Do I need to overclock?

[simsim]

I'm about to build a new system, Core 2 Duo based, for my work as a photographer. I'd just be going for the 6300 or 6400. But as I read all the reviews they are all very excited about the overclocking performance. That's great, and I am kind of getting caught up in that and looking a motherboards that will cater for that like the Asus P5B, but as I sit back I wonder - do I really need to do that? I'm doing a lot of work on a 1.8G Centrino laptop (Dell Inspirion 6000) at the moment, and the leap in performance without OC is going to be pretty big isn't it? I certainly don't want to mess around with extra cooling. So, should I still be giving some simple overclocking a go - and pay the extra for a good OCing motherboard, or just sit back and enjoy the core 2 duo performance boost without messing around with it?

[awm]

Overclocking probably isn't worth it for you. It requires good cooling, good memory, and voiding your warranty. If you do want to overclock at least use the computer for a while and see if there is any time more performance would help.

[simsim]

Ah the voice of reason. Thanks for that. But I still can't get the voice out of my head that tells me to squeeze all I can out of the system!

Can I achieve a simple performance boost without extra cooling or better memory. I was thinking of something like the Corsair Value Select range for the latter.

[awm]

Unless you go for serious overclocking you are unlikely to notice significant improvements. It sounds to me like your ego wants to overclock like all the cool review sites do and the logical part of your brain knows it doesn't make much sense. If you do overclock do it as a challenge not as a major way of improving performance.

[Hottentot]

Yes go for it. I got a core 2 duo for my photography as well. Just get some DDR2 667MHz memory, up the bus speed and your almost certain to hit 2.3-2.6 GHz on standard cooling.

[simsim]

Excellent - my ego likes this :-)

What board are you using Hottentot?

[Fabula]

If you're not sure of overclocking, then don't do it.

That said, you can probably overclock at least 10% with little effort and just standard components. A completely free performance boost.

But things will probably fly on your system anyway. Unless your work is always time critical, it is not worth overclocking much. Even working in RAW you won't see much improvement.

[cptwhite_uk]

I can confirm it's quite easy to overclock with the following components:

Gigabyte DS3 motherboard, update the BIOS to revision F7
G-Skill NR PC6400 Ram 2x1Gb modules
Conroe 6400

BIOS settings:

Make sure the memory divider is set to x2
FSB/HTT will be at 267. Increase this to 300, then use the PC for a few days, if no crashing occurs, change to 305, repeat until slightly unstable and put it back 10.
Vcore - leave at Auto, believe it's 1.325v

These settings will be in the CPU / Frequency Settings in the BIOS

PCI-E frequency should be A-sync @ 100Mhz

Core2Duo 6400 = 8x325 = 2.6Ghz (standard 2.1Ghz)
Core2Duo 6300 = 7x325 = 2.3Ghz (standard 1.8Ghz)

This should be relatively easy to achieve and would be considered a moderate overclock. Make sure you have a 400W power supply minimum of the follow brands, Tagan, Enermax, Seasonic, Antec. Recommend Seasonic. Should be looking at £40-50 for the power supply. Also good air flow thrugh the case is adviseable - 120mm fan on the back minimum.

[simsim]

Thank you, that's very helpful. How does the DS3 compare to the Asus P5B? Are they pretty similar - DS3 is about £30 cheaper I think. The asus seems to offer the Intel Matrix Raid, which I really liked the look of, whereas the DS3 doesn't seem to?

[simsim]

Just found this on another thread- made me laugh, and want the P5B!
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.p...p5b#post906141

[Rack]

I may have gone overboard DS3 isn't bad, but the P5B Deluxe is very nice.

Overclocking can be rewarding with the C2D's, it's easier with a higher multiplier (ie 6400 over the 6300, 6600 is best though with the extra cache!), so if you get some PC6400 Ram you have plenty of headroom to overclock. Better cooling is worth it too, there are some nice air coolers out there for <&#163;20

[Hottentot]

Excellent - my ego likes this :-)

What board are you using Hottentot?

I'm using the DS3 (see my System), my intention was to get the cheapest setup I could using 2 GB RAM. Really just to try out dual core in photoshop and for general purpose use. Its been very easy to OC to 2.6Ghz, beyond that my CPU requires extra voltage and therefore extra cooling which costs more.
A project for the future.

[Yellowbeard]

OCing is relatively safe if you follow the basic rules the others have mentioned here. However, I can say from experience, I would not suggest learning and tinkering on the machine you use for work. I have done it in the past. My wife does DV and digital photography. A "properly" OCed machine is perfectly safe for work and time is money. A faster machine makes more money in less time but, if you have an OCing problem, Murphy's Law will cause a failure when you have a project due. IMO, build a work box and make lots of money. Then, build a hobby box to learn how to OC.

[simsim]

Thanks everyone, sage advice. I really want Intel Matrix Raid, so I think I'll get the P5B, and oc it just a tad, I'll report back what I can get out of it.

[Clunk]

You should overclock, it is compulsory

[simsim]

LOL

BTW, your avatar really disturbs me! Have you thought about writing to Extreme Makeover?