Little Overclock on i7-3970X with cooling H100i

[HighTechChannel]

Hi all guys! 🙂

I have a question for you very important for me ^^ I want Overclock my processor i7-3970X and I have Corsair H100i how cooler... For the Overclock I want use default settings (3 choice) saved into the BIOS of my motherboard (Rampage IV Extreme). The question is this: it's okay if I run these settings with my H100i or i need more power cooler?
I don't know max temperature of my processor.. and I don't know how much frequency it run when overclock!
This processor cost very much!! So i not wanna try without ask you ^.^

Thanks you guys! 😄

P.S.: Sry for my bad english.

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Hi High TechChannel 🙂

First thing to do; download yourself Realtemp http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

Put a shortcut to RealTemp GT on your desktop. If you open it you will see the temps and "distance to TJmax" tjmax is the limit for your CPU. If you want my advice I would stay below 75 or 80 degrees when your CPU is under maximum load don't get too close to tjmax.

When I say 75 or 80 degrees I mean the temperature you see in RealTemp when you run a stress test such as Prime 95 ( http://www.mersenne.org/ )

For a simple small overclock you can't do much better than follow this guide:

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?5836-ASUS-Rampage-IV-Extreme-Easy-Overclock-Guide&country=&...

Your cooler is a pretty good one and if it is mounted properly and working correctly should control temperatures very effectively even up to 4.8GHZ! Depending on your ambient temp of course!

If you wanted to try something higher later have a good watch of this video and take notes:D

http://youtu.be/Kx2z07sFM2I

[Zka17]

The 3970X is a very nice chip! It is designed for OC'ing... if you spent so much on it, you better learn how to OC it (at least I would)...

OC'ing is a process, a game in itself and it's addictive too... it takes a lot of time, but then it has it's rewards... - I would not use the BIOS presets (and definitely not the AiSuite ones either)... Use manual settings instead...

First read and understand the guides in the Rampage mobo section of this Forum - ask if something is not clear enough...

And yes, the 3970X is expensive... and it can run hot when pushing hard - ultimately your OC limits will be determined by your temps... don't forget that your ambient temp will impact the efficiency of your cooler... if your idle temps (pay attention to the core temps), when you turn on your system, but not running any applications yet, are in the low or mid 20'ies, then you're in good shape, you have room for OC'ing! If your idle temps reaches high 30'ies or even past 40C, then just stop - you need better cooling...

For 24/7 settings, pay attention to the power saving features in BIOS and OS - that way you can keep the temps even lower...

[HiVizMan]

It is better to set your system overclock in bios as you have heard from the other guys. Remember to take small steps when you OC and test for temperature after each change in settting.

Do not cook your CPU - that means do not run stress tests for many hours. 20 - 30 mins is more than enough to see heat production.

[HighTechChannel]

Thank you very much guys! 😄 I will try ^^
See you...

[Gone_Troppo]

Just a little bit of FYI

I have the same Board, Cooler and CPU.

Unfortunately due to my high average ambient temps 30*C - 34*C (86F - 95F)
I have chosen to run it @ stock 3.5 Ghz.
I could probably squeeze a little more out of it, but I'm not even going to even try at this stage.
Combined with the 32 Gb of Corsair 2133 c9 ram and the ASUS Titan GPU,
It is more than enough to eat up everything I throw at it. ( not that I've thrown much at it )

Using Corsairs Link software beta 2.4.4948 to monitor occasionally, it's still a bit buggy but works.
H100i firmware v1.05
H100i USB v2.0.0
These days I only run the link software before I jump into a game just to make sure the fans are still set to max
If the PC sounds too quiet, or I want to look at the temps for what ever reason.
Occasionally but rarely the profile doesn't load until the Corsair link software is started.

At ambient air temps of 34*C the fluid in the H100i sits between 36*C and 42*C (97F - 107F) at idle
depending on how long the system has been on and what it has been doing.

