Overclocking = Science, Art or Craft?

Big.Wayne · 29 Jan 2006 at 15:12

Hi all,

Just though I would put this out there. .

I am just reworking my CV and want to add a little *spin*

How do you see overclocking or the genral practice of tweaking/tuning a system to its maximum performance?

Science

Art (or Dark-Art)

Craft

Or a combination of the above?

Phoenix211 · 29 Jan 2006 at 15:25

the craftwork of artistic science I would say

Jokester · 29 Jan 2006 at 15:59

I consider it a craft as it follows rules that are learnable by anyone.

It's not an art as there isn't any artistic about it I guess.

It's not a science as science is concerned with the observation and explanation of phnomena.

Of course, it's generally referred to as the art of overclocking but I wouldn't consider it an art at all.

Jokester

weescott · 29 Jan 2006 at 16:09

I would say it was more to do with luck. Luck > Probabilities > Science.

There is also the Engineering Science of working out cfm / heatload / head etc...but I guess that's more to do with those who are at the cutting edge of technology for overclocking, and not joe public.

Craft I would consider to be modding your case to fit 2 120.2's in

loltim · 29 Jan 2006 at 16:39

Hobby?

Pipe & Slippers · 29 Jan 2006 at 19:49

You're missing the point - art/science doesn't matter - if you want to put something like that on your cv, what you should be thinking about are:

1 What skills it demonstrates that you have
2 What new experience it has given you, and how that experience could be useful for others
3 Because you do it, what does it say about your personality type (and don't worry if it says dweeby/boring/tech person. Didn't Mr Gates say something along the lines of "I employ the best, I don't care if they are dorks"?)

weescott · 29 Jan 2006 at 20:04

Pipe & Slippers, with all due respect I think you are missing the point.

Adding something like overclocking to your CV really depends on the job you are applying for. And how you write your CV.

Pipe & Slippers · 29 Jan 2006 at 20:35

weescot - sort of agree, sort of don't.

Think about the 3 points on my first post and write down your answers

Is there anything on that list that a potential employer may be interested in? If so put it in! There are always general personality type characteristics that any employer wants

Overclocking.....off the top of my head.....

Working knowledge of (usually) top end pc components
Practical experience of dealing with the insides of a pc
Ability to problem solve
Ability to think logically
Ability to follow a set of instructions (don't laugh, it's a very common failing)
Risk taking (?)
Perseverence
Resilience
Willing to consult others/take advice
Likes to work on his own

You can expand this list to cover all sorts of areas that the employer may want if you *spin* right

Even if you don't put the detail on your cv and just put it as a hobby, thinking through this before an interview is well worth it...if you get asked about it, you've got your patter sorted, and can press all the right buttons

GAMEfreak · 29 Jan 2006 at 20:36

i would say its the practice of running things beyond their specification.

weescott · 29 Jan 2006 at 20:46

I know where you are comming from but the skill sets you mentionioned I would list in skill sets other than overclocking, e.g. System Builder. Maybe something in the lines of:

In my spare time I build PC's for friends and family.

- Skills include:...

Working knowledge of the latest pc components. etc...

I would try and put the skill sets into practical experience rather than a hobby. After all a hobby is a personal thing, the sort of place where you might want to add *spin*, and get away with it!

Big.Wayne · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:13

Hi,

thanks for the replies, some good comments there. Just to clear the CV thing up it is aimed *soley* at a company that builds and sells PC's, so really they would kinda know what overclocking/tweaking is but I was just looking for the right angle

It's beyond a hobby for me now as I make a nice chunk of cash from it every year, so I guess I fall into the *part-time professional* bracket I guess.

Still I think the overclocking/tweaking/system boosting skills most of us here possess are good skills to have in the right work profession, I just wasn't sure how to convey that on a C.V

GAMEfreak · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:18

you could say you have a varying knowledge in voltage and clock tolerances of various chip architectures. sounds very flash lol

. you could then talk about pentium 4's and how its good for high clock freqs but loses 30% of work per cycle due to having 31 data stages in comparison to amd chips which have less than 15, and so arent efficient in comparison to amd chips/ old pentium 3 coppermine and modern pentium-m chips.

james.miller · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:20

science. There's no art or craft involved. Its all about knowing how the components work and what their tolerances are.

GAMEfreak · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:23

yeah. oh and james, you loook soooooo like someone i know in school lol. his name is micheal boyce, is he a distant relative? lolz.

weescott · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:25

GAMEfreak said:
you could say you have a varying knowledge in...

I would throw that CV out straight away!

Does your knowledge vary by 9% depending on how much Weetabix you ate in the morning?

Jokester · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:28

james.miller said:
science. There's no art or craft involved. Its all about knowing how the components work and what their tolerances are.

That to me makes it a craft, knowing about the components, the hardware and software tools that are used and the general knowledge around the subject.

Craft is being skilled in a practical application.

Jokester

Big.Wayne · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:34

Big.Wayne said:
Science

Art (or Dark-Art)

Craft

The *definition* debate continues!. . .

weescott · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:37

We'll be writing in to Balderdash and Piffle asking for geek versions of Science, Art and Craft, to be added to OED soon.

xsnv · 29 Jan 2006 at 22:27

Well it's not a art because you can't be talented at overclocking. It's not a science either since your'e not modelling or investigating (with the aim to describe quantitatively/qualitatively) phenomena. I'd agree with jokester and call it a trade.

james.miller said:
science. There's no art or craft involved. Its all about knowing how the components work and what their tolerances are.

I'm afraid i disagreee with that. If it was a science you would need to know "why" it worked which would require degrees in electonics and thermodynamics.

If i were an art then you could just be good at it i.e. some people would just be better at it than others. It's more a case of experience, knowing the right people (to source engineering samples) and luck. Give the best overclocker in the world a duff chip and he's stuck.

Big.Wayne · 29 Jan 2006 at 22:51

xsnv said:
Well it's not a art because you can't be talented at overclocking.

It's not a science either since your'e not modelling or investigating (with the aim to describe quantitatively/qualitatively) phenomena.

If it was a science you would need to know "why" it worked which would require degrees in electonics and thermodynamics.

If i were an art then you could just be good at it i.e. some people would just be better at it than others

You can't be talented at overclocking? hmmm. .

You say its not a science because your not investigating, hmmm what about the first overclockers? and as for having a degree in electronics and thermodynamics, I would say some of us are not far off this . . .

and you say its not an Art because some people would be better than others? well some people are better than others at overclocking/tweaking etc?