1st time overclocker

[chrislipa]

Hey folks,

I'm definitely a newb. I'm building a new system, and I would like to overclock the I7 920 to around 4 GHz. Unfortunately, I've never built or overclocked a system, so I am running my system specs by the community just to make sure everything is compatible. I'm buying everything new for this system, sorry if this list is a bit long.

CPU: Intel Core i7 920
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5
Motherboard: Asus P6t
Heatsink: Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan
Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
Video Card: BFG Tech GeForce GTX 295
Case: Antec 300
Power Supply: Antec EA650 650W ATX12V Ver.2.2
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1
Monitor: Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 28"
Optical Drive: LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X
Primary HDD: Fujitsu MBA3300 MBA3147RC 147GB 15000 RPM
Secondary HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB
Wireless Card: BELKIN F5D7000 IEEE 802.11g PCI Wireless G
Speakers: Logitech Z-4 40 watts 2.1 Speaker
Keyboard: deazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel
Headset: TRITTON TRI-AI712 4 x 3.5mm Circumaural AX 51

Am I making any mistakes? Thanks for your help in advance.

~ Chris

 

[WR2]

Asus P6T & Fujitsu 147GB 15K HDD mismatch. P6T doesnt have SAS like the P6T Deluxe. Go with the WD VelociRaptor 150GB 10K instead.

GTX 295 & Antec EA650 mismatch. While it's probably enough power for your system the Antec EA650 (45amps +12v) doesnt meet the recommended PSU listed on the BFG GTX 295 website that calls for 680W and 46amps +12v. Look under detailed specs. PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W $120 plus $40 rebate. $80 and 60amps +12v isn't bad at all.

Possible mismatch: Vigor Monsoon III LT and "overclock the I7 920 to around 4 GHz". It doesn't look like the Monsoon III LT cools as well as some of the other HSFs around based on this Tweaktown review. Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme-1366 RT (TRUE) or Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 SSO would be good choices. Noctua SE1366 also in stock here

Probable mismatch: GTX 295 & Antec 300. The Antec 300 is a "compact case". Only 18.3" deep. And the HDD cage is fixed in place and has rear facing data and power connectors. Compare with the Antec 900 19.4'' depth or CM RC-690 with 20.7" depth and side facing HDD data and power connectors.

Arctic Silver 5 vs Arctic Cooling MX-2 or OCZ Freeze; perform better, easier to apply, non-conductive and no cure time.
Hardware Logic Thermal Compound Review

 

[WR2]

Not in the category of mistake or mismatch but I'd also suggest replacing the Secondary HDD with WD Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 32MB Cache HDD

 

[chrislipa]

Thank you so much, WR2. I would have been very unhappy had I ordered that setup. I made most of the changes you suggested, except for:

I replaced the motherboard instead of the 15k RPM hard drive, because I wanted a very fast hard disk drive, and all of the 15k RPM drives need SAS.

Instead of the WD 640 GB Black Drive you suggested, I opted for the larger WD 1TB Black Drive to replace my 1TB Green Drive.

I also added one case fan since the case comes with only three.

The updated spec is now:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920
Thermal Compound: Artic Cooling MX-2
Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe
Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme RT 1366 CPU Cooler
Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
Video Card: BFG Tech GeForce GTX 295
Case: Cooler Master RC 690
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1
Monitor: Hanns G HG-281DPB Black 28"
Optical Drive: LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X
Primary HDD: Fujitsu MBA3300 MBA3147RC 147GB 15000 RPM
Secondary HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache
Wireless Card: BELKIN F5D7000 IEEE 802.11g PCI Wireless G
Speakers: Logitech Z-4 40 watts 2.1 Speaker
Keyboard: deazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel
Headset: TRITTON TRI-AI712 4 x 3.5mm Circumaural AX 51

I hope that this setup is compatible, but I still have a few lingering concerns.

Hanns seems to have a bad reputation for dead or stuck pixels. Their return policy states that a monitor is not defective until it has 8 bad pixels. On the Newegg reviews, the overwhelming majority of people have no problems, but a few do. What do you guys think about taking a chance by buying them.

Do I need a sound card? I want the surround sound in the headphones.

Will having a 15k RPM hard drive for the OS and games make a noticeable difference?

The case has room for 7 fans, and I would like to add more, but the motherboard only has 5 fan headers, one of which is for the CPU fan. Am I limited by the number of fan headers on the motherboard?

Thanks again for all your help.



~ Chris

 

[alvine]

you could get ssd (solid state harddrive) for the OS and big 1tb for all your data


im glad you changed from antec 300 lolol and good you checked to wd black instead of green

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Looks good. But seriously do you need the sound card? Try the on board first. Also consider getting a Wireless N.

