OC worth? convince me

[Isthissitegood]

Here's a thread I posted about possibly upgrading my PC if you need any background info http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=37094416&posted=1#post37094416

Anyway, I came here to ask a more general question. I have always shunned overclocking so maybe you guys can tell me pros/cons and if it is pretty simple or not. My i5 2500k 3.3GHz is supposedly pretty simple to OC.

In summary:
1. What is a general run down of OC
2. Is it worth it for me to OC personally (based on PC, interests, etc)

 

[Burpo]

An overclock would help, especially if you go for the GTX 970 & clock it too..

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Are there many games that can't hit 60 FPS on a Sandy Bridge i5/i7 at stock speeds? I tend to think future games that could get bottlenecked will because of not having enough cores as opposed to enough clockspeed, since most games will be designed for octacore consoles with lousy per core performance.

 

[escrow4]

Are there many games that can't hit 60 FPS on a Sandy Bridge i5/i7 at stock speeds? I tend to think future games that could get bottlenecked will because of not having enough cores as opposed to enough clockspeed, since most games will be designed for octacore consoles with lousy per core performance.

In terms of minimums, Crysis 3, Unity, Watch Dogs. Its not so much they won't hit 60FPS, they can't maintain it. A 5820K will fix that with a mild OC to 4.0Ghz. And yes, those cores would do it.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

In terms of minimums, Crysis 3, Unity, Watch Dogs. Its not so much they won't hit 60FPS, they can't maintain it. A 5820K will fix that with a mild OC to 4.0Ghz. And yes, those cores would do it.

For Crysis 3 it seems no amount of overclock will get an i5 over that hump in Welcome to the Jungle; it really needs an i7.

 

[Blain]

OC worth? convince me

Don't bother, it isn't for you.

 

[Isthissitegood]

An overclock would help, especially if you go for the GTX 970 & clock it too..

hmmm, just did some base research. Seems like it is pretty easy to OC. All in all I probably won't need to but good to know nonetheless.

 

[Shmee]

The unlocked sandy bridges are very good Ocers, and its easy too. The better chips have some of the highest %clock increases of any recent chip for 24/7 OCs. One of the very few chips that could do >4.8 GHz for a 24/7.

For perspective, the 4790k has a 4.4 GHz turbo stock, but most won't do much higher than 4.6 without trouble, so I have heard.

 

[Flapdrol1337]

In the other topic you say the primary use is gaming and you have a 2500K. Overclocking will benefit you in many games, especially when it comes to minimum fps.

Doing it properly will take a bit of time though.

 

[hunkeelin]

OP, are u kidding me. I fap when I get high score in benching and orgasm when i pass stress test.

 

[Mac29]

Seems simple to me. You say you're cheap and like bargains, your 560 is getting outdated, you're looking at options. OC is the easiest deal you can get: free/cheap cooler. You have the chip for it. Others are paying way too much for a 2500k IMO. If you have the time to educate yourself, put your $ where it'll do the most good: GPU.

 

[KingFatty]

Don't look at the OC as a chore. Instead, look at it as a great way to spend time enjoying a wonderful hobby and becoming super-educated about how to get more value from your hobby.

 

[flexy]

While I would say that in general, OC "is worth" it (of course), I also have to admit that some OC efforts and things I do are entirely irrational

Say, delidding a €300 CPU and risking damage for 200mhz more, or spending two weeks after you build a new PC tweaking BIOS settings...or spending several hundreds on a water cooler and "very good" CPU to run it at 4.7Ghz...like you would see a difference between 4.4Ghz or 4.7Ghz asides from benchmarks...

As an OC "enthusiast" I know that most things won't even show a difference (typical example: overclocking a video card to get 50mhz more and similar nonsense) in real life.....but then I see overclocking really as a "HOBBY".

It's not "rational" often in the same sense as if someone, say, is collecting stamps or beer steins or if someone spends his free time tuning their car etc... ..most of the time

Put it differently: I am overclocking for the overclockings sake because I enjoy it, NOT so much to see amazing speed differences for my PC. (For example I know that my i7 at stock would certainly be enough for pretty much all I do, but of course it's a "good feeling" getting it 4.4G or 4.5G)

 

[Charlie98]

I've often wondered why they make chips that OC... why not just sell the 2500K for instance, locked at 4.0GHz instead of a paltry 3.3GHz?

Setting that aside, OP, you have one of the best CPUs ever made for OC'ing... you don't have to delid it, a simple aftermarket cooler like the 212 EVO will handle anything but silly OC'ing (in my mind, anything above 4.5GHz,) and, at least in my example, a very stable chip even planted on a mediocre board.

Word of warning... don't use any of the OC utilities to OC your chip... do it manually; I ran into some serious issues with the Gigabyte OC utility, mostly because of how it generates the higher clock times.

