Question Is there a point in OC'ing old i7 for a new GPU?

Jassen

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Dec 23, 2019
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So I got this new GPU Asus GTX 1660 TI and I'm using it on i7-970 3.2 GHz (currently at 3.33 GHz), so question is:

Will I get a significant FPS boost in modern games if i go for the 4 GHz barrier, or the CPU is just too old?

I'm willing to spend 120$-130$ on water cooling, or Air, what ever is better for that price range, if there is a point.

MB: Gigabyte EX58-extreme
CPU: i7-970
GPU: Asus TUF-GTX1660TI-O6G
RAM: GEIL 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) 1600 MHz CL9 Dual-Chanel
PSU: Enermax 500W or 550W ( Too lazy to open case)
HDD: 4TB HGST DESKSTAR NAS
 
So I got this new GPU Asus GTX 1660 TI and I'm using it on i7-970 3.2 GHz (currently at 3.33 GHz), so question is:

Will I get a significant FPS boost in modern games if i go for the 4 GHz barrier, or the CPU is just too old?

I'm willing to spend 120$-130$ on water cooling, or Air, what ever is better for that price range, if there is a point.

MB: Gigabyte EX58-extreme
CPU: i7-970
GPU: Asus TUF-GTX1660TI-O6G
RAM: GEIL 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) 1600 MHz CL9 Dual-Chanel
PSU: Enermax 500W or 550W ( Too lazy to open case)
HDD: 4TB HGST DESKSTAR NAS
Get a new build instead of wasting money on a watercooler. Even overclocked, your CPU will slow down your GPU by a lot.
 
The new CPU cooling system if you choose to buy a new one, it will also be an investment for your future new PC build, the only downside is that will restrict you to build again a system around an Intel CPU.[EDIT]oof don't mind the brainfart Dude.

From my experience a successful CPU OC offers from 10% to 20%+ better performance.
Now if you get there it depends on the quality of the CPU and generally your hardware, the previous usage (workloads) and current condition, your skills, research and experience with OC, the tools you have (delidding tools) and the time you are willing to spend.

And you have to take into account the potential risk in case something goes wrong, a possibility increased the older a computer system is.

[EDIT] If you usually play some very demanding games on ultra high settings at 1440p then don't expect to gain much FPS by OC the CPU.
 
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Jassen

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Dec 23, 2019
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Thank you all for the replies.
I game at 1080p, wanna get max quality at 60 FPS because of my monitor ASUS MX279H, point is:

If I game something like new Tomb Rider at 50 FPS, if I OC, will I be Able to reach that critical 60?

And here comes the tricky part, my case is CM Elite-334 (not the elite-334U or Nvidia Edition, its a legacy one, meaning its 2cm smaller in all dimensions), so i can get 12cm AIO cooling or a something like 155 mm tower fan.
Bad thing is I live in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria), market is small here and if I burn my CPU, I'll be able to find a i7-920 at best.

PS: I currently have Zalman CNPS9900 LED, doubt I can OC a lot with that, changed thermal paste about a mont ago (Cooler Master IC Essential E1)
 
This is an old style case with limited cooler height makes things more complicated. Double fan watercooler is out of the question, any tower cooler beyond 163mm height also.
Hyper 212 LED Turbo barely fits. Heads up you have to count CPU cooler height with the fan also if it is tower style.

Again you have to ask your self does it worth to spend your budget there or wait until you have a sufficient amount of money to buy a better or even new system?

PS. If you live near Greece check out that market also for used or new parts.
 
Try this back handed test to see how sensitive your games are to cpu clock speed:

Limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 20% improvement in core speed might do.

You have all the threads a gamer could ever want.
The main issue is clock speed.

If you want to oc, you need decent cooling.
Measure the height available for a tower type air cooler.

There are many good ones that fit in 160mm. Probably the best might be the noctua NH-D15s @160mm.
Consider such a top end cooler as an investment. It will be good for a future build.
It has the cooling equivalent to a 280 aio cooler.

The cryorig H7 plus is a 145mm cooler that is effective.

Can you provide a link to your case?
You should have adequate front intake capability to feed any cooler.

