The Cohhilition

Just got a new computer from Cyberpower (only because the buy button was broken on ibuypower) The damage is done moving on -->

So I ended up purchasing this setup:

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-5820K Six-Core 3.30GHz 15MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011-V3
FAN: Asetek 550LC 120mm Liquid Cooling CPU Cooler (Single Standard 120MM Fan)
HDD: 512GB Sandisk X300 SSD + 4TB SATA III Hard Drive Combo (Combo Drive)
MOTHERBOARD: MSI X99A Raider ATX w/USB 3.1, Intel GbLAN, 3x Gen3 PCIe x16, 2 PCIe x1,1x M.2, 10x SATA 6Gb/s, 1x SATA Express
VIDEO: MSI GeForce GTX 980Ti SEA HAWK [Corsair Liquid Cooling] 6GB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 (Maxwell)
RAM: 32 GB 8 x 4GB DDR4 2800 Mhz Vengeance
PSU: EVGA 1300w Gold
CASE: Titan-X 200
CASE_FANS: 4x Corsair Air SP120 LED Red High Static Pressure 120mm Case Fan

***NOTE*** I know the 1300w is overkill for this setup but I plan on doing a 3-way SLI with the 980ti at a later time, planning for future.

I plan on putting push/pull airflow on both the CPU and GPU radiators and I'm curious if there is anything else that I should watch out for. This is my first high-end gaming computer and I don't mess with gaming hardware much so any suggestions are welcome.

I'm looking into overclocking the CPU and if anyone can post any beginner to advanced guides that helped them learn about overclocking that would be appreciated. I've seen builds with this proc up to 4.5 Ghz some running at 4.7 stable, but I'm trying to extend the life of the CPU to about 5-10 years until I swap out the mobo and cpu for something faster.


Short of the long, I'm looking for suggestions to better this build with the existing components and overclocking guides or personal experience tips/suggestions. I posted on a few other forums but I trust our Cohhilition more.

I personally used this guide to get to know my (then) new Haswell-Build (Z87 / i7-4770K):
http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the- ... g-oc-guide
It's quite comprehensive (probably not that easy to understand for first-timers), but it helped me to get an idea of what voltages, temperatures, etc. I could expect when going for an Overclock on Haswell.

This guide is probably a little bit easier to understand (and the comments below are also worth it):
http://lifehacker.com/a-beginners-intro ... pr-5580998

There are also a lot of guides and videos from renown TechTubers like Jay2Cents, LinusTech, OC3D, Overclock.net, etc.
When looking for a guide, you can also look for guides for the i7-5960X, since that's the top-of-the-line one and likely to have more coverage (same architecture / bin - i.e. guides and information for the 5960X can be used for the 5820K aswell).

As for personal experience:
The first thing I do (after install, drivers, etc), I run a couple of Benchmarks to make sure that everything is absolutely stable and performing as it should. The temperatures during those tests are also good indicators for not only the cooling-overhead needed for the overclock, but also for bad thermal paste, badly seated coolers and so forth. When it comes to the actual overclocking, I usually start off by using the manufacturers software (OC Genie in your case) and see what it suggests. The voltages from those automated OCs are mostly too high, but it's a good starting point and gives me a rough idea of what I can expect from a CPU OC-wise. From the information I gathered on the web (guides and other peoples experiences), I know what the voltage- and temperature-limits of that chip are. From there on... well, it's pretty standard:
Set Multiplier, set voltage, stresstest - rinse and repeat until either voltages or temperatures are hitting the limit (the limit being not the physical limit, but what I'm comfortable with).

I know the 1300w is overkill

TBH in a Rigg with X99, 32GB Ram and a GTX980, a 500W-PSU would've been a weirder choice. When going overkill/enthusiast, then the PSU is the last thing I would expect to be cheap (or, at least I hope so).

but I'm trying to extend the life of the CPU to about 5-10 years

I'm actually going a similar way: I usually only run my CPU overclocked for Benchmarking,Testing and when I need the additional performance, but then run it at stock voltages for everyday use. Stability and longer life is more important then a few FPS in Games or a few seconds less rendering time for new CPUs IMHO.

