Why do you overclock?
- Thread starter OC_A64
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I buy the 'best bang for buck' (or at least I try to) then push them to the maximum level I am comfortable with. I rarely buy top line stuff as a cpu thats a little further down the pecking order can achieve similar results for a lot less ££'s. With all the expensive cooling solutions most people (inc myself) pay to cool the overclocked cpu's down to a reasonable level its hard to say that you do it for 'free' performance.
"More for nothing" 
Well, it's not technically nothing because you sometimes need better RAM, mobo, cooling.... so really I should say,
"More for nothing CPU wise"
Plus it's nice to see you can get a bit more for your cash.
Well, it's not technically nothing because you sometimes need better RAM, mobo, cooling.... so really I should say,
"More for nothing CPU wise"
Plus it's nice to see you can get a bit more for your cash.
Man of Honour
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Because we can. 
Seriously though. It gives you more performance than maybe you could otherwise afford. You do need good components though so it is not neccessarily a cheaper way of doing things. It's no good getting the cheapest of everything (especially motherboards) as you might not even get any gain or wosre the items could fail.
Not only that though. Manufacturers only make components up to a certain level of performance. Take cpu's for an example. My SD 4000+ on 939 is supposed to run at 2.4ghz. Apart from the FX series that is the fastest single core cpu at stock speeds. These cpu's will go a long way past 2.4 ghz and many have had their's past 3ghz, all for no extra outlay aside from maybe a decent cooler.
When it comes down to it there are many reasons to overclock but i still think the best one is "because we can".
Seriously though. It gives you more performance than maybe you could otherwise afford. You do need good components though so it is not neccessarily a cheaper way of doing things. It's no good getting the cheapest of everything (especially motherboards) as you might not even get any gain or wosre the items could fail.
Not only that though. Manufacturers only make components up to a certain level of performance. Take cpu's for an example. My SD 4000+ on 939 is supposed to run at 2.4ghz. Apart from the FX series that is the fastest single core cpu at stock speeds. These cpu's will go a long way past 2.4 ghz and many have had their's past 3ghz, all for no extra outlay aside from maybe a decent cooler.
When it comes down to it there are many reasons to overclock but i still think the best one is "because we can".
The fact my £800 system is now the same speed if not faster than one that would cost £1200+
This is my first major experience @ overclocking as my last setup was crap for overclocking, but its been a very easy experience and i am well chuffed with the results
This is my first major experience @ overclocking as my last setup was crap for overclocking, but its been a very easy experience and i am well chuffed with the results
I overclock because it allows my 3500+ to beat higher model a64s in folding@home and also games and using the same cooler that I would have bought if it was going to be ran at stock speeds so no money involved at all and about a 30% increase in performance over stock from 2.2 - 2.9. I bought cheaper parts and pushed them to the max (3246 from it on air for a screeny) no way I can get higher without it rebooting before I can press verify in cpu-z. Although it can run 3GHz 24/7 i choose to back off 100MHz to make sure its definitely stable as my rig runs distributed computing projects and a game server.
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Fun, excitement and having a machine that is faster than any off the shelf desktop PC, There is also; Getting more value for money, knocking time of the parity checking, decompressing and transcoding of 3Gb+ video files and other big multipart downloads 
Enabling the use of more tracks and virtual instruments in Cuebase. Oh and keeping the underneath of my desk and thus my legs nice and warm during the winter months 
Why do dogs lick their ........ ?
Enabling the use of more tracks and virtual instruments in Cuebase. Oh and keeping the underneath of my desk and thus my legs nice and warm during the winter months Why do dogs lick their ........ ?
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Man of Honour
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Well, you do feel like you've gotten more value for money but the other thing for me would be the noticeable improvement in games (graphics ocing). Stock, FEAR is just about okay at 1280 2xAA. OC'd I can bump that to 4xAA, which (for FEAR at least) makes a large difference in image quality.
