Built PC Preparing to overclock with new GPU

Hally_89

Hi lads

Built a computer about 3-4 months ago with the following specs

NZXT Tempest Midi Case
Intel Core i7 930
Palit 9800gt 512mb GPU
8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 RAM
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R Intel x58 1366 Motherboard
Cosair 850w PSU
Cosair CWCH50 Integrated Water Cooler
Samsung 500gb Harddrive
W

I should have bought a better graphics card first day but didnt see the need at the time but im after getting alot of power hungry games lately so im in the process of buying a ASUS Radeon HD 6850 1GB atm.

I also plan on overclocking the CPU and the GPU when its together and thats where i need the support.

I read in some other topics about the Overclock feature on the motherboard which I also have and have been using but i dont really think it has much of an effect tbh. I plan on doing it properly this time round. Im going to start by doing a full restore. Can someone recommend the easiest way to go about overclocking the CPU and recommend a decent program to do so.

I also need support when it comes to overclocking the GPU. How easy is it to go about this and what kind of mods would i need to make to the GPU, as in do i need extra fans, cooling or heatsinks etc.

Thanks in advance
Brian

Solitaire

That's a bad price for a HD6850 given how much OC'd GTX460/560s are

The program you need to OC that CPU is called "the BIOS" The only even half-reliable software OC would be the one that came with the mobo, and while many of Gigabyte's newer mobos can handle a whopping 3.8GHz software OC, the old X58-UD3 might not be as good. Once you've exhausted that option, BIOS tweaking is the only way left to go.

Hally_89

So would you recommend getting an overclocked gtx460/560 in that case? The reason I was looking at that particular GPU was its main clock is 90mhz faster than a standard gtx 460 and it uses 30% less power than any of the 400 series gtx cards and also has 3D capability. I wasn't too sure whether it was a good price or not tbh though. What do you think I should do in that case?

Also I'd need a bit of help with OCing using the bios. never done much with bios settings so I'm a complete noob really in that area

Solitaire

I can see Pixmania is selling HD6850s for €149 + shipping, a lot cheaper than the €175-odd eBay is asking for one!

Don't sweat that too much, once you figure out where the OC options are hidden in there its more slow than difficult

Hally_89

Solitaire wrote: »

I can see Pixmania is selling HD6850s for €149 + shipping, a lot cheaper than the €175-odd eBay is asking for one!

Don't sweat that too much, once you figure out where the OC options are hidden in there its more slow than difficult

The one on ebay is Pixmania lol. Should I go with the HD6850 or get an overclocked GTX 460? Money is a bit tight at the moment but ill see what happens

Solitaire

This is the one I'm talking about - the Asus is barely any faster than stock so its not really much of an "OC Edition"

I looked on Pix and Komplett and there isn't anything as good as that €150 HD6850, value-wise, except maybe a very nice offer on a HD5850 - a Vapor-X edition (better cooler) for just over €160 on Pix Not as frugal on power as the HD6850 though! Not many deals on GTX460s right now, the only cheap ones I've even seen are the crippled SE versions.

Hally_89

Dat sapphire one looks good alright. Think I'll go with that. How are pixmania to deal with? It's the only thing lacking on my pc.
I did a bit of playing with the CPU and bios today and managed to overclock it to 3.8ghz and it's perfectly stable. Temp seemed perfect idle and under load so happy enough with that for the moment

Solitaire

Sounds good. If you wanted to push it to the max you could use 3.8GHz as the reference and try to push down voltage and find the minimum safe voltage for 3.8GHz, which would reduce power usage and CPU temps just a bit. For now it is fine as it is (and gives you a beast of a machine to play with ) so long as temps don't get too high - those 130W CPUs run hot as an inferno when heavily OCd

Pixmania are generally okay to deal with, I've never had an issue with them except for the first time I used them, years ago (I got my router in French. Perfectly functional, but... French :eek::o Firmware update sorted that out! :P). They've improved quite a bit over the years though

Hally_89

Cool cheers for your help. Think i might just go ahead with that one.

Hally_89

Ive just ordered a Saphire 1GB HD 6870 from newegg. Going to be sent to my girlfriends aunts and shes sending it on. Got it for 160 euro including P&P