Can i safely overclock my PC with these specs?

[ngreed86]

Hi,

I downloaded GTA V today and notice whilst playing that my FPS on normal settings is around 30 which is quite low compared to when I am playing other games. After doing some reading I wonder if my CPU is holding me back and if overclocking it a little will help with the performance I am getting. Before I do I was hoping to get some advice on whether this is actually safe to do with my specs?!

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/s7wFHN

CPU - AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler - RAIJINTEK PALLAS Red 56.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
MB - MSI 970A-G43 ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Memory - Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Storage - Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
GPU - MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card
PSU - EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply

Any suggestions, other thoughts would be welcome!

Cheers.

 

[Justiceinacan]

Overclocking would help, but that motherboard doesn't look up to the task and the PSU is iffy.

 

[Kavinqt]

Your motherboard is a 4+1 power phase meaning to basically avoid overclocking on the board. http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database You can see here, you would need I would say at least a 8+2 power phase board to overclock. So no your motherboard can't even handle overclocking so it won't make a difference.

If you could overclock yes it would help a tiny bit, not much though as GTA V is a very CPU intensive game which the IPC of the FX series is very bad so it can't handle the game very well.

I highly recommend upgrading out of the FX series as it won't get any better. Ryzen looks very promising.

 

[SkyNetRising]

notice whilst playing that my FPS on normal settings is around 30 which is quite low

What are your ingame vsync settings?
Sounds like it has been set at half of monitor refresh rate.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Is should do better than 30fps. My old system was an fx 6350 and gtx 760, I got 50-60fps most of the time, with dips into the 30s in the desert near trevors house and the center of the city at day time. With a mix of high and normal settings 1080p. Are you trying to run the game maxed out? If so that is your issue, your system is just not capable of that. If its locked to 30fps skynetrising is probably right in that it's vsync set to half monitor refresh rate.

 

[ngreed86]

notice whilst playing that my FPS on normal settings is around 30 which is quite low

What are your ingame vsync settings?
Sounds like it has been set at half of monitor refresh rate.

Vsync was set as OFF

 

[ngreed86]

Your motherboard is a 4+1 power phase meaning to basically avoid overclocking on the board. http://www.overclock.net/t/946407/amd-motherboards-vrm-info-database You can see here, you would need I would say at least a 8+2 power phase board to overclock. So no your motherboard can't even handle overclocking so it won't make a difference.

If you could overclock yes it would help a tiny bit, not much though as GTA V is a very CPU intensive game which the IPC of the FX series is very bad so it can't handle the game very well.

I highly recommend upgrading out of the FX series as it won't get any better. Ryzen looks very promising.

Thanks for the info Kavinqt. I was a complete novice when doing this build and on a tight budget and am living to regret some of the choices I made. My plan is to gradually upgrade when I get the money (ive just had my first child so this may take a while!). I couldn't afford to upgrade the CPU and MB at the same time so an upgrade to the motherboard may be my best short term option if it gets me an interim performance boost before I upgrade the CPU.

What specifically do I need to look for in a MB to make sure I can safely OC the FX6300?

 

[Kavinqt]

If you buy a new motherboard just for overclocking the CPU and decide to upgrade to Ryzen later you will still have to buy a Ryzen ready motherboard aka a AM4 motherboard, where as the FX series is off of the AM3+ socket so in the long run it wouldn't help much at all... If you have your fx sitting at stock 3.5ghz I've seen them get to anywhere around 4.5ghz safely at pretty high volts though.. If you want to go the upgraded motherboard route for your 6300 http://pcpartpicker.com/product/yFjG3C/asus-motherboard-m5a99fxpror20 this is probably your best bet for the price. Still it's kinda spendy and you will need a decent PSU to overclock too.

Overall, I just recommend to wait for Ryzen as it comes out in 2 weeks. But Yeah a new CPU + Motherboard + new DDR4 RAM will cost you anywhere from $500-800+ so it's spendy but will make your system really nice.