First Time Overclock
First Time Overclock
Hi all, I have recently upgraded to a new gaming PC and currently looking at ways to utilise my old PC. I still think it's a pretty solid spec machine (as follows): CPU : Intel Core i5 2500K @ 3.30GHz Sandy Bridge CPU Cooler : Intel Stock Cooler RAM : 16GB Dual-Channel DDR3 (9-9-9-24) Motherboard : Gigabyte P67A-UD3P-B3 (Socket 1155) GPU : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER (Gigabyte) - Note: This was a new card after my 980Ti blew up. SSD : Samsung SSD 860 PRO 512GB PSU : Corsair VS650 650 W My thoughts currently are: CPU cooler upgrade from stock? Move to Gigabyte Z77 DS3H? I have never really overclocking before because, well, I've never felt the need. I thought it would be cool to explore and mess about with my old machine to see if I could get a bit more out of it. I'm not naive to the fact it won't be spectacular, but something would be cool. I think streaming will be out the picture as my 2500K doesn't have HyperThreading. Improve playing games on this would be good to give to a family member. Look forward to your help, ideas or tips. Thanks
Overclocking might be exciting, but it's not worth the investment. You'll need to replace the CPU cooler at least. From what I've seen, trying to overclock old computers and handing them over to someone unfamiliar with tech is risky. These machines are more likely to become unstable after being overclocked.
An overclock provides a slight speed increase, but the 2500k model has very low IPC. Achieving an overclock requires time and effort, potentially offering only a 5-7% performance improvement.
The 2500K boosts performance significantly, more than 5-7%. From my older rig, 3.3 GHz reaches about 35% more speed. Your motherboard handles the heat well at home use. The 2500K generates relatively little warmth even at high speeds. At 4.45 GHz with 1.35 V, I saw around 90 W of synthetic power. Keep an eye on temperatures and consider a cooler if you start seeing mid to high 70s during load.
I upgraded it to 4.2 GHz just to test it. Is there a superior program to Speccy for checking temperatures? I’m currently reading about 61 degrees, but I haven’t run any games yet. For fan upgrades, I was considering the following options: