My i5-2500K PC

[BigE4u]

After many years of running a C2D(3110@3.6) system, it was finally time to stepp up, so here we go...

Specs:
i5-2500k@4.0ghz / Zalman CNPS9500-AT
Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3
Gskill 2x4gb ripjaws 9-9-9-24/1T@1.35v
Zotac AMP! GTX460 1gb
Seagate 500gb sata2
LiteON dvd+rw
Corsair vx550w
Generic mid-tower steel case with 92mm intake and 92mm exhaust fans
cmos reset switch, SPDT momentary modified for normaly open SPST function
20pin socket header plug for the front panel L.E.Ds and pwr/rst switches

First picture is my old system, new one thereafter.

[jbmcmillan]

You'll be happy with that.I'm happy with mine and for the first time in a few years don't feel the need to upgrade any time soon except the video card maybe and more ram.

[901-Memphis]

How is that Zalman 9500 holding up to all that heat? You have got to be pushing it to its limits, it wasn't designed for quad core overclocking.

[BigE4u]

Originally Posted by 901-Memphis

How is that Zalman 9500 holding up to all that heat? You have got to be pushing it to its limits, it wasn't designed for quad core overclocking.

Perhaps, but i was hitting lower temps at ilde and under load with my C2D system... before i turned my case fans on, i was hitting around 45c/idle and around 70c/load with my new cpu.

Now that i have my case fans turned on, im hitting around 40c/idle and around 65c/load, so it appears that with the added intake and exhaust airflow alone made some difference, i also applied ASC2 thinly accross the whole surface of the IHS of the cpu instead of the line method as described by the Artic Silver website.

Who knows if thats whats affecting my current temps as well... later on, i'll reaply the ASC2 via the line method as per Artic Silver's website and see if that improves it any, but for now, i really cant complain atm.

[ShrimpBrime]

Hey, that looks real nice E! Clean and 4ghz, can't ask for much more from that cooler though. And the stock cooler would be no better. Seek better cooling for more clocks. That cpu should be good for plenty more speed if you can get some liquid.....

How does it game/benchmark over the C2D??

[TSXmike]

nice setup.

surprised the 9500 does so well.

[Nagoshi]

You should be able to go higher than that on that voltage. I was able to run 4.3GHz @1.21vcore on the stock cooler and temps were in the high 70s under full stress (LinX with max memory use)... unless the low-end board is limiting you.

[BigE4u]

I dont benchmark.... i just used IntelBurn(linx?) with high stress/10cycles and thats what pushed the temps to about 70c or so, im sure with regular gaming, it should be less than that, but i havent checked yet.

The Vcore shown is set on "auto" in the BIOS, i havent tried adjusting it manually yet, the options shown is way different than what i was used to from my last motherboard, so it'll take me some time to figure that part out.

The 4.0ghz i've hit so far seems more than adequite for now, this is mostly a gaming machine, no audio/video editing duties need apply, but im sure it'll work just as snappy getting the job done in a timely matter.