Overclocking and You.. Why?

[DerwenArtos12]

Because IT/computer/electronics guys are OCD by nature and usually enjoy puzzles and overclock is like a really big, really fun, geeky puzzle. You have to find and fit together the right hardware components then, once you've got it assembled and running, you just keep playing with settings to try and eek just that little bit of extra performance out of it until it looses stability then, you tweak on it, and tweak on it and tweak on it some more, chaning settings that most people wou dljust look at you crosseyed if you started to talk about until you get stability back and then, just for fun, you push it some more and loose stability all over again, it's the ultimate geek puzzle.

Does anyone have the number for guniess book, that may be the longest run-on sentance ever.

 

[Nathelion]

Personally I do it to save money and for kicks, but while I feel like I save money when overclocking a $60 chip to twice its original frequency, I have rationally accepted that I'm probably not. For most overclocking, you'll need a more expensive mobo, aftermarket cooler, and better RAM. You also need a more expensive case and more fans and you will end up using more electricity. Now so long as you don't stray into extreme OCing, you can still come out on top with regard to pricing - but you still most likely aren't saving money.
Why? Because, ultimately, by being into the newest hardware and spending so much time with my computer, I'll end up wanting the newest and best all the time. The result is that even if I "gain" money on individual purchases, the inflation in what I expect out of my hardware means that I'll end up buying computers far more often than I otherwise would. Also, while it IS rare, occasionally something will break and put you back $x.
Therefore, I have to - from a rational standpoint - concede that I spend more on computers as it is than I would have if I didn't bother with the whole thing in the first place. But by "the whole thing" I necessarily mean computers as a hobby. So ultimately, OCing is a hobby that comes at significant monetary cost, but with the perk that I have a faster computer than my peers and the downside that my computer breaks down and requires new parts significantly more often. On the other hand, if I didn't OC, I would do something else (such as getting a truck and taking it apart every saturday). Any alternative hobby that I'd do instead may very well end up costing more.

 

[wolverineI]

My sisterinlaw with the money pays 2500 for the latest and greatest and spends almost that much in time on the phone with tech support.i spend 3-4 hundred for an upgrade and as a result NEVER call tech support.The only reason i would use a warrantee is if it didnt work within the first week.I STILL have the first oc board i ever owned,and it is still running,despite the horrible things i did to it with volt mods and all.the only one that ever died on me was bad capacitor related.if you rememeber those days.Ive had two video cards die from monitors going bad,but every thing ive ever bought is still good despite overclocking.Basically dont have time or patience to wait on slow systems,like the rest of the comps at work besides the one i built for work.

 

[Nathelion]

I have a specific story that may end up shedding some light on the phenomenon for you (OP), even though it's not about overclocking.

Last year I decided I needed a laptop. I'd never gotten a laptop before, mostly because I couldn't afford it. I still couldn't really afford it, so instead of getting a really really low-end Dell machine for $500 from some obscure web vendor, I went on ebay and got a compaq 2100 with overheating problems and a broken screen for $170. I cleaned it out and put new heat paste on, and no more overheating. Then I looked at the screen. Well, turns out I was in luck: the previous owner hadn't plugged the cable back in properly after taking it apart; the screen wasn't broken at all. Then I got 1 GB of laptop DDR ($130) and replaced the old 256 mb stick, a wireless card ($30), an old harddrive from a previous repair project for a friend, and I was in business. Well whoop-de-do turns out the backlight breaks after a month, and the hard drive corrupts any OS beyond being bootable in less than half that. So $50 and a couple of botched backlight replacements in addition to a $60 hdd later, I get it up and working again.

Total cost? 170+130+30+50+60=$440 for a laptop with no warranty and a lot of old hardware that could fall apart at any moment. It also didn't come with an XP license.
On the other hand, if I had gotten a budget Dell for $500, I would have gotten a new, fresh system with a warranty and some bundled software. What would, strictly speaking, be the better deal? Well... probably the Dell, and I knew that was going to be the case even before I got the old compaq off of ebay. If the hdd and backlight hadn't broken, it would have been considerable cheaper. On the other hand, if the screen had been FUBAR'd, i would have had to shell out $100-150 for a new one. So financially, I arguably ended up paying more for my craptop than I would have for a new low-end machine. But was it worth it? Oh yeah, taking that thing apart was fun!!! I also learned how to replace backlights, which might be useful some day.
Even though this incidence wasn't about overclocking, it's essentially the same phenomenon. Spending time and money on messing around with your hardware isn't really about money in the end - you do it because you think it's fun, and if that's not your motivation you should really stay away from those voltage settings in the BIOS.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I'm a little surprised that a user named IT Professional would provoke people by asking them if overclocking helps WoW or Counterstrike load faster.

