EPTComputer Build Resource Thread - Page 1408
| Forum Index > Tech Support |
When using this resource, please read FragKrag's opening post. The Tech Support forum regulars have helped create countless of desktop systems without any compensation. The least you can do is provide all of the information required for them to help you properly. | ||
|
Ropid
Germany3557 Posts
| ||
|
skyR
Canada13817 Posts
On March 10 2013 01:11 Shai wrote:+ Show Spoiler + Ok, continuing my post from a few pages ago, this is what I'm currently tinkering with, prices in Canadian, off of Newegg.ca CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W - $110 Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) - $227 Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" - $68 G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 - $60 MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - $129 SAPPHIRE 100355L Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 - $200 ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - $20 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - $100 I added the graphics card even though I Wasn't planning on it for the free Tomb Raider and Bioshock, though I'm still on the fence about whether or not I'll buy a card. I have some questions about this build so far. Can I get away with a 500W power supply? I would save potentially around $50. Is this an appropriate mobo? Why is this 2x4GB RAM $60 when others are more? Finally, I have NO CLUE what I'm doing with a case. I Don't want anything flashy, just functional. No lights, no side window, but hopefully decent USB ports front and back as well as audio port front. What do I have to keep in mind for this? What are some options? I've read that the graphics card listed above is large and that may affect what case would work. The memory you have selected at $60 is 2x4gb 1866MHz cas9, you shouldn't be spending money on memory unless you have already wasted the most money you can on the rest of your computer since memory provides the least benefits for gaming and nearly every other task. Not sure what you're asking by why is this cheaper than others ... ? The others probably have tighter timings or higher frequency or brand name going for them. Yes a quality 500w power supply provides more than enough power for such a configuration. The Radeon HD7850 is relatively small, most of them measure somewhere around eight inches. Most cases from all the major manufacturers will have plenty of space for a mid-end card like the 7850. Not sure what you mean by decent USB ports..? Do you mean the chipset, USB3, the # of ports, or what? A case for the most part is just a box that houses components, literally every case has two front USB ports (most modern ones being two USB3) and front audio. USB is provided by the motherboard. MSI uses the standard Intel chipset, ASUS for the most part is Intel with a few being Asmedia, and Gigabyte uses Etron for most ports. Back I/O has nothing to do with the case, that's all the motherboard. Some simple cases would be Fractal Design Define R4, Fractal Design Arc Midi R2, Bitfenix Merc Alpha, Bitfenix Ghost, and basically every other case from them? NZXT Source would be another, and Corsair Carbide maybe. Nearly everything on Newegg is overpriced. | ||
|
Shai
Canada806 Posts
On March 10 2013 02:24 skyR wrote: The memory you have selected at $60 is 2x4gb 1866MHz cas9, you shouldn't be spending money on memory unless you have already wasted the most money you can on the rest of your computer since memory provides the least benefits for gaming and nearly every other task. Not sure what you're asking by why is this cheaper than others ... ? The others probably have tighter timings or higher frequency or brand name going for them. Yes a quality 500w power supply provides more than enough power for such a configuration. The Radeon HD7850 is relatively small, most of them measure somewhere around eight inches. Most cases from all the major manufacturers will have plenty of space for a mid-end card like the 7850. Not sure what you mean by decent USB ports..? Do you mean the chipset, USB3, the # of ports, or what? A case for the most part is just a box that houses components, literally every case has two front USB ports (most modern ones being two USB3) and front audio. USB is provided by the motherboard. MSI uses the standard Intel chipset, ASUS for the most part is Intel with a few being Asmedia, and Gigabyte uses Etron for most ports. Back I/O has nothing to do with the case, that's all the motherboard. Some simple cases would be Fractal Design Define R4, Fractal Design Arc Midi R2, Bitfenix Merc Alpha, Bitfenix Ghost, and basically every other case from them? NZXT Source would be another, and Corsair Carbide maybe. Nearly everything on Newegg is overpriced. Yes, I meant # of front USB ports. Everything on Newegg is overpriced in general, or in terms of cases? Because I've compared with NCIX and Newegg beats them out on almost everything. EDIT: Ok, jerking around with the build a bit to save money: CORSAIR CX500M 500W ATX12V v2.3 - $66 Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) - $227 Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" - $68 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $51 Intel BOXDZ75ML45K LGA 1155 Intel Z75 - $110 SAPPHIRE 100355L Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 - $200 ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - $20 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - $100 Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $55 Total ~ $897 CDN before shipping and taxes I cut about a hundred bucks from the build, with only well-reviewed parts. | ||
