Help with gaming PC

Hello Everyone. This is my first PC build. I built it end of last year and things are running well but Im looking to OC. I've done loads of reading but not really sure what setting I should change with my motherboard CPU combo. I've sense realized I my have not made some of the best choices but its what I have now. The only game I really play is iRacing. So im trying to speed up my FPS a little bit. Im running triple screen with eyefinity. Its seems that I should have went with intel i5 from what i've been reading but I would like to make my system as fast as I can. I think I made a bad choice on the cooler so I plan on ordering a 212 EVO. Was also thinking about maybe getting a FX-8120 but I've read so many mixed stories about what I have being faster that Im totally lost now. So not sure what to do. Just OC what I have and live with it, get a FX-8120 or get a i5 and new mother board. But I only have $100 to work with right now. I have a buyer that will give me $75 for my 965 and current cooler.

Here are my PC specs.

GA-990XA-UD3
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520
Patriot Viper Xtreme Series, Division 2 Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W
XFX 7950 DD BE
Patriot 60GB SSD Pyro
Seagate Barracoda 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
Running Windows 7 Pro 64

I know Im all over the place on what to do so thanks for any help.

I did do some changes per a memory forum to run at 1600hz. But i've been reading that might be bad for my 965

[Black Edition CPU]

Method #2

1. Set DRAM Frequency to DDR3-1600

2. Set CPU-NB Frequency to 2400MHz (DDR3-1600 / 2 = 800MHz, then x 3) CPU-NB Frequency should always be 3X DRAM bus frequency

3. Set HT Link Frequency to 2400MHz

4. Set timings to tCL 9 - tRCD 9 - tRP 9 - tRAS 24, or whatever your memory is rated for.

5. Set DRAM Voltage to 1.50V, or whatever your memory is rated for.

6. Most CPUs will need a CPU-NB Voltage boost of +0.10V, so if your default is 1.10V, set it to 1.20V.

I say keep what you have, OC it now, and upgrade your CPU to a Piledriver chip when they come out. You need more GPU horsepower for Eyefinity, if you want to move up to more intensive games.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596023

If you get a new cooler, get some thing very good. Even if it's overkill for your current chip, you can use it when you upgrade to a hotter CPU. I'd recommend a NH-D14, Phantek, Corsair H80/100.

^+1

Or Thermalright True Spirit 140.

Well sounds like keep the 965 and invest in a cooler. Looks like the NH-D14 will fit my mother board and memory. But would be nice to save some money and go with the Thermalright True Spirit 140. I'll have to see if it will fit my case, its a cheap Rosewill Challenger. If not then the NH-D14 it is.
I read through the OC link but Im still a little lost but I'll keep reading over it.

That's fine. The TRUE Spirit 140 is an excellent cooler for it's price.

So is it true that I shouldn't run my memory at 1600 on this CPU?

You might be able to...but most Phenom II X4s don't like it. Remember that a good indication of performance is dividing the speed by the CAS latency. DDR3-1600 CL9 = 1600/9 = 177.7, while DDR3-1333 CL7 = 1333/7 = 190, so it's actually a tiny bit better.

This is just an approximation, but still, the difference is minimal.

Yes hop on this linked page and scroll 'down' until the Coolermaster Hyper N520 finally appears in the performance list of tested coolers on AMD cpus.

LInky >> http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2654&page=4

The Hyper N520 is there, don't give up scrolling it is on down there.

Even an EVO 212 is not enough for a pretty hefty overclock of FX-series processors if that is on one's horizon.

I didn't know that. My memory is 1600 8-9-8-24. So I should back the memory down to 1333 and OC the CPU and that would result in better performance and longevity. The more I read the more lost I get lol.
I was also reading that the game I play is only 32bit and uses 2 cores, they plan on upgrading it to 64bit and using 3 cores. So I should still be ok then for a few years.

"Signature"


New Shortcut method for putting a Signature with your system information following your every post so people can know what is in the case that they are trying to assist with. You can use something like what is shown in my signature as a good template of needed information Thank you.

Then as more may come to see what is happening in this thread, they will know what you have inside the puter case. Thanks man.

Updated signature

How about this cooler? I think its rated better.
Spire TherMax Eclipse (TME) III Universal Cooler SP984B1-V3-PWM

Doesn't look like it: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Spire-TME-III-CPU-Cooler-Review/1595/8

Dang, well I guess Ill just need to shell out the money for the Phanteks or NH-D14, which one has a better mounting system?

You mentioned the TRUE Spirit 140 a little bit earlier, why not that? It's only a few degrees worse than the Phantek or NH-D14, but should cost substantially less.

Knufire said:

You mentioned the TRUE Spirit 140 a little bit earlier, why not that? It's only a few degrees worse than the Phantek or NH-D14, but should cost substantially less.

Click to expand...

I didnt see it on the list. Maybe the hyper 212 evo and 2 new case fans would be better for me. I only plan on OC to 3.8 to be safe.

that1guyinwi said:

I did do some changes per a memory forum to run at 1600hz. But i've been reading that might be bad for my 965

[Black Edition CPU]

Method #2

1. Set DRAM Frequency to DDR3-1600

2. Set CPU-NB Frequency to 2400MHz (DDR3-1600 / 2 = 800MHz, then x 3) CPU-NB Frequency should always be 3X DRAM bus frequency

3. Set HT Link Frequency to 2400MHz

4. Set timings to tCL 9 - tRCD 9 - tRP 9 - tRAS 24, or whatever your memory is rated for.

5. Set DRAM Voltage to 1.50V, or whatever your memory is rated for.

6. Most CPUs will need a CPU-NB Voltage boost of +0.10V, so if your default is 1.10V, set it to 1.20V.

Click to expand...

What I don't understand is why you are trying to push the memory envelope to 1600 mhz but haven't even touched the CPU speed. By far and away the CPU speed is the most important factor in PC performance. With that Hyper N520 cooler and decent case ventilation you should be able to get that CPU to about 3.8 ghz unless your PC lives in an unusually hot environment. I helped a guy on this forum get his PII X4 955 C2 stepping to 3.7 ghz stable on that cooler. Sounds like to me you need to learn the art of overclocking by incremental experimentation rather than reading some guide and plugging in canned values.

And did you know that benchmarking shows there is little or nothing to gain in all but a very few applications as far as performance goes when running ram higher than 1333 mhz?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/6

By the way, could you put some information about the make and model of your case in your Sig, please?

Im a complete newbie when in comes to PC settings and what is better and faster to do. Im completely lost. Somebody told me to get 1600 ran so I did, found it wasn't running at 1600 did a search and found how to change it. I never checked into if it was worth it. Im learning more and more every post lol. Here is a pic of my PC settings as of now. I will reset my BIOS and try stepping up the CPU. Is there a good tutorial for me to follow? Maybe I should get 2 more better fans for my case and see how things go?

Tutorial, the best!
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596023