Overclocking?

So, i was reading a thread today, and overclocking the processor was mentioned.

How does that work...why do it?

How do you do it?

What are the pit falls?

Sorry for my ignorance on this, and thanks for your help!

a reply to: theatreboy

Essentially you are speeding up the stock clock cycles of a processor. Stock usually means optimal heat vs. efficiency, normally.

How you do it is typically software these days, although for processors you may still need to go into the BIOS. Also, you would need BIOS and a chip that support it.

The pitfalls are that you can burn up your hardware. Without proper cooling or monitoring what is going on, you will overheat them and cause all the transistors to meld together.

Here's an article.

Some also submerge their entire computer in mineral oil to achieve lower temperatures for higher overclocking speeds.

hackaday.com...

Also quantum computers processors are kept near absolute zero temperature to achieve their record breaking speeds.

newatlas.com...

a reply to: theatreboy

You just have to be careful and make sure you read the license agreement:



"I can stimulate my intellect without any more thermal dynamic distractions"

Truthfully, it's a waste of time and the risks far outweigh the rewards.

Your looking at basically a 5 percent improvement over full work loads or software specific benchmarks vs increased system instability and component wear.

I've personally never seen a big benefit. GPU overclocking makes a bit more sense but the above mentioned still rings true.

Unless your hardcore on CPU usage or GPU usage, it's a waste for 99 percent of PC users, again IMO.

a reply to: theatreboy

I myself don’t overclock considering my CPU is a I7 2600 and for the most part I just game.
If you decide to overclock you are going to essentially make your CPU run faster and most often hotter. This is done normally using your bios on a home built PC. A branded PC more often than not have that part on the bios locked.
You can overclock using software but I would NOT suggest even playing with that. And if you are using a laptop also don’t even try unless you have one geared for gaming.

a reply to: dfnj2015

I surprised nobody commented on overclocking bender. This is the best line from that video clip, "I can stimulate my intellect without any more thermal dynamic distractions".

Really overclocking is just bragging rights these days and unless you are into building supercomputers has limited usefulness. If you are "that" close to your maximum CPU usage, get a faster processor.

Back in the 90's it was a much bigger deal being able to get an squeeze 25% more juice out of a pentium 4 (or even 100% on a Pentium 3 with the right rig!) was the coolest thing you could do with a bunch of uncool kids.

If you have to ask, you have the opportunity to just stop right there and rethink things. Just whip out your credit card and buy the fastest CPU/APU/graphics card you can find and call it good. You'll save a lot of frustration (and probably even save money when all is said and done).

Better yet, find a nerd in your area to build you a kick butt PC for a reasonable price (it will be expensive but it will be a one time thing).

If you play games then probably a better graphics card will deliver more performance a long with as fast as possible memory as a lot of the work now for games is offloaded to the GPU.

Once you start you have to consider power loads/cooling with proper kit selection which can pretty much include every component.

a reply to: theatreboy

Back in high school and in the early days of online computer gaming when not much technology for cooling and what bot was available, well there was but liquid cooling was expensive.
Anyways, he would wait until winter time to overclock his system, put a plastic bag over it and hang it outside his window while gaming.

a reply to: theatreboy

Essentially if you have a fair disposable income and are happy to part with it on a hobby, overclocking could be for you.

Just don't expect improved productivity.. You spend more time on it than you save.

I understand overclocking my Pentium III to get a few fp's better in quake II... but nowadays? is there even a reason to overclock?

I mean, if your PC is pushing its limit and you arent able to play xyz.. then overclocking for a few more hz isnt really worth it..

plus, when your CPU over heats and cooks - it stinks.. the $$$ part down the drain sucks too

so, overclocking, is it worth it ?