Overclocking...............What's the big deal

[james636]

OK, I was interested about what overclocking is, so I read a sticky on overclocking and it stated something about its not free, but rather expensive. Now I'm no genius, but if you purchase a 2.8GHZ cpu and it cost you an extra $100-$150 to overclock it, why not just take that money and just purchase a better cpu

Am I missing something

[guns1inger]

No, but whoever said it costs is. OK. A caveat. Overclocking will, as a general rule, make your system run hotter and draw more power. THerefore, to maintain stability you *might* have to put in a larger power supply and better cooling. That is a *might*. Your milage may vary. The other potential cost is the shorter life span of your CPU/GPU from running it above it's specs. Given that most components live well beyond their useful life, cutting it down by a year usually doesn't hurt much.

Pretty much everything else is free. You either got the software with your system, or can download it form the net for free.

[b1tchm4gn3t]

yes...overclocking as far as I ever knew took the know-how, NOT money.

[james636]

But for those whom have a cpu that is 3.0GHZ and higher (as I'd be getting; P4 3.4GHZ) overclocking really is pointless, right?

[redwudz]

You would really want to know what you are doing if you wanted to try it.

But, you could do a Google search for 'overclocking a p4 3.4Ghz CPU' and get plenty of info on the possible advantages and probable hazards.

[kschang]

On the other hand, some people just want to have the biggest WHATEVER on the block as bragging rights.

Back in the slower days, people found out through trial and error that hte original Celeron, which is designed for a 66 MHz bus, can actually be overclocked by stuffing it in a 100 MHz bus (which the Intel 440 BX chipset supports) mainboard, and armed with the appropriate memory and a bit ot tweaking, you have a Celeron approaching the perf of a Pentium II for hundreds less. That's exciting back then when a P2 costs like 3x or 4x the cost of Celeron.

Nowadays, probably not much use.

[Cobra]

I have been overclocking for years. I have taken my Athlon64 XP3500 and turned it into an XP3800 (2.2 --> 2.4GHz). However, due to the nature of my overclock my FSB has been increased from 200MHz --> 250MHz - that's a 25% increase in system (and memory, importantly) bandwidth. So, although my CPU speed has only increased by 200MHz by machine is blisteringly fast at anything memory-intensive such as games.

I spent £20 on a cooler, and that's it.

Overclocking has become so easy now, and it is relatively low-risk as long as you are gentle. If you are interested, I'll give you a hand to overclock your machine. It really isn't a dark art.

If you'd like some (slightly outdated) information, see the link in my signature.

[glockjs]

basically it means dont buy cheap crappy parts. its not a good idea to OC with cheap crappy ram and a cheap crappy mobo.

all yours megahurtz belongs to me

[JerryB]

OK, I was interested about what overclocking is, so I read a sticky on overclocking and it stated something about its not free, but rather expensive. Now I'm no genius, but if you purchase a 2.8GHZ cpu and it cost you an extra $100-$150 to overclock it, why not just take that money and just purchase a better cpu

Am I missing something

Hi,
a interesting subject..... I think what there say as far as expensive.... is that if that particular chip goes bad it can ruin your board!! and that get a little expensive...

now a lot of people swear by overclocking.... but it is a inexact science on how much , if any, you can overclock a particular chip...!!if you overclock too much you not only distroy the chip but can damage the motherboard!!
note: a 3.2gig cpu chip will be alittle different than another 3.2 gig chip!!

a little backgroun what little i know about the overall process...
1. when making a chip let say 3.2 gig... well they actually will create a disk with a cuople of hundred 3.2 gig chips... however the dopping process is not perfect....
2. the manufacturer will then test those 3.2 gig chips and categorize them ... some will run optimally satisafactory run at 3.2 but others may run only at 3.0 or 2.9 gig or even less ,from the same batch and some maybe even run comforatable at 3.6 ... so basically even though the manufacture is trying to make only 3.2 gig chips they'll get a range of chips and from there testing they make a final determination on the best optimal speed based on stability/reliability at a certain speed...in there tests!!

I am sure there places on the net that goes into much greater detail on process......

hopefully there some people know a lot more than i do.... and will reply.... to you but the bottom line is how much operating range is in that specific chip which will determine how much overclocking can be done before instabililty and or damage occurs....

final note..... I was watching alittle documentery a while back and there actually a place in scotland... a small company, there sole purpose is test overclocking abilty of chips.. smile.... for chip makers... I thought that was interesting... and the guy get paid to break chips and boards... smiling.... what a job.. smile..

[edDV]

Most people overclock to speed game frame rates. For games, the GPU takes much of the load off the CPU. Games require segmented full speed CPU rendering but seldom require continuous 100% CPU as required for video encoding or effects rendering.

Therefore, overclocking for video applications is an extreme case and requires matched components, adequate power supply and proper cooling. The CPU will be running flat out 100% for up to hours.

[pfh]

The extra expenses are the indirect costs associated with the nesc. replacements of burnt out parts as a result of bad overclocking and the direct costs of adding the additional cooling needed to obtain successful overclocking.

[rubberman]

can laptops be overclocked. i have a HP pavilion with teh AMD M-2500+

[pfh]

Uh, not recomended. Don't even go there.

[kschang]

Laptops are hot enough as is, and you can't even add cooling like you can with desktops! Don't even THINK about it.

[jimmalenko]

Overclocking IMHO is just trying to bleed the last little drop out of your CPU .... I liken it to KVCD fanatics. I don't know whether I'm just uninformed also, but the most I've ever seen is around 10-20% increase in CPU speed and I've never really "rated" it, as I'd rather get years of usage out of running something within spec rather than taking the punt of FUBARing it out-of-spec.

YMMV I suppose

[Cobra]

I have gained a significant boost from my overclock, and my machine is perfectly stable and cool. It'll last for at least another couple of years, I'm sure, by which time it will be time to upgrade.

If you want your machine to go on and on forever, don't overclock. Although I am yet to damage anything I am sure that Jim is right - it will wear your CPU out quicker. You just don't get away with higher voltages, temperatures and so on without incurring some sort of penalty.

On the other hand, a boost is a boost. My machine is a monster compared to what it once was.

Cobra

EDIT - Laptop overclocking? I wouldn't, if only for the sake of any future children you may be planning.

[UNiCRON]

Speaking of overclocking, check out this video.

They overclock a cpu over 4ghz, remove the heatsink, and boom! "Theres a hole in the motherboard!"

[james636]

Speaking of overclocking, check out this video.

They overclock a cpu over 4ghz, remove the heatsink, and boom! "Theres a hole in the motherboard!"

Ok, could someone tell me who make good heatsink and fans

[zenguitar]

I watercool my CPU and chipset. I can overclock my P4 3.0 to 3.6 easily. If I increase voltage I can hit 3.9 but it's not so stable at that. With the watercooling it hardly heats up at all.

I normally run at 3.3 for a little gain because high overclocking does lower the life and I'm not interested in killing my stuff that badly

If you want to know about overclocking.

www.ocforums.com
www.hardocp.com

[TooLFooL]

think of it like your car - you can upgrade your car for more speed, or you could have bought a faster car to begin with...

[ZippyP.]

you can upgrade your car for more speed...

And prematurely wear out the engine and transmission too.