Is Overclocking...Over-rated?

[Anomaly1964]

See my rig below...

Neither my CPU or GPU (well it came over clocked from EVGA) have been overclocked since I built this PC...

With the new bios and the 2500k, I know OC'ing is supposed to be really easy but...what do I really gain going from 3.3 (3.7 turboboost) GHz to say a, 4.4 GHz overclock?

I don't wanna know how much my benchmark score will increase...I wanna know why my HUMAN EYE will be able to recognize in any processing increase...?

 

[Cogman]

Any CPU and GPU can do an INCREDIBLE amount of work before the human eye can notice it. Asking "How much will I be able to see" is a little silly as it is very easy to get real performance without being able to see the difference.

That being said. If you want to notice a difference, load up something like POV-ray and render something. You should see speed increases of around 33%

 

[RyanGreener]

It is only overrated if you don't do things that require much power in the first place.

 

[Anomaly1964]

My PC is for gaming...mainly FPS and SW:TOR (if it ever comes out)...

So what would I gain, again visually, by overclocking?

 

[Cogman]

My PC is for gaming...mainly FPS and SW:TOR (if it ever comes out)...

So what would I gain, again visually, by overclocking?

Visually? You might be able to use higher settings on games that you were previously unable to use them. You might notice less stutter in games that stuttered.

Of course, these benefits are likely to come from overclocking the GPU, not the CPU (Though, games like supreme commander like a nice fast CPU). The act of overclocking really won't change the way games look (unless you overclock too high... then it will corrupt things), rather it will change how fast they can be rendered.

 

[RyanGreener]

Well when I played SC2, if I had a better CPU/GPU then the frame rate wouldn't drop. Sure, it can hit 60 FPS but it sucks when things are actually happening where the frame rates drop and become inconsistent. That makes it hard to play properly. I'd rather have a constantly "average" frame rate instead of a spiking frame rate, but of course, 60 FPS would be ideal.

Basically, I'd rather have my CPU/GPU allow me to be at a theoretical 80-120 FPS instead of 60 FPS, so that when it drops it won't effect me.

 

[wwswimming]

See my rig below...

Neither my CPU or GPU (well it came over clocked from EVGA) have been overclocked since I built this PC...

With the new bios and the 2500k, I know OC'ing is supposed to be really easy but...what do I really gain going from 3.3 (3.7 turboboost) GHz to say a, 4.4 GHz overclock?

I don't wanna know how much my benchmark score will increase...I wanna know why my HUMAN EYE will be able to recognize in any processing increase...?

on some processing tasks, e.g. doing a rendering, or particle simulation, tasks that peg the processor, but where you don't want to wait overnight for the result - SURE a 50% increase in speed can come in real handy.

and, if it's FUN ... fun can never be over-rated.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I'm fairly certain that I can't see any difference whatsoever in games with my 2500k overclocked and at stock. I see a massive difference in every kind encoding though.

I also can't stand to leave processors at stock. I've been doing it so long that it's an irresistable compulsion. I overclock just so things feel normal to me.

 

[soccerballtux]

no its not. I paid $100 for my e2180 running at 2.0ghz a couple years back. Had a good cooler. Overclocked it to 3.4ghz, at which point it had equivalent performance as the Intel Extreme x6800, which they were selling for $1000 at the time.

 

[ibex333]

Heh... Anomaly.. You're funny...

You got a beast of a CPU and you are talking about overclocking. Unless you are into stuff like rendering or encoding, why would you even bother with overclocking with such hardware?

No, Overclocking is not really for you. It's for people like me, so I can overclock my really dated CPU and laugh at the people who bought newer CPUs purely for gaming or basic software usage and internet browsing, for spending their money, while STILL being able to run ANY game or software I need, many of which WOULD NOT run well on my CPU had I not overclocked it. I am saving myself a lot of money thanks to the overclock, and hopefully I will continue to save this money for some time to come.

Check out the CPU in my sig. It runs literally ANY game out there, at least 30 fps, on at least mid or mid to high settings. And my video card isn't even OC'd yet. ; )

 

[hans007]

i dont even bother overclocking anymore. cpus are too fast these days i guess for like web surfing and such.

I was really into it in my earlier 20s (which was like athlon 700 days). but back then i played more games, and well it made more of a difference. I mean other than decoding HD video i basically use my computer for most ofthe same things and the cpus are just so much faster now.

I do sometimes just try it just to see what it can do. but it just doesn't seem as worth it anymore. Sort of makes sense though. back then i was a poor college student, and now if i really wanted faster I can afford it , and i dont even really want faster.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Heh... Anomaly.. You're funny...

You got a beast of a CPU and you are talking about overclocking. Unless you are into stuff like rendering or encoding, why would you even bother with overclocking with such hardware?

No, Overclocking is not really for you. It's for people like me, so I can overclock my really dated CPU and laugh at the people who bought newer CPUs purely for gaming or basic software usage and internet browsing, for spending their money, while STILL being able to run ANY game or software I need, many of which WOULD NOT run well on my CPU had I not overclocked it. I am saving myself a lot of money thanks to the overclock, and hopefully I will continue to save this money for some time to come.

