First overclock with new mobo

[Dlaw]

I got my new ASRock 970 Extreme3 last week, and until tonight it was all set @ stock. I decided to overclock my 960T to 3.8GHz for now, until I have time to push it and see what I can really do with this system. But for now;

Cool 'n Quiet and Turbo Mode are both off, I couldn't find any of the other options for the "green" stuff.
Multiplier is at x19 for 3800MHz
Vcore is at 1.35v
Did a quick 20min P95 run, socket temp maxed at 68C (too hot?), and core maxed at 47. I have a thermometer on the wall next to my computer, and it reads 28*C right now (it's in a pretty small space under my desk), but I'm shutting down tonight to let the area cool. How does everything look so far?

 

[trents]

Looks good so far but you high ambient temps are a concern. Where are you? I think you might have told us but I forgot? Make sure your PWM settings in bios are set correctly so that your cooler's fan runs full blast under heavy CPU load. Check again in the bios for C1E and then go into Windows Control Panel Power Options and configure it to High Performance. That should take care of the green stuff. Core temps are good but socket temps are getting kind of high.

 

[Dlaw]

I live in central New York, but the reason for the high temps is because I a) didn't have the AC on, and I live in a trailer, and b) the computer is in a cabinet that's built into my desk, which is built into my house, that I took the front door off of and cut a hole in the side for the cords and ventilation. It's almost always 15F hotter than the rest of the house while my system is running. I'll be changing it eventually, but for now that's the only space I had for it.

I leave my fans on full blast all the time, just because it's in the cabinet and I can't hear them anyway.

So, the test was done in a more or less worst case situation. When I checked the thermometer in the cabinet before I went to bed, it read somewhere in the area of 40C. I've never seen it that hot in there before, and right now it's at about 28C.

 

[trents]

What can I say? Unless you improve the ambient temp/ventilation situation somehow, you're going to be really hampered by temps, no matter what motherboard you use and no matter what cooler you use. Maybe you should put the PC under the trailer, bore holes in the floor and run your cables up through to the desk where you compute.

 

[caddi daddi]

can you mount a 120mm case fan to the cabinet and plug it into your motherboard?

 

[RGone]

can you mount a 120mm case fan to the cabinet and plug it into your motherboard?

Yes, I had to put a 120VAC fan into the side of my computer desk, just to keep my daily work rig cool. Heck of a blow too with A/C volts and about 1.25 inches thick. Cooled my legs since I made it to blow inside the foot cubby section.

 

[trents]

Man, one of those $20 box fans from Walmart would work good for sucking hot air out from under a desk, I would think. And just think, with the extra noise it would make it would mask any fan noise from the computer. You could mount a bunch of Deltas in there.

 

[caddi daddi]

then it looks like a $20.00 other than walmart fan is the fix......(i hate walmart)

 

[txus.palacios]

Replace Walmart for your favourite store.

 

[Dlaw]

Great ideas guys! I just so happen to have a couple of 140mm fans laying around. Is there something I can use other than my computer to power them? They both have standard 4 pin molexs.

 

[trents]

Buy an old PSU at a computer flea market or something or a second hand store and use it to power the fans. They will run off of any 12v DC power source but an old PSU would already have the molex connectors. Just connect any green wire to any black wire on the main 24 pin power plug in order to complete the circuit so it will power on.

 

[Dlaw]

Awesome, so I could actually run a switch on the desk some place to turn the fans on and off that way.

So, another odd thing is happening right now; my core temps are reading 26~27 C right now, but it's 28 C in the cabinet. I have two intake fans pulling air from outside the cabinet into the case right now, and ambient temperature is probably somewhere in the area of 19~20 C out here. Would that be enough to cool the cores to below "ambient" temperature in the cabinet? Or do I have a bad sensor?

 

[trents]

Core temp readings are seldom accurate at idle temps. Their calibration is skewed toward the upper end under load conditions. And in reality it is impossible to have lower than ambient temp readings on air or unchilled water cooling.