2600k OC project for Folding@home

So here's my story. I recently joined the folding team for ClubLexus of which I've been an active member of since 2006. Once I got into it, I wanted more and the HP 6 core AMD system I recently purchased in August 2011 just wasn't giving the amount of PPD that I wanted. The system is an AMD with the 1100t Black edition CPU, but being part of an OEM build I could not OC. I decided then to upgrade the video card to a GTX 560 ti, which bumped the PPD up quite a bit, but I got bored. That system is stable and has been folding 24/7 since Dec 2011, but I wanted more!

I did some research and decided to build my own system off the popular 2600k chip. I planned on OCing and immediately started to play with the settings. I had it up to 4.6 based off this guide for a while, but wasn't stable and the core temps were hard to keep below 70C, which caused my Antec 920 fans to work over time. I started playing around more with different settings and for a few days I was unable to get a stable system. I eventually ended up with the settings below and I have been successful at folding for 30 hours straight along with the gtx 560 ti 448 core folding right along with it. CPU VCORE ranges from 1.34V to 1.35V max with core temps ranging from 65C to 70C max. System feels strong and stable, but I want to know what your thoughts are for my OC settings.

System components:
Case: NZXT Tempest410 Elite (2) front 120mm fans<, 2 top 140mm fans^, (1) 120mm bottom fan^
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 PRO REV 3.1 (version 2103)
PSU: Corsair 800w
CPU: i7 2600k 3.4Ghz overclocked to 4.429Ghz
CPU Cooler: Anteck Kuhler 920
VGA: EVGA GeForce GTX 560Ti 448 Cores Classified 1280MB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB PC12800 DDR3 1600MHz (9-9-9-24-2T) Running at 1333 in Auto*
HDD: Intel 320 Series 160&120 GB SATA SSD



OC configuration:
I kept the BLCK/PCIE Freq to 103 since that is what it was by default.














What my settings look like through AI Suite




At idle


At load

it looks good and the temps seem to be in range... If its not broke dont fix it.............
I have used the AI tool by Asus as well and have found that it made things a little hotter for my PC.
I have had more success with manual OC rather than the tool.
I just recently started trying out offset mode and i like that alot, i have seen my temps lowered idle and under load.

i prefer to stick with the bclock at 100 personally. maybe just cause im a newb LOL

What's weird is if I bump up the "By all cores" from 43 to 44 it won't boot past the windows logo. I would think at the current configuration setting I could bump it up at least a notch without issues.

try this , i am willing to bet that if you keep same config and put bclock to 100 and bump the multiplier up by one it boots......... when you mess with the bclock from my understanding the higher you go you start interfereing with ram / timings and voltage......

im glad z68 chipset makes it easy for novices....
takes more time, knowledge and patience to fine tune the bclock, cause it brings everything else into play.....

why make it hard on yourelf, if your gaming overclocking video on a 580 makes very little differnce from what ive seen, as far as OC;ing the ram unless your benching really wont matter... you can run it at 1333 and be enough..

I know the feeling OC;ing is a new world for me and one part of me wants to OC' max everything and benchmark to see, but then you realize how much of a newb when you post your score and some guy with DICE system or liquid nitrogen has the multiplier at 56 and vidoe cards at over 1000mhz, you just cant compete.... therefore i have learned my role is a gamer and play with what i have and oc' bench to beat personal best....

try this , i am willing to bet that if you keep same config and put bclock to 100 and bump the multiplier up by one it boots......... when you mess with the bclock from my understanding the higher you go you start interfereing with ram / timings and voltage......

im glad z68 chipset makes it easy for novices....
takes more time, knowledge and patience to fine tune the bclock, cause it brings everything else into play.....

why make it hard on yourelf, if your gaming overclocking video on a 580 makes very little differnce from what ive seen, as far as OC;ing the ram unless your benching really wont matter... you can run it at 1333 and be enough..

I know the feeling OC;ing is a new world for me and one part of me wants to OC' max everything and benchmark to see, but then you realize how much of a newb when you post your score and some guy with DICE system or liquid nitrogen has the multiplier at 56 and vidoe cards at over 1000mhz, you just cant compete.... therefore i have learned my role is a gamer and play with what i have and oc' bench to beat personal best....

also realize the the AI turner tends to overvolt everything and therefore increases the heat, manual is the way to go.

Mago said:

try this , i am willing to bet that if you keep same config and put bclock to 100 and bump the multiplier up by one it boots......... when you mess with the bclock from my understanding the higher you go you start interfereing with ram / timings and voltage......

im glad z68 chipset makes it easy for novices....
takes more time, knowledge and patience to fine tune the bclock, cause it brings everything else into play.....

why make it hard on yourelf, if your gaming overclocking video on a 580 makes very little differnce from what ive seen, as far as OC;ing the ram unless your benching really wont matter... you can run it at 1333 and be enough..

I know the feeling OC;ing is a new world for me and one part of me wants to OC' max everything and benchmark to see, but then you realize how much of a newb when you post your score and some guy with DICE system or liquid nitrogen has the multiplier at 56 and vidoe cards at over 1000mhz, you just cant compete.... therefore i have learned my role is a gamer and play with what i have and oc' bench to beat personal best....

also realize the the AI turner tends to overvolt everything and therefore increases the heat, manual is the way to go.

Click to expand...

Well you were right. I changed the bclock to 100 and up'd the "all cores by" to 45 and the system booted just fine. I'll run it at the usual 24/7 for folding to see how it does. It's going basically from 4429mhz to 4500mhz so my thought is it will run fine, but will report my findings tomorrow.

sweet deal glad it worked for you.....keep an eye on your temps you may be able to up the multiplier and still keep it under 70c folding....

you peaked my interest and i am now playing with 4.6 in offset bumping the bclock up to see if i can get it stable......

Mago said:

sweet deal glad it worked for you.....keep an eye on your temps you may be able to up the multiplier and still keep it under 70c folding....

you peaked my interest and i am now playing with 4.6 in offset bumping the bclock up to see if i can get it stable......

Click to expand...

Temps are looking good so far and the system has been stable. I run Folding@home 24/7 so it's important that the system is stable over long periods of time and from what I've read running at 4.5 is pretty safe for that. Here is a screen shot of the temps with the CPU and GPU going 100%.

I added a second 560ti 448 SLI today and the system remains stable and the points look good, but with the addition of the second video card, my CPU temps have risen. I tried down clocking the CPU from 4.5 to 4.4 with little to no change.

Running the 2600k with temps of mid 70's ok for 24/7? I plan to run this system for another 3 months at 100% and after that I will only be folding lightly on a different box.

4.5 OC and the video cards are running at stock settings in SLI


The internals


This case has plenty of air flow. 2 large front fans blowing in, 1 fan on the bottom blowing up, (2) 140 mm fans up top blowing out

I would say that mid 70's are ok but not ideal. I am sure it would be better under 70c, we are talking about a full load 75c is not OH MY GOSH type of temperature.

78 is pointing to the warmer side of things where as everything i have read inidicated that 60-69 ideal 70-79 ok, 80 and above running HOT..

I see you pic ...is that the 620 or 920? by the looks i would guess 920 looks like a thick rad....

with that said i would ask if the paste is stock or did you apply something like MX4? but then again that could only have a little effect..

if all that is in line i would look to upgrade the fans if they are stock, to increase flow, may increase noise a bit but the right fans will do the job quietly.... i hear the Scythe fans are really good, dont have one personally....i just have stock, and at that frequency run a little warm and the cooler i have is the standard rad 120mm, i am looking to upgrade when the funds come in.

Mago said:

I would say that mid 70's are ok but not ideal. I am sure it would be better under 70c, we are talking about a full load 75c is not OH MY GOSH type of temperature.

78 is pointing to the warmer side of things where as everything i have read inidicated that 60-69 ideal 70-79 ok, 80 and above running HOT..

I see you pic ...is that the 620 or 920? by the looks i would guess 920 looks like a thick rad....

with that said i would ask if the paste is stock or did you apply something like MX4? but then again that could only have a little effect..

if all that is in line i would look to upgrade the fans if they are stock, to increase flow, may increase noise a bit but the right fans will do the job quietly.... i hear the Scythe fans are really good, dont have one personally....i just have stock, and at that frequency run a little warm and the cooler i have is the standard rad 120mm, i am looking to upgrade when the funds come in.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. The cooler is the 920 and I love it, but the fans on the radiator can be rather loud at full speed. The paste on the 920 is the stock paste that came pre-applied and I was careful to ensure I had it seated good and tight.

I just got off the phone with the case company NZXT and they are going to send me a different case side that does away with the window and I will allow me to add (2) 120mm fans that will bring in additional fresh air. I hope that will lower the temps on the top video card at least.

As for the CPU temps. I may try and reverse flow the one top mount fan so that it brings in air rather than exhaust it. (I'm thinking the top fan closest to the radiator) I've read on a few forums that could help, but I won't know if it works for my setup until I give it a try tonight.

So I did a little experiment this evening with the top fans by having the top rear fan closest to the radiator remaining (exhaust) while the top front fan is now an (intake) I believe this change was a successful one as the Antec 920 CPU cooler is no longer maxing out it's fans and the CPU core temps have all dropped.

Ambient temps for this test were 76F/34C

The only con to this setup is that my GPU temps have gone up just a tad, but nothing of concern.

Nicely done, awesome and a little tinkering here and there goes a long way.

well since your in the testing phase have you thought of trying to reverse your rad fans to pull the cooler ambient air in?
i think with the two side fans you will get with the new side panel could help all around... i am curious to see..


air in from right and side and bottom, in from rad and two out of the top, maybe put two fans on top out on with a fan controller to tinker with the air pressure.

i am thinking that configuration could possibly get you to 70c or below, specially since your addin two fans.

hust a thought.

Another thing i just noticed is your cable management, not being critical but you could hide some of those cables on the back side of the mobo and would help decrease the clutter in front of your front intake fanes and increase the air flow. it could help out in your situation.

Mago said:

well since your in the testing phase have you thought of trying to reverse your rad fans to pull the cooler ambient air in?
i think with the two side fans you will get with the new side panel could help all around... i am curious to see..


air in from right and side and bottom, in from rad and two out of the top, maybe put two fans on top out on with a fan controller to tinker with the air pressure.

i am thinking that configuration could possibly get you to 70c or below, specially since your addin two fans.

hust a thought.

Another thing i just noticed is your cable management, not being critical but you could hide some of those cables on the back side of the mobo and would help decrease the clutter in front of your front intake fanes and increase the air flow. it could help out in your situation.

Click to expand...

Took your advice today and did some cable management. I had been meaning to do it, but finally had the time today to get it done and wow so much nicer looking! The temps have also decreased!! The core temps under full load now avg 67C-70C with exception to one core which consistently stays around 72C-73C. Keep in mind these temps are with the 2 video cards also maxed out.

As for the video cards the top card is now running 2C cooler than before and I don't see any difference in temps for the bottom card. Anyway I'm pretty happy with the results. Temps in check, visually nice to look at and I'm not sure I'll even need the new side cover when it arrives. I will try it out and who knows the new side cover may come in handy in the summer months where I may need or like some additional cooling.



and the before pic.

looks very nice, i am glad you have reached your desired results....
good luck to you..glad to have assisted you