|
llIH
Norway2144 Posts
The 3570K is the "best" cpu for sc2. (Some people in this thread said it some way like that) 1920x1080 1) what is the best laptop cpu for sc2? 2) What is the best desktop gpu for sc2 3) What is the best laptop gpu for sc2? | ||
|
ampson
United States2355 Posts
AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz $200 GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $140 EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-2662-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $ 220 CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $70 Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS8G3D1609DS1S00 $55 Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $60 HGST HDS721050CLA362 (0F10381) 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $60 Through coupon codes and such he has it down to $770 on newegg, how does it look guys? Apologies in advance if there are critical errors or something, this is why i'm posting here before he buys anything. Thanks! Edit: The rig will be used for gaming pretty regularly, with a budget of around $800, resolution is planned to be a 1680*1050 monitor. Not planning on adding additional GPU's unless a 2-GPU set up would be more economical, and windows is not included in the budget. Everything is being bought from newegg. | ||
|
Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
On March 10 2013 02:45 Shai wrote: + Show Spoiler + On March 10 2013 02:24 skyR wrote: The memory you have selected at $60 is 2x4gb 1866MHz cas9, you shouldn't be spending money on memory unless you have already wasted the most money you can on the rest of your computer since memory provides the least benefits for gaming and nearly every other task. Not sure what you're asking by why is this cheaper than others ... ? The others probably have tighter timings or higher frequency or brand name going for them. Yes a quality 500w power supply provides more than enough power for such a configuration. The Radeon HD7850 is relatively small, most of them measure somewhere around eight inches. Most cases from all the major manufacturers will have plenty of space for a mid-end card like the 7850. Not sure what you mean by decent USB ports..? Do you mean the chipset, USB3, the # of ports, or what? A case for the most part is just a box that houses components, literally every case has two front USB ports (most modern ones being two USB3) and front audio. USB is provided by the motherboard. MSI uses the standard Intel chipset, ASUS for the most part is Intel with a few being Asmedia, and Gigabyte uses Etron for most ports. Back I/O has nothing to do with the case, that's all the motherboard. Some simple cases would be Fractal Design Define R4, Fractal Design Arc Midi R2, Bitfenix Merc Alpha, Bitfenix Ghost, and basically every other case from them? NZXT Source would be another, and Corsair Carbide maybe. Nearly everything on Newegg is overpriced. Yes, I meant # of front USB ports. Everything on Newegg is overpriced in general, or in terms of cases? Because I've compared with NCIX and Newegg beats them out on almost everything. EDIT: Ok, jerking around with the build a bit to save money: CORSAIR CX500M 500W ATX12V v2.3 - $66 Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) - $227 Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" - $68 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $51 Intel BOXDZ75ML45K LGA 1155 Intel Z75 - $110 SAPPHIRE 100355L Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 - $200 ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - $20 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - $100 Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $55 Total ~ $897 CDN before shipping and taxes I cut about a hundred bucks from the build, with only well-reviewed parts. I didn't check alternative prices at newegg.ca because their prices in general are high, but... $66 is too much for something of mediocre quality like Corsair CX. Do you really need modular cables in a normal midtower build for a 500W power supply where you're almost using all the cables anyway? $51 seems like about $5 too much for 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz. The motherboard seems unsuited for overclocking. That's way too much for a HD 7850. Get a cheaper 1GB version or just upgrade to a HD 7870. Optical drive seems expensive by a few dollars. You can usually get Windows for more like $90 if you shop around. Unless you're just desperate to have more low-quality fans (more noise, more dust) for the price, I don't know why you'd want a Rosewill Challenger, but there are many worse options I guess. On March 10 2013 06:11 llIH wrote: + Show Spoiler + I have another question. The 3570K is the "best" cpu for sc2. (Some people in this thread said it some way like that) 1920x1080 1) what is the best laptop cpu for sc2? 