Features - QOTW: do you still overclock your PC?

[Spud1]

I don't over clock these days - I used to when I was at uni (and consequently when I was poorer than now) but these days I don't see a need. Ever since I got the mac pro I have never been CPU limited, so until that happens..I don't see the point in over clocking. tbh even when that does happen I am more likely just to upgrade rather than over clock.

Gone are my water cooling days (fond memories of my corsair HC water-cooling external unit tho!)

[GoNz0]

i wanted a really quite pc so i water cooled it, them took advantage and whacked a huge OC on.

[MustardCutter]

Why wouldn't you OC when you can make the best better or your cheaper stuff as quick as the best, or extend the useful life of your set-up if you want to game with all the eye candy on? Especially if you're running an amd rig

[crossy]

Interesting responses - struck by how few AMDers are reporting in, and that the general opinion seems to be that it's so easy these days that you'd be foolish not to get some "free performance".

Other thing that strikes me is how many folks are reporting that they're overclocking their phones - and it's pretty much an Android only deal. Is this part of the "demographic" for 'droid phones, that they go to the kind of folks who will quite happily under/overvolt them either to max out the (game?) performance or - more likely - eke out the last drops of battery life?

Never occurred to me that OC'd a phone would be worthwhile - although some kind of intelligent undervolt would be welcome - more usage, less charging.

[cjs150]

Unless you are running a big screen (or 2!) overclocking just is not worth it anymore. Stick a i2500 and a 560 Ti (or AMD equivalent) and that is more than sufficient for current games running on less than 1920x1080 (or sufficient for a lot running that resolution).

Overclocking is a great way of extending life of GPU though. Still running my 8800 (watercooled) and no need to change!

[krazy_olie]

Overclocking a graphics card is fairly easy and useful and can often eek out an extra feature or two. Overclocking the current crop of cpus for the most part is a bit pointless it takes hours and hours to get stable in which time the amount of processing time you've saved has gone out the window by running prime95 or whatever. Having said that it's worth having a punt if you think your cpu is starting to get slow compared to standards so for money saving purpouses it's worth it.

I don't understand why people would spend stupid amount of money on overclocking "stuff" though, just put that money to better components in the first place

[mark22]

Interesting responses - struck by how few AMDers are reporting in, and that the general opinion seems to be that it's so easy these days that you'd be foolish not to get some "free performance".

Other thing that strikes me is how many folks are reporting that they're overclocking their phones - and it's pretty much an Android only deal. Is this part of the "demographic" for 'droid phones, that they go to the kind of folks who will quite happily under/overvolt them either to max out the (game?) performance or - more likely - eke out the last drops of battery life?

Never occurred to me that OC'd a phone would be worthwhile - although some kind of intelligent undervolt would be welcome - more usage, less charging.

I would think the android community are more likely to develop undervolting and overclocking ability knowing that android users might have more technical ability to mess about with it. It's relatively simple and undervolting at least is pretty idiot proof and makes a difference to idle battery consumption. Often if I barely use my phone during the day I can get home from work with up to 90% battery left on my sgsII.

[shaithis]

Personally, I find under-volting my phone near-useless.

75% of my battery is used on the screen :S

[Jedibeeftrix]

yes, but not by much and only because the fusion utility makes it easy.

1090T from 3.2GHz to 3.6GHz.

[mark22]

Personally, I find under-volting my phone near-useless.

75% of my battery is used on the screen :S

True but as I said if I don't use it it can idle for a long time which is good to know if you need to make it last for any reason. The gpu undervolt might effect screen usage but probably not much but does stop as much heat.

[MustardCutter]

Unless you are running a big screen (or 2!) overclocking just is not worth it anymore. Stick a i2500 and a 560 Ti (or AMD equivalent) and that is more than sufficient for current games running on less than 1920x1080 (or sufficient for a lot running that resolution).

Depends on the individuals definition of sufficient really, that set-up probably wouldn't give you a minimum fps of 60+ in demanding periods of demanding games with all the eye candy on. That may be sufficient for some, but not for others. And to not oc a 560 Ti would be a crime, they overclock very well without even increasing voltage. And there are plenty of reviews showing how overclocking even the highest end cpus and gpus yield good gains in minimum FPS in demanding games with max settings.

[aussieANON]

yes.
2500K to 4.6ghz. Really sped up my system, gives me higher FPS in games. The little extra money was seriously worth it.