Need Recommendations/Guidance

[wordlife33100]

I got my first rig up and running about a month ago, and so far, it's working better than I was hoping. However, I haven't been playing anything that will push it as far as it can be pushed, and I know if I plan on doing that, I will need some after-market cooling action going on. Problem is, with this being my first build, I'm not entirely sure what I should get, and where exactly everything needs to be positioned to be most effective. I hear push-pull a lot, and understand the basic concept, not so much the execution. Also, I'm not sure how to check core temperatures, which I imagine would be helpful >.> Any part recommendations and installation guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77
Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz
RAM: CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB)
Video Card: EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply

 

[PP Mguire]

Not trying to be a party pooper, but if you just bought this setup then you should have concentrated more cash on your video card rather than some expensive RAM. I also would have bought a different PSU.

By push it, do you want to OC? If so, there isn't a reason in the world to OC your CPU right now. You can OC your video card quite a bit but that requires upping your voltage and probably dealing with a fan at 100% all the time.

Push/pull is referring to aftermarket tower coolers and AIO closed water loops. Where one fan is pushing air through the heatsink/radiator and the other side has a fan pulling said air and out the other side.

Your case should already be setup for optimal air flow from the factory by having your front fan as intake, and top/rear fans as exhaust.

 

[wordlife33100]

I actually bought most of the parts back in October (all but the RAM), when I first wanted to build. After putting it together, I was having multiple issues which over the past few months, finally resolved. Judging by your profile, you've been doing this a while, so it comes as no surprise you may have bought different parts. Like I said, this was my first build, so don't expect it to be perfect. Maybe I was on a budget and went with what I could at the time. If there's no point in OC, why does everyone do it (not that I plan to right now, just trying to understand that statement). My main concern is I'm new to this, I was playing my first graphically intensive game on my PC, and it was getting quite warm. I'd rather like to avoid any problems. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I don't have anything to compare to.

 

[PP Mguire]

I actually bought most of the parts back in October (all but the RAM), when I first wanted to build. After putting it together, I was having multiple issues which over the past few months, finally resolved. Judging by your profile, you've been doing this a while, so it comes as no surprise you may have bought different parts. Like I said, this was my first build, so don't expect it to be perfect. Maybe I was on a budget and went with what I could at the time. If there's no point in OC, why does everyone do it (not that I plan to right now, just trying to understand that statement). My main concern is I'm new to this, I was playing my first graphically intensive game on my PC, and it was getting quite warm. I'd rather like to avoid any problems. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I don't have anything to compare to.

Details aside, don't take what I had to say personally man. Was just putting my 2c in. Now to start answering some questions.

Why do people OC? Some do it just to do it, because they can. Others do it because they think they need to. As it stands for gaming, on current chips there is absolutely no reason to OC unless you have a monster SLI setup. I have demonstrated this in my thread in a couple of CPU intensive games ranging from older Q8200 to a 3960x. Modern CPUs are by no means a bottleneck of any sort, and neither is RAM. Some people just feel "oh because it's there I do it". Why generate more heat when you don't have to? That being said;

You mentioned previously you didn't have any temp monitoring programs so how do you know if it's quite warm? I mean, putting your hand near your hardware it will seem very hot because it is. To us, a chip running at 65c is rather scorching to the touch.

Use Coretemp to monitor your CPU temps and GPU-Z or MSI Afterburner to monitor your GPU temps. Only load temps matter. If you aren't OCd and the stock cooling solutions are properly cleaned and mounted then you should have no actual heat issues.

90c is hot for a GPU, 75-80c is hot for a CPU. If you aren't capping these temps while gaming then you're fine.

 

[wordlife33100]

I've played a couple older games (by older I mean Portal and Witcher) and my case wasn't even remotely warm. Yesterday I was playing the FFXIV beta, and my case was noticeably heated, something I'm not used to (my old PC was premade, and bought back in 2005, never had the opportunity to run anything graphic intensive on it). That being said, the beta was running well, and the graphics were beautiful, so I have no intentions of running anything harder than it is now. I will definitely get those programs, though, to see what temps are running at under load. Thanks for the info, much appreciated.