 

[chrislipa]

As far as SSDs go, my budget is not unlimited. Maybe I don't need a sound card.

 

[WR2]

I think you should seriously look at Samsung T260 26" and LG LG W2600H-PF 26" monitors I like the Samsung T260 out of the three.

Do you want a fast 15K HDD or a faster 10K HDD? Assuming you're not going to be running a enterprise web or database server I think the VelociRaptor is your better option. Get the HDD that gives you the most I/Os per second, not necessarily the fastest random seek & write times.
This is an example why you want to do your research carefully.

 

[WR2]

Here is a better example: VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS (300 GB SATA3) vs Seagate Cheetah 15K.4 (147 GB SAS)
I know the Cheetah 15K has slower seek/write than the Fujitsu but it won't make up the difference in IOs / sec.
Note that in a multi-user server environment the 15K drives take a lead in server type benchmarking.

 

[Shadow703793]

^True.

@OP: Consider getting 2*30GB OCZ SSD drives in RAID for the OS.

 

[wiz1]

I would go with the coolermaster HAF you will be happier with it. My $.02

 

[chrislipa]

Taking your suggestions, I opted for the 150GB Velociraptor drive. I thought about an SSD solution, but I don't think I can really justify the higher cost for a smaller drive. Since I don't need the SAS connection on the P6T Deluxe anymore, I dropped back down to the non-Deluxe version of that motherboard from Asus.

I also got a 802.11n (draft) wireless card.

CPU: Intel Core i7 920
Thermal Compound: Artic Cooling MX-2
Motherboard: Asus P6T
Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme RT 1366 CPU Cooler
Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
Video Card: BFG Tech GeForce GTX 295
Case: Cooler Master RC 690
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1
Monitor: Hanns G HG-281DPB Black 28"
Optical Drive: LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X
Primary HDD: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM
Secondary HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache
Wireless Card: D-Link DWA-556 IEEE 802.11n
Speakers: Logitech Z-4 40 watts 2.1 Speaker
Keyboard: deazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel
Headset: TRITTON TRI-AI712 4 x 3.5mm Circumaural AX 51

I'd like the sound card primarily to take some workload off of the CPU, and if it makes the sound better as the reviews on Newegg claim, then that's great, too.

@Wiz - That Coolermaster HAF looks like a pretty sweet case, and it's a little larger than the case I selected, but if I can get the airflow I need in in a CM RC690, I can't really justify $80 more for it.

In case it makes any difference, I'm planning on using this as a gaming machine with Vista x64. Thanks again, everyone for all your help.

 

[WR2]

"I'd like the sound card primarily to take some workload off of the CPU"

With a powerful, overclocked, quad core, octo-theaded CPU I really don't think you need to worry about the integrated audio CPU workload.

NewEgg reviewer comments suggesting improved sound quality have to be taken in context. If someone's integrated audio was the 1997 vintage AC97 chip you'd REALLY expect a major improvement. With the Asus P6T's modern Realtek ALC1200 how much improvement will you notice? Depends more on your speaker selection or headset, plus your own level of audiophile abilities IMO.
Since a sound card upgrade is extremely easy why not test out the onboard sound first, give it a test run, and if it doesnt meet your personal tastes go ahead and take the plunge then.

The RC-690 case shouldn't pose any problems for cooling. Including that optional 80mm slim fan mount on the underside of the motherboard across from the CPU. If you're willing to plan and work with the cables you can get a nice clean build and excellent air flow. Some examples:

Many more examples of RC-690 cable management

 

[chrislipa]

WR2,

Ok, that sounds like a good idea. I am going to order the above setup sans sound card. Thank you so much for your help. Your advice has been invaluable.

~ Chris

 

[WR2]

Be sure to let us know how things turn out.

 

[chrislipa]

Sure

 

[chrislipa]

Here are all of the parts that I ended up buying:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920
Thermal Compound: Artic Cooling MX-2
Motherboard: Asus P6T
Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme RT 1366 CPU Cooler
Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 295
Case: Cooler Master RC 690
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1
Monitor: LG W2600H-PF Black 25.5" 5ms Widescreen LCD
Video Cable: Nippon Labs 10 ft. DVI Digital Dual-Link cable
Optical Drive: LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X
Primary HDD: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM (times 2)
Secondary HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM
Wireless Card: D-Link DWA-556 IEEE 802.11n
Speakers: Logitech Z-4 40 watts 2.1 Speaker
Keyboard: Ideazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel
Headset: TRITTON TRI-AI712 4 x 3.5mm Circumaural AX 51
Mousepad: Corepad C1 Medium Improved Premium Cloth Mouse Pad
Additional Case Fan: Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D 120mm

The two Raptor drives are in a RAID 0 configuration. Setting up the RAID was much easier than I expected. I don't really know if having the RAID or the Raptors makes any difference because I don't have anything to compare it against.

