how many pc users do you think overclocks

[driedupfish]

What is the percentage of PC users do you think overclock both or either of their GPU and CPU? I asked because I never overclock in my first build because I thought it was too complicated and didn't want any problems.

I'd say less than 10%.

 

[Durvelle27]

I'd say between 70-85%

 

[skipsneeky2]

Overclocking these days is almost idiot proof if you have something like a k series i5 or i7 intel quad or a card like a 7850 or 7970,some of the newer cards you could almost guarantee a overclock till a certain point then from there it is luck like for example almost every 7850 can go from 860 right to 950 or hell 1050 if your voltage unlocked is a walk in the park.

 

[biostud]

Depends. For gamers Durvelle is probably right, but since most users are on laptops or use them solely for work or internet, then probably not more than max 10%.

In my family I'm the only one with an overclocked PC.

 

[HeXen]

I assume by "PC users" you must be referring specifically to enthusiasts and not the overall population of PC users cause that would be extremely low in comparison.
I don't bother OC'ing. I never notice the gains outside of some benchmark number and I hate when a game crashes and I have to investigate if it was due to OC or not, so I lost interest years ago plus PC's are nothing like they used to be back when you had to cut back on Windows services and OC just to get playable frames.

 

[Pandora's Box]

I assume by "PC users" you must be referring specifically to enthusiasts and not the overall population of PC users cause that would be extremely low in comparison.
I don't bother OC'ing. I never notice the gains outside of some benchmark number and I hate when a game crashes and I have to investigate if it was due to OC or not, so I lost interest years ago plus PC's are nothing like they used to be back when you had to cut back on Windows services and OC just to get playable frames.

Completely agree with this. I don't bother overclocking anymore. The difference it makes outside of benchmarks is not worth it. Though I still occasionally push my hardware to the max for benchmark runs just to see what it's capable of

 

[Sheep221]

I am technological freak but I never really overclocked anything beyond trying to OC test it out if it works and than reverse back to stock.
I assume that even most enthusiasts and gamers don't OC either.

 

[toyota]

I'd say between 70-85%

lol not even that many here oc. its certainly way less than 10%.

 

[toyota]

Completely agree with this. I don't bother overclocking anymore. The difference it makes outside of benchmarks is not worth it. Though I still occasionally push my hardware to the max for benchmark runs just to see what it's capable of

sorry but overclocking can make a nice difference that is most certainly worth it. its just free performance sitting there so its stupid not to use it if you know what you are doing. I never add extra voltage or push my stuff to the limits but no way am I not going to at least oc my cpu and gpu a little.

 

[Black Octagon]

1-3% at the very most

 

[NutBucket]

The last chip that I over clocked was celeron T back in.....2001? Don't recall when I bought that but I remember the final clock speed was 1466. Those were the days! First chip was the infamous 300A.

 

[Pandora's Box]

sorry but overclocking can make a nice difference that is most certainly worth it. its just free performance sitting there so its stupid not to use it if you know what you are doing. I never add extra voltage or push my stuff to the limits but no way am I not going to at least oc my cpu and gpu a little.

When I'm getting 60fps minimum in all games I dont see the point...

 

[DaveSimmons]

sorry but overclocking can make a nice difference that is most certainly worth it. its just free performance sitting there so its stupid not to use it if you know what you are doing. I never add extra voltage or push my stuff to the limits but no way am I not going to at least oc my cpu and gpu a little.

I'm lazy so I just buy a fast enough CPU and GPU to do what I want at stock speed.

An OC that's only 99% stable can mean glitches, extra crashes or corrupted saves, and I'd rather give up a couple of FPS or spend the extra $100.

 

[tential]

I'd say between 70-85%

Definitely not.

You guys are thinking of gamers on forums like this. Go into a game of LoL and ask someone what an SSD is? I was talking about an SSD, and seriously only 1 other person in game knew what I was talking about. Let alone overclocking.

Having played a wide variety of games, I'd say it's definitely closer to around 5-15%.

