• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

New Build...need CPU and Cooling Advice

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Monopolyy

Registered
Joined
May 8, 2009
Im just about finished with my new pc :))) but Im getting caught up deciding between the 920 and the 940.

I've seen lots of people across the web saying that the 920 is all you need b/c you can oc it just as well as the 940...but I dont plan to get mine up to 3.8 or 4.0 or anything of that caliber. I want to overclock to about 3.2 and let it set without me ever having to worry about anything overheating or getting noisy (I would have no idea what to do).

I also cant decide between the Coolermaster v8 and an Asetek LC kit. Which would keep the temp and noise as low as possible?

Here is the rest of my build for reference:

Case ( CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full-Tower
Power Supply ( 950 Watt -- Tuniq Miniplant Power Supply Quad SLI Ready )
Processor ( [New !!] Intel® Core™ i7 940 Processor (4x 2.93GHz/8MB L3 Cache) )
Processor Cooling ( Coolermaster V8 Hybrid / Asetek
Motherboard ( Asus P6T Deluxe Intel X58 Chipset
Memory ( 6 GB [2 GB X3] DDR3-1600 Triple Memory Module Corsair or Major Brand )
Video Card ( 2x eVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 2GB ) OR (2x GTX 925)
Video Card Brand
Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound

Thanks! :)
 
IMO the 270 MHz difference in clock speed between the two CPUs doesn't justify the $280.00 price difference. A 920 will easily overclock to 3.2 GHz, which is 270 MHz above the default clock of a 940 at 2.93 GHz. And with only a planned overclock to 3.2 GHz, the stock HSF will be sufficient.
 
Last edited:
Personally, I wouldn't buy a pre-built computer from iBuyPower. I would buy the components myself and put it together since it would be cheaper.

The 920 will get to 3.2 easily, no point in wasting money if a cheaper CPU can get to the speed you want.

For CPU cooling don't get a WC kit. IMO, if you're gonna WC you should spend some money and do it right. The Xigmatek Dark Knight is a great cooler, I have the non-Dark Knight version and it works very well. I've heard good things about the V8, but no personal experiences.

I would get a Corsair or PC Power & Cooling PSU. On iBuyPower's list I would get Corsair's 850TX or 1000HX.

2x GTX 285 2GB will outperform a GTX 295 (which is basically 2x GTX 280s).

NOTE: I could tell you're looking at iBuyPower b/c how your components are listed :)
 
I'd agree that the slight extra performance of a 940 doesn't justify the cost, if you're not going to push a high OC then the difference is negligible.

If you want a near silent system then I would guess the Coolermaster system to be quieter at low rpm as it won't have a pump to deal with.

If noise is a prime concern then pick your power supply and graphics card carefully, I know nothing of Tuniq but personally found Tagan power supplies to have unnoticeable noise levels at all load levels while offering good value and solid rails.

Any GPU with a pre-fitted Arctic Cooling solution (or similar) can also help keep the decibels down.
 
I'd agree that the slight extra performance of a 940 doesn't justify the cost, if you're not going to push a high OC then the difference is negligible.

If you want a near silent system then I would guess the Coolermaster system to be quieter at low rpm as it won't have a pump to deal with.

If noise is a prime concern then pick your power supply and graphics card carefully, I know nothing of Tuniq but personally found Tagan power supplies to have unnoticeable noise levels at all load levels while offering good value and solid rails.

Any GPU with a pre-fitted Arctic Cooling solution (or similar) can also help keep the decibels down.

Thanks for the helpful responses guys :)

What about ocing to 3.6? Would it then become advantageous to have the 940 since I'm not trying to conduct regular maintinence on this pc?
 
Back