Load faster? Wouldn't that be more related to the speed of storage in use than anything else? It's not like we're overclocking our harddrives here.

 

[devilchrist]

Well for me I never keep a computer for more then 2 years. so what if I shoten my cpu life from 10 years to 5 years? I make key chains out of old cpus that I dont' use.

 

[Build it Myself]

Originally posted by: angry hampster
Why do people buy Porsches if they never go faster than 100mph anyway?

...enough said...nice analogy

 

[IT Professional Ant]

I understand the benefits of overclocking but I never truly thought about the guy buying the low end to just tinker.. or to get high end performance out of cheapie stuff.. Just not my style I guess.. alot of the IT guys in my circle are more about getting really old computers to just simply work.. its a reversal of technology with them.. and usually is more like this..

"I got a pentium 133 running yesterday.." "so what dude.. I found an atari 4800 at a garage sale for 2 dollars and im going to tinker with it all weekend..."

I just usually go mid high end.. and the thought of the pain of having things go out I spent soo much on.. well.. sucks.. even if I could return them..



I was looking for more introspect into the minds of true hardcore overclockers..

give me more knowledge..

I am enjoying your points on the matter.. quite impressive and informing..

I still want more on why you overclock people.. I know there are more of you out there.. I want all your reasons..

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: DrMrLordX
I'm a little surprised that a user named IT Professional would provoke people by asking them if overclocking helps WoW or Counterstrike load faster.

Load faster? Wouldn't that be more related to the speed of storage in use than anything else? It's not like we're overclocking our harddrives here.

Overclocking ahrd drives is very under-rated, both in difficulty and in performance gains. though I don't reccomend it for the sake of the drive, they really don't like people playing with them. I gotta say though, watching the 3.5" disks start to distort around 15K rpm was pretty cool.

 

[IT Professional Ant]

Originally posted by: DrMrLordX
I'm a little surprised that a user named IT Professional would provoke people by asking them if overclocking helps WoW or Counterstrike load faster.

Load faster? Wouldn't that be more related to the speed of storage in use than anything else? It's not like we're overclocking our harddrives here.

Yes I know it would make games load faster.. It is not only the hard drive that has to do with load times of games or applications.. The cpu speed of your computer as well as the speed of your ram and amount of ram you have in your computer has quite a bit to do with your load times for any application..


I was making example questions on why people overclock..

 

[amenx]

Originally posted by: IT Professional Ant
I just do not understand why people overclock and have a firm belief with as fast as todays stock parts are currently, that there is no need for a overclock at all..

So your counterstrike loads faster?
So your WOW loads faster?

and the higher frame rate thing is moot point with me.. I go mid to high end videocard for new technology and for beauty in games and 3d apps.. Frame rate is pointless above the point we cant even see it with the naked eye..



The questions I pose is this..

Why do you as an individual overclock your parts?

Do you care about your warranty?

Example. My e6400 at 3ghz gets me 4.6 FPS more in Crysis benchmarks than at stock speed (2.13ghz), or about 28 FPS vs 23.6 FPS. That is a difference that IS discernable to me, and is not "pointless" at these relatively low FPS. Or did you assume that all games, hardware somehow achieve high FPS at all times?

So this obviously saves me the need to upgrade to better performing hardware to achieve the same result. Wasnt it obvious to you that this would be the most logical rationale?

 

[MarcVenice]

I simply couldn't afford a more expensive chip then a x2 3800+, running at 2.0ghz stock. My 'cheap' mobo, and cheap ram still allowed to me to add another 600mhz to my cpu, making it equally fast as chips twice as costly. It was mostly fun to do so though, and it sure helps in some games and applications. In the end though, raw speed isn't the real thing people are going for, because those who need raw speed, often also require great stability. I mean, when video-editing, working on a huge project, you don't want your rig to bluescreen, because you oc-ed your q6600 from 2.4ghz to 3.6ghz. No, those people buy dual cpu mac pro's.

 

[Shujaa]

So I can play Crysis at a higher detail level. If my hardware can do it, why not? I don't need a warranty to fall back on, I know what I'm doing.

