Guild Wars 2

Hello,

So I recently purchased a computer with an i7-3770 processor (4x 3.40GHz/8MB L3 Cache)

The thing is, it comes with the stock Intel cooler. I was wondering though, if the stock cooler is enough to keep the CPU temperatures reasonable (~70-80 C?) while playing GW2 at the highest settings. Or should I consider getting a better CPU fan?

My GPU is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 – 2GB if this information is useful.

Thanks for any advise.

The stock cooler is dimensioned for the CPU to run at 100%, so you should be fine. Aftermarket coolers are generally only useful for overclocking.

That being said, you can always replace it later, if you really want to.

your CPU will run more hot than in most games, but still well within the limits of heat for your cpu, assuming your arent overclocking.

Yea, they’re more than suitable. They even cope well with moderate overclocking.

The Ivybridge cpu’s run nice and cool at stock speeds. So i wouldnt worry at all tbh.

The only time you need to worry is when you overclock, Once an ivybridge gets to a certain volt/heat threshold the temperatures go through the roof (due to the smaller chip size & a few other factors), thats why they dont OC very well compared to Sandybridge.

Hey all,

Thanks for your replies. Very informative. But I have a question since I am somewhat of a computer noob, but what’s overclocking? And how do I check if I’m not overclocking?

If you havnt done it yourself .. and the pc has not been sold as overclocked .. then your not overclocked

bassicaly if a CPU in retails says it runs at 3.2ghz. You can ,asuming its the right type of cpu i.e K at the end of the number like i7 2600K, and you have a good motherboard, change that 3.2ghz to say 4ghz by increasing certain values within the bios.. like cpu multiplier and cpu voltage. This increases the speed of the cpu at the expense of increased heat due to higher voltages runing through the chip.. Thats why aftermarket cooling is required i.e high end air cooling and mid to high end water cooling.

its actually ALOT more complicated than that when you get into it but thats the basics of it

What is overclocking?
Simply put, overclocking refers to running a system component at higher clock speeds than are specified by the manufacturer. At first blush, the possibility of overclocking seems counter-intuitive—if a given chip were capable of running at higher speeds, wouldn’t the manufacturer sell it as a higher speed grade and reap additional revenue? The answer is a simple one, but it depends on a basic understanding of how chips are fabricated and sorted.

Chip fabrication produces large wafers containing hundreds if not thousands of individual chips. These wafers are sliced to separate individual dies, which are then tested to determine which of the manufacturer’s offered speed grades they can reach. Some chips are capable of higher speeds than others, and they’re sorted accordingly. This process is referred to as binning.

Chipmakers often find themselves in a position where the vast majority of the chips they produce are capable of running at higher clock speeds, since all chips of a particular vintage are produced in the same basic way. So chipmakers end up designating faster chips as lower speed grades in order to satisfy market demand. This practice is of particular interest to overclockers because it results in inexpensive chips with “free” overclocking headroom that’s easy to exploit. That’s the magic of binning: it’s often quite generous. A great many of the CPUs sold these days, especially the low-end and mid-range models, come with some built-in headroom.

Overclocking can do much more than exploit a chip’s inherent headroom, though. It’s also possible to push chips far beyond speeds offered by even the most expensive retail products. Such overclocking endeavors usually require more extreme measures, such as extravagant cooling solutions, so they’re a little beyond the scope of what most folks will want to tackle.

The above is true for AMD CPUs. For Intel ones, keeping the explanation short, you need a CPU model that ends with the letter K, meaning its multiplier is unlocked.

There are alot of good beginner’s guides to overclocking out there. Here’s an example:
http://www.techradar.com/news/computing-components/processors/beginners-guide-to-overclocking-1040234

Most motherboards nowadays also support some form of auto-overclocking feature. Although not attaining the results you can get manually, its still pretty decent.