There were no dead pixels on the display, which I was afraid there might have been. I went to Best Buy to compare screens, and the HannsG screens are of noticeably inferior quality. No matter how much I played around with the settings, they never looked as good as the LG screens (or any of the others, for that matter). My screen is very bright and vivid, and I am overwhelmingly pleased with it. I urge anyone else who is thinking of buying the HannsG screen because they are much less expensive than the competition to go compare screens in person - the specs on paper don't tell the whole story, and you will stare at the monitor the most of any component you buy.

The only hardware issue I had was with the headset. The bass channel is stronger on the right-hand side than on the left, even though the bass channel is definitely coming through on both sides. All of the other channels are fine, and I suspect, though I am not sure, that it is a problem with the left bass speaker. I am currently in the process of returning it. I am going to purchase another headset, though I'm not sure which one, yet. I am willing to spend some money to get a good set, because it is the primary way I listen to the computer (I'm a college student sharing a small 1-room apartment).

I overclocked the i7 to 3.8 GHz by using a 200 MHz BCLK and a CPU Multiplier of 19. I actually had a stable overclock to 4.0 GHz, but my temperature settled at about 72C, which I felt was a little too high. At 3.8 GHz, my temperature under load is around 68C. As everyone else has said, overclocking the i7 is incredibly easy.

The Asus GTX 295 is overclocked as well. The core speed was moved from 576 MHz to 676 MHz, the Shaders were moved from 1242 MHz to 1370 MHz, and memory from 1998 MHz to 2200 MHz. Asus's SmartDoctor utility that came with the card made overclocking as simple as sliding bars to what speed you want the 3 clocks to be. The card is stable, but the fan can be quite loud. The temperature under load is around 75C, but depends on when you set the fans to kick in (which is also easily adjustable with the SmartDoctor software).

I installed Windows Vista Ultimate x64 without a hitch.

The illuminated keyboard is great, and having a dedicated region for gaming with your left hand is pretty cool. The mouse is both great for gaming, especially FPS games. Having on-the-fly dpi control is great for trying to snipe.

I'm pretty sure that the sound card was a waste of money. I can't hear a difference between it being installed and not. I enjoy music, but I am far from an audiophile, so perhaps it might theoretically make a difference to someone with a better ear.

Cable management was the hardest part of the whole setup. I didn't do nearly as tidy a job as WR2. The power supply I bought is not modular, and has a ton of dangling cords that I don't need. Life would have been easier if I had purchased a slightly better PSU or a slightly larger case.

I don't have any benchmarks, but it plays Crysis on Very High detail at 1920x1200 with 4xAA at 40 FPS, which is playable and absolutely beautiful. I'm kind of glad that I didn't get a bigger monitor with better resolution. I don't think single video cards are quite powerful enough to push higher resolutions just yet.

If anyone is thinking of a similar build, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I didn't really know too much about building computers, but this project turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would have been, in no small part because of the advice I received here. Thanks to everyone who helped, especially WR2.

 

[Shadow703793]

CPU: Intel Core i7 920
Thermal Compound: Artic Cooling MX-2
Motherboard: Asus P6T
Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme RT 1366 CPU Cooler
Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 295
Case: Cooler Master RC 690
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1
Monitor: LG W2600H-PF Black 25.5" 5ms Widescreen LCD
Video Cable: Nippon Labs 10 ft. DVI Digital Dual-Link cable
Optical Drive: LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X
Primary HDD: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM (times 2)
Secondary HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM
Wireless Card: D-Link DWA-556 IEEE 802.11n
Speakers: Logitech Z-4 40 watts 2.1 Speaker
Keyboard: Ideazon Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel
Headset: TRITTON TRI-AI712 4 x 3.5mm Circumaural AX 51
Mousepad: Corepad C1 Medium Improved Premium Cloth Mouse Pad
Additional Case Fan: Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D 120mm

Nice rig, though the sound card is still over kill.

 

[WR2]

Thanks for the update.
I know you'll be very happy in the long run that you went with the LG monitor over the HannsG.
Cable management is usually the hardest part of any build. There are a few tricks the serious modders use like PSUs with sleeveless and very flexible wiring harness, wiring extensions, custom cable wrapping, etc. For a closed case like the RC-690 I think I'd prefer a top-end PSU like the PC P&C S75CF over a "pretty" wiring job.