I think one of my favourite things is buying a cheap processor and overclocking it, then looking at the price lists for something running at the new clock. Sweet sweet £100s of pounds savings
I think one of my favourite things is buying a cheap processor and overclocking it, then looking at the price lists for something running at the new clock. Sweet sweet £100s of pounds savings
w3bbo said:
An interesting viewpoint for someone with whose GFX/CPU/Mobo/RAM alone has a combined retail price in excess of £900!
To be honest I've often felt that us enthusiasts talk about 'bang for buck' rather loosely, what we really mean is that we've got top end performance from a midrange system. But the reality is, the best bang-for-buck comes from low end cheapy systems costing a 30% of the price, you know, all the components costing under £100.... bargain mobo, 7600gt, 1gig el cheapo ram etc.
As for why I overclock, I just like getting the best performance I can out of my system. Every PC I've built has been based somewhat on overclocking potential.... Celeron 300a, P3-650E, P4-1.6A, Venice 3000+. I also like the extra performance this brings.
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I do it because it gives me the ability to out perform a cpu that would have otherwise cost me an extra £40+.
Also the extra clock helps pull my weaker components such as my 9800, through the dirt.
I am a "budget" user getting the most from my system
Also the extra clock helps pull my weaker components such as my 9800, through the dirt.
I am a "budget" user getting the most from my system
I've always done it, ever since my first P133 when I realised I could change the jumpers on the motherboard and it would then read as a 166MHz CPU in the post screen. Didn't really know what I was doing back then but larger numbers are always good, I never damaged a CPU so kept doing it as I thought it was cool getting bigger numbers!
I think the only CPU I haven't overclocked is the Barton 3200 I used to own.. That was only because it would barely budge from stock.
I think the only CPU I haven't overclocked is the Barton 3200 I used to own.. That was only because it would barely budge from stock.
I've always done it, ever since my first P133 when I realised I could change the jumpers on the motherboard and it would then read as a 166MHz CPU in the post screen. Didn't really know what I was doing back then but larger numbers are always good, I never damaged a CPU so kept doing it as I thought it was cool getting bigger numbers!
I think the only CPU I haven't overclocked is the Barton 3200 I used to own.. That was only because it would barely budge from stock.
Am now running a 550MHz overclock on my X2 and buying a processor of an equivalent speed at stock would have probably cost me three times the amount I paid for this one at least!
I think the only CPU I haven't overclocked is the Barton 3200 I used to own.. That was only because it would barely budge from stock.
Am now running a 550MHz overclock on my X2 and buying a processor of an equivalent speed at stock would have probably cost me three times the amount I paid for this one at least!
Associate
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Teaches me more about hardware than formal education, reasons being:
a) Overclockers are the kind of people who when told not to press the big red button will examin the button, try stroking it a bit maybe, and then ever so gently pushing it one iota at a time untill it blows them up. Thus you learn the true limits and effects of tech rather than just what's written in the manual.
b) It's fun - so you can be arsed to read this techy stuff. Who CARES about weather RAM gives you 5% performance boost max between value and pro stuff. Except if you know the effect this has on overclocking, the effect of deviders, etc. etc. then you can get your machine to go faster - and that's a tangable gain you built yourself giving you a sense of achievement.
Oh, and of course it is something for nothing in my case as I'm a cheep skate - still on Pentium D my friends, who needs more than 3.5 billion calculations a second? Not me.
a) Overclockers are the kind of people who when told not to press the big red button will examin the button, try stroking it a bit maybe, and then ever so gently pushing it one iota at a time untill it blows them up. Thus you learn the true limits and effects of tech rather than just what's written in the manual.
b) It's fun - so you can be arsed to read this techy stuff. Who CARES about weather RAM gives you 5% performance boost max between value and pro stuff. Except if you know the effect this has on overclocking, the effect of deviders, etc. etc. then you can get your machine to go faster - and that's a tangable gain you built yourself giving you a sense of achievement.
Oh, and of course it is something for nothing in my case as I'm a cheep skate - still on Pentium D my friends, who needs more than 3.5 billion calculations a second? Not me.
Associate
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i have an obsession with making cheap things faster than expensive things.
It'd be much cheaper just to use explosives to make your rig go faster than something 3 times as expensive!