 

[schmuckley]

WoooHooo! Boot Loops!
If you OC on a Giga..BootLoops!
:awe:
3 times around the BootLoop tree!
I'd still do it, though.
Y U get 2500K and no OC?

 

[darkfalz]

I've often wondered why they make chips that OC... why not just sell the 2500K for instance, locked at 4.0GHz instead of a paltry 3.3GHz?

Simple. Binning.

Intel will test a batch of CPUs - say hypothetically 90% of them perform at 3.4 GHz and 50% at 3.6 at whatever voltage Intel decides to use.

Naturally their part is going to be 3.4 GHz. The 10% they can sell as the cut down chips. Then can then retest those 90% and derive the K parts. It would also be difficult to guarantee 4 Ghz on them as YMMV and this is part of buying a chip. I myself have had maybe one GPU and zero CPUs that overclocked better than average and many that were mediocre. That's the chip lottery though.

Also, enthusiasts like the idea they are getting something for "free". For a while AMD pretty much sold their chips at a redline - they ran hot, and couldn't overclock much. People didn't feel they were getting value.

Lastly, most users don't overclock and don't need a 4 GHz chip to run Chrome, iTunes and their Office apps.

 

[schmuckley]

Simple. Binning.

Intel will test a batch of CPUs - say hypothetically 90% of them perform at 3.4 GHz and 50% at 3.6 at whatever voltage Intel decides to use.

Naturally their part is going to be 3.4 GHz. The 10% they can sell as the cut down chips. Then can then retest those 90% and derive the K parts. It would also be difficult to guarantee 4 Ghz on them as YMMV and this is part of buying a chip. I myself have had maybe one GPU and zero CPUs that overclocked better than average and many that were mediocre. That's the chip lottery though.

Also, enthusiasts like the idea they are getting something for "free". For a while AMD pretty much sold their chips at a redline - they ran hot, and couldn't overclock much. People didn't feel they were getting value.

Lastly, most users don't overclock and don't need a 4 GHz chip to run Chrome, iTunes and their Office apps.

4Ghz on a Sandy or Ivy is nothing. :/
http://valid.x86.fr/h8yjdf This is even conservative.
PS:RAM voltage=1.74..and has been,since 2500K was released.

 

[futurefields]

I produce music and overclocking gives my system more headroom to run more plugins, so I can hear my mixes in realtime with all effects enabled.

If you aren't a power user in some way (high performance gaming, video/audio editing) then there is not much need to overclock.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I produce music and overclocking gives my system more headroom to run more plugins, so I can hear my mixes in realtime with all effects enabled.

If you aren't a power user in some way (high performance gaming, video/audio editing) then there is not much need to overclock.

Obsession. In "Top Gun," Cruise says "I feel the need for speed."

It's interesting that you may find the speed, and you get your best maximum OC at a comfortable voltage and temperature. Then you run some benchies and find that "not all that much" was gained in certain respects. If you paid attention to specs, common sense and other information, you won't destroy your chip while OC'ing, so it won't much matter. If you don't pay attention, then it COULD matter. I seldom see folks whining and complaining that they killed their CPU, but it DOES happen.

The biggest risk: failure to study the BIOS options carefully, failure to read overclock guides available for your processor, failure to familiarize yourself with the CPU's specs.

do the reading first. YES -- SB is more or less "easy." But it takes time and patience to find your "sweet spot." It helps to get advice on how to use several different programs for stress-testing, to minimize the cumulative stress of finding and certifying stability.

 

[bbhaag]

Don't over think it man. Start simple by just changing the multiplier and nothing else.
I did this on my Phenom 2 965 and got an extra 300mhz for free. I didn't change anything else just the multiplier. It took about a minute to do this.

Don't worry about voltage, ram frequencies, or any of that other bs right now. Just start by keeping it simple and see how it goes. You might be surprised.

 

[darkfalz]

4Ghz on a Sandy or Ivy is nothing. :/
http://valid.x86.fr/h8yjdf This is even conservative.
PS:RAM voltage=1.74..and has been,since 2500K was released.

Yes, it's "nothing", as you say. Most do it with an undervolt, even my shitty chip.

However, remember Intel is not just going for speed, but performance per watt. The higher you go, the more efficiency you tend to lose.

 

[feelingshorter]

Back in the day, I overclocked AMDs and over the course of 1-1.5 years i'd get system instability and failures in Prime. Also the stock 460 Zotac brand, which i still use and came pre overclocked higher than any other reputable brand started showing instability long long time ago. I had to downclock it to stock before screen artifacts disappeared on the desktop. Nowadays I think these chips run so cool and and have such huge headroom that you can get away with overclocking. People never talk about what happens in 1-1.5 years but ask around and you will get stories of people who push it too much and get system instability over the course of 1-2 years sometimes (again SOMETIMES and my knowledge might be outdated comparatively to modern CPUs). I'm running a 3770k and its just so fast/cool stock I can't even imagine needing to upgrade in 2-3 years.