Would it be ok to run a pc 24/7 with an overclocked cpu and gpu?

[TinyBolts]

I'm running a few game servers on my pc right now but only from morning until night. Would it be ok to run a pc 24/7 with an overclocked cpu and gpu? Should I just not overclock?

[Origami Cactus]

If it is not an hardcore 1.4V overclock, but instead a normal one, and the cooling allows it, then yes

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

Depends on the overclock, mainly the voltages and temperatures that you are using.

 

Overclocking can cause parts to degrade faster, but if the voltages and temperatures are low enough it usually isn't a big deal unless you need the system to work flawlessly for 10+ years.

[WereCatf]

3 minutes ago, TinyBolts said:

I'm running a few game servers on my pc right now but only from morning until night. Would it be ok to run a pc 24/7 with an overclocked cpu and gpu?

Sure, as long as all the thermals are fine and you're not using too high voltages for your OC.

[mariushm]

Would game servers actually benefit from the gpu overclock? 

 

If you're confident on the cooling solution for the cpu, I'd have no problem keeping the cpu overclocked 24/7 

If I expect to keep the hardware for a long time (more than 2-3 years), I'd consider not keeping the cpu overclocked to maximum (take it down a notch, to let's say 90% of the maximum overclock) ... over time, the cpu can degrade a bit and become a bit unstable and require a bit more voltage to maintain that frequency, so by not overclocking to maximum from the start, I won't have to bother adjusting or waste time investigating random crashes

 

Also an observation ... some game servers are more single threaded, so may be worth disabling cores to get higher per core frequencies instead of overclocking all cores.

[TinyBolts]

Just now, WereCatf said:

Sure, as long as all the thermals are fine and you're not using too high voltages for your OC.

Alright. What temps would you consider fine?

[WereCatf]

Just now, TinyBolts said:

Alright. What temps would you consider fine?

Personally, I try not to go over 85C on either the GPU or CPU, especially in the long run. That said, it's not an exact science and more of a matter of taste.

[TinyBolts]

4 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Would game servers actually benefit from the gpu overclock? 

 

If you're confident on the cooling solution for the cpu, I'd have no problem keeping the cpu overclocked 24/7 

If I expect to keep the hardware for a long time (more than 2-3 years), I'd consider not keeping the cpu overclocked to maximum (take it down a notch, to let's say 90% of the maximum overclock) ... over time, the cpu can degrade a bit and become a bit unstable and require a bit more voltage to maintain that frequency, so by not overclocking to maximum from the start, I won't have to bother adjusting or waste time investigating random crashes

 

Also an observation ... some game servers are more single threaded, so may be worth disabling cores to get higher per core frequencies instead of overclocking all cores.

I'm not running the cpu at the max overclock. I've overclocked the gpu because I use that pc for playing games and stuff. The players say everything is fine so dunno. Also yeah the game servers are single threaded.

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

2 minutes ago, TinyBolts said:

Alright. What temps would you consider fine?

Depends on the CPU, but usually staying under 80C is good. Under 75C would be my comfort zone.

[TinyBolts]

3 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

Personally, I try not to go over 85C on either the GPU or CPU, especially in the long run. That said, it's not an exact science and more of a matter of taste.

Alright. So far the temps haven't gotten anywhere near that much so that's good.

[DavidKalinowski]

8 hours ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

Depends on the overclock, mainly the voltages and temperatures that you are using.

 

Overclocking can cause parts to degrade faster, but if the voltages and temperatures are low enough it usually isn't a big deal unless you need the system to work flawlessly for 10+ years.

my old core 2 quad did just that lol. Q6600 at 3.0Ghz on ~90% for just about 10 years fucker still works too, I just upgraded to an i5 system.  even kept the video card. Radeon 6750)

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

1 minute ago, DavidKalinowski said:

my old core 2 quad did just that lol. Q6600 at 3.0Ghz on ~90% for just about 10 years fucker still works too, I just upgraded to an i5 system.  even kept the video card. Radeon 6750)

I blew out the caps on a fairly low end P45 LGA 775 Biostar board by OCing a Q9650 to over 4.0Ghz. Was not a pretty sight.

[DavidKalinowski]

15 hours ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

I blew out the caps on a fairly low end P45 LGA 775 Biostar board by OCing a Q9650 to over 4.0Ghz. Was not a pretty sight.

damn! I could never get a good stable OC over 3.0 on mine using a gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

1 hour ago, DavidKalinowski said:

damn! I could never get a good stable OC over 3.0 on mine using a gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L

Yeah that Biostar board was surprisingly good at OCing. I should have just replaced the caps. After it died, I tried to get a similar OC on an Asus P5N-D, and the best I could do was I think 3.6GHz and it was NOT happy about that.

[Bartholomew]

3 minutes ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

Yeah that Biostar board was surprisingly good at OCing. I should have just replaced the caps. After it died, I tried to get a similar OC on an Asus P5N-D, and the best I could do was I think 3.6GHz and it was NOT happy about that.

A) board doesnt protect itself, and allows unhealthy/dangerous conditions that might have posed a fire hazard, and eventually destroyed itself. - user happy.

 

B) Another board keeps the house safe, doesnt destroy itself - user unhappy.

 

"Huh...."

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

44 minutes ago, Bartholomew said:

it was NOT happy about that.

 

44 minutes ago, Bartholomew said:

user unhappy.

I said it was not happy. But you are right, neither was I. 

[GoodEnough]

On 6/25/2020 at 9:25 AM, TinyBolts said:

I'm running a few game servers on my pc right now but only from morning until night. Would it be ok to run a pc 24/7 with an overclocked cpu and gpu? Should I just not overclock?

normal operations wont make your temps skyrocket like benchmarks do.

 

so i see no problem

[Boomwebsearch]

On 6/25/2020 at 9:25 AM, TinyBolts said:

I'm running a few game servers on my pc right now but only from morning until night. Would it be ok to run a pc 24/7 with an overclocked cpu and gpu? Should I just not overclock?

 

It depends on the overclock you are running (any voltage changes and/or frequency changes) which may impact the stability and/or longevity of the system and it's components. Although, I would just recommend running without overclock for a game server since it usually isn't that computationally intensive and even something likely way less powerful such as a Raspberry Pi would probably be able to run it fine (this depends on the game and how many players are going to be connected). And if you're running 24/7 then the extra heat, increased power usage, etc are likely going to outweigh any overclocking benefits.

[Dedayog]

Clarify the 24/7.  If you're gaming, the GPU is only hitting the OC when actually playing.    Most likely you're running a GPU OC for up to 12-14 hours a day max?  No worries as said above.

 

For a true 24/7 max OC, you can degrade a bit or expose defects faster.