OC'ing FX-6300 Tonight...

[Sun Tzu]

Hey all. I've been an amateur OC'er for going on a decade now, but I've never really tried to push a chip to its max before. About 2 months ago I built a budget/mid-range rig just to run DayZ without lag, and watch movies. Here are the specs:

CPU: FX-6300
MOBO: ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970
CASE: Corsair Obsidian Series 550D w/ 7 fans
GPU: Power Cooler Radeon HD 7850 2GB
RAM: G.SKILL Ares Series 12GB PC12800
HDD: 128GB SSD, 2x 1TB WD Blue
PSU: Rosewill Capstone 650W
HS/FAN: Noctua NH-D14 w/ Arctic Silver 5

Ultimately, I'd like to hit 5GHz, but I don't know how likely that is to happen. The Noctua is showing up via UPS today, and needless to say my Monday workday is absolutely CRAWLING along. Heh.

Any early pointers you guys have? Thoughts?

 

[Johan45]

Welcome to OCF Sun Tzu
Couple things stand out, did you get a triple channel kit of ram??
Using air cooling the odds of you reaching 5.0 are slim to none, not trying to disappoint you just prepare you for reality.

 

[Sun Tzu]

Ack, you know what? I just realized that 4GB of my RAM is from my previous rig. So...my Memory actually runs as follows:

8GB: G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB PC12800 (dual channel kit)
4GB: ADATA XPG Gaming Series 4GB PC12800 (dual channel kit)

I was torn on whether to get a liquid cooling kit or the noctua, and after having read review after review on that monster noctua cooler being ridiculously strong but also ridiculously quiet, I had to give that a try. If I can get high 4's, I'll be happy...

 

[Johan45]

For now leave the Adata out untill you get the setup stable then maybe you can incorporate back into the buil. As for the OC alot depends on the CPU itself, so 4.5-4.7 is entirley possible any more than that .......... maybe.

 

[Sun Tzu]

Got it. Do you mind if I ask why I should be leaving the ADATA out? Is it a RAM specific thing, or is it the fact that I'm running two different dual channel sets...

 

[Johan45]

Two different types is the biggest reason ( timing conflicts) and 2 sticks are easier than 4 on the IMC

 

[Sun Tzu]

Got it. Performance-wise, what percentage would you guess I'm losing by dropping the additional 4GB?

 

[Johan45]

Little to none, there aren't too many applications that are going to use your 8Gb let alon 12 and you can always try to integrate them back in later, once you're stable with you OC. Might ne ba a problem but they may just refuse to work together it's hard to say but it will help prevent start up issues and takes out one source of possible instability.

 

[Blaylock]

For gaming, none. Most titles won't use a full 8Gb.

 

[Sun Tzu]

Nice. Maybe I'll just sell the extra 4GB, then. I had no idea that going higher than 8GB was essentially redundant gaming-wise.

 

[Johan45]

Definately, you would need some fairly intensive software to need more that 8. I know it's not gaming but I bench a bit, and 4G doesn't show any signs of hurting my scores in 3D benches with 1 card.

 

[Blaylock]

Definately, you would need some fairly intensive software to need more that 8. I know it's not gaming but I bench a bit, and 4G doesn't show any signs of hurting my scores in 3D benches with 1 card.

Lol, "a bit". Sun Tzu anyone listing 4 CPU's, 2 premier Mobo's and a Bancheto benching station benches a little more than a bit.

Trust Johan, he definitly knows his stuff.

 

[Johan45]

Lol, "a bit". Sun Tzu anyone listing 4 CPU's, 2 premier Mobo's and a Bancheto benching station benches a little more than a bit.

Trust Johan, he definitly knows his stuff.

I'd put more of my stuff up there but it has it's limits.

 

[Sun Tzu]

Tracking said it was going to show up yesterday, but it didn't show up. Now it says it will *definitely* show up today.

Sigh.

 

[Johan45]

Waiting is the worst!

 

[Sun Tzu]

Agreed! There's nothing worse than waiting all day for a part to show up, only to find that you have to wait another day!

 

[Blaylock]

Sun this guide is very helpful for people who are starting out. The guide was written for YOUR processor so it will definitely help with terminology and such. Also you'll want to download the free versions of CPU-Z, Hardware Monitor and Prime 95.

 

[Sun Tzu]

Blaylock,

My Mobo has a UEFI BIOS, which changes the look/feel of OC'ing quite a bit. This will be my first OC in this kind of BIOS. Does this guide still apply?

 

[Johan45]

It's still the same, it'll look different and maybe some different terms but the steps will be the same.

 

[Blaylock]

Absolutely. Each Mobo brand has a different Bios or UEFI Bios but the principles are all the same. The UEFI Bios' are just much easier on the eyes and more user friendly. If you have any trouble just post back and we'll get you there.

Edit: Johan is a fast typist too. LOL