Optimizing New Gaming PC

[Faceman]

Hello, I recently bought a brand new computer, everything new. Here is a list of my parts:

 

Processor: Intel i5-4670k

Motherboard: Asus Z87-A

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600M

Case: Ultra Defender II ATX Mid-Tower

RAM: Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB 1600MHz GDDR3 PC12800

GPU: MSI GTX 770 Lightning (2GB) (not pictured, not yet arrived)

SSD:  Kingston 120GB

Monitor:  Asus VS239H-P 23in Full HD, LED, IPS

OS: Windows 8.1

 

Pic1

 

   I had bought a Cooler Master 212 EVO, but I don't like how it will lay at a 90 degree angle when my case is upright.  Not only that, but it is much larger than I anticipated and I don't think it would have fit inside my case with motherboard installed.      Before I installed anything, I placed the 212EVO inside the case and even without the motherboard installed, it didn't look like it would fit.  Lots of people recommended this CPU cooler, but I didn't do my proper homework.  What other heat sinks/coolers could I get? 

    I have never overclocked before, but I would like to start.  I don't want to do anything crazy, I would like to crank my CPU to 4.0. 4.2Ghz MAX.  As soon as everything was assembled and I turned on my computer for the first time, I noticed my CPU's temp was 35 degrees C/ 95 degrees F.  While idling for a few minutes it remained at the same temperature.  This seemed high to me.  The temperature in the room I was doing my build in was 20.5 degrees C / 69 degrees F.  I do live in Florida, so even without overclocking I am temperature conscious.

   I have attached some pictures of my current build and the fan configuration.  I have 3, 120mm fans, all stock.  Two are in the bottom front, both are sucking air IN and UP. (I was told you want air to flow from bottom front to top back, diagonally.)

The 3rd fan is in the back, top corner blowing air OUT.

 

Pic2

 

Pic3

 

    As it currently sits, there is not a tremendous amount of airflow through the case, you can barely feel it.  The fans are on idle power though, I'm assuming about 33% of max power.  My motherboard has 4, 4pin fan connectors, my fans are only 3pin.  It says in the instructions that the 3pin will work in a 4pin socket, so long as it is placed correctly, which I have done as they are all running, however, in BIOS it is only showing 1 fan's RPM.  The other 2 fan slots just show N/A.  The one fan that is showing up has an RPM of 650-670.  How can I get my other 2 fans to show up in BIOS so I can adjust their RPM?  Do you think this has something to do with the 3pin of the fan, not working in full congruence with the 4pin sockets on the motherboard?

 

    What other kind of improvements can I make to safely overclock my CPU to 4-4.2Ghz?  I do not feel comfortable attempting this with the stock CPU fan/heat sink and the few fans I have running right now.  Is there another heat sink with a lower profile than the CM 212 EVO that is also highly recommended?  If not a heat sink, what else could I use?

 

Pic4

 

    I have room(can make room) for 2 more fans on the top of my case.  An option I was considering is placing two more 120 or 140mm fans on the top of my case blowing IN and to the RIGHT(to the right is the exhaust/out take/back of case).

 

    Also consider, I have not put in my MSI GTX 770 Lightning(it arrives Wednesday) which is a block of a video card and will even further restrict airflow in my case.  Because I am such a novice, could I get some help with some intelligent ways to cool down my system please? 

 

Thank you everyone!

   

[WoodenMarker]

You don't need to feel the airflow to have proper cooling.

I can't seem to find the cpu cooler clearance for the case. Can you measure how much space is available?

Go ahead and put your graphics card in. It should be fine.

[Faceman]

520mm case depth

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7829714&CatId=1509

[WoodenMarker]

520mm case depth

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7829714&CatId=1509

The depth of the case is not what you're looking for. It's the wideness we're asking for which is the distance from cpu socket to the side panel.

You need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them.

Also, don't make threads just to promote other threads and just try to be patient. I've removed that post since it's considered as spam.

[LogicalDrm]

Forum seems to be bit messy on posts today. Mind want to clean that bit.

 

You seem to be first time builder that has just went for it before doing much research/reading. Don't worry, we all have to learn at some point. First, 212 is best performance for price cooler and its recommended most in these forums. With that you will easily achieve 4.0GHz OC. Its on small side of coolers. Any smaller would be considered low-profile or 92mm coolers. If your case lacks space, then you should check those. But first do as @WooderMarker said, and meassure space between CPU socket and sidepanel. You can also test fit 212 if you have already opened box anyway. Did you worry over its size when case is upright also? There's really no need. Compared to some coolers like D14, 212 is small and light. In http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/111362-big-air-cooler-isnt-it-straining-on-the-cpumotherboard/ that thread we had conversation about CPU coolers straining mobo and cpu socket. In short, coolers have nice mounting hardware that take most of weight of cooler instead of mobo itself. Only worry if when mobo is poorly tighten.

 

On temps side, 35C is very nice idle temp. But in your pics, you are using stock cooler. So is that temp with stock cooler or with 212? You can expect 212 to have few degrees lower idle temp than with stock. But you'd need something like AIO to get idle temps under 30C. With temps more conserning is stress temps. With those high is around 75C and too hot is anything over 80C.

 

On airflow and fans. This is bit personal thing. Three fans (2 intake, 1 exhaust) is enough for most. You could add one or two as top exhaust. You can flip back exhaust to be as intake and have 212 horizontaly (blow towards top). But those will bring minimal temp decrease. They will help CPU fan bit and make it more quiet if added fans aren't really loud by themselves. On fans not showing rpm. That seems to be bug in BIOS or that fans are spinning lower than mobo can detect. There are two thing you can do. Either update BIOS or you can check in windows fan speeds. I use OpenHardwareMonitor, you can use Asus FanXpert for that. You can also control fans with FanXpert.

