i5-3330 3.2(non K)question

[KaboomZA]

Hi There all,

This is my first post here and will also count as my welcome post to say HI to everybody, a frequent visitor to the site and always has been my #1 reference for OC info!! Love this Community!!!!!!

So my question to you....

I have always liked to OC my system however not on pro level or EXTREME level as allot of the guys do, I just don't have the cooling etc... to really pull it off, I have basic Rig with fairly decent air cooling, so my question is regarding my i5 -3330

It's the non K version so OC isn't really viable, however I have seen people throwing numbers out on where they have been able to OC it to, and it seems the general target is around 3.5ish... however It seems I have now been able to achieve a stable and absolute MAX OC to 3648.2(107.3 x34)

This is with Stock Voltage.

Even if I increment with .1 up from there system crashes immediately, think that's the best it can do.

U think it can go up with Voltage tweaks or is that kinda heavy already for a non K processor? I'm sure it has a ceiling and a hardware lock because of non OC version?

Also one last thing, with that in mind, I wonder if you can have a look quickly and tell me where my bottleneck is biggest at the moment in terms of Game performance and will upgrading my GPU in this particular case be the best.

i5 3330 - running at 3650
8GB G.skill 1600 RAM
Asus p8z77-v lx mobo (BIOS updated)
650watt modular PSU (Coolermaster)
1TB Seagate HDD (SATA 2.0 <-- I am worried about that)
GTX550ti top (OC edition) and OC'd to max as well!

From that it feels kinda like the GFX and the HDD needs urgent attention, but not sure what is first? I know the 550ti is a mid range card that's why I think that would be priority(and its still PCI exp 2.0)

however as example my system aint bad at all since I can play Bioshock Infinite with fairly high settings but not at all Max settings, and its perfectly stable at 60fps 90% of the time.

Thanks in advance guys!
Peace out

 

[Projektile]

I would honestly say that you should think about getting a better CPU. They're not too expensive, and would be a good upgrade to start with. However, I am new myself and have just gotten my feet wet in terms of OCing. I think that if you were to upgrade the GPU, the CPU would bottleneck it. As for the HDD, you could also see a performance increase just by upgrading to an SSD Like I said, I am fairly new here too and my advice may not be 100%, I'm sure one of the veterans around here can give a little bit better info

 

[rc185]

have fun

 

[KaboomZA]

BUMP!

Come on now give me some more feedback please peeps! I trust your judgment that is why I am a member of these forums as stated above, need some guidance please!

 

[LoganG]

Upgrading to an SSD is always nice but it would seem to me that next to an SSD your GPU would be the next upgrade as the 550 isn't bad but the new generation is nice. Also don't worry about the PCIE 2.0 vs 3.0 right now, you will be fine.

 

[manu2b]

Yep, a GPU upgrade is the first thing to do if you want a better frame rate.

Your CPU won't bottleneck any single GPU, even high end.

You can grab anything from a 7870 to a 7970 without fear. All depending on your budget of course

PCIe2 or 3 is not a problem, as even a 7970 or a 680 do not use the whole PCIe2 bandwidth.

And yes, you can OC your CPU a little bit, playing with the BCLK (base clock).
Usually, system looses stability when going over 104 to 106MHz, which is still a 4 to 6% speed increase for free.

Oh, yes! SSD are great. This feeling of snappines is priceless

Edit: did not see you've already increased the bclk... Edit, and to answer your question about voltage, increasing vCore is not likely to help as it's more like you've hit the BCLK limit.