2) What is the best desktop gpu for sc2 3) What is the best laptop gpu for sc2? Best CPU for SC2 is i7-3770k. i5-3570k is very slightly worse but is $100 less. Best laptop CPU for SC2 is i7-3940XM. If you're using a laptop that can't be overclocked, other options provide close to the same performance for hundreds of dollars less. Best GPU is Nvidia GTX Titan. Practically, if you're running a 60 Hz 1920x1080 monitor, more than about GTX 650 Ti won't really help (monitor can't display more than 60 frames a second, no matter how many are generated) unless you want to force a lot of antialiasing. CPU is more of a limitation later in the game anyway, no matter what GPU you have. Best laptop GPU is GTX 680MX. Again, something much less would already provide essentially the same usable performance. On March 10 2013 09:44 ampson wrote: + Show Spoiler + OK guys, my buddy is building a computer and both of us are new at it. Here's his preliminary components list, if y'all could give improvement suggestions or point out compatibility flaws (there may be a few, sorry) it'd be much appreciated. AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz $200 GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $140 EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-2662-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $ 220 CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply $70 Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS8G3D1609DS1S00 $55 Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $60 HGST HDS721050CLA362 (0F10381) 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $60 Through coupon codes and such he has it down to $770 on newegg, how does it look guys. Apologies in advance if there are critical errors or something, this is why i'm posting here before he buys anything. Thanks! What is the computer for? Read the top of the page, or alternately the OP, and answer the questions, please. | ||
|
Cyro
United Kingdom20322 Posts
On March 10 2013 06:11 llIH wrote: I have another question. The 3570K is the "best" cpu for sc2. (Some people in this thread said it some way like that) 1920x1080 1) what is the best laptop cpu for sc2? 2) What is the best desktop gpu for sc2 3) What is the best laptop gpu for sc2? With desktop CPU's, the 3570k costs only a couple hundred dollars - there is no superior option, so it makes a lot of sense to buy it. Its the ceiling where performance stops increasing - or arguably single threaded performance is literally the best of all intel CPU's, because you dont have to worry about hyperthreading or extra cores generating heat so you can overclock further. With laptop CPU's, the best CPU would just be the highest clocked ivy bridge quad core, but the price range differences are massive, and while you can build an ideal desktop that will outperform everything mid to lategame for something like $700 with literally no improvements possible for increasing sc2 framerate, having the "best" laptop i would not be suprised if it cost something like 3k. Best desktop GPU would be Geforce Titan followed by (in my opinion) gtx680 before hd7970, gtx670 - but you can max the game on a much weaker GPU, something like a hd 7770 or an (old) gtx460 - buying a good GPU just means you have 250fps instead of 100-150fps early game, because CPU pins you down anyway. | ||
|
Cyro
United Kingdom20322 Posts
Edit: The rig will be used for gaming pretty regularly, with a budget of around $800, resolution is planned to be a 1680*1050 monitor. Not planning on adding additional GPU's unless a 2-GPU set up would be more economical, and windows is not included in the budget. Everything is being bought from newegg. You're looking for a 3570k build mate. It has about a 40% advantage in performance on each individual core - the 8350 has more cores, but the majority of games can only heavily load 1-4 cores - 8350 is lucky to match the 3570k, maybe slightly slightly exceeds in one or two games, but in things like Starcraft 2 and Skyrim, many other games, it trails behind by a massive margin. Basically the only argument for buying an 8350 system is for rendering/multithreaded power on a budget because its so far behind in terms of gaming performance. You have 8 cores at 4ghz, but core count and frequency does not mean much - in this case one CPU at 4ghz outperforms the other at 4ghz by well over 50%. 3570k comes at a lower frequency by default and 8350 has more cores - so its not a complete failure of a CPU - doubling core count means doubled performance in some programs, but does literally nothing for the vast vast majority of games and a lot of other programs, which makes it a specialized option, on a budget pretty good at some things, but trash at others - its been beat quite a few times by intel's Pentium offerings of current gen, the lowest end that sell for $40-70 or so, in certain games. | ||
|
Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
What games would you be running? Are you willing to take a little bit of effort to overclock the CPU? I'm not going to bother cost-optimizing until you actually answer all the relevant questions and the purposes are more clear (notice how these were in the OP). | ||
|
ampson
United States2355 Posts
