How much does overclocking do?

[jegerkarl]

I have always wondered how much performance does overclocking really give you? Besides synthetic benchmarks and "showing off" to others, does it really have an effect on your day to day usage of the computer? Is the extra money worth it?

 

I realize that almost everyone on this forum is particularly interested in computers, and you are probably a bit biased. But try to give an honest opinion. Is overclocking just for the ones who has a lot of money to spend? Or is it for the masses?

[Coombzy]

if you can do it always overclock its further future proofing your PC and will help a little in rendering and things like that you will see a tiny improvement in games but nothing to amazing.

[colonel_mortis]

Generally, overclocking doesn't cost any more (except for power and possible a heatsink), but you get extra performance. Generally, overclocking won't affect your day to day usage of the computer, but when you load up a game, an average GPU overclock could increase your performance by up to 15% quite easily. Some people don't care about that 15% improvement, but most of the people here would say it's always good to get free performance. It depends on your point of view. Also, if you do lots of intensive tasks like folding/mining, the performance gains can be quite significant, especially as CPUs generally overclock more easily than GPUs (better cooling).

[threee6]

it's pretty much for everyone, you don't really need money to do it, my cooler was £15 and i have a phenom 6 core clocked up from 2.7 to 3.4, in all honesty the CPU was more than capable without the overclock and i doubt i will ever notice the difference in real world use. But lets face it, a performance increase is a performance increase if you notice it or not and that's not to mention the fact

[MrSuperb]

overrated. I rather have a more quiet computer ...

[Godlygamer23]

overrated. I rather have a more quiet computer ...

You can overclock and have a quiet rig. It's easy.

[xToFxREAPER]

overrated. I rather have a more quiet computer ...

man my system is almost dead silent and overclocked like a boss.. look at my signature.

 

I have always wondered how much performance does overclocking really give you? Besides synthetic benchmarks and "showing off" to others, does it really have an effect on your day to day usage of the computer? Is the extra money worth it?

 

I realize that almost everyone on this forum is particularly interested in computers, and you are probably a bit biased. But try to give an honest opinion. Is overclocking just for the ones who has a lot of money to spend? Or is it for the masses?

as the others stated, it doesnt really cost any more then not overclocking, its free performance and if you have the ability jump on it, i overclock both my cpu and gpu, ram is stock though

[jegerkarl]

as the others stated, it doesnt really cost any more then not overclocking, its free performance and if you have the ability jump on it, i overclock both my cpu and gpu, ram is stock though

 

 

 

it's pretty much for everyone, you don't really need money to do it, my cooler was £15 and i have a phenom 6 core clocked up from 2.7 to 3.4, in all honesty the CPU was more than capable without the overclock and i doubt i will ever notice the difference in real world use. But lets face it, a performance increase is a performance increase if you notice it or not and that's not to mention the fact

 

 

Free and free, you have to get a Z motherboard, K prossesor and a heatsink. It easily turns into 100 $. Especially in Norway

 

 

 

Generally, overclocking doesn't cost any more (except for power and possible a heatsink), but you get extra performance. Generally, overclocking won't affect your day to day usage of the computer, but when you load up a game, an average GPU overclock could increase your performance by up to 15% quite easily. Some people don't care about that 15% improvement, but most of the people here would say it's always good to get free performance. It depends on your point of view. Also, if you do lots of intensive tasks like folding/mining, the performance gains can be quite significant, especially as CPUs generally overclock more easily than GPUs (better cooling).

 

10 - 15 % is a lot, and I will definitely get a aftermarket GPU, as they are the same price when you look at sales some places. As for intensive folding/mining, I don't think thats what a "normal" PC user does. It is certainly handy for work and to make a living, but not in home use. 

[xToFxREAPER]

Free and free, you have to get a Z motherboard, K prossesor and a heatsink. It easily turns into 100 $. Especially in Norway

 

 

 

 

10 - 15 % is a lot, and I will definitely get a aftermarket GPU, as they are the same price when you look at sales some places. As for intensive folding/mining, I don't think thats what a "normal" PC user does. It is certainly handy for work and to make a living, but not in home use. 

you dont need any specific motherboard to overclock just as long is its the correct chipset to match your processor and even then thats not a must

[jegerkarl]

you dont need any specific motherboard to overclock just as long is its the correct chipset to match your processor and even then thats not a must

 

Well the Z chipset is generally more expensive than the H chipset

[xToFxREAPER]

Well the Z chipset is generally more expensive than the H chipset

i suppose thats a valid point, ive never looked at the h chipsets myself, always stuck to more mainstream boards and gaming oriented boards, h chipsets are typically used in oem systems and low end work stations from what ive seen. either that or tossed into a mini htpc for streaming and whatnot

[Samdb]

It can really help if you need to get heavy workloads done quicker.

[WoodenMarker]

For gpus, it's enough to jump a tier or so like an overclocked 7950 performing like a stock 7970.

For cpus, they help for rendering speeds and other cpu heavy applications.

For ram...very heavy rendering benefits.

For displays, you can get a higher refresh rate.

 

Overclocking is getting more performance. What makes it worth it or not is whether or not you can use it.

[Lil Chillbil]

My 660 came overclocked from msi, then with gpu boost I get about the max out of this card without getting crazy

[grayperview]

I gain around 10fps over-clocking one of my GPU's to match the factory over-clock of my 2nd.