First Build Complete. What to do next? Help me PLEASE

Winly

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Hello,
I just finished putting my system together and everything seems to be running smoothly and WOW its freaking fast lol.
so know i would like to know what you experts do after you install Windows, drivers and updates? what test you do?
i installed my system on a Crucial M4 128GB SSD. i want to make sure everything is running at its best, also check temps which i dont know right now. and finally i will like to overclock my CPU (4.5GHz-4.8GHz) and my Video card, BUT in a range that will not decrease the life span of the processor so fast, so i can last a few years.
I have a Corsair H100 and the fans that comes with it i connected then to the Fan controller, is that OK?
also, the fan controller comes with temp readers but i dont know how to use them. HELP!!
right now i dont know the temp of nothing.

system specs:
Corsair Obsidian Series 800D
ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3
Core i7-2700K
Corsair H100
Shin-Etsu X23-7783D Thermal Compound
Corsair HX850 850W
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB 1600MHz
SSD crusial M4
2X MSI R6970 Lightning Radeon
LITE-ON Black 12X BD-R
SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM
Scythe Kaze Master Pro 5.25 Fan Controller
 

crewton

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Your graphics cards should have come with MSI afterburner for overclocking. You can also download MSI kombustor (I think that's what it is) to benchmark your graphics cards.

Other tools to OC and check system temps/voltages/stability would be cpu-z, gpu-z, hwmonitor, memtest 86+ and prime95.

Other benchmarking tools include 3dmark11, AS SSD, crysis 2 :p
 

crewton

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Keep it under 70C, if the 2700k still has the same specs as the 2600k it should auto shut off at 95C but you more than likely will reach the cpu's max multiplier before you can reach it's highest temperature. For my 2500k I am in the 50's at 4.4Ghz. They really are lovely cpus.
 

crewton

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Note this is the less safe route but more fun >.>

Every cpu is different and each has it's own limitations. To find out how far you can use the multiplier set it as high you can get it and still post. That will get you your max multiplier you can work with. Then you can set it 100-200Mhz lower and test to see what core voltage is required to support it. Don't have a voltage higher than 1.4V! You then run prime95 to see if you get any worker errors. If you computer fails you have to go down from there.

Safe route:

The alternative is to start with a lower clock like 4.2Ghz and test to make sure it's stable (prime95) and move up from there until you are satisfied with the setting.

To find out if your overclock is truly stable, it is recommended that you run prime95 for 24hours and see if you get an error/run into temperature issues.

Memtest86 is to test your RAM. You don't really need to overclock the RAM as it doesn't give a noticable difference in gaming.

Graphics overclocking is used the afterburner. Tweak it up, test and repeat until you get instability. It's fun!
 

Winly

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Why are you concern about the PSU? Everybody told me is a excellent PSU which is gold rated. And its energy efficient, it says 850W but it will take more load. And my CPU is a i7 2700K, the new one. Water cooling seems like to much work for me right now. I guess I'm fine with the corsair h100.
 

flong

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Hello - wow what a neat build, I am envious.

Note that your Corsair H100 IS a water cooling unit, it is just not a separate self-build water cooling system. Your H100 is probably the best mainstream CPU cooler on the planet right now so don't worry.

You don't need to worry about your CPU. When you overclock your CPU, you will be able to watch your temperature. Try to keep your CPU under 70C as mentioned above. I am sure that the 2700K is not much different from the 2500K in max temps.

Here is a gold mine of free (free is good right, ha, ha) overclocking programs that will check temps and everything else on your computer. The link is here:

http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/30530-latest-overclocking-programs-system-info-benchmarking-stability-tools.html

HW Monitor will give you detailed temperature info

I have the Corsair 650D which is the midsize Obsidian case - I love it and I love your 800D case. You have an amazing build, have fun.

 

flong

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I own the HX850 and it is a superb PSU. You really got the best 850W PSU available. And YES, it will easily put out over 1000W. In one professional review that I read it put out over 1100W and remained stable.

The HX850 will run your system at around 88-92% efficiency which is near Gold efficiency. It beats Corsair's Gold rated AX850 at all levels except at maximum wattage.

I would have recommended that you go with the Corsair AX1200 for your system, but the HX850 is more than capable of running your computer.
 

Winly

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WOW thank you for that link! Toms should learn from something like that and make like a guide for novice people like me, so after we build a pc we know what to do next.
haha thanks for the compliments. my first build so i wanted something good.