Overclocking - Is it worth it?

Rroff · 16 Jan 2014 at 18:33

Not really bothered too much with it so far with the 780 but it does have a pretty big boost over stock out the box.

My 470s I ran clocked - the increase from 607 stock to 800MHz was quite worth it

especially with 2 of them in SLI - would go further than that even but the noise and heat went up to a whole new level above 800MHz.

arc@css · 16 Jan 2014 at 18:36

johny dolan said:
I run my sli 780s stock for gaming as every game I play is 100 plus fps no need to shorten the life of the cards for a extra 20 fps I don't need.

Overclocking the gfx is good fun for a benchmark or 2 it passes a morning when you get new cards but once the benching is done its back to stock and game on.

+1

Fuggan · 16 Jan 2014 at 18:40

Sorry, what is AB? I'd like to run that program you have running in the OP to see if it's worth doing for me.

PhysicsMan94 · 16 Jan 2014 at 18:43

Fuggan said:
Sorry, what is AB? I'd like to run that program you have running in the OP to see if it's worth doing for me.

MSI AfterBurner.

Gregster · 16 Jan 2014 at 18:43

Fuggan said:
Sorry, what is AB? I'd like to run that program you have running in the OP to see if it's worth doing for me.

MSI Afterburner

http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html

Fuggan · 16 Jan 2014 at 18:44

Thanks, looks nifty.

Tonester0011 · 16 Jan 2014 at 18:46

Overclocking is worth it, when you really need the extra 20% FPS. That being you've turned settings down to min and you still need them

Never really bothered with the whole overclocking 20% so i can run higher ingame settings, or keep highered settings to maintain a better average clock, i tend to mostly run stock/boost clocks and turn settings down...but that's me!

Always have my CPU overclocked, normally to 4.0 or 4.5. (4770k was the exception, as it was bought as preoverclocked to 4.6

)

Gregster · 16 Jan 2014 at 18:56

I have my 3930K clocked at 4.625Ghz 24/7 and the beauty is, it is done in the BIOS, so no need to bother with loading up software to run the clocks. I don't like having programs loading in start-up, as I like to keep that as clean as possible. If we could do the same for a GPU, I would set and forget... Maybe one for the nVidia/AMD peoples to sort.

alex_123_fra · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:01

Nicely done Greg.

I stick the 780s at 1200MHz on stock bios now. Especially is watercooled, this gives max temps of only 39/40C after hours of playing so no reason not to really.

evohicks · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:06

Its always nice when you get a couple of cards, new CPU etc.. and just do a bit of benching to see what they can achieve, I bought the components a while ago for cranking things up a bit but everything seems to run ok @stock just now, except Cod Ghosts which runs like a bag of nails for a lot of dual card users.

PhysicsMan94 · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:07

Of course, however, if I got round to watercooling my graphics cards then I'd probably overclock without a worry

HazardO · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:12

Stabiltiy is key. No OC is worth constant BSODs. My GTX670s are factory OC'd but no more and they run at sensible temps. 3930K is OcUK OCd. The last time I actually OC'd something myself was an AMD4000+. Yes I'm lame but stability is the most important factor.

If you are just shy of the frame rate you are looking for it can definitely be worth it though. But it's often a hint that a new purchase will soon be required.

FWIW: RIVE + 4.4GHz 3930K 2x EVGA 670 FTWs

Deceptor · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:13

If I was running a 60Hz monitor then I probably wouldn't bother too much since you can't see the benefit pushing past 60FPS. 120Hz is different story however

HazardO · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:14

Deceptor said:
If I was running a 60Hz monitor then I probably wouldn't bother too much since you can't see the benefit pushing past 60FPS. 120Hz is different story however

Quite, and higher resolutions may need SLI/Xfire or serious OCs.

MrMarvelous · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:32

Yes it is.

OLDPHART · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:33

Most of the time l don't OC my SLI 670's when my CPU is OC'd, SLI 670 at stock should be good enough to run most games at good settings.

Never mind Titan, the only time OC them is benching.

Ur round next · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:38

Overclocking on the lower end cards is worth it but for the top end cards unless your benching is not worth the hassle unless you like a point score

wazza300 · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:41

Gregster said:
I have my 3930K clocked at 4.625Ghz 24/7 and the beauty is, it is done in the BIOS, so no need to bother with loading up software to run the clocks. I don't like having programs loading in start-up, as I like to keep that as clean as possible. If we could do the same for a GPU, I would set and forget... Maybe one for the nVidia/AMD peoples to sort.

you can if you edit the bios/clocks

jimhaumman · 16 Jan 2014 at 19:57

Yes it is! I run HD 7970 1200/1600 24/7,it'll go higher but I don't won't to burn my card.
Passive vram cooling on this crappy xspc razor water block.Can't wait to get my hands on Koolance AR797,then I'm going to tune up OC over 1250/1650.With those clocks I can see nice boost in fps over my stock 925/1325.

Gregster · 16 Jan 2014 at 20:21

Deceptor said:
If I was running a 60Hz monitor then I probably wouldn't bother too much since you can't see the benefit pushing past 60FPS. 120Hz is different story however

This is pretty spot on. I ran the Tomb Raider bench on the 120Hz, 1080P and it was nice and smooth but running it on the 1400P Dell was horrid. The screen was having a wobbly effect on the rocks and not very fluent at all.

wazza300 said:
you can if you edit the bios/clocks

I thought about doing that but would need to set the volts as well with using a custom BIOS and there is no way of doing that without using AB