On March 10 2013 11:54 Myrmidon wrote: Yes, pretty much the CPU sucks (relatively) for gaming, the motherboard is too expensive for what you need, the power supply is of lower quality than similarly-priced alternatives that also have more max wattage than needed, and the RAM is a bit expensive. Hard drive is fine, and the case is decent. What games would you be running? Are you willing to take a little bit of effort to overclock the CPU? I'm not going to bother cost-optimizing until you actually answer all the relevant questions and the purposes are more clear (notice how these were in the OP). Games are pretty much battlefield 3, anything really recent. Planning on it lasting into the future and being able to run anything. GPU can be overclocked if it can provide enough power to justify the costs of cooling it appropriately (technical skill won't be an issue), computer will be used for everything-media of all kinds, uploading/rendering video, maybe even a little bit of streaming, but the main purpose will be for gaming. We have scrapped the build I posted in favor of a 3570k one thanks to cryo's good advice, so we are working on that now. | ||
|
Cyro
United Kingdom20322 Posts
Talking about sc2 performance for example, past early game with an at all decent GPU, then single threaded CPU performance is pretty much the only performance variable - a 30% overclock will give you 30% higher framerates, so for a couple of minor upgrades (better board than neccesary for stock clocks, $30 cooler that you should probably be getting anyway because stock cooler is awful) you can make a major performance jump. In other cases, CPU overclocking might not be noticable at all (playing metro2033 maxed on a weak gpu, or hell pretty much any GPU) so it could be a waste of money. For starcraft 2, skyrim and some other games, its basically just what you do to come anywhere close to having the best performance available. I actually heard good returns from Battlefield 3 multiplayer (as much as 30-50%) from overclocking too. | ||
|
wallyng106
Australia10 Posts
This is what I'm looking at: CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K Heatsink: Hyper 212 EVO Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H Motherboard RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 Graphics Card: ASUS GeForce GTX 660 Ti DirectCu II 2GB Hard Drive: Samsung 840 Series 120GB SSD Hard Drive 2: Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 Power Supply: Corsair HX-650 V2 80 PLUS Gold Power Supply Case : Corsair Graphite 600T Special Edition White Case What I am looking for is a computer priced around a i5 3570K and that this computer will be able to last me a few years. I mainly will only be playing SC with a few random games for fun. My main concerns are whether the Hyper 212 EVO will be enough to over clock the CPU and whether the parts will work well together. Hopefully it will all fit in the case as well.. So if you have any suggestions for me to take on board I'll greatly appreciate it. | ||
|
Cyro
United Kingdom20322 Posts
You dont need a 650w PSU, a quality 450-500w is good enough for an ivy bridge quad core single-gpu system (and sli is not a good upgrade path) If you are concerned about temperatures, you can throw in an NH-D14 they come stock with 2 fans but you can add the third as shown there. Hyper212 evo will give you something like 4.4, 4.5ghz (it really depends how good the cpu you get is at overclocking, down to chance - some will do 4.5ghz on 1.15v, others take 1.35v) but going higher end gives you much better clearance for going to higher clock speeds and voltages - i have to warn though sometimes ivy bridge CPU's will just stick around 4.5-4.6ghz and need a ton of voltage (so you basically cant go further) so while nh-d14 will lower your temperatures a lot, its down to chance on some level if you can get significant CPU performance gains out of it (more than 100-200mhz) Big air coolers do not have clearance for Corsair Vengeance RAM so you can get something else without big heat spreaders - you just want 8gb of 1600mhz cl9 | ||
|
wallyng106
Australia10 Posts
I was thinking of getting 650w just because of the possibility of re-using it in the future. Is that something worth considering? But I'll look into the 450-500w products as well. For cooling if I went with a CoolerMaster TPC 812 CPU that should give me cooler temperatures and the clearance for the RAM. Interesting about the overclocking though. | ||
|
Ata
Canada356 Posts
On March 10 2013 02:45 Shai wrote: Yes, I meant # of front USB ports. Everything on Newegg is overpriced in general, or in terms of cases? Because I've compared with NCIX and Newegg beats them out on almost everything. EDIT: Ok, jerking around with the build a bit to save money: CORSAIR CX500M 500W ATX12V v2.3 - $66 Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) - $227 Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" - $68 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $51 Intel BOXDZ75ML45K LGA 1155 Intel Z75 - $110 SAPPHIRE 100355L Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 - $200 ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - $20 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - $100 Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $55 Total ~ $897 CDN before shipping and taxes I cut about a hundred bucks from the build, with only well-reviewed parts. First of all, ncix has pricematching (not only with newegg but also with other CAN sites) Second, you must realise that even though part for part, you might not see much of a difference between newegg.ca and ncix price matched. (CORSAIR CX500M 500W @ $66 vs $59), in many cases, you can get something thats better than part x for the same price at ncix or similiar quality part at significant discount. Many people, including myself are willing to put a build together for you if you answer the questions in the OP. You can make it your decision (but also homework) from there to see if what we suggest is better than what you have found. gl | ||
