First Time Overclock

[nicokart]

Hi all,

 

I have recently upgraded to a new gaming PC and currently looking at ways to utilise my old PC.

I still think it's a pretty solid spec machine (as follows):

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K @ 3.30GHz  Sandy Bridge

CPU Cooler: Intel Stock Cooler

RAM: 16GB Dual-Channel DDR3 (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard: Gigabyte P67A-UD3P-B3 (Socket 1155)

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (Gigabyte) - Note: This was a new card after my 980Ti blew up.

SSD: Samsung SSD 860 PRO 512GB

PSU: Corsair VS650 650 W

 

My thoughts currently are:

CPU cooler upgrade from stock?

Move to Gigabyte Z77 DS3H?

 

I have never really overclocking before because, well, I've never felt the need.

 

I thought it would be cool to explore and mess about with my old machine to see if I could get a bit more out of it.

I'm not naive to the fact it won't be spectacular, but something would be cool. I think streaming will be out the picture as my 2500K doesn't have HyperThreading. Improve playing games on this would be good to give to a family member.

 

Look forward to your help, ideas or tips.

 

Thanks

[Hairless Monkey]

Overclocking it could be fun, but I wouldn't go spending a bunch of money on it. You'll need to upgrade the CPU cooler at least though.

 

Also, in my experience, overclocking old machines and then giving them to a family member is a bad idea, especially if that family member knows nothing about computers. Older machines are more prone to instability when overclocked.

[Haro]

27 minutes ago, nicokart said:

I think streaming will be out the picture as my 2500K doesn't have HyperThreading. Improve playing games on this would be good to give to a family member.

an overclock will give a mild performance boost 

and the 2500k lacks ALOT of ipc 

if you want to overclock it will take some time and effort for like a 5-7% performance gain 

[svmlegacy]

5 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

an overclock will give a mild performance boost 

and the 2500k lacks ALOT of ipc 

if you want to overclock it will take some time and effort for like a 5-7% performance gain 

The 2500K overclocks much, much more than 5-7%. 3.3 GHz -> 4.45 GHz (My older machine) is a solid 35% extra.

 

36 minutes ago, nicokart said:

Motherboard: Gigabyte P67A-UD3P-B3 (Socket 1155)

...

CPU cooler upgrade from stock?

Move to Gigabyte Z77 DS3H?

 

Your motherboard is fine for domestic cooling. The 2500K also doesn't put out a ton of heat under OC. Mine @ 4.45 GHz, 1.35 V was ~ 90 W synthetic load.

 

Watch your temps, and get a new cooler if you start hitting mid to high 70's under load.

[Haro]

2 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

The 2500K overclocks much, much more than 5-7%. 3.3 GHz -> 4.45 GHz (My older machine) is a solid 35% extra.

OH WOW i guess sandybridge is good at over clocking 

[nicokart]

1 hour ago, svmlegacy said:

The 2500K overclocks much, much more than 5-7%. 3.3 GHz -> 4.45 GHz (My older machine) is a solid 35% extra.

 

 

Your motherboard is fine for domestic cooling. The 2500K also doesn't put out a ton of heat under OC. Mine @ 4.45 GHz, 1.35 V was ~ 90 W synthetic load.

 

Watch your temps, and get a new cooler if you start hitting mid to high 70's under load.

OK, so I have jumped it to 4.2 GHz just to see.

Is there a better tool than Speccy to check temps?

I am currently seeing it around 61 degrees so far but haven't put any games through it yet.

 

For fan upgrades I was looking at the following: