bought a motherboard have questions

[kaitlin4599]

ok so i recently bought a motherboard from a reputable pc parts shop that sells new and used parts heres the name of the mobo GA-G31M-S2L (rev. 1.0) the link to the mobo info is down below now here are my questions

btw i plan to install my core 2 duo E8400 that i picked up off ebay for 4$

#1 whats the best aftermarket cpu cooler i can buy that will allow me to overclock my E8400 to 4.5Ghz

#2 would i be better off putting heatsinks on the VRM to allow for a better stable overclock and if so what heat-sinks do you recommend

if possible please post links to any recommendations to the 2 above questions thanks


http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2693#ov

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

#2 would i be better off putting heatsinks on the VRM to allow for a better stable overclock and if so what heat-sinks do you recommend

http://www.Enzotechnology.com mos_c1_le
or
http://www.Enzotechnology.com mos-c1

You can get them at Performance-pcs.com and Newegg.com

 

[kaitlin4599]

thanks mate but what about a good cooler so i can reach 4.5-5.0 with the bad boy air cooling prefer'd as its cheaper then water cooling

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

DEEPCOOL GamerStrom ASSASSIN II CPU Cooler

Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler

There are a few more at Newegg.com to choose from, anything that has 6 heat pipes or more will do.

 

[EarthDog]

And truth be told, you won't hit 4.5 ghz with that cpu on air anyway no matter what board. These were 4-4.5ghz chips IIRC with the latter pushing water cooling. That board is not good for what you want to do...2/3 phase vrm? G31is a budget platform... not too many overclocking options there... fsb may not get where you want it anyway.

 

[Theocnoob]

You really should have picked up a nice P45 board with lots of power phases and some nice power delivery section heatsinks.
That CPU is a 45nm chip and no 45nm chip hit 5Ghz on air. That was more of a 32nm phenomenon. As EarthDog said, you won't be hitting high clocks on that board (not safely, at least) due to the crummy platform/crummy power delivery section you're working with.

You don't need a tremendous heatsink for that CPU, even with a really great motherboard. An Arctic Freezer 7 pro for like $10-14 would be more than enough. They're easy to install too.

I took an E6550 which produces way more heat up to 4Ghz on that heatsink.

 

[kaitlin4599]

this board was all i could afford and it was cheap only 10 dollars i do plan on adding some VRM cooling

- - - Updated - - -

if i may ask howd you find out the power phase for my board i dont see it listed on the specs for the board on gigabytes site

 

[Johan45]

this board was all i could afford and it was cheap only 10 dollars i do plan on adding some VRM cooling

- - - Updated - - -

if i may ask howd you find out the power phase for my board i dont see it listed on the specs for the board on gigabytes site

Just look at these two photos you'll see the difference in the power section yours has about 3 chokes the black squares the other one has 12 that's where the power comes from. The second board is made for overclocking.

 

[Aleslammer]

Bottom board has faults, battery location out right sucks and no LLC

 

[LutaWicasa]

Bottom board has faults, battery location out right sucks and no LLC

What an interestingly irrelevant post.....

 

[wingman99]

The Front sided bus will limit the overclock before the the phase power section will limit the overclock on that board.

 

[Johan45]

Bottom board has faults, battery location out right sucks and no LLC

I see what you mean about the battery but this was for illustration purposes not a recomendation