New to OC, new build, need advice on getting the most out of my build

[matthew1490]

I'm starting a new build, I'm going to get MSI Z170A m5 MOBO with the 6600k cpu. My graphics card is an msi r9 390 8gb, im running 16gb of ram.

I can put it together but I have no idea what to do after that. I'd like to get the most out of it as I can. From what I read I can oc the gpu, cpu, and ram?

I'm not expecting you to write a guide, Google is my friend, but any advice on what I should do to my build to get the most out of it?

I'm fairly new to this side of computers, id just like to make a nice build that will last. The hardware is one thing, what to do once it's all together is idk.

Advice from you pro builders? Do you guys have a routine for new builds?

Thanks!

 

[11sphere92]

You don't do OC, if you don't need to.
It will lower the lifespan of your computer.

if you are doing heavy gaming, or multi tasking, OC would be a great choice to use.

 

[Christian D]

It will lower the lifespan of your computer.

You shouldn't worry about lowering the lifespan of your computer. By the time an overclocked component goes dead, it will be long obsolete.

 

[11sphere92]

Well, if it survives in 5 years, it might be.

 

[matthew1490]

Ok well I'm not trying to push it to the extreme. I am going to OC, i just don't know a lot about it. Can I oc my gpu? Or my ram? Is it worth it? I know I can oc my cpu in bios. Is it that easy?

I am going to do heavy gaming and mostly graphics intensive work.

Can anyone just point me in the right direction? Advice?

 

[Christian D]

Ok well I'm not trying to push it to the extreme. I am going to OC, i just don't know a lot about it. Can I oc my gpu? Or my ram? Is it worth it? I know I can oc my cpu in bios. Is it that easy?

I am going to do heavy gaming and mostly graphics intensive work.

Can anyone just point me in the right direction? Advice?

Overclock CPU and GPU is definitely worth it, but overclocking the RAM will see minimal performance gains and make your system less stable. To overclock GPU, download the MSI utility (afterburner I think) for your graphics card. Then I set the power limit to max and started incriminating GPU clock offset in 20mhz. After each incriminate, run a benchmark (firestrike is a good one) and see if you system crashes. Keep incriminating until you hit the max, then back down say 10mhz. If your card has unlocked voltage you can apply more voltage to make an overclock more stable, but not too much or you could damage your card. After you find stable overclock for gpu clock, then go to gpu memory. Do the same kind of system till you get a crash, then back off a little. You might want to run an extended benchmark to ensure you have a stable overclock on the GPU.

Edit: As for overclocking the CPU, this article can probably explain it better than I can:
http://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-overclock-your-cpu-processor/