 

[BadRobot]

Originally posted by: IT Professional Ant
We all know it boosts performance of your PC..

So your counterstrike loads faster?
So your WOW loads faster?

and the higher frame rate thing is moot point with me

This IS why most of the people here do it. The others do it for magnified e-peen value

Edit; i do it specifically because wow cs loads/plays faster.

 

[Scottae]

Really quite simple response. Because we can. It is kind of a practical communal Pissing contest. With standardized benchmarks to measure. However, In this pissing contest we (being OC'rs) like to support one another, and a form of comradery exists to achieve goals (hitting 3.8+ on a Q6600) or console when something goes wrong (Forgetting to Lock PCI bus on NF2 board bye,bye 9800 pro,). Anyhow, if you don't you will not understand that. Classic exp. yesterday in BF2 I shot a guy with a chopper missle when he was the first to spawn in on his team I was told I was (Load time hacking?) and I quickly responded "yeah I have that 4.0Ghz Q6600 hack, and I got dropped for that stupid Modified content issue, and still got in faster than your brand new alienware" . You are right however, 98% of the time Im not using all the Power of my computer but I know its there and It is good to flex it once in a while.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

I squeezed out 33% more clockspeed on the default voltage of my E4500. How is that bad? More power to the people.

 

[Shortass]

Most reasons for overclocking have been stated, it's pretty simple really. My personal reason is to save money, which is the reason most people build computers in the first place. You look at an "xTreMe POWER" or what have you brand computer that costs $5,000 and you drool over the specs. Then you realize that to build the same exact thing you could buy a cheap motherboard, cpu, ram and decent video card and overclock the crap out of the parts. Why would you want to spend $5,000 when you could spend $1,200 for - literally - the same comptuer?

And honestly, the fear of killing your parts is a little ridiculous. Even if it reduces the computer's life by 50%, which is doubtful, a computer's life in the eyes of an enthusiast hardly extends past 5 years, likely 2 or less. Seeing as how stock computers generally last longer than 10 years there is really little to be worried about. Free performance... there's no reason not to overclock in my mind.

 

[gplracer]

Why not overclock? I have overclocked the following:
Pentium 166 to 200
Celeron 300a to 450mhz
Duron 600 to 950mhz (faster than any amd chip that was on the market at the time)
Athlon 1700 to 2375mhz
Althon XP 2500m to 2475mhz
Opteron single core 1800mhz to 2910mhz
Opteron dual core 1800 to 2910mhz

I have NEVER had a failure of a cpu part, motherboard, or ram on these computers. I do not think the warranty is an issue. Overclocking is a hobby and people do it for fun. Why do people hod rod their cars when the car will already go from point a to point b? The car will already go over the speed limit? I like to work with photoshop and encode home movies and the faster cpu does it quicker. Besides I do it for fun. Sometimes overclocking adds value sometimes it does not. A good example right now would be overclocking an Intel 2180 cpu ($79) to 3ghz. Then for $79 you are getting a cpu that performs like a cpu that costs much more. If the speed does not make enough difference for you then you should buy the cheapest thing you are going to get. If all you do is word, email, and surf the web then it will not make any difference.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I OC'd my Opteron 165 because at the stock 1.8ghz it would struggle with a lot of todays games. At 2.55-2.7ghz things run much better. I like to buy something that lasts me a while, that's why I still have my socket 939 system. I got a 'free' 40+% on my CPU and a free 33% mhz on my GPU. This translates into real world better performance without any more cost. Yea, it could void a warranty but I don't think that's an issue unless I plan on keeping my stuff for a long time. I've overclocked lots of GPU's and CPU's and never once had a physical failed/damaged part due to overclocking. If they were breaking left and right I'd probably stop. And besides, I like to tinker. Same reason my car isn't stock.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: IT Professional Ant
I have a long going debate with a few IT friends of mine as well as associates and customers about the benefits and downfalls of overclocking your hardware of your PC..

We all know it voids your warranty on almost all your parts..

We all know it boosts performance of your PC..

I just do not understand why people overclock and have a firm belief with as fast as todays stock parts are currently, that there is no need for a overclock at all..

So your counterstrike loads faster?
So your WOW loads faster?

and the higher frame rate thing is moot point with me.. I go mid to high end videocard for new technology and for beauty in games and 3d apps.. Frame rate is pointless above the point we cant even see it with the naked eye..