Check out the CPU in my sig. It runs literally ANY game out there, at least 30 fps, on at least mid or mid to high settings. And my video card isn't even OC'd yet. ; )

Good for you man, seriously...

 

[RyanGreener]

Well another thing I forgot to add, the i5-2500k is fast in itself to the point where even if you leave it at stock/overclock it it'll feel the same. I feel that nowadays most CPUs (especially Intel) are OVERKILL for anything, and the only people that upgrade are the people that are hardware enthusiasts. If I still had my E8400 @ 4.4 GHz, that would serve my needs very well but I sold it awhile back. My Phenom II X4 @ 3.8 GHz was great too.

As of right now, I type this on a single core AMD laptop CPU, and it's mostly fine for what I do.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

For gaming, the users input feels a little more responsive. And in some cases the fps can be higher. Also, when your fps dip they won't be as dramatic either. For example, instead of seeing a dip to say 50 fps, you might see a dip say to 65 fps.

 

[smakme7757]

I leave my system at stock now days. I gain no benifit of having it overclocked. I will overclock when it starts to show its age though!

I used to overclock all my older systems as i was a student then and didnt work full time. Now i earn good money keeping me in the higher tier of hardware which makes overclocking less 'needed' and just for fun .

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

^ nice system you got there!

 

[Jacky60]

No overclocking is NOT over rated. If its a gaming PC you'll get real world noticeable performance improvements with a faster cpu. My fps goes up by around 20-35% in some games and I can immediately tell when gaming (demanding games of course) if my PC crashes and reverts to stock speed. If you're just playing undemanding console games the difference may not be important e.g. Your fps goes from 100 to 140. But better PC games demand more juice. Same with graphics cards -image quality is improved and/or fps goes up so the image you see is smoother with less jerkiness.

 

[sleepeeg3]

It saddens me to say it, but overclocking has lost most of its usefulness. Even if you game, the GPU has eclipsed the importance of the CPU to make the speed almost nonessential. The CPU used to be a bottleneck for the OS and software. No longer. Software has long since fallen behind.

Overrated? Never. Poor choice of words. There will always be utility in overclocking. Video rendering times can always be improved. Ray tracing may eventually be a possibility. Low power chips like mobile phones can also benefit.

 

[Bartman39]

See my rig below...

i-2500K - 212+ - Sabertooth P67 - GTX 570 OC - 8GB Ram - HAF 932 - HP LD4200

Then why did you buy this in bold and not the standard version...?

Why settle for a processor that even with turbo only runs 3.7Ghz or in the case of a 2600K 3.8Ghz...? I used to run an I7 920 that ran a mere 4.0Ghz and loved it but to run a SB 2600K @ 5.0Ghz or higher thats personal satisfaction besides all out performance... If those qualities are overrated then so be it but why do we strive to make things run faster than stock in almost every aspect of our lives...? While some want a weak 100hp higher MPG car most of us would prefer something that shits and gets... Just human nature...:thumbsup:

 

[Absolution75]

For me - its pretty overrated. An i7 860 is still pretty fast. But the real killer is stability. I do a lot of compiling source code [which ironically would benefit from an OC], but I don't like the fact that my OC could ruin thousands of peoples day because my CPU OC wasn't stable.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Then why did you buy this in bold and not the standard version...?

Why settle for a processor that even with turbo only runs 3.7Ghz or in the case of a 2600K 3.8Ghz...? I used to run an I7 920 that ran a mere 4.0Ghz and loved it but to run a SB 2600K @ 5.0Ghz or higher thats personal satisfaction besides all out performance... If those qualities are overrated then so be it but why do we strive to make things run faster than stock in almost every aspect of our lives...? While some want a weak 100hp higher MPG car most of us would prefer something that shits and gets... Just human nature...:thumbsup:

Was only a few dollars more and I didn't have to OC it...came from the factory that way, so was is it REALLY OC'd?

:sneaky:

And as most have stated, OC'ing the GPU bears more performance in a game than does the CPU....

 

[Athadeus]

For me, not until there are stock CPUs that don't dip below 30fps at times in 4v4 and some custom SC2 games with everything on ultra. I expect Diablo 3 will be CPU limited as well.

 

[Dravic]

my Photo software likes the cores

my Games like the Ghz - main reason i ovrelcock.

 

[Deanodarlo]

As mentioned above, overclocking still has uses in certain situations, but I agree that stock speeds are good enough for many these days. Especially the current gen CPU's with boost.

If you have a dedictaed gaming PC, then buying a decent motherboard and cheaper CPU and overclocking it to the max makes so much sense.

Even with a workstation, you can overclock a low model CPU on default voltage and simply gain free performance to equal higher model CPU's and not risk stability or increased heat.

It has its place; but not providing the gains and new opportunities for computer use we got in the past.

 

[aigomorla]

uhhh overclocking helps scale your gpu's if your running more then 1 like i am.

So overclocking isnt over raited.

Also u notice a big encoding time difference, as well as a crunching time.

So its really what you do with the machines and what parts u have inside it as well.