Overclocking noob, are these temps okay?

[stirfry2112]

Hi,

I am new to overclocking and Hackintosh in general. Here is my build:

Asus P9X79 Pro Motherboard
Intel 3930K i7 - overclocked 4.3GHz
Radeon HD 6870 2GB
SS-1050XM Power
4x8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

Cooling:
Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 140mm SSO CPU Cooler
3 each Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Case Fan
Antec P280 case with 3 built in Fans (2 x 120mm on top, 1 x 120mm rear)

I have noticed my CPU temps @ 4.3GHz are around 70- 75 C under stress test/ full load video encoding. I'm new to Overclocking and have read that this is too hot and with summer approaching, I am getting worried. Are these temps okay or should I make changes?

I have attached a picture of my temps tonight while running handbrake. Ambient temperature at the time of the screenshot was around 79 F. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Dschijn]

Temps are great!

 

[stirfry2112]

Thanks for the reply Dschijn, thats a big relief, I thought I was shortening my processor life with those temps.

Still, with summer coming, would still like to get better air flow or air control in my case. Would it be worth it to replace the stock case fans or simply add another fan inside the case pointed at the cpu?

Also, is there a way to control the fan speed in OS X? My rig runs really quiet as is (besides the really noisy graphics card fan), plus it is in another room away from my workstation (for audio work), so I have no problems letting the fans revup high.

 

[Dschijn]

Everything below 80°C is save. If the CPU is reaching 85°C it will start throtteling, to protect itself from overheating.
I think you have enough fans, maybe you can just increase the fan speed of the already installed fans.
But an overclocked CPU is producing a large amount of heat, especially a 6-core CPU. Maybe you should consider a water cooler…

Best way to controll fan speed is by the BIOS.

 

[stirfry2112]

Thanks again for the help Dschijn. I have tried making changes in the Asus Bios for fan speeds, but have no idea if they are doing anything since I cannot monitor them in OS X. The computer sounds the same and I do not hear any fans revving, but then again I am using Noctua silent fans.

Since my last post, I have been running the computer and had one error where the overclock failed on startup. So I bumped the multiplier back to 42. Now my hottest core is running around 74 C max and hopefully it stays completely stable. One final question though, how do I know if my voltages are good? Could high voltages / sloppy overclocking be causing unnecessary heat? I've been trying to research overclocking and reading a lot prior to getting to this point and most of it is still not clear on a fundamental level. Maybe a link to some better resources? Maybe I'm making it harder than it really is?

If anyone has some time, I have posted my OC Bios settings and would appreciate any feedback on any mistakes or things to be aware of with regards to my settings since this is my first time over clocking.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Dschijn]

I don't know how much voltage is necessary for that CPU, but can try and monitor the vcore in Windows under full load.
I set my vcore to a manual value and not auto. My auto settings created to much voltage -> heat.

In general you should try and find a good voltage setting for your cpu. Read this:
http://www.corsair.com/blog/sandy-bridge-e-oc-guide

Set the CPU voltage a little higher.
Stress test the CPU (prime95 in windows), monitor everything with CPU-Z, open hardwaremonitor.
If the OC is stable, reduce voltage by the smallest step possible (like 0,05v).Save, and stress test again. Do that over and over again until you find an unstable voltage setting because stress testing is failing. Increase teh voltage to the last or even better 2nd last stable value.

 

[nobodynose]

Hi, I am new to overclocking and Hackintosh in general. Here is my build:

There's an entire forum section devoted to Overclocking, you might want to go over there and do some reading.