Completely new to overclocking and have a few questions

[fastAsfakBoi]

Hi guys,

I've got an FX-8300 (3.3 GHz) to OC. I've got a stock cooler, 500W PSU, a 78LMT-USB3 R2 motherboard (for FX and socket AM3+) and 8GB of DDR3 RAM @ 1600 MHz.

Questions:

• - Should I get a new cooler like cool master hyper evo 212 or is the stock cooler fine?
• - Is OCing it from 3.3 GHz to 4.0 GHz a good move for my hardware?
• - I've never OC'd so is it safe (will the PC last at least 2 years)
• - Do you guys turn off the OC whilst not playing games, or leave it on all the time and when you get off the PC, you shut the PC down?

Sorry for a bunch of questions, thanks a lot in advance!

[Crunchy Dragon]

What model PSU?

 

1. The stock cooler will likely not be fine, the FX 8xxx chips drew enough power and kicked out enough heat that there are reports of them overheating under the stock cooler.
2. As long as your hardware(cooler and PSU) can handle it, yes.
3. Usually it's pretty safe. While your hardware should handle 2 years of being overclocked, I don't think that you'll be able to use it for much in that time as the FX series is pretty obsolete even now.
4. When I overclock, I leave the overclock running whenever my system is.

[fastAsfakBoi]

10 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

What model PSU?

 

1. The stock cooler will likely not be fine, the FX 8xxx chips drew enough power and kicked out enough heat that there are reports of them overheating under the stock cooler.
2. As long as your hardware(cooler and PSU) can handle it, yes.
3. Usually it's pretty safe. While your hardware should handle 2 years of being overclocked, I don't think that you'll be able to use it for much in that time as the FX series is pretty obsolete even now.
4. When I overclock, I leave the overclock running whenever my system is.

I think the PSU is bronze rated and to what GHz do you recommend I OC it to, for 60 FPS in 1080p w/ medium to high settings. And by “I don’t think that you’ll be able to use it for much in that time”, do you mean the upcoming games I won’t be able to run? I’ve got a 1060 3GB GPU if that helps.

 

Thanks a lot!

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, fastAsfakBoi said:

I think the PSU is bronze rated and to what GHz do you recommend I OC it to, for 60 FPS in 1080p w/ medium to high settings. And by “I don’t think that you’ll be able to use it for much in that time”, do you mean the upcoming games I won’t be able to run? I’ve got a 1060 3GB GPU if that helps.

 

Thanks a lot!

As long as it's not a garbage unit, your PSU should be fine.

 

As far as what you can overclock to, that's a little more complicated.

I already mentioned that the FX 8xxx chips are known to overheat under their stock coolers, and the Hyper 212 isn't that much better. I would invest in a decent air cooler such as the bequiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 to eliminate that problem. That said, you shouldn't have any problem reaching 4Ghz as long as you're at safe settings.

 

Usually 1.4v is when you don't want to run it too often, and 1.5v is what you really want to avoid at all costs.

 

Yes, I do mean upcoming games. I'm not saying that your CPU will be unable to run them, but games aren't getting any less demanding. Personally, I would recommend getting off of AM3 by 2020.

[fastAsfakBoi]

27 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

As long as it's not a garbage unit, your PSU should be fine.

 

As far as what you can overclock to, that's a little more complicated.

I already mentioned that the FX 8xxx chips are known to overheat under their stock coolers, and the Hyper 212 isn't that much better. I would invest in a decent air cooler such as the bequiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 to eliminate that problem. That said, you shouldn't have any problem reaching 4Ghz as long as you're at safe settings.

 

Usually 1.4v is when you don't want to run it too often, and 1.5v is what you really want to avoid at all costs.

 

Yes, I do mean upcoming games. I'm not saying that your CPU will be unable to run them, but games aren't getting any less demanding. Personally, I would recommend getting off of AM3 by 2020.

Couldn’t I put a Ryzen in the AM3 socket? Anyhow, every single pound/dollar is important as I am on a very tight budget, so I honestly don’t know what I should do. I only really play PUBG, CSGO, Fortnite, R6 and sometimes GTA V. I am also interested in Fallout 76 (next year) and The Division 1/2. If my CPU isn’t overclocked, could I run these games @ 1080p medium settings @ 60 FPS?

 

Thank you so much for the advice!

[Crunchy Dragon]

2 hours ago, fastAsfakBoi said:

Couldn’t I put a Ryzen in the AM3 socket? Anyhow, every single pound/dollar is important as I am on a very tight budget, so I honestly don’t know what I should do. I only really play PUBG, CSGO, Fortnite, R6 and sometimes GTA V. I am also interested in Fallout 76 (next year) and The Division 1/2. If my CPU isn’t overclocked, could I run these games @ 1080p medium settings @ 60 FPS?

 

Thank you so much for the advice!

No, you need AM4 for Ryzen.

 

You might be able to manage 1080p60, but you might have to turn some settings down. The Division should run fine since it was released roughly the same time as your CPU. GTA V, Fortnite, and CS:GO as well. I'm less sure about PUBG.

[fastAsfakBoi]

7 hours ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

No, you need AM4 for Ryzen.

 

You might be able to manage 1080p60, but you might have to turn some settings down. The Division should run fine since it was released roughly the same time as your CPU. GTA V, Fortnite, and CS:GO as well. I'm less sure about PUBG.

I saw some benchmarks on PUBG, and they were getting 95 FPS on average at 4.0 GHz, so if the CPU was 3.3 GHz, then approximately what FPS do you think it translates to? And is The Division 2 or Fallout 4 playable at these settings too? I could decrease the settings, but as long as it looks half decent and I’ve got 60 FPS, I am totally fine. 

 

Thanks!