Overclocking 3570k on Mini-ITX?

[Andq1]

Hello people, me and a friend is going to LAN partys alot, and we decided to build two mini-itx builds. Now my question is, can you overclock a intel i5 3570k on a mini-itx? Im gonna get a H100 / H80 / H50 closed loop for the build.

Is it possible? If yes, what motherboard can you recommend?

Thanks in advance, -Andq1

 

[Novuake]

It is possible, but not recommended as the components are set closer together on the board.

But with a closed loop cooler i would still do a mild 4.2GHz OC.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6516/z77-mitx-roundup-five-of-the-best-msi-zotac-asrock-evga-and-asus

Here is a good roundup. The ASrcok being the best value and the Asus is the best but a bit pricey.

If you are using a powerful GPU, make sure to have the case well ventilated. Yet if you do not have large GPUs then OCing you CPU is pointless as the bottleneck would not be on the CPU but on the graphcis card.

If you plan on OCing, stick with an H80 or H80i, don't bother with the H50.

 

[Andq1]

Im gonna get a MSI 7870 FLEX GPU. Does it matter that the components are close with a water cooler?
Im aiming for 4.5 ghz, i dont know if thats possible, but im quite sure it should be.

 

[ericjohn004]

I'd definately go for the H80i if you were to get a watercooling loop. It performs a good bit better than the H50, almost as good as the H100 and fits really well in a small build as it takes up the same amound of space as the H50.

As for boards I'm not so sure. I would assume you can overclock on any board as long as it's decent you should be able to get a good overclock. I don't think mini-itx boards are limited when it comes to overclocking. If they are, I haven't heard of it. After all an itx board is made to do the same thing as a normal board. So I don't see why it would be limited on overclocking.

 

[Andq1]

Sounds good, thanks for the answer.

 

[Novuake]

Im gonna get a MSI 7870 FLEX GPU. Does it matter that the components are close with a water cooler?
Im aiming for 4.5 ghz, i dont know if thats possible, but im quite sure it should be.

Yes it does matter with a CLC, but not as much.

The thing is that the mobo component heat up too when you OC a CPU, this together with a high end GPU creates high ambient temps in the chassis. This is ok in an ATX build, but not so much in an ITX situation where EVERYTHING is closer together.

Its possible to hit 4.5GHz with a 3570K easily with an H80. I have mine @ 4.7GHz. But I would not go that far in an ITX setup. Besides, the HD7870 will bottleneck you more than the CPU at HD resolution.

 

[Novuake]

I'd definately go for the H80i if you were to get a watercooling loop. It performs a good bit better than the H50, almost as good as the H100 and fits really well in a small build as it takes up the same amound of space as the H50.

As for boards I'm not so sure. I would assume you can overclock on any board as long as it's decent you should be able to get a good overclock. I don't think mini-itx boards are limited when it comes to overclocking. If they are, I haven't heard of it. After all an itx board is made to do the same thing as a normal board. So I don't see why it would be limited on overclocking.

Read the anandtech article i posted, it touches on ITX overclocking.

 

[Andq1]

I got it, thanks. After this conclusion im not gonna overclock it at all, since it only will be used for LAN (every weekend / holidays) Thanks for the answers
Have a nice day / night.

 

[Novuake]

All good, enjoy! I miss my LANing years...

 

[Andq1]

Haha, i understand you LAN partys is great, but school and work is in the way for such things unfortunately. and you wont come far by taking your girlfriend to LAN partys, if you do MARRY HER, jk 😀

 

[Novuake]

http://techreport.com/review/24288/asus-p8z77-i-deluxe-mini-itx-motherboard-reviewed

Here is a very nice board review I just came across, it has onboard wifi, which saves a PCI/PCI-e slot.

It may be pricey but an excellent board.

 

[Andq1]

Thanks for the heads up, very nice board but out of my budget range