I would not worry too much about damage to your processor from overheating.
The processor will throttle or shut down to prevent damage if it detects a dangerous temperature.
That is around 100c.

The thing to watch is your voltage when overclocking. Off hand, I do not recall what is dangerous for your cpu.
 

86zx

Upstanding
Nov 1, 2019
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Well I had a Xeon x5660 and idk if I got a good one or what but I got it to overclock to 4.5ghz and got 993 on cinebench r15 which stock it benched around 600 so overclocking can give you a decent bump in performance. I used a really bad asetech water cooler and taped a 100cfm bathroom fan to it because I couldn’t turn up the case fan and even with that the temps were around 70c maxed out. So if you had a decent 240 rad it would probably be a lot better but you can still get some good performance out of these CPUs
 

Jassen

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Dec 23, 2019
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Again, thank you all for the replies. So basically comes down to this, if I spend 120$ on 12cm AIO or , I would say, 155 -156 mm Tower Fan ( measured the box 184mm side to side, current fan is 152mm, so i would say it has like, 2 - 5mm max. till it reaches the side plate), will I be able to get a descent OC?
Or its not worth it and better to spend these money on cooling for the new PC, I'm planning to get by the end of the year?

PS: I cannot find the specs of my case (CM Elite 334) that is 184mm width, all are above, meaning that they are CM Elite 334U or Nvidia Edition.
 
Again, thank you all for the replies. So basically comes down to this, if I spend 120$ on 12cm AIO or , I would say, 155 -156 mm Tower Fan ( measured the box 184mm side to side, current fan is 152mm, so i would say it has like, 2 - 5mm max. till it reaches the side plate), will I be able to get a descent OC?
Or its not worth it and better to spend these money on cooling for the new PC, I'm planning to get by the end of the year?

PS: I cannot find the specs of my case (CM Elite 334) that is 184mm width, all are above, meaning that they are CM Elite 334U or Nvidia Edition.
No, its not worth it overclocking a 10 years old CPU, you won't even notice overclocking improvements.
 
PS: I cannot find the specs of my case (CM Elite 334) that is 184mm width, all are above, meaning that they are CM Elite 334U or Nvidia Edition.
Damn, this case have disappeared from Internets archives, and the few sites that does exist, there is no info about Maximum CPU Cooler Height,

So can only be estimated with MATH 😁
Cooler Master Elite 334 Svart
Your PC case accordingly to this Swedish shop has 187 mm width and x mm Maximum CPU Cooler Height.

The Cooler Master Elite 334 U
From the official CM site the U edition has 193 mm width and 163 mm Maximum CPU Cooler Height.
193-187=6
163-6=157 mm Maximum CPU Cooler Height for your PC case?
 

Jassen

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Dec 23, 2019
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Damn, this case have disappeared from Internets archives, and the few sites that does exist, there is no info about Maximum CPU Cooler Height,

So can only be estimated with MATH 😁
Cooler Master Elite 334 Svart
Your PC case accordingly to this Swedish shop has 187 mm width and x mm Maximum CPU Cooler Height.

The Cooler Master Elite 334 U
From the official CM site the U edition has 193 mm width and 163 mm Maximum CPU Cooler Height.
193-187=6
163-6=157 mm Maximum CPU Cooler Height for your PC case?

Great way to turn it around, BUT the case you found is actually the nvidia edition(https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/cases/mid-tower/elite-334-nvidia-edition/), mine is even smaller than that :)

So bottom line thanks for the replies, guess I'll just wait, till the end of year, to get a new PC and drop the OC'ing.
 

oldcracc

Reputable
Apr 10, 2019
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You don't have to buy a new rig, all you need to do is swap the motherboard/cpu to a recent Ryzen/Intel processor and you should see much better performance. Put the money you would have spent on cooling toward a new CPU/Mobo.
 

Jassen

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Dec 23, 2019
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Thanks again. I'ts not just CPU, MB and RAM, I need a new cooler too, doubt my Zalman 9900LED will fit any new socket. New PSU just to be safe and I want a new case, mine is just to small for anything.