 

Last the GPU. Those front intake fans will provide enough fresh air to it. And it doesn't limit airflow as much as you think. They won't make cases so that just GPU would be limiting factor. Make sure that your cable management is good. That is more restrictive than GPU. Also, if you can, switch bottom drive cage around. That will improve airflow. If you are using multiple drives, leave some place between them.

[Faceman]

I was able to mount the CM Hyper 212 EVO. I can make it fit inside the case, but it won't be fully tightened, and the copper pipes are making contact with the plastic "window" of the case. Is it safe to leave it like this? Should I drill or make a cut out in the plastic so I can properly close my case? I'm worried that the heat from the tips of the pipes could melt the plastic.

Forum seems to be bit messy on posts today. Mind want to clean that bit.

 

You seem to be first time builder that has just went for it before doing much research/reading. Don't worry, we all have to learn at some point. First, 212 is best performance for price cooler and its recommended most in these forums. With that you will easily achieve 4.0GHz OC. Its on small side of coolers. Any smaller would be considered low-profile or 92mm coolers. If your case lacks space, then you should check those. But first do as @WooderMarker said, and meassure space between CPU socket and sidepanel. You can also test fit 212 if you have already opened box anyway. Did you worry over its size when case is upright also? There's really no need. Compared to some coolers like D14, 212 is small and light. In http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/111362-big-air-cooler-isnt-it-straining-on-the-cpumotherboard/ that thread we had conversation about CPU coolers straining mobo and cpu socket. In short, coolers have nice mounting hardware that take most of weight of cooler instead of mobo itself. Only worry if when mobo is poorly tighten.

 

On temps side, 35C is very nice idle temp. But in your pics, you are using stock cooler. So is that temp with stock cooler or with 212? You can expect 212 to have few degrees lower idle temp than with stock. But you'd need something like AIO to get idle temps under 30C. With temps more conserning is stress temps. With those high is around 75C and too hot is anything over 80C.

 

On airflow and fans. This is bit personal thing. Three fans (2 intake, 1 exhaust) is enough for most. You could add one or two as top exhaust. You can flip back exhaust to be as intake and have 212 horizontaly (blow towards top). But those will bring minimal temp decrease. They will help CPU fan bit and make it more quiet if added fans aren't really loud by themselves. On fans not showing rpm. That seems to be bug in BIOS or that fans are spinning lower than mobo can detect. There are two thing you can do. Either update BIOS or you can check in windows fan speeds. I use OpenHardwareMonitor, you can use Asus FanXpert for that. You can also control fans with FanXpert.

 

Last the GPU. Those front intake fans will provide enough fresh air to it. And it doesn't limit airflow as much as you think. They won't make cases so that just GPU would be limiting factor. Make sure that your cable management is good. That is more restrictive than GPU. Also, if you can, switch bottom drive cage around. That will improve airflow. If you are using multiple drives, leave some place between them.

The depth of the case is not what you're looking for. It's the wideness we're asking for which is the distance from cpu socket to the side panel.

You need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them.

Also, don't make threads just to promote other threads and just try to be patient. I've removed that post since it's considered as spam.

[WoodenMarker]

I was able to mount the CM Hyper 212 EVO. I can make it fit inside the case, but it won't be fully tightened, and the copper pipes are making contact with the plastic "window" of the case. Is it safe to leave it like this? Should I drill or make a cut out in the plastic so I can properly close my case? I'm worried that the heat from the tips of the pipes could melt the plastic.

That's perfectly fine. the pipes should barely get warm to the touch.

[LogicalDrm]

I was able to mount the CM Hyper 212 EVO. I can make it fit inside the case, but it won't be fully tightened, and the copper pipes are making contact with the plastic "window" of the case. Is it safe to leave it like this? Should I drill or make a cut out in the plastic so I can properly close my case? I'm worried that the heat from the tips of the pipes could melt the plastic.

 

How do you mean "not fully tighten"? Are you having trouble tightening mounting screws? Cooler can move bit around and its not problem. But if you gently touch it and it instantly moves, then its too loose and you will notice fast increase on temps. Little wiggle with more force is OK and is propably because of mobo pcb bending under pressure. Nothing to worry there (read the thread I linked before).

 

As @WoodenMarker said, pipes touching window is no problem. My heatpipes are literally 1mm away from sidepanel. It doesn't have significant effect on cooling and heating isn't so intensive that metal or plastic would react to it. I could link another topic where we discussed about this also.

[Faceman]

I meant my case's side panel is not fully tightened. The EVO is very secure on my mobo. Once I got everything situated to the best of my abilities with a large heat sink and small-scale case, I ran my Asus Suite III and noticed my idle temperatures were hovering between 24-25 degrees Celsius(10degree decrease from stock) I know idle doesn't mean much, but it's a testament to the immediate improvement a $30 product can provide, that everyone recommended. 

 

I am drilling a small hole between rooms so I can get an Ethernet cable straight into my PC. I don't have internet on the new toy yet, but when I do I will install the most recent drivers and hope that will fix the case fans not showing up.

 

How do you mean "not fully tighten"? Are you having trouble tightening mounting screws? Cooler can move bit around and its not problem. But if you gently touch it and it instantly moves, then its too loose and you will notice fast increase on temps. Little wiggle with more force is OK and is propably because of mobo pcb bending under pressure. Nothing to worry there (read the thread I linked before).

 

As @WoodenMarker said, pipes touching window is no problem. My heatpipes are literally 1mm away from sidepanel. It doesn't have significant effect on cooling and heating isn't so intensive that metal or plastic would react to it. I could link another topic where we discussed about this also.