Can I Easily Overclock My Current Hardware?

Vanch

Vanch

Vanch

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I use my PC for gaming mainly & below are my current PC specs:


OS - Windows 8.1 (64 Bit)
Power Supply - Thermaltake Toughpower 750w
HDD - 300gb SATA
CPU - 3.3Ghz Intel Core i5 2500k
Ram - 8gb DDR 3
Video Card - 1.28gb Nvidia GeForce GTX 570
Motherboard - ASUS P8Z68V-Pro

I realise that sometime in the near future I'm going to have to upgrade, but until then I wondered if I could overclock anything in my PC to just run a little bit better until I upgrade.

The problem is I have no idea where to start when it comes to overclocking. I always assumed it was extremely hard to do and didn't want to try something I wasn't 100% sure of, so I've never attempted it and have just run everything at stock levels.

I read somewhere that the 2500k CPU is good for overclocking because of the 'k' at the end, or something?



I'd really appreciate some help/advice with this. I'm willing to read through any guides and/or follow any steps you may provide, as I want to do this right if I do decide to overclock.


Thanks guys.
 
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The "K" on the end of the processor name indicates that it's fully overclockable. As above, the main limiting factors will be your cooling and MB.

Any half-decent cooler and average MB will let you get a decent OC on a 2500K. Don't worry about the proccess, depending on your board, it can done in only a few steps, even automatically in some cases (though manual is better in th long-run). Google "Basic Sandy Bridge OC guide" or similar to get an idea.
 
But your first upgrade MUST be an SSD! (You don't mention one).
Seriously, it is the biggest performance boost you will ever experience, more than any overclock.
Clean-install Windows to it, along with your antivirus and browsers, and any often-used programs, and prepare to be highly satisfied...

The 2500K is still a good chip- give it an SSD and a decent overclock, and you may well delay that upgrade a while.
 
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OK, sounds good. This may seem like a totally amateurish question to you guys, but what exactly can I OC? CPU, GFX Card, Ram? I'm just looking to find out where I'd get the biggest improvements from. Once I know what I'm going to OC, I can take a look at some of the guides/tutorials online.

If it makes any difference, I play a lot of MMORPGs. I hear they take a lot of CPU power, so would it be wise to OC the CPU if I'm going to be playing a lot of MMORPG type games?

EDIT: Just found the sticky. Gonna have a good read through that.
 
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You can OC all the bits you mention- CPU is the main one to focus on to begin with.
4.5GHz is a reasonable expectation for a 2500K, many will go faster still. (Although some won't even do that. Cross your fingers...).

I had a 2500K before my current rig, and from day one it was running 4.5gig, no trouble at all.
 
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