Overclocking My Dad's PC!: Results

[RelentlessAF]

Hey guys, so my Dad has been pretty out of the loop when it comes to technology for awhile now so I've pretty much taken over as the techie. I've bought a lot of parts for his PC, what started out as a really cheap $250 APU oriented PC that got 20FPS in BF3 on Low at 720p. Is now an about $600ish fully capable 1080p Gaming machine. Well it was at stock speeds but I couldn't just leave them like that.

 

SPEC LIST:

CPU - Intel Pentium G3258

Mobo - MSI Gaming 3 Z97

GPU - EVGA SC 750ti

RAM - Kingston (something) DDR3 1333Mhz 2x4GB

PSU - Generic Diablotec PSU (was going to change it but can't right now) 450Watt

Cooling - Stock Intel cooler, 1x 140mm Fractal case fan, 1x120mm Antec Blue LED Case Fan(don't judge) ;(

 

CPU OverClocking!:

 

Ahhhh this was a fun one, the G3258 is like the sleeper car of the processing world. It looks innocent but can be quite the power house, par the fact that you don't do much heavy threaded workloads.

 

I initially started with a measly 4.0Ghz OC since my 3570K is at that currently. After seeing temps in the mid-40's I immediately dialed it higher. The voltage was by default 1.265V so I brought that down to 1.210 and changed the multiplier to 44. After running AIDA64 for about 4 hours I found it to be very stable. The temps were reasonable, mostly high 60's with an occasional tip-toe into the low 70's. I tried setting the multiplier to 45 but it wouldn't take, even after increasing the voltage ;(. So that's where it resides!

 

RAM OverClocking!:

 

So RAM overclocking is not something I ever expected myself to do really. I never really though about it before, especially sine the real world performance difference is negligible. Especially for a build specifically for gaming. However I found myself increasingly bothered by the 1333Mhz speed the RAM was running at. So just to see what would happen, I set the RAM speed to 1600Mhz. It booted into windows fine and running a Memtest revealed no errors so I will say thumbs up to that.

 

GPU OverClocking!:

 

Now this was the best part, I've gotta be honest. I was expecting very little from this. The GPU in my rig will not overclock at all, not even a little. Adding any amount to the core clock or memory clock causes a crash in games. However, this 750ti seems to have been delivered to me by the gods. After a lot of blood, sweat, and watching the same benchmark over and over again. I was able to boost the card (which is already factory overclocked mind you) by +95 on the core (bringing it to 1545Mhz total, I REALLY wanted 1550 but Noooo it wouldn't even do 1546) and +435 on the Memory Clock (bringing it to 3135Mhz total). This was totally unexpected. The stock Unigine Valley score was about 910, with the overclock I did to it, it's now at 1125. Not really an impressive score but quite the improvement.

 

Totally forgot to add that the GPU Temp never went above 60C

 

What Difference Did it Make in Games?:

 

Well it varied from game to game, to be expected. All across the board though I could always play at 1080p with a solid 60FPS+ in each game I tried.

 

CS:GO - 30FPS Boost (Originally around 70-80 now around 100-120| 1920x1080 Everything maxed 2x MSAA 8x Anisotropic Filtering)

BF3: - 15FPS Boost (Originally 60-70 now around 75-85| 1920x1080 High Preset 2x MSAA 8x Anisotropic Filtering)

Skyrim - 10FPS Boost (Originally 60-70 now around 70-80| 1920x1080 Ultra Preset 2x AA 16x Anisotropic Filtering)

 

 

Conclusion:

I am very happy with the overclocks I was able to achieve Especially with no fancy cooling solutions and just using whatever case fans I could find lying around. The only things I may add in the future is an 80+ certified PSU and maybe switch the case (currently a Cooler Master Elite 431 with absolutely no cable management. I'm thinking of getting him an H440 whenever I have expendable income.)

[pbenologa]

-snip

For a budget PC? Don't get that H440, either you get a 450D, Enthoo Pro, or Define R4 or Corsair Spec Series

[RelentlessAF]

For a budget PC? Don't get that H440, either you get a 450D, Enthoo Pro, or Define R4 or Corsair Spec Series

Ehhhhh I like how the H440 looks and my personal rig is a Define R4. I'll look into it more

[pbenologa]

Ehhhhh I like how the H440 looks and my personal rig is a Define R4. I'll look into it more

Yeah but just a heads up, if you pick H440, i suggest you save additional bucks for some fans. Stock fans sucks. And you'll need SP fans.

[RelentlessAF]

Yeah but just a heads up, if you pick H440, i suggest you save additional bucks for some fans. Stock fans sucks. And you'll need SP fans.

Ah damn, more investments in fans. Aha I'll probably look at the others than.

[terrytek]

Wow, I din't know the 750Ti had that much gaming horsepower.

[FellTheSky]

1545 on the core of the 750 ti sounds... dubious

1345 sounds more realistic

[RelentlessAF]

Wow, I din't know the 750Ti had that much gaming horsepower.

 

1545 on the core of the 750 ti sounds... dubious

1345 sounds more realistic

It's actually just short of my 660's performance now getting an 1125 while my 660 gets a 1200.