Adjusting performance on a standard cooler for an I5 4670k and tips for building a budget PC.
Adjusting performance on a standard cooler for an I5 4670k and tips for building a budget PC.
Hello, thank you for your message.
I'm using an i5 4670k and have a few questions:
1. Would overclocking help with gaming performance?
2. Is it safe to overclock the processor on a stock cooler, and if so, what is the recommended maximum?
Additionally, I'm getting an MSI Z97 Pc Mate with an Asus Srix Gtx 970 GPU, 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM at 1600Mhz (potential for higher overclocking), a Corsair TX 650 PSU.
Could you confirm if this setup offers a good value? I'm planning to build everything myself, including a case and HDD, for around £360.
Honestly, if you're aiming to overclock, it would be wiser to opt for an aftermarket cooler. Something like a Cryorig H7 or similar would be a good choice. Lodders had a bit of luck with a modest overclock allowing their stock cooler to function properly—it's not typical, so don't assume your setup will behave the same. Factors like case airflow, room temperature, and the CPU itself all play a role. Certain CPUs might see a small performance boost with a low manual Vcore setting, while others may need a much bigger increase to hit 4.1ghz. It really depends on the specific chip.
Take a brief glance at my signature... you can push it overclocking with a budget motherboard and the standard cooler, but the maximum is around 4.1 or 4.2Ghz.
However, if you opt for a Z series motherboard and a superior cooler, you could achieve an additional 10% speed. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth the investment.
The gigabyte H81 HD3 also delivers impressive audio performance. Many other H81 boards cannot achieve this with an i5 processor.
Sound quality is also important to me, since I enjoy experimenting with production software often.
Gaming at 65° ish can be challenging. Benchmark tests may push temperatures up to 77°C, which is quite hot. To achieve better results, the CPU should run with the lowest possible Vcore for overclocking. However, a H81 motherboard won't supply enough power, so you'd need a Z-series board. Increasing the Vcore adds more heat, meaning you also need a powerful cooler.
Honestly if looking to overclock you'd be better off with an aftermarket cooler. Consider something like a cryorig h7 or similar at the least. Lodders got a bit lucky with a small overclock being able to run low enough vcore to be able to use their stock cooler, it's not the norm so don't expect yours to run the same way. Case airflow, ambient room temps, the cpu itself all factor into it. Some cpu's can achieve a small multiplier bump with low manual set vcore, others may require a significant amount of vcore increase to achieve 4.1ghz. It's the silicon lottery.
Overclocking the ram is liable to put a bit more stress on the cpu (internal memory controller) and benefits may be minimal depending on the game. I would say if you're getting the whole system for that price it's a good price. Also keep in mind the temps of the cpu may be a bit higher, the 4690k and 4790k were devil's canyon edition where intel did a little tweaking to the tim material between the cpu cores and ihs to improve it over the haswell and haswell refresh cpu's which include the 4670k. It was intended to help improve temps.
Even running at stock the cpu should still be a decent gaming cpu. If you insist on oc'ing with the stock cooler just be careful and increase the multiplier one step at a time and test it for stability. Pay real close attention to temps, you're not going to have a lot of leeway to work with on the stock cooler. In general it's not recommended.
Everything said by him is accurate – his remarks represent the opposite perspective of the same situation...
From my personal background, I once purchased a 3570k, a large cooler, and a Z-series board. However, I faced bad luck with the silicon selection; my CPU became unstable at high speeds, resulting in a disappointing 4.1Ghz overclock.
A few years later, I bought a 4690k with a budget motherboard, used the free cooler, and this time I was fortunate enough to get a faster system for a significantly lower price.
All overclocking depends on the quality of your cooler and motherboard, and you must always be cautious when increasing the multiplier and monitoring temperatures...
In my opinion, the extra expense for a better motherboard and powerful cooler isn’t worthwhile. If my 4690k reached its maximum of 4.7Ghz, that would be about 10% faster than its current performance. To achieve that, I’d need to invest an additional £100 on a system originally priced at £500.