More Performance out of Old PC, should I add Fans?

[FangerZero]

I have a pretty old rig, was originally a gift, and would like to hold out until AMD comes out w/ their new socket in hopes that they'll do another 5 years of the same socket. My CPU/GPU temps don't get higher than 70C in my experience. I was curious if I overclocked my GPU and added 4 case fans could I maybe get more performance out of it? Or should I just overclock my GPU?

 

CPU: i7-2600k Overclocked to 4.1 (Stock Cooler I think)

GPU: AMD R9 290
RAM: 2x 8 GB, 2x 2GB (1333MHz, DDR3)

MB: Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3

 

[The Sloth]

No point, if your comfortable with your temp. 

2 minutes ago, FangerZero said:

should I just overclock my GPU?

yes, and repast both GPU and CPU. 

[Crunchy Dragon]

17 minutes ago, The Sloth said:

yes, and repast both GPU and CPU. 

Adding an SSD and overclocking RAM would also help squeeze a couple extra miles out of it.

[FangerZero]

Already got the SSD drive, some samsung 850 evo 500gb. I'll try overclocking the ram, and there's nothing fancy about the ram. no heat syncs or anything. And overclocking the GPU some.

 

EDIT: During a Shadow of the Tomb Raider Benchmarking I got the below, though before I move forward of increasing speeds again, I'm going to ensure it runs stable. I'm just a little @.@ about running above 70C

 

CPU 4.1                                  Temp: 77C

GPU 1400MHz, 1100 MHz     Temp: 82C

Memory 1600Mhz                   MB Temp: up to 65C

[LogicalDrm]

Whats your room temp? Adding case fans doesn't have that big of effect to max temps, and OCing is more about hardware itself than fans.

 

Also, you shouldn't worry about socket changing. Cooler manufacturers tend to offer either free upgrades or upgrade kits for most popular coolers.

[narrdarr]

20 hours ago, The Sloth said:

No point, if your comfortable with your temp. 

yes, and repast both GPU and CPU. 

If temp are fine I don't the points in repasting.

 

20 hours ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Adding an SSD and overclocking RAM would also help squeeze a couple extra miles out of it.

Agreed but I would waste the money on buying a new kit with better clocks.

 

2 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

Whats your room temp? Adding case fans doesn't have that big of effect to max temps, and OCing is more about hardware itself than fans.

 

Also, you shouldn't worry about socket changing. Cooler manufacturers tend to offer either free upgrades or upgrade kits for most popular coolers.

Yup.

 

@ OP 

If your going to push your OC farther I would get a better cpu cooler. 

[FangerZero]

Thanks for the tips! My room stays around 75F.  But I think I can deal with 75C, if I notice it getting too hot I'll look at adding fans.

[DragonTamer1]

Case fans would only get you gains if you computer starts to run hotter over time, think an hour or more of heavy nonstop load pushing temps up to mid 80s. Most of the time this is not typical for a gaming load... glances at 2500k.

 

I would try pushing the CPU overclock a bit and see where you end up. I'm personally not concerned at 77*, I wouldn't get worried until you are hitting or exceeding 83* (I think sandy bridge throttles at 89*).