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As we said earlier, the ASrock P55 Extreme 4 has been our first choice for this project, mainly because we have found the bios settings to be some of the easiest to configure with any board we have tested. Achieving a 1,400mhz clock increase on an Intel Core i5 760 takes 10 seconds. As you already have the system built and are using the ThermalTake Frio then we know the cooling is up to the task.
Build the system, boot it up and press delete on your keyboard as the bios starts.
Navigate to the ‘OC Tweaker' menu in the bios and select the ‘Turbo 50' Option. This applies all the settings needed for a 50% overclock. Depending on your bios version it may default the CPU Ratio setting to 20x which is for the Core i5 750, but you can adjust it to 21 manually. It is right at the bottom of our image above.
It is easy enough to push the cpu to 4.4ghz, but it can require a little tweaking with memory settings and additional core voltage and we want to keep this particular article as straightforward as possible.
Don't change the tab from OC Tweaker, but scroll down a little to ensure that your memory modules are running at 2000mhz. If you have bought the ram we recommended on the last page then this will configure automatically as seen above. Otherwise you may need to manually apply an XMP profile.
Reboot the system, press delete again and check that the 960 is running at the correct clock speeds, shown in the image above.
It is always a good idea, before installing the operating system to check the Hardware Monitor tab (H/W Monitor) to ensure the processor isn't running too hot. If you have mounted the Frio correctly you should be recording temperatures between 33-38c. If the temperatures are a little higher then you can always use the variable controller knob on the Frio fan lead to adjust speeds.
Install Windows on the Intel X25 V 40GB drive. We then recommend you disable Disk Defragmenter via services.msc, also stopping the running process. Do the same for Superfetch. There are many other tweaks you can apply to help speed up an SSD drive and to optimise space for a 40GB drive. Our colleague Faith wrote an interesting little viewpoint from the angle of an ‘average user' which shows that a small SSD is surprisingly capable. I also always disable System Restore on a small SSD to help give back some space.
CPU Validation is available over here http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1362776
What can I do if the system crashes?
In the unlikely event the system is unstable, then go back into the bios and increase the CPU core voltage from 1.375 to around 1.390-1.400. Most 760's run stable at 4.2ghz with 1.375 volts but we found one that needed 1.390 for 100% stability. This is a little bit of trial and error. Just keep monitoring your temperatures under load, they should be under 70-75c at all times. If you run into issues, don't panic, press the reset CMOS switch at the back of the board and try again.
Today we are using Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64 bit and the hardware components mentioned on the last page. All the latest bios updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru test all games across five closely matched runs and average out the results to get an accurate median figure. We are using Forceware Driver 258.96 WHQL.
Our minimum frame rate game graphs have three main zones. These are sampled over a specific 30 interval period of time and then mapped into a chart. These are handy reference guides to detail worst case performance of the product being reviewed. When we test video cards we try to find the best combination of resolution and image quality settings while still maintaining playable frame rates.
Over 30fps is the zone most people want at all times, this means perfectly smooth frame rates with no hitching.
Between 30fps and 25fps is the KitGuru ‘Playable’ zone, although some people might notice occasional stuttering in specific scenes.
Under 25fps is classed as the KitGuru ‘Danger Zone’ which means that the game experience will be less than impressive. Settings and/or resolution would need lowered to help smooth out the frame rate.
That is a great idea for an article Zardon. that Core i5 processor is brilliant value for money. Well impressed.
That is a great idea for an article Zardon. that Core i5 processor is brilliant value for money. Well impressed.
4.2ghz with a few bios changes. long gone are the days or playing with a series of voltages to get any overclock at all. I remember my FX processor was a nightmare to get 200mhz out of it.
Intel processors are so easy now to overclock. no effort at all. it surprises me however that they don’t sell them faster out of the box. 2.8ghz? surely this would sit at 3.5ghz without even any effort from intel.
Great idea and an entertaining twist on how to get a good value system. 4.2ghz is surely sexy.
This is exactly why this site is my home page now. Zardon tests all the hardware, then keeps the best stuff for articles like this, which save people so much time when trying to build a system. I have this stored for future reference.
Very entertaining read kitguru – great performance for such a modest outlay. ive seen systems 3 times this price in PC world with half the performance.
I never knew the new motherboards had such great settings all preconfigured for specific processors like this. what a fantastic idea. I cant see the ASROCK board for sale anywhere however.
I just bought the 760 CPU, thanks. I need an upgrade for my dual core and this was well priced.
That frio is a great price. I always thought it was closer to 50 quid, not 38. what a bargain.
I like the system, not sure about the chassis, wouldnt the thermaltake armor A90 be better ?
Of course it would be better, but it wouldn’t be a system for under a grand, it would be a system for over a grand 😉
Great find, love it. I am going to spec this very system next week. Might even pop into yoyotech myself.
I wonder would it be better to include an AMD board like 5850? they cost more however so it might push it over 1000. still might opt for it instead.
I love the I5 processors. and that was a great idea to compensate for dual channel by using 2000 modules. they dont cost much more either which is surprising.
Good job resting and showing the results. I like that power supply its a very good price point. half the price of the AX850.
Good system, id have opted for AMD graphics though and maybe the HD5770
HD5770 would be much slower, makes no sense.
Frio is rubbish, who would use that?
I dont agree, the Frio should not be used. id have opted for the HD5770 and got the corsair H70 instead of GTX460 and poorer cooler.
Why not two HD5670s in Crossfire instead of that power hogging card?
Good all round system, ive no idea why people are complaining about the Frio, its an awesome cooler for the price.
good piece of work, very helpful for people. I tend to stick to AMD cpus and graphics cards, but this is useful for many.
would the 1055T not be better for the price, extra 2 cores?
That motherboard is very good, went and read the full review. seems like a great release from ASROCk.
It is very difficult getting a system built for 1k without compromising somewhere. for 1,500 you can get a much better build. that 500 quid helps with a monitor, better case.
nicely worked out, right to 995 ! for the price its pretty much spot on.
This was good timing, I was looking around tonight for reviews of the 750 processor and this has just been released at the right time. I probably dont need all the bits here as I already have a H50, and lian li case, but the monitor, CPU and memory. motherboard all appeal to me. seems like great combination. if I can get it to 4ghz ill be chuffed.
Good review, thumbs up 🙂
760 is a boring clock increase but this is a nice idea to present it. good value if they all hit 4.2ghz like this one
How far can the i5 760 be pushed Zardon with manual ocing?
Around 4.5ghz with insane voltage 4.4ghz if you are playing it safe. It doesnt overclock quite as good as the K series, but its still good enough.
Good gaming performance. GTX460 is a really good card, really rate em.
155 quid for a quad core which hits 4ghz easy is a hell of a price. 1055T is still £30 and has 2 extra cores, but it wont overclock as hell.
Kingston memory? really?
only complain is that the yoyotech website is really hard to get to work for me, it keeps crashing and the links sometimes dont load, even though I know they are working. I ended up finding all the parts I could on dabs today and working out how much it will cost me. I hope you can use other stores in future instead of yoyotech. scan is ok, but I prefer dabs
I did something similar with my “SuperBudget” home-build at 3.5GHz. Under $450.00 U.S.
Parts are dated, but as the wisest Native American once said, “wat-ta-hey”.
Intel E-5300, Crucial DDR3, MSI MSi P43-C51, GeForce N8400GS/512Mb, ThermalTake 600W, Cooler Master Case and HSfan 212+.
4.2 GHz is nice, but when I build again, I will want more than another 700.
So I’ll be shooting for high 4’s or low 5’s, -if I find a “SuperBargain” way to do that, I’ll let ya’ll know the mix!