gaming pc running slow with i5960k and msi r9 270x hawk

JakeWong

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Oct 4, 2014
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Computer components:
Intel i5690k 3.5Ghz (devil's canyon)
Msi R9 270x Hawk
Z97 Gigabyte SOC Motherboard
Trident X 16gb 2400Mhz Ram

can't even play runescape at constant 20 fps
cpu runs at 90 degrees start up... should i get a water cooling system cuz of the heat affecting performace of cpu?

 

poels

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Sep 28, 2014
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I would suggest getting some new thermal paste, and at least swap it out with the old compund. Are those Fahrenheit or Celcius?
 

poels

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Sep 28, 2014
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I was hoping fahrenheit! but i thought not.. .not a com site!

I would suggest not using that PC for heavy tasks until you get some new thermal paste. Remember to go with the non-conductive stuff if you are not too fond of having shorts etc. if you spill some. Just make sure you clean up both the contact surfaces good before applying new. Use a small amount of rubbing alcohol on a cloth and wipe the old stuff off.
 

Vic 40

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Typo?

Still,if you can buy at newegg get one of these,
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/enermax-cpu-cooler-etsn30he
for just $10 a good buy and better than the stock one.
[strike]For cooling paste a choice[/strike],
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/arctic-cooling-thermal-paste-acmx4%2Carctic-cooling-thermal-paste-mx2r%2Cnoctua-thermal-paste-nth1/
It comes with the cooler.(enough for one time)

 

poels

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Sep 28, 2014
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Well, as a start. Yes. Even WITH the stock CPU cooler it really shouldn't heat up to 90degrees. So i suspect either some pretty worn out thermal compound or maybe you overclocked it? if you did, you need an aftermarket cooler and that's your problem. The one he refers to is good. The Evo 212 from coolermaster is also pretty good at the price.. its about 40 USD here in Denmark. Can't say for your location though!

How long has your chip been in the mobo? Have you ever taken the heatsink/fan off without replacing the thermal compound?

How many case fans do you have installed ? At least 2 always, if you want to game.

Did you overclock (maybe even the factory Mobo OC settings , if your board has it)


This should give you a pretty good oversight of the possible problems that might be. 90 Degrees C is insane.. changing the thermal compund might solve it, if you don't wanna spend too much. But you should just get an aftermarket cooler anyways since you have an unlocked chip..The compund should come with it.. But yeah.. just the compound MIGHT do the trick by itself.. only thing is to try!
 

poels

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Sep 28, 2014
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The cooler should come with a tube. As for your BIOS question, i couldn't say. Really not much into mobo's unfortunately!
 

Vic 40

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If you really want to overclock get a better one than this,get a hyper 212 evo at least.


this is imo a good cooler for stock replacement.You should be able to overclock with this to some extend,but the evo would just do better,but is also more expensive.

Also dive into the overclocking and read some tutorials about it.Then go into the bios and tweak it.If you would try this via one of those tools would you need to finetune it anyway so better do it yourself ,
 
For any type of performance other than factory, you definitely want a good aftermarket CPU cooler. It is one of the most important parts to a build since high CPU temps can cause degradation/failure, and many things can cause CPU temps to rise. Once you get that all set up, then it's time to talk about BIOS/EFI/settings. Until then, keep everything factory speed.

At that time, you'll want to set up the RAM, make sure it runs at full speed, then you can OC and adjust CPU to maximize performance. Keep us posted!