Overclocking worth the effort?

Hello, I was watching this fellows video, and he seems to more or less say it's safe to overclock the memory by up to 500 - 600 mhz and seems to get his GPU clock to 70 mhz.

If you do this, will much performance increase be given?

That's a really vague question. Yes, it absolutely can be worth it to OC but it really depends on what your hardware is, what you're planning on running and at what resolutions. Info about your specs would be helpful.

-Byshop

I have the same card as a the video, a 760.

I have actually overclocked it as we speak but not quite to the level of the video. The only game tried currently is Assassins Creed 3, which was already pretty much running 60fps.

If the performance increase is only 3-6% I wont bother. I want at least 15-20%.

OC'ing your video card is always worth it unless you have something a GT610, hehe

Here's what my beasts do

If you do it right you should definitely get more than 3-6%

Maybe you should also take into conciderstion that when you OC you potentionally decrease the lifespan onthat component.

And then you gotta ask yourself is that worth .. what ? a couiple of extra fps.. ;)

Not unless you're already thinking on upgrade, so instead of upgrade you can try OC and save some money.

It depends on how far you take it. If you invest in good cooling, then overclocking is very much worth it. I have my CPU, IMC, motherboard, and videocard overclocked by about 50%, and it definitely makes a huge difference. Even heavily overclocked, everything stays much cooler on liquid than with the stock cooler, and a custom water loop will carry over through several builds. I would stay away from the little self contained liquid coolers, since they seem to have a short lifespan in comparison. I could likely run these pond pumps for decades without issue...

I already assumed you had a comparable video card, but again you left out the rest of your specs and what resolution you're running at. I know you had some perf issues with FF14, but besides that I know nothing about your rig.

-Byshop

I have a MCP655 Pump, for over 6 years now. still runs fine.. Its just that my storm waterblock doesnt fit 1150, and i dont have the time, or can be bothered with custom loops anymore..

I just got a 780 and have been fooling around with Precision X, which is a great tool, but I only can get away with a modest overcook for seriously intensive games like Last Light... anything over 5% seems to make artifacts and instability.

I always OC my cpu, but for GPU I don't bother unless I'm benchmarking.

First off, overclocking isn't something you can just do based off of someone else's results. You absolutely need to know what temperature your hardware can and cannot withstand, and pay attention to how your specific overclock effects your PC temperatures. Overclocking the FSB, which overclocks the CPU, RAM, etc., is the largest performance boost you'll see from an overclock. I have my i7 930 overclocked to 3.8 GhZ (which is 1 GhZ past stock), and can go as high as 4.3 GhZ if the weather is colder. This is a tremendous overclock, and not only makes games run significantly faster, but also has my computer operating a lot more speedily. It took many hours of testing before I found how to properly overclock my FSB to the right spot.

Overclocking the GPU is even easier because you don't need to go into your BIOS, and can often wield much more benefit than overclocking the CPU depending on the game. With PrecisionX, you can set an OC "target", and turn up the voltage. Unfortunately this varies from card to card because the last few NVIDIA series changed how the cards handle overclocking. With my GTX 670, this causes the card to overclock itself during gameplay, but only as much as the heat allows. It's very nice because I can overclock a bunch and I never really see artifacting or anything like that.

If I combine my CPU and GPU overclock, I probably gain at least 20% in FPS in most games. For free. Overclocking is a no brainer and worth learning if you like making the most out of what you have.

Boosted bandwidth from 192.3 GB/s to 222.3 GB/s according to the third party program. Increased memory by 490 but only jumped the GPU to 57. Played a good 4-5 hours straight of Assassins Creed III without any problems or artifacts. Even down sampled the resolution from 1080p to 2560X1440. No problems of any kind so far.

OC my 570 since 2011 from 730 core to 910 (on air). In many games im getting +8-10fps lol so its kinda worth it thank you come again

Back in the day when you either overclocked or upgraded twice a year it was worth it......nowadays I would say no unless you are struggling to run current games and can't afford an upgrade. Risk vs reward is just not favorable enough for me.

have been overclocking all my pc since more than a decade ago... it's definitely worth it, combined cpu + gpu overclocking can give you around additional 10-35% performance increase in games.

Overclocking is as risky as brushing your teeth dude

If you're insanely dumb you can jam the toothbrush down your throat, but like killing your PC due to improper overclocking, it's simply not a common occurrence. There are tons of safeguards built into BIOS these days, it would take serious effort to perma-damage your PC.

A slight overclock on a GTX 760 will put it on equal terms to a GTX 670. If you can get to 1.2 ghz on the core clock and memory to 1750mhz the performance of the gpu will reach GTX 770.

For gamin? not really, benchmarking? yeah why not.

Unless you are struggling to run games and cannot afford an upgrade I see no value in it....... it is not 100% risk free no matter what you say. Look at the last two word in my post....FOR ME. Don't like what I think is good for me? Bite me.

My take on overclocking is if your hardware at stock configuration is not running your games up to your satisfaction, overclocking can sometimes tap into that extra headroom that will take you where you need to go and no cost. As long as you don't jack up the voltages too high and make sure temps are safe the risk of damage extremely low. So yes, it's absolutely worth it if you want help your hardware really stretch out its value. Some products come with tons of OC headroom baked in and are a bargain. Pick it up cheap and then clock it to the performance of something you should have paid more for.

It does take some time to make sure things are stable though, always make sure to do rigorous stability testing.