Obviously just after startup the fluid temp is much closer to the ambient generally 2*C warmer than the ambient temp.
For example today it's been on for 13 hours basically no loads, forums / a few youtube vids, and the fluid is 41.9*C (107F)
CPU is reading basically 52*C (125F) right now, ambient is 34*C (95F)

If I remember correctly the CPU will go into full thermal shut down @ 90*C (194F)
Unless you have changed the BIOS settings to be otherwise.
I haven't managed to trip that ... yet ... could happen in the future though.

I have the stock fans x2 on the H100i cooler set to max 2500 RPM (fixed) +/- a small margin 24/7.
That would be considered too noisy for many, especially those who like a quiet system,
but it doesn't bother me as much as the default and balanced profile's which makes horrible whining noises at certain RPM's as it winds itself up and down at least this way the sound is constant.

The hottest thing in the system is the ASUS Titan which runs at around 80*C (176F) under gaming load ...
ASUS Titan runs much cooler when not under load 43*C (109F) right now.

I let the ASUS Titan fan do it's own thing as I read on the NVidia or GeForce forums that it OC's itself until it gets hot,
then backs off to stock or slower if required until it can bump itself back up again.
Same is also true of some of their other new cards.
80*C (176F) is quite normal for the ASUS Titan and the temps do drop quickly if you ALT+TAB out of the game to check what it is up to.
I figure it is probably not good for it to run the ASUS Titan fans at max all the time.

CPU temps have always stayed under the ASUS Titan when under load so are within acceptable limits.
I cant remember exactly what the CPU peaked at but I know it was within acceptable limits.
Under 80*C (176F) anyway.

War Thunder 1920x1080 full settings all sliders maxed out @ average 100 fps using the in game benchmarking.
War Thunder 1920x1080 min settings all sliders min @ average 400 fps using the in game benchmarking.

By comparison my missus's laptop which is a Toshiba i7 with a NVidia GT 630M in it,
can barely manage 30 fps @1920x1080 on the lowest setting and drops to 5 fps if it gets lots of flames in the frame.
eg: when you get shot down and are looking at the burning wreckage of your plane.
no surprises there it was not meant for gaming.

Yes I normally play the game on full settings for hours upon hours and haven't had a problem yet.
It looks nice and plays smooth even on the US servers with a ~300 ping.
They only have EU + US servers so ... from AUS it is to be expected.

I know it's not a "real" bench test like vantage etc, but it gives an idea of what is going on.
At this point War Thunder is pretty much the most demanding thing I have thrown at the system.
Haven't got BF4 yet and can't be bothered reinstalling BF3 I have it on the PS3 if I want to play that buggy game.

I haven't bothered with any "real" benching software,
I know there are better systems out there that are OC'd all the way to the wall.
If I want to know generally where it sits I can easily find an identical build and see what its scores were.

See Zka17 40*C on a H100i with a 3970X ain't so bad after all ... just not going to let you overclock it much, if at all.
keeping in mind my ambient of 34*C if the ambient temp was much lower then I would be worried.
If the ambient temp is more than 10*C - 15*C lower than the fluid @ idle then you DO have a serious problem.
I wouldn't want mine to run too much higher than it does but it manages to cope with it.

If anyone does happen to find yourself in a situation where someone else has built your rig with a i7-3970X and they have tried to mount a standard Intel 2011 socket air cooler on that beast.
(BTW It fits on there no problems at all.)
As I did while the PC store was waiting for the replacement H100i to arrive ...
SHUT IT DOWN AND GET IT OFF THERE ASAP !!!
You will cook the CPU guaranteed, even the Intel spec sheet says it is not suitable.
Several "reputable" review sites also claim that the Intel CPU air cooler is OK to use ... IT IS NOT.
Don't kill your expensive CPU with a cheap $30 air cooler.

Good luck and have fun OC'ing HighTechChannel
Remember, baby steps ... test temps ... baby steps ... test again.
Don't worry if you can't OC it as much as someone else, they probably have lower ambient air temps.
Many people neglect to mention their ambient temps when they pull off a crazy OC.