it 3 pin

Thanks I'll order them now

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sounds good. I'm sure you'll appreciate them once you see the difference.

 

[Fuseymore]

Got everything installed, one of the screws on the heatsink wasn't in, had some1 help me and got it in all the way.

The 140mm aerocool fan Is loud because it's going super fast, how can I slow it down? Use the quiet adapter?

Update: Tried quiet adapter, not as loud but still worse or as bad as old fan

Update 2: uhh so the 4 pin that use to not work is working now and it's quieter/slower more than the 3 pin
But still louder than I expected, but with headset on I can't hear this fan so it's good, last fan had high pitch noise I could hear through headset

Idle temps are 24-29°C
And of course this is with them way quieter

These fans will auto adjust or what?
How exactly do they work

45° under load, maxing 50, whaat

Can't hear the 140mm with music playing but without it it's a little annoying. Also it can be heard over Skype, is it ok to use the low volt adapter to make it quieter? Or is there another way? Using adapter it's quieter and temps are a little higher, about 47-52°c

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you have issues with the fan controls, due to problems with the fan headers, I'd highly suggest you go to using a fan hub like the NZXT Grid+. That's what I use even though my motherboard works fine, because I can precisely tailor my fan speeds down to 20% of operation and tune the increase in RPM to whatever I want above that, at any temperature range, with about 13 different thermal triggers. You can specifically assign what speed you want the fan running at each specific temperature, up to 13 individual spots per fan. For example:

Because your only other choices are to either deal with fans that are running full speed, replace the motherboard so that onboard fan controls will work right or get some other kind of hub/controller. With the Grid+ V2, every fan can have it's own, and different, profile, or they can all share the same profile. Two can share a profile while two others might not even turn on until a specific temperature is reached. It will work for 3 or 4 pin fans (4 pin fans have to use 3 to 4 pin adapters, two of which are included with the unit).

For 30 bucks it's hard to beat, and a lot cheaper than replacing the motherboard. Certainly worth saving your sanity from full speed fans.

http://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Digital-Controller-Cooling-AC-GRIDP-M1/dp/B00O0M6Q6G


All of this is assuming of course that you've gone into the bios and set the fan profiles where you want them set. Even making sure that those headers you think don't work are actually even enabled in the bios settings. If they are disabled in the bios, they will not of course, work. Using low noise adapters is a terrible way to manage fans or noise.

 

[Fuseymore]

So should I not use the adapter and change its profile in bios instead?

What's wrong with using the adapter if my pc is still cool
I mean I went from 70° with stock heatsink n case fans to 50°. That's a lot of room to OC if I ever want

Thanks for the fan recommendations and telling me to reinstall heatsink, I think I can use my Pc as and airconditioner now 😛

 

[Darkbreeze]

I would change the profile in the bios. Here's why. With the low noise adapter what you're actually doing is reducing the fan voltage from a maximum of 12v to a maximum of 7v, which is why it's max speed is lower. That's fine and great, except that under extended load conditions you might need that additional airflow and CPU core temps are not the only thing to be concerned about.

Your GPU card relies on that fresh air as does the motherboard, and while the CPU itself might be cool because the CPU fan is doing a good job, the motherboard or GPU card might suffer under extended high duty cycle loads because the case fans are being limited to only a portion of their actual capability. With a silent profile enabled, the fans should be quiet except when they need to not be. If the CPU or motherboard is hot, then you want the fans going full bore, at least long enough to bring those temps down, but you also want them to be as quiet as possible under normal conditions. Controlling speed by profile assignment should do that, rather than simply dialing down the voltage so the fans can't spin up to full speed under critical conditions.

If it's staying cool, and you're happy with it, then it's great. But I'd at least try the other way to see if it might work better for you.

 

[Fuseymore]

Ok thanks man, I completely forgot about the silent setting in bios, I'll check my gpu temps tomorrow and see if it changed between the 7v adapter and silent in bios. And also compare how loud it is. I think I can set a fan curve in my bios, would that maybe be a thing to do?

My gpu use to get up to 68°C but turns fans on and cools back down to 55°
I don't think I even checked my gpu tonight, I guess that intake is blowing right into my gpu so it be going faster will allow my gpu fans to stay off longer