Can someone please explain overclocking?

[MLG Doge]

I'm new to overclocking, the only computer I have had experience using is an imac. I'm in the process of purchasing parts to build my own custom gaming rig, and I have no clue on how to overclock. Can someone please explain to me how to do it, pros and cons of doing it, and if it would require extra parts.

Note: My max budget would be under 4k usd.

 

[maddogfargo]

Read one of the guides for more detail.

But the simplest answer is it is like hot-rodding a car. You tune and tweak things for better performance over stock, but it can require better quality parts and a better cooling system to keep it reliable.

 

[kanewolf]

Overclocking is causing the clock speed of some part (CPU, GPU) to run faster than the default. You might do it by changing a real clock speed or by changing a multipler of the base clock speed. The limiting factor is usually heat buildup. Overclocking requires more than stock cooling. That might mean a large air cooler or closed loop water cooling or custom water cooling.
Overclocking doesn't required extra parts, other than cooling. It does require careful selection of the parts to be overclocking friendly. The "K" cpus are marketed and engineered for overclocking. The Z series motherboards are intended for overclocking. GPUs with large coolers and extra fans are intended for overclocking. Cases with a lot of fan mounting positions or a radiator mounting position are intended for overclocking.

 

[MLG Doge]

Overclocking is causing the clock speed of some part (CPU, GPU) to run faster than the default. You might do it by changing a real clock speed or by changing a multipler of the base clock speed. The limiting factor is usually heat buildup. Overclocking requires more than stock cooling. That might mean a large air cooler or closed loop water cooling or custom water cooling.
Overclocking doesn't required extra parts, other than cooling. It does require careful selection of the parts to be overclocking friendly. The "K" cpus are marketed and engineered for overclocking. The Z series motherboards are intended for overclocking. GPUs with large coolers and extra fans are intended for overclocking. Cases with a lot of fan mounting positions or a radiator mounting position are intended for overclocking.

I had selected this as my cooler. Is it good enough?

 

[MLG Doge]

That's a really horrible build... did anybody help you with that? Your motherboard would require a bios update to support your CPU meaning youd require a second 1st gen Haswell CPU. You have an 850 Pro which is pointless for you. You won't notice a difference between it and the 33% cheaper 850 EVO.

Seagate Hard drives are more budget type drives. You want a Western Digital black in your price range . 290X is a very old GPU and has terrible thermal performance and power draw as well as not being fully DX12 compatible. You want 980's. Not 290X's.

That is a really horrible case IMO but to each his own. Keep it if you like it.

That $37 soundcard will sound MUCH worse than the integrated audio on a modern high end motherboard. Chuck it.

$400 for a network adapter? You know motherboards have come with NICs for WELL over a decade now right? You'll get the same performance out of an integrated Intel NIC.

Your monitor choice is pretty solid, gotta say.

Build the following:

i7 4790K
Swiftech H220-X
ASRock Z97 Extreme 6
Same RAM you had
850 EVO 256GB SSD
WD Black 2TB HDD
EVGA ACX 2.0 GTX 980 x2
Corsair 760T case
Same PSU you had
Same optical drive
DITCH SOUNDCARD
DITCH NETWORK CARD
Same monitor you had

Overclocking is simply increasing the operating frequency of a component. That's about it.

For cases would a thermaltake level 10 work? I like how it looks just now sure on how well it works. But I will consider the case that you mentioned.

 

[MLG Doge]

That case is absolute garbage. Please don't buy it. NZXT, Corsair, Lian Li, Silverstone, Fractal... these are good case manufacturers. Most other stuff is garbage. Cooler master is OK but they are easily bested at any price point IMO.... Except for ultra high end enthusiast stuff like the CM Cosmos 2, which is already getting old and long in the tooth. For future reference, Thermaltake is what I would call a "junk" or "pleb" brand. Really not worth the money. There are a lot of companies like that in the DIY computer space.

What are the best cases that you could recommend, and what would be the pros and cons of the case?