I don't see why you wouldn't overclock unless your electricity rate is extraordinarily outrageous.

A 2600k from 3.4 ghz to 4.4ghz takes 15 seconds to do and the performance gain is very noticeable.

Multiplier OC and you only affect the CPU. Personally upped the FSB about 0.5MHz to a 100.5. Might increase it more, as I've had stable OC up to a 103. Multiplier for CPU is set to 45 so I got it running at 4522.5MHz. 1100 up from stock clock(3.4GHz), and 700MHzs up from boost clock (3.8GHz which is only on a single core)

TC: If you are not running a stable enough 60 fps for your liking at the settings you want, try to OC. Just remember that you have to keep it cool. Lower temps is always good, and at least for Ivy Bridge, it is very important if you want a stable overclock. OCing your GPU will yield most results in gaming, unless the game is very heavy on the CPU. If you're lucky, you can get a 35% or more and thus you might withhold upgrading for another year or two.

I don't think it's worth it. Most CPU/GPU combos are either capable enough to handle a certain game or they're not. That teeny weeny performance gained from overclocking isn't enough to change that.

I used to overclock my CPU back in the software Quake days because even the most powerful CPUs could barely run Quake at a steady 24fps in SVGA. I needed all the fps I can get.

Nowadays, I might do certain things like unlocking the 4th core of my Phenom II X3 720BE. But straight overclocking? I might try it again if the corresponding gain is bigger.

To be honest I really don't mess with OCing. I have never really purchased any after market cooling, so I have never really attempted either....

If you were afraid to walk anywhere because of the possibility of tripping and dying, I'd encourage you to walk regardless of what you think is good for you. I'm simply trying to bring you education, so you can shed your ignorance regarding the subject. You said there's a "risk vs reward" dynamic in your initial post, and I'm simply pointing out that it's an ignorant way to look at it. Overclocking isn't gambling bro. If you can't see value in additional free framerate, then that's your problem.

My gaming PC can max pretty much any game out there with no struggle, and I overclock because you'd have to be silly to pass up on so much easy, free performance. If you don't care about having additional performance so you can crank up AA on games, mod them to look better, etc. - then why spend money upgrading anyways? It's less about "Risk vs Reward", and more about "Laziness vs Reward". You just don't value performance enough to put the effort into the OC process. Risk isn't the issue. The issue for you is taking the effort to learn how to OC, so there is no risk.

Personally, I can spend a few hours so I can get that extra 20%+ framerate out of my hardware. Though it depends how important FPS is to you, 20%+ isn't not a minor increase. It's the equivalent to going to the store and getting the next CPU/GPU model, a step up from what you already have. It's fun knowing my hardware is performing better than people with similar setups. It doesn't bother you that other people probably spent a lot less on their rig, yet their rig runs a lot better than yours simply because they OC it? It would bother me. I like to get the most bang for my buck. Similar to how I like to build my own PC's as opposed to buying them pre-built. There are just some things worth learning if you like to get more for your money.

If you don't like putting the effort in, that's perfectly understandable. What I don't like is when people are spreading ignorant concepts, such as "risk vs reward" actually being a dynamic you need to consider when overclocking. It's as much of a "Risk vs Reward" scenario as walking, which is why I mentioned that earlier. Overclocking isn't risky in the least if you spend the smallest amount of time researching it before you do it. Having said that, the benefits of overclocking depend a lot on what you're already working with in terms of cooling. If your hardware isn't as capable of overclocking, then it probably isn't worth doing it.

On the flipside, if you have an i5/i7 that idles at less than 50 degrees celcius, and you aren't overclocking, you might as well throw some money in the toilet, because that's essentially what you're already doing.

Hi

You won the lottery @GabranthXIII. That's really good reaching 4.8 with 1.261V... Unless you are cooling with temperatures below freezing point.

Yeah I did. I can get 4.5GHz at 1.175v and 4.6GHz as low as 1.2v. While my 4670k did 4.3GHz at 1.27v.

Interesting desktop background.

I think its worth it. Especially for the cpu. And its easy if the cpu is unlocked (and cooled well).

I overclock my gpu also, but only for certain games, most I run at default gpu clock speeds cause I don't need any extra fps. But the most fps i see gained is 10-15fps from overclocking my gpu.

Worthless these days....

It's a small jump in performance. Money best spent on newer hardware. By the time you actually need to overclock your hardware is easily over 3-4 years and by then your probably still only replacing your GPU. The progression of the CPU has become MUCH slower than it was years ago and we're seeing less and less gain.

If you have an AMD cpu it's a different story but then again these have poor performance to begin with, need to be overclocked just to keep up with intel stock.

I can overclock my 770 and get about 10-15% more frames per seconds. This can make the difference between being able to have smooth framerate (above 60 at all times) or not. It's definitely worth it. As long as you don't mess with the voltage and test incrementally your overclocks with benchmarks to test stability and temps, the risks are very minimal.

Thank you to everyone, incredibly helpful.

You got a Z87 mobo? Maybe change to Z97, they are better for overclocking I think. At least if you watch some reviews by TinyTomLogan on OC3D.net, he states he never got his 4770K chip up to a fully stable 5.0GHz on the Z87 mobos(he is as lucky as you are with his chip. Doing 5GHz at 1.28 volts or so), however he had no trouble doing so on even simple Z97 mobos.

Yup, Z87. That sounds great, maybe I will consider getting a Z97 mobo.