As far as the Build goes: There's nothing that immediately jumps at me and that I would change. However, there's one thing:
The AiOs (All-In-One liquid coolers which you have on your CPU and GPU). When using a custom watercooling loop, the rule of thumb is to switch out liquid and clean the system once a year. AiOs (usually) use liquids with a lot of ethylene glycol in it, which means that they can run longer without maintenance or switching out liquids. How long? Who knows. That's the issue. AiOs have only recently become "a thing" and there's not a lot of data (yet) regarding the lifetime one can expect from AiOs. Two years shouldn't be a problem, but everything beyond that is just a guess right now. Right now, there's not much to do, but in a few years expect to buy a new cooler.

Wow, this text turnes out to be longer then expected :rolleyes:

The single-120mm-cooler might also be a little bit on the low side (in terms of coling performance), so I would
definitely keep an eye on the temperatures. Going Push-Pull will help - but not that much. You probably hit the temp-limit while trying to OC.

Going 3-Way SLI is also a little *meh* in my book, because gaming with 1440p / 144Hz / etc. doesn't need the third card and for 4k/UHD even three Titans won't be enough. Three GPUs also need a lot of cooling - and with this Case, that might become an issue. With only two intake fans (one of which blocked by the radiator the current GPU, I assume), you likely need another case/solution for 3-Way. I personally would rather go with a 2-Way setup and spend the money on a custom water-cooling loop or somewhere else in the setup (Keyboard, Screens, Headphone, Chairs...).

Well, I guess that's it.

P.S.: I apologize for the weird grammar, tone and phrasing... I'm writting this after a LONG night celebrating New Years Eve

I ended up buying a different case, I got the Corsair 760T graphite (white) case which has much better airflow. Ended up bringing both my CPU and GPU down 10° giving me the numbers above.

I read both of those guides, and determined that my "comfortable" temp for my CPU is below 70° C, I read a few other guides and watched the LinusTech video on Ultimate x99 overclocking, but I really like what you said about only overclocking when it's needed and leaving it alone when it's not.

With the Asetek and Corsair LC units attached to 120mm Corsair SP fans my GPU on idle is sitting at a cool 20° C and my CPU is resting at 41-42° C, so far I've seen the CPU go upwards of 60° during normal usage and the GPU has gone up to 40° with the games that I've tested.
The current setup of the airflow is that I have 2 140mm intake fans up front, the GPU Radiator with pull exhaust 120mm is top-front, CPU Radiator with pull exhaust 120mm fan is top-rear, and I have a 140mm exhaust in back.
The 1300w is just a tad over (~80w) for a 3-way SLI and ~150w over a 2-way SLI with both GPUs being overclocked.
I agree with your statement of 3-way isn't going to help much so I'll just stick with one for now, and add on a second card eventually. I've been looking at doing an open loop when I upgrade but I'll just see how far a closed loop will get me with a 2-way before I do.

For now my monitor is set at 1080 @144 and the SeaHawk eats everything I throw at it giving me frame rates in uncapped games at 340-370 fps. It is a beast.

Ark is a voxel-based game it munches on my CPU and has brought me down to 50 fps at full quality. Not bad, but noticeable when everything else is 144. I'll be doing some benchmarking sometime this week to see where I can push it without a voltage increase. Even though everyone says it will take 1.200v I'm hoping I can at least get a 40 multiplier with stock voltages, I got the tuning protection plan from Intel, but I'd hate waiting on a new CPU after I just got it.

The GPU I'll probably leave alone, I read that I can overclock it from 1190 to 1340 MHz with the boost going from 1291 to 1441 and the memory freq. topping off at 8 GHz, but I don't see the need for it at this time.

I appreciate the tips, I would have responded earlier but there were technical issues by the time I read your reply. Hope you had a good new years.