Overclocking

Gary Bagshawe · 25-10-2007, 12:15

Ok you clever lot, My new MB came with software that will allow you to overclock your computer, is this a. safe and b. worthwhile. The software states that it will test the system till it hangs and then reboot it with safe and faster settings.
What do you all think?

***Steve*** · 25-10-2007, 12:21

I have been running my system overclocked since I built it, however I manually tested every stage during overclocking (all done through the bios not with software) and carefully chose each component in the system to enable me to safely do this.

The main things to watch for are CPU heat, memory heat and the voltages you are applying.

What specs is your system currently Gary?

orangepeel · 25-10-2007, 12:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Bagshawe

a. safe

If you are careful and ensure your system is kept cool.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Bagshawe

b. worthwhile.

Not in my experience.

Usually you tend to spend so much time and effort in cooling for that few extra mhz that you'd have been cheaper and easier buying a faster processor.

If you can do it to your base system then go for it. If u need to make changes like better fans/heatsinks or other cooling gear then you're wasting any savings you may have made.

***Steve*** · 25-10-2007, 12:24

Gary if you want to read about my experience in more detail I made a thread about it...

So I finally got my new pc built...

Gary Bagshawe · 25-10-2007, 12:28

Cheers steve and op, running a mainboard for amd processor k8m800 igp chipset, amd athlon 64X2 dual core processor. and tha overclocking software is warpspeeder.

stupot · 25-10-2007, 12:30

If you do decide to try it, do it in small increments! i recently overclocked mine and i pushed it to far and kept crashing my system, nothing that a small tweak in the bios didn't sort out but you can over do it...............as has been said it could of been a temp thing!

After using mine overclocked for awhile i've gone back to no overclocking because i really didn't notice any improvements!

Gary Bagshawe · 25-10-2007, 12:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by stupot

If you do decide to try it, do it in small increments! i recently overclocked mine and i pushed it to far and kept crashing my system, nothing that a small tweak in the bios didn't sort out but you can over do it...............as has been said it could of been a temp thing!

After using mine overclocked for awhile i've gone back to no overclocking because i really didn't notice any improvements!

The software states that it does it in increments till it hangs then suggests a setting well within the safety limits but that could just be a load of bull.....

***Steve*** · 25-10-2007, 12:59

Be aware that if you push it to hard there is chance your operating system could become corrupt.

I had mine mirrored onto a separate partition so I could ghost it back plus while I was testing for stability and finding my limits I had no valuable data on the rig at all.

brian wright22 · 25-10-2007, 15:33

Mine is a self built with a MSI Mobo,it includes it own Dynamic Overclocking technology through its own bios. If it crashes it automatically resets to the normal default.
One thing I did notice was that in its most "supercharged" level the temperature rose from 31C to 40C and this could run away on a hot summers day and there was not much noticeable improvement in the speed when doing photo manipulation work.
The most impressive upgrade to date has been to double the RAM memory and that has transformed the speed of everything that is memory dependant.
The processor speed does not appear to make such a difference. A 20% increase in the Processor speed by "supercharging" will not give much improvement in the actual speed of photo manipulation and the increase in the temperature will be significant.

GainfulShrimp · 25-10-2007, 15:37

Personally I don't bother with overclocking because the missus already moans about the amount of heat that my PC puts out and I built my PC to be very quiet which would probably be compromised by any extra cooling necessary for a worthwhile overclock.

I agree 100% with Brian about the memory thing - if you do a lot of Photoshop work or similar you'll notice a huge improvement by doubling your ram...

orangepeel · 25-10-2007, 17:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by brian wright22

there was not much noticeable improvement in the speed when doing photo manipulation work.

I'm not really surprised by this. Most of the time your processor is waiting on other bits to finish their job.

For most of us, we can use lots of processing power but that only tends to be required for relativly small bursts of time.
Overclocking beter suits a situation where maximum processing power is required in sustained bursts. For example, in gaming.

As you rightly say memory makes a big difference. So, btw, does a very fast and efficient disk system. I think with the file sizes we regularly work on, a SCSI based disk system would really help our PC's sing and dance

Possibly not to the same amount as plenty ram but still enough to raise a smile

Quote:

Originally Posted by GainfulShrimp

Personally I don't bother with overclocking because ...

Noise is an issue for me too. My PC already makes an racket. I bought gear designed for overclocking. This is a pre-water cooling system so just aircooled. This leaves me with a system I can overclock but the decibel level goes into jet territory.