do I "really" need to overclock cpu/gpu???

customgtp

Distinguished
Jul 29, 2010
114
12
18,695
ok. I updated my system. I don't wanna get into my steps of overclocking but...i've been spending more time playing with bios and p.x. then games. Dealing with crashes, blue screens, overheating and all that sh*t..is it really worth it?? or should I put precision x away and stay away from bios? I've read up on how and watched videos. but it is frustrating.

Case- NZXT Phantom w/3x200mm 2x140mm 2x120mm fans
Mobo- m5a99fx pro r2.0
Ram- G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB
CPU- FX-8350 cooled with H80i with Noctua NF-F12 fans
GPU- EVGA 780 GTX FTW 980MHz core (Have a second card on the way)
PSU Corsair HX750 (Have an EVGA 1000w G2 on the way)
I play on a 3D 1080p Optoma on a 135" screen.

If I keep gpu's at stock, especially if I'm getting a second, should I just let the motherboard boost my cpu a little with auto tuning and be done with it or just keep it at 4.0??
(know I"m answering my own question...guess I wanna hear that i'm right or wrong)
 
Solution


Haha yeah, and no problem. I'm not sure what is...
I don't do online. I like open world games and shooters but I play campaign really and on a projector screen not a monitor. I have a second card on the way and a bigger psu. Will 4.0 to 4.5ghz really matter for me with that said?
 
Hello Custom! I'm sorry to hear about your overclocking troubles, I know what you mean, it can be a pain. Overclocking is, of course, not necessary but if you feel like you want just a little bit stronger performance from your parts and you have adequate cooling, which you most certainly do, the question is, why not? Having any cooler besides the stock cooler on a CPU deserves to be taken advantage of for better performance and especially with a watercooler, the cooler on the 780, and the case airflow your machine screams "OVERCLOCK ME, I HAVE SO MUCH POTENTIAL". Granted overclocking won't yield the results of having a $1000 CPU and a quad-sli of gtx titans, but with that cooling power, it would be a shame to just run everything at stock. Using MSI Afterburner, GPU overclocking should be simple enough and relatively frustration-free as it is all done inside of Windows, no meticulous BIOS work. The tedious bios for overclocking a CPU can be quite the trouble to get right but Asus's bios, from what I've seen is pretty well organized. A great guide for you is this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MckeAmnDeTk&ab_channel=JayzTwoCents ). Jay does a walkthrough on your exact CPU and on an Asus mobo so I would imagine that the process would be very similar, if not exact. If you can get through the process of overclocking it only yields performance gains that may be mildly or majorly noticeable, but either way overclocking presents free performance gain and with the cost of your system and its cooling system alone, you deserve to get something free out of it. Hopefully Jay'z video will help you and hopefully I have helped in at least showing you why you deserve to give yourself the advantage of overclocking. Let me know if you have any other or specific questions and I'll be glad to help whenever I find the time(schools been busy lately). On a last note, with your parts, you'll enjoy your PC anyways but overclocking will give you...let's just say even more enjoyment. Awesome build by the way!!!
 
Thank you. I bought the H80i and added the new noctus fans hoping to overclock the cpu aoround 4.6. I watched that video like 5 times already. really good. I guess tonight when I took the training wheels off and played some games I was upset that it crashed on me a few times. and I only have it up to 4.4ghz. I might just wait till I get the extra card and gpu, play it for a little, then maybe take it up a notch. And I agree...money spent. I know it would be stupid to keep it at 4.0...should of kept my ph 980 x4 3.7 black edition if im going to do that huh.... maybe clear cmos, reload windows, and start from scratch to make me feel satisfied, then bump the cpu a little....thanks!!
 


Haha yeah, and no problem. I'm not sure what is preventing it from achieving a stable overclock at that, following Jay'z guide on what to turn on and off and what to turn up should at least be able to give the card a stable 4.4ghz boost. If you are sure that you put in sufficient and healthy values for everything, you may want to check to see if it is a problem with your motherboard or the cpu itself, as Jay proves it to be a capable overclocker and cheaper boards with much less cooling power in the entire system can quite often achieve a similar 4.5ghz overclock. With your cooling, you should be able to come close to Jay'z 4.8. Unless you were somehow very unlucky and received a weaker overclocking processor, although it's hard to believe that it wouldn't allow 4.4 stable by having a water cooler alone. Hopefully you find what's holding it back, good luck with it and feel free to ask anything else!!!
 
Solution
I have been playing around with my gpu. It's an Asus direct CUII R9 290, being Asus it comes with "gpu tweak". After a week of playing around I have decided that it's not worth overclocking it, all it does is make it very hot and noisy.
On "Unigine Valley" with everything maxed out, the best I could get is 58.8 fps. In the pre-set '"g" for gaming it was 55.4 fps and in "s" for slow, which underclocks it, it was still 54.3 fps. I have decided I will probably keep it on the slow setting. As others have said, it's an expensive component and is it really worth halving it's life just for a few extra fps?
 
oh and Im going to post this somewhere else....but I got my psu today and I'm very very confused...It is an evga 1000w g2. It doesnt seem to support my mobo for some reason. The cpu power cable is not write...Im looking at 8- pin EATX12V on mine and this one had EPS12V!?!?

1. Do i need a different psu and if so....which one 1000w+??
2. My Corsair HX750 wont power this setup will it... It's the Gold version not the silver one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010
3. If I try the HX750 what is the least and worse that would happen to the pc with 2 x 780 FTW's in SLI?
4. Stupid stupid question....the 750w psu's cpu power cable fits into 1000w psu's module port....probably would blow up my pc huh?
 

Are you sure you can't use your plug, I thought one was a 4 + 4 pin design and the other an 8 pin. As long as there are 4 12v and 4 earths you're fine, just don't use a 6 + 2 pin pci express plug as it will short it out.
 
Thank you for your time and input. I know I will either up the cpu or leave it but that is for another day. Time to play and make sure all is running good.

Ok....time to show off. I know y'all have already saw this song and dance many times but I wanna show mine because....well because :)
Final build (nothing oc'd yet) is:

Case- NZXT Phantom w/ 3x200mm 2x140mm 3x120mm fans
Mobo- m5a99fx pro r2.0
Ram- G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB DDR3 1866
CPU- FX-8350 cooled with H80i with Noctua NF-F12 fans
GPU- EVGA GTX 780 FTW 980MHz x2 SLI
PSU- EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G2 80 PLUS GOLD Certified 1000W
I play on a 3D 1080p Optoma on a 135" screen.

10523603_10204950343331827_6292772914850243021_n.jpg


11069876_10204950344731862_6343723115722130134_n.jpg


10330506_10204950343971843_6723139607586727089_n.jpg