BKL

I might try to reduce voltage a few points. I just went from 1.3 to 1.35 but I might try 1.34...then 1.33...1.32..., etc.

Temperatures are around 60 degrees C.

I have a Haswell i7 5960x, with 32GB DDR4 Ram and a sophisiticated cooling system (4 radiators). The typical overclock specs for this chip are 4.5Ghz at 1.3 voltz. When I run my benchmark at those levels I run into instability problems. However, if I increase the voltage to 1.35 I don't have any instability issues. From my reading, the recommended voltage is 1.3v with most people saying they should never exceed 1.4v. Occassionally I have read from forums never to exceed 1.3v and then occassionally I'll see someone posting they are at 1.33v or 1.35v, etc. My temperatures never exceeded 60 degrees C. Do you think 1.35v is okay?

My RAM is currently set at DDR4 213Mhz, but I believe it can go to 3000Mhz (It's Ripjaws4). Also, I have a ASUS Rampage Extreme V MB.

I have a brand new build with a i7 5690x processor. 32MB DDR4 RAM. I can get the overclocking up to 3.4Ghz but I've read the average is 3.5 and top is generally 3.6Ghz. Any suggestions for improving my overclocking, or is it just somewhat "luck of the draw"? I am using 1.3voltage. I've thought about trying 1.2 voltage at 35 multiplier; I've also considered trying to look at each individual core, to overclock as many as possible at a 35 multiplier. Also, should I considering trying to overclock my RAM? Most of this is overkill, since I don't think I'll need all that power, I'm just doing it for fun and to see how far I can push it. Brian

OK, as an FYI, I have 14 fans and 4 radiators, I'm water cooling the entire system. My temp is 29 degrees C. Not sure if those stats make a difference. The fans all did work upon initial setup and during the first few boot-ups. Now that I installed my OS and I'm "settling in" to using the computer, I noticed that they are not all on all the time.

Any thoughts on why some fans are on and some fans are off? Will the MB control these?

I have the ASUS Rampage Extreme V. In the BIOS setup I have the option of setting various fans to PWM or DC. All fans are PWM capable, athough some connect to a fan splitter. What should I choose in the BIOS setting? Also, I noticed that not all of my fans are operating, although they are plugged in and work. Is there a reason why they might not be running - I believe it could just be that the mother board only turns certain fans on at certain speeds. Is there a way to test to fans via BIOS or Windows to see that they do in fact all respond? Thanks!

No, it's a brand new SSD, so that's why I'm not sure why I can't free up more space, because that would be a lot easier than trying to reinstall windows, etc. Anyone have suggestions how to get a 100GB partition without reinstalling Windows?

What if my OS fails, what would I do? Could I still retrieve the data on the SSD? That's really my only concern - if I have a mechanical problem I wouldn't think partitioning matters since it's the same mechanical drive. I'm surprised and not show how I would even partition the drive to 100GB for the OS since it won't let me.

I have build my gaming computer and have a 1TB SSD and a 1TB HDD. I purchased Windows 8.1 pro installed in on my SSD and then immediately upgraded to to Windows 10. So, now I have Windows 10 on my computer, booting up and working fine. Now, I was thinking of partitioning my SSD drive so I would just have 100GB allocated for OS adn the remaining 900 GB for files on the SSD; I also would have the 1TB HDD as well. So, essentially, I'd have drives C, drive D, and drive E between both storage devices. My problem I am running into is that Windows 10 installed on my SSD automatically and now shows up as part of one giant partiion in my SSD. If I go to shrink it, I can only shrink it by 500GB, meaning there is then about 500GB for the entire OS - way too much space! I'm not sure why I'm not able to reduce the SSD partition (perhaps someone could help me with that). So I did some reasearch and was wondering - is there really any reason I need to partition my SSD anyway? I ready that many people don't even partition anymore due to increased reliability, etc. I already have another HDD drive. My only concern is if the OS had a problem, but couldn't I always then install the OS on my HDD and then access whatever files I might need on the SSD, in the event of an emergency? Also I was going to create a recovery USB disk. I also generally backup any very important files regardless. Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Brian

By mistake, I installed my heatsink orientation the wrong way for my test build. I'll be water cooling the computer but have a fan for the test build. I'm just using the test build to make sure the components run and then removing the fan heatsink to do the full installation with the water cooled system. What I mean is the fan was installed perpendicular instead of parellell to the RAM chips. In most instances, it would be parrellel I believe so you can get the RAM chips in. I can still fit all the RAM in on my test build and I don't want to have to reinstall the heatsink and thermal paste just for a test build that will only be in operation for a few minutes. Is that okay? It seems like since the test build is outside the case, it would be just fine for simple testing. The heatsink is square so it still covers all of the CPU. I'm using the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. Again, this is just a test build and the ultimate build will be using a water cooler heatsink. Does anyone have any thoughts? Thank you!

Would the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO work for a temporary setup to do the pre-build? I have a Intel i7 5960x.

I purchased a new Intel i7 5960x and it does not come with any heatsink cooling in the box. What should I purchase so I can run a pre-build setup to test things out first?

I purchased a new Intel i7 5960x and it does not come with any heatsink cooling in the box. What should I purchase?