You're way overestimating the knowledge of the average gamer lol.

Edit: I've never OCed despite knowing how, and considering how many people in clans I've had to help even with basic computer things, OCing to the average person is completely above their head.

 

[toyota]

When I'm getting 60fps minimum in all games I dont see the point...

you dont get 60 fps minimum in ALL games and thats a fact

 

[Pandora's Box]

in all the games *I play*

 

[toyota]

I'm lazy so I just buy a fast enough CPU and GPU to do what I want at stock speed.

An OC that's only 99% stable can mean glitches, extra crashes or corrupted saves, and I'd rather give up a couple of FPS or spend the extra $100.

for cpu went to bios raised turbo for all cores to 4.4 and raised tdp limit to 150 watts saved and exited. thats all it took and everything else was left on auto. I have not touched any else cpu related in almost 2 years I believe.

gpu is more work but its at least entertaining to see what clocks it can do. I always back it way down from the max stable.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I have the worse luck and always have issues with computers, so I don't bother with overclocking and keep everything stock, as it would only add another variable. Today's processors are so fast it's not really NEEDED, it's more something you do for fun to see how far you can push it. The performance bottleneck is also usually disk IO and/or the network, so I usually concentrate on those things instead. SSD instead of HDD for the OS drive, and having a good solid gigabit network for stuff like faster access to network mass storage etc.

 

[toyota]

I have the worse luck and always have issues with computers, so I don't bother with overclocking and keep everything stock, as it would only add another variable. Today's processors are so fast it's not really NEEDED, it's more something you do for fun to see how far you can push it. The performance bottleneck is also usually disk IO and/or the network, so I usually concentrate on those things instead. SSD instead of HDD for the OS drive, and having a good solid gigabit network for stuff like faster access to network mass storage etc.

it is needed for some games. there a some games that cant even stay above 60 fps with my cpu at stock speeds.

one example of a game I spent tons of time playing. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2200724

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

5% at most. Among my friends there's a group of around 10 that's reasonably heavily into computer hardware and software, and even among those only 2 of us overclock. Sure there are are more hardcore people out there, but most people I'm willing to bet they're at the higher end of the technical know-how spectrum.

I'd be willing to bet that most people don't even know what overclocking is.

 

[nurturedhate]

I'd say that it's probably even less than 5% of gamers let alone the overall pc user market. I would believe that most of us have several friends that are also into pc gaming. I would also guess that for the most part we are the ones that built their computers, or at least the first one. They aren't overclocking anything unless we set it up for them.

 

[tweakboy]

I say 20 percent or a bit more. Most of these comps are in businesses and companies and casual normal user. The next 20 percent is followed, imo.

 

[Gryz]

Huh ?
If you look at the overall population using Intel x86-based CPUs, there are way less than 1 percent of them overclocked. Probably not even 0.1%. You guys are all biased, because you read websites like AnandTech. But in the real world nobody bothers.

Businesses, organizations, universities don't overclock their servers or desktops. Too risky. Too much hassle.

People don't overclock their laptops. That uses too much battery life, and makes laptops overheat. If you think performance is so important that you want to go through the trouble of overclocking your laptop, just buy a desktop.

Most people just do email, surf, twitter and facebook. Do some online shopping. And maybe do taxes once a year. No need to overclock. But also, they lack the skills or guts to even change one setting in the BIOS. ("WTF is a bioz ?").

Most gamers have no clue about what's inside their machine. Yes, suppose there are a million gamers who overclock their PCs. That is still not enough to be significant on a world-wide scale.

On a total of 1.5 billion PCs in use worldwide, plus 50 million servers (that are Intel x86 based), that one million gamers is less than 0.1%. Google alone has 1 million servers running (all x86-based, afaik). If you look at all the Intel-cpus that are not overclocked, you wonder why Intel bothers with K-versions of their chips.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

1.3% of all PC users overclock, I just checked.

 

[driedupfish]

I was very surprised that even many of you don't overclock. I was actually expecting a skewed response when I asked this question here.