Can I overclock with this system?

Hello!

I'm wondering if my computer is overclock-comptatible.


Motherboard: ASUS M4N75TD AM3 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI ATX AMD Motherboard ($95)
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb Quad-Core 3.20 GHz Socket AM3 125W ($90)
GPU: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP ($159)
PSU: Corsair CX Series 750 Watt ATX/EPS Modular 80 Plus Bronze ($120)
Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler ($35)
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Soundcard: ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express ($100)
HDD: 1 TB Kingston
Screen: 24 inch ASUS 1920x1080 ($200)
OS: Windows 10


I purchased this computer April of 2011 and since then have done no such thing as an overclock and left everything to default as I was content with it.
Until a few days ago, I overclocked my CPU from 3.2 to 3.5-3.8 and GPU from 775>850 MHz and memory clock 1000>1100 MHz. All done in the AMD Catalyst Control Center.
This resulted in my PSU which I bought from 2011 (valued at only 35$ a 550W Goldenfield ATX-S628) blowing and smoking from the back almost 24 hours after doing this.
Temperatures before that always reached 50-60c idle and 75-80 while gaming.
With this new PSU I get 35 idle and what appears to be 45-50c while gaming (League of Legends/H1Z1).
I wish to try overclocking again with this superior PSU (35$ to 110$ big difference? idk..) but don't want the same result to happen. Wondering if it was just the PSU or if my system isn't compatible for this.

Any recommendations would be tremendously appreciated as I'm quite the noob when it comes to this but recently have been garnering an interest, especially when it pertains to my own system!

You'll be fine. Overclock away. If you have specific questions, post back.

Your best bet is to read this guide and ask questions when you need.

That's an 8+1 power phase motherboard. It should allow you a good overclock as should your CPU cooling.

Thanks!

Also would a 650W SuperNova G2 PSU be enough to support a 2nd Radeon 6850 (Sli/Crossfire) or would I need a 750W version of the G2?

Jays2016 said:

Thanks!

Also would a 650W SuperNova G2 PSU be enough to support a 2nd Radeon 6850 (Sli/Crossfire) or would I need a 750W version of the G2?

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You should be fine with your present PSU. The Radeon 6850 has a TDP of 127 watts. Not a power hungry GPU.

PSU will be fine as stated above. However, I wouldn't bother CFx 6850's. I'd rather get a single, more powerful card instead. Too many potential issues. Not to mention, 6850's are 1GB cards and 1GB at 1080p is not enough these days.

EarthDog said:

PSU will be fine as stated above. However, I wouldn't bother CFx 6850's. I'd rather get a single, more powerful card instead. Too many potential issues. Not to mention, 6850's are 1GB cards and 1GB at 1080p is not enough these days.

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Good advice. If funds are limited there are some great buys on Radeon 280x cards right now. It's a bit dated but will run rings around your 6850 or even two of them in CFx. It would also be a good match for the PII 955 overclocked CPU in the sense of neither the card nor the CPU would bottleneck the other one.

^The 280X still does fine@1080p. I had to sell most of my stuff in need of fresh cash and kept a good old 7970 (OC'ed to 1200/1600), and it runs almost everything maxed out@1080p with 60FPS (DA:I, Shadow of Mordor, BF HL, MadMax...). The Witcher 3 needs a bit of tweaking to stay between 40 and 60 FPS (NVidia hair stuff and shadows).

Still a very decent GPU for the price!