Getting the most out of my rig without overclocking?

[Viperk8b]

Hi all I'm fairly new to the community and I have a Question I hope you all can help me with.
I'd like to get the most out of my gaming rig but I'd like to know if there is anything I can do that wont result in me overclocking or having to buy new cooling hardware.

And if overclocking is the answer how far can I push my hardware without having to buy new cooling hardware?
Also if overclocking is the answer can anyone provide some cooling hardware on a budget, thanks.

My Rig:
Processor : AMD Phenom II 965 3.40 GHz
Ram : 12.0 GB
Graphics Card : ATI Radeon HD 5770
Mobo : Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3
Hard Drive : Seagate Barracuda 1TB 32mb 7200rpm

 

[aramisathei]

Every system is different.

5770s OC pretty nicely without needing modded cooling, so you could probably squeeze an extra 100-200mhz out of it (maybe even more). Work your way up slowly and see how far you can get without overheating/artifacts.

With your processor, it really just depends on the chip itself.
Those chips OC nicely though, so you can probably squeeze at least 100-200mhz out of those without needing better coolers as well.

Basically, just test smal increments and watch your temps. When they get outside the safe-zone for 24/7, stop and stick with what you have or look at better cooling.

 

[simon12]

+1 to the above advise if you want a good budget cooler a 212 Evo should get your CPU to 3.8-4GHz maybe 4.2 if you are very lucky, the cheaper TX3 would be good for maybe 3.8GHz but chips always vary.

 

[Viperk8b]

Best answer selected by Viperk8b.