I have just built a system
Corsair 550D Case
Corsair 850AX PSU
GByte GA-Z77X-UD3H Z77 MoBo
Intel Core i5 3570K
GByte Windforce GTX670 Video Card
8gig Corsair Vengance Low Prof memory
180GB Intel 330 Series SSD
Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler
2 * Noctua NF-P14 FLX
2 * Noctua NF-P12 PWM
The system is running nice, stable and cool.... I am using it for general internet usage, watching movies, to playing bf3, diablo 3… etc
a. I am just wondering if it is worth overlocking this system?
b. If so how easy is it to overclock?
c. Can I just overclock the boost? So the system runs nice and energy efficient and cool during web browsing etc but if needed more speed it can boost up to a higher OC?
Thanks
Overclocking is pretty simple with SB/IB chips, and you have a very decent cooler so your temperatures should be very acceptable. First step is to go into the BIOS of course. I would advise using offset voltage to allow your Vcore to drop when clock speed falls (ie during browsing etc) which should save some power and perhaps prolong the life of the CPU. At default, the motherboard will be set to auto offset, which means it will decide how much Vcore to send to the CPU depending on its current clock speed and load. If you use a positive offset, lets say 0.05v, then it means that the Vcore sent to the CPU is whatever the motherboard would have automatically 'thought' was necessary, plus another 0.05v. The same is true when using a negative offset.
On most motherboards (mine included), you can overclock each core separately, so for example you could set the 1 core multiplier at 45, the 2 core multi at 43 and the 4 core limit at 42, so that when you run lightly threaded applications, you get a boost (this is the same way intel turbo boost works). I myself have simply locked all cores to a 42 multiplier, so it runs at 4.2GHz under load, regardless of how many threads are being used.
Remember, the key is to try and get the highest clock speed, at the lowest Vcore, whilst still maintaining rock solid stability. Alternatively, you can use fixed voltage, which is more commonly used, but it means that even when speed step (which allows the CPU to down clock under low loads) is still enabled, the Vcore will still be the same as at full load, which creates more heat, power draw and probably wears the chip out faster (though that isn't much of a consideration if you are upgrading regularly. Using offset is a bit more tricky, but worth it in my opinion for the benefits described above.
First, I would leave it on auto offset, and then set your multiplier to the desired speed, I myself am running at 4.2 GHz, which is a pretty common overclock for 3570k's. Then, boot into windows and see what voltage you are running at during idle and during max load (something like IBT or Prime95 will allow you to quickly see your Vcore and temperatures under max stress).
Check to ensure stability first of all (I generally just do 10 runs of IBT max stress when in testing stage). If you are unstable (this is unlikely, since most motherboards tend to put in more Vcore than necessary), then go back into the BIOS and use a positive offset, keep going up in increments until you are stable. This is an unlikely situation though.
What is more likely, is that your motherboard is putting in more Vcore than necessary (to ensure stability), but at the expense of heat and power draw. This is where you should try and use a negative offset, making it a larger and larger negative offset, but still maintain stability.
When you have settled on the clock speed and offset, then it is time to really make sure it is stable. Throughout the whole process, I would advise doing around 10 runs of IBT max stress at each offset, just to initially check stability. But when it comes to setting your final 24/7 overclock, I would use Prime95 small FFTs and blend test, and run that for about 4 or so hours on each test(some say 24 hours is necessary, some say 2 hours is fine- I say that 4+ hours stable is good enough)
If it passes both tests, and your Vcore and temperatures are within acceptable levels (you can check with other members to see what temps and Vcore to expect at your clock speed), then congratulations on achieving a nice overclock- enjoy the performance boost
) so you may well see a frame rate increase in many games, especially CPU dependant ones like Starcraft (I think thats pretty CPU dependant but I may be wrong). If you upgraded to SLI 670s, the difference would be even more pronounced. If nothing else, a nice overclock makes for good bragging rights