New To OverClocking

[Runnamuk]

Hey well I recently upgraded from a 7 year old laptop to a very cheap computer build that i bought of ebay which i thought would be good enough to do the job on the games i wish to play.
I've heard very little about overclocking before and when i just got the new computer, but i knew it could get more performance out of my games so i really wanted to give it a crack. So I got the computer and installed Catalyst 11.8 Drivers (Side note had a bit of trouble with the computer with the hard drive not being reconised so took it to the shop and they put the driver 11.8 on it for me) didnt read to much up on it and mucked around with the catalyst GPU unlocker program (stupid thing of me) and thought all would go well...
Now with ALOT of research done i've discovered alot of things about overclocking so i've got safe zones for me GPU and CPU but i would like to get your oppions on them to. Sorry for the long text but i'll give you my specs now and see what you think with the benchmarks i use.

Mobo: AsRock H61
CPU: Intel i5 2500K
GPU: Sapphire HD 6850 1GB
RAM: 8GB
HDD: 1TB Sata3 WD
PSU: 650W (not sure brand lol :/)
Cooling System: All stock with no case fans

At the moment i've only done some changes, haven't fully got my overclocking at what i think is good enough for me.

GPU 935/1000 voltage 1150.
CPU 2.5ghz 1100 GT Frequency stock voltage's. (Dunno what GT Frequency acutally does, some insight would be good)

Benchmarks i use are Furmark And Unigine Heaven DX11. Furmark and Unigine Heaven for Core Clock and just Unigine Heaven for Memory Clock.
I will give you my results and see what you think and also some advice on what drivers would be best and the most stable cause when i tried to install the 12.3 drivers it kinda crashed and benchmarked very low :/.

Unigine Heaven
55.8 FPS, 1406 Score, Max Temp 59c
API:directX11, Tessellation: Disabled, Shaders: High, Anisotrory: 4x, Stero 3D; Disabled, Anti-Aliasing
1920x1080 full screen

FurMark
score 2339, 25fps, 74c max, 1920x1080 full screen, anti-aliasing off, Dynamic background, burn in.

Havent benchmarked cpu yet cause dunno the programs or benchmarks yet.

safe temps
GPU 75-80c
CPU 65c
Could i go higher you think?


Games i wish to play are Crysis2, Guild Wars 2, Call Of Duty, Battlefield 3.

 

[Aldakoopa]

It looks like you bought a pretty good build. Only thing that irks me is the cooling and not knowing the brand of the PSU (let's hope it's a good one!). Before you start any overclocking you'll probably want to get some better cooling. That thing will probably become an oven even on stock settings. Get some case fans AT LEAST.

 

[Runnamuk]

haha to my mistake it is acutally a 750w widetech psu. Decided to get off my *** and look . yea i am getting a water coolin system. but i need a new case first. Upgrading bit by bit just tryin to stick to my safe zones for now

 

[Cigarsmoker]

I'd OC the CPU, RAM and finally the GPU in that order. The MB you got is definitely a low end board so may not OC that well if at all. You won't know until you try.

I would definitely invest in a better power supply, which IMO is a very important component. I'd also get a good cheap CPU cooler (Cooler Master Hyper 212+ or EVO) and some case fans. After getting these components and learning to OC, then and only then would I invest in a proper watercooling rig, if that's where you want to go.

As for common CPU OCing software tools:

CPUZ - lots of use CPU and memory info
Memtest - to test memory (typically no used unless you suspect memory problems)
Prime95 - for torture test
HWMonitor or Coretemp - to monitor temperatures

There's also lots of good guides in the Intel CPU section of this forum that will show you the methodology, terminology and will walk you through this. Read it.

 

[Runnamuk]

If i do it in that order whats the difference? Bottlenecking etc?? And thanks for the programs bro
Also whats the torture test? haha sorry bit of a noob here