|
Cyro
United Kingdom20322 Posts
On March 10 2013 22:40 wallyng106 wrote: thanks for the reply. I was thinking of getting 650w just because of the possibility of re-using it in the future. Is that something worth considering? But I'll look into the 450-500w products as well. For cooling if I went with a CoolerMaster TPC 812 CPU that should give me cooler temperatures and the clearance for the RAM. Interesting about the overclocking though. Well the NH-D14 is close to 10c better in stock configuration and allows you to add a third fan if you want to which pushes its advantage further, if you want to have cooling power to go to like 4.4-4.5ghz, get a hyper 212 evo, if you want to go further IMO then just buy different RAM (seriously, there's plenty to choose from, even better kits) and get an nhd14 Im not a PSU expert | ||
|
Ropid
Germany3557 Posts
On March 10 2013 22:40 wallyng106 wrote: thanks for the reply. I was thinking of getting 650w just because of the possibility of re-using it in the future. Is that something worth considering? But I'll look into the 450-500w products as well. For cooling if I went with a CoolerMaster TPC 812 CPU that should give me cooler temperatures and the clearance for the RAM. Interesting about the overclocking though. Basically, that CM cooler is a bit of a dud with its flashy technology. The simple Hyper 212 Evo has the same performance. If you want something stronger and are worried about RAM clearance, Thermalright makes big coolers where the heatpipes bend to the side to make room for the fan (maybe?) not ending up over the first RAM slot (like this: + Show Spoiler + ![[image loading]](http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/reviews/cooling/hr-02/thermalright_macho_hr02_bottom_34.jpg) | ||
|
llIH
Norway2144 Posts
On March 10 2013 11:37 Cyro wrote: With desktop CPU's, the 3570k costs only a couple hundred dollars - there is no superior option, so it makes a lot of sense to buy it. Its the ceiling where performance stops increasing - or arguably single threaded performance is literally the best of all intel CPU's, because you dont have to worry about hyperthreading or extra cores generating heat so you can overclock further. With laptop CPU's, the best CPU would just be the highest clocked ivy bridge quad core, but the price range differences are massive, and while you can build an ideal desktop that will outperform everything mid to lategame for something like $700 with literally no improvements possible for increasing sc2 framerate, having the "best" laptop i would not be suprised if it cost something like 3k. Best desktop GPU would be Geforce Titan followed by (in my opinion) gtx680 before hd7970, gtx670 - but you can max the game on a much weaker GPU, something like a hd 7770 or an (old) gtx460 - buying a good GPU just means you have 250fps instead of 100-150fps early game, because CPU pins you down anyway. What I meant was. Is there a laptop equivalent to the 3570K that is best suited to sc2? Same with gpu for desktop and laptop. (Already know 3570K is for desktop cpu) | ||
|
Cyro
United Kingdom20322 Posts
| ||
|
Cyro
United Kingdom20322 Posts
On March 11 2013 01:40 Ropid wrote: Basically, that CM cooler is a bit of a dud with its flashy technology. The simple Hyper 212 Evo has the same performance. If you want something stronger and are worried about RAM clearance, Thermalright makes big coolers where the heatpipes bend to the side to make room for the fan (maybe?) not ending up over the first RAM slot (like this: + Show Spoiler + Honestly i really think there's two ways to go with overclocking ivy bridge, firstly the 212 evo sweet spot 4.4ghz or whatever type, and secondly just going for a notable performance gain over that, some CPU's hit a wall around 4.6ghz, others dont. Unlike other cpu's, you WILL be temperature limited with an ivy bridge CPU unless you a crazy person with a lot of knowledge (delidding) so i dont see much point on compromising on cooling. The NH-D14 is not good enough - why would any of these other single tower-single-fan heatsinks be? You stop overclocking when you reach either a voltage or a temperature threshhold - Ivy bridge can take as much as 1.45-1.55v 24/7, assuming you can keep it cool, which is pretty much impossible without delidding CPU. Belial88 has max temps of ~87c with a three-fan-mounted NH-D14, something like 5 case fans and delidded CPU, which cuts temperatures by around 20c, using voltages that wont kill the CPU, so obviously you are thermally limited here, pretty much whatever you do. There are two scenarios really: 1. Your CPU hits frequency wall around 4.5, you need something like 1.4v for 4.6ghz, you cant really push it further, you limited by voltage, could go to something like 1.5v but it gets really hot and not much point because you wont gain much from it. Quite a few chips fall into this but many can go further 2. Your CPU can do 4.5ghz at 1.2-1.25v, you come close to thermal limits on weaker coolers and cant overclock further, but an NH-D14 or similar would allow you to go 300-400mhz further. You are heat limited and decreasing temperatures will allow you to push overclock more until you eventually reach either max temperatures or how far you are willing to go with voltage - without delid this probably occurs around 4.8ghz (heat limits on nhd14), with it, if you are quite lucky, 5.1 (vcore limited). | ||
| ||
