Overclocking - is it worth it?

[frankieboy9225]

Asked around and it's apparently a bit of risky business. Does it really increase the speed staggeringly? I'm considering it because i like to play high-end games and would like to make the most out of my current system

[Bluesplayer]

Hi Id rather upgrade the graphic card etc.
So it's not the route I take.
Check.
http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080222053955AAoh1Ic
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I am so clever that sometimes I do not understand a single word of what I am saying
Oscar Wilde.

[berko]

Well... it depends... I have overclock my CPU (Q6600) from standard 2,4GHz to 3,0 GHz (It can go higher but is enough for me). I'm working with 3d graphic so any extra Hz on my CPU is more then welcome. For example, I have one scene in 3d studio max, witch I use for benchmark; on my other PC (dual core 6400, 2,2GHz), this scene is rendered in 48 sec, on Q6600 on standard clock speed is rendered id 24 sec, and overclocked on 3,0 GHz the same scene is rendered in just 18 sec....

I have also tried to OC my graphic card; I have GF 8800GT, 512MB, and I have overclock it from Core clock 600MHz to 700MHz, and shader clock from 1500MHz to 1700MHz. In practice, that ads couple of FPS to overall FPS in Crysis (standard, FPS 20-26, and OC 26-30FPS). CPU overclocking didn't have any effect on FPS in Crysis, just graphic card overclocking did some difference.

The major problem with overclocking is heat. Heat is what kills overclocked CPU-s or GPU-s.... I have on my CPU Termalteke Big Typhoon cooler, and I have removed graphic cards standard cooler, and put Zalman's VF 900 cooler. I addition, I have 4 additional fans in my case for extracting hot air, and inserting cooler air....
And if you will overclock your PC, you have to consider stronger power supply (PSU).

I'm curently have problems with my PSU, so I'm not working in OC mode... (but I don't think that problems with PSU is related to overclocking, becouse problem was present before OC).

[berko]

I have forgot one more thing; you have to put all of that, what you have to buy for overclocking, on paper and make financial plan; will it be cheaper to overclock your CPU/GPU or to buy new one.... Graphic card is what makes most difference in games, and some times is better to sell old one and buy new one, then overclocking old one.

With CPU-s situation is a bit different; with a bit higher overclocking (3,2GHz) of my CPU, I can have the same benchmark results as QX6850 (Q6600= cca 340$, QX6850= cca 1300$), with additional cost of only 50$ for new cooler... you do the math.

[frankieboy9225]

what i was thinking of doing is waiting for a while for the GeForce 9 series to establish and buy an 8800 at a lower price, selling my 8500GT to fund it. Thanks for the advice though [=
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Windows XP Home Edition SP2
Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHZ
2048MB RAM
Direct X 9.0C NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT 512MB
Realtek HD Audio Output
19" Widescreen Monitor

[berko]

[Hannah06]