The questions I pose is this..

Why do you as an individual overclock your parts?

Do you care about your warranty?

Well, for me the warranty on a CPU is useless. I've been using computers for 17 years, and I've never had a single CPU die on me. I've been overclocking for 7 years, and again, never had a CPU die on me. I always stress test my processors at stock, usually with the stock Intel heatsink/fan, for a few days before I begin my overclocking ventures. If it's going to die, it's more than likely going to be bad right off the bat.

Unfortunately, stock performance, even these days, is not adequate enough, on many parts. If it were, there would be very little difference in a faster clocked stock processor. Check some of the CPU reviews here at AT, or even some of the overclocking reviews here on the latest 45nm Wolfdale Core 2 Duo's. They test a lot more than just gaming, and often the differences between overclocked and not is quite big, depending on your application.

I play my games at "low" resolutions, typically 1280x960. Even with an HD3850, I'm still fairly CPU limited. I used to have an E2140 that was stock clocked at 1.6Ghz, and OC'd to 2.9Ghz. The difference in some of my games was usually well into the double digits, and a few games (Crysis, TF2) I could not hold a minimum 30fps at stock (well, 20fps for Crysis). My overclocked speeds made this possible. Hell, even COD4 was much smoother after the OC.

In addition, I encode videos, which results in often a dramatic decrease in encoding times. My folding speeds also increase quite a bit, which is a benefit if you're into distributed computing. I've currently got an E8400 that I've been overclocking, and I'll be benching that shortly.

Suffice it to say...I've gained quite a bit for very little of my time, and lost nothing.

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

Originally posted by: IT Professional Ant
The questions I pose is this..

Why do you as an individual overclock your parts?

Do you care about your warranty?

(1) I do it for fun, as a hobby.

(2) No, no I don't. Hobby's aren't about saving money, they are about spending money for fun and entertainment.

So I burn out a CPU or a motherboard and lose the initial investment. Oh well, upgrade time!

Same for me, but also, I need the speed for F@H !

 

[v8envy]

Because we CAN.

For a computer enthusiast a 3 year warranty on the CPU means... squat. Getting a low end CPU and overclocking it to near high end performance comes out to be far better bang/buck than getting a high end CPU and waiting 3years. There's the sense of personal accomplishment from hot rodding cheapie parts, camaraderie with other enthusiasts, and so on. And yes, modern games DEMAND the higher end computing parts, just like they always have. WOW and CS are not the only applications out there.

Case & point: $71 2180 running at 3 ghz (was seen as low as $49 AR). A year from now I fully expect a $70 cpu that'll be 50% faster. A year from then, something even faster at the same price level. So for the same total $ spent as an E8400 today I'm likely to have an overclocked machine capable of running anything I throw at it 2-4 years from now. You can't say that about even a $1500 'extreme' CPU you can buy today.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Avalon
Suffice it to say...I've gained quite a bit for very little of my time, and lost nothing.

QFT.

Overclocking is a sort of investment. A little extra time to set up, a little extra money to prepare (in terms of a good-quality mobo and heatsink), and then you get to ride the gravy train of free extra performance. Which, given the overclockability of C2D processors today, is quite a substantial amount of free performance. I overclocked a pair of E2140 (1.6Ghz) to 3.2Ghz, that's double the speed! For "free"!

If you could double your return on investment for a small additional bit of work, wouldn't you?

Edit: I also like to donate my spare computer time to distributed computing projects. More CPU Mhz == a greater good that I can give.

 

[nerp]

I view it as a hobby. Hobbies aren't always productive in terms of time or money. Overclocking can, however, give you more bang for the buck. I see no problem with overclocking, if it's your machine and you just want to experiment for fun.

Situations in which I'd recommend NOT overclocking:

* A machine that isn't yours.

* Business servers / workstations

* Scientific calculations / industrial processing / Any application where accuracy of calculations are paramount

* A build you plan on selling to a customer, an OEM machine, a machine you ultimatley might have to service.

Essentially any mission critical application. They're not overclocking at NASA. But the average person at home -- why criticize it? If you don't know what you're doing and break something, that's your own fault. There's enough people out there doing it successfully to justify accepting it as a small consumer market that is here to stay.

 

[jameswhite1979]

It forces me to learn tech stuff I might never have come across. Talk to people with the same interests. Competition with my friends just for fun. Getting something for nothing always good way to fight the system.. thats enough for now.