Intel i5 3550 ovrerclock?

[Asmari]

Im sorry i know theres a load of threads similar to mine. But i never get the answer im looking for.

How safe is it to overclock a 3550 to 4.0 using asrock extreme tuning utility?

I have a h60 water cooling.

Is all i have to do is change the cpu ration from 36.0 to 40.0?

 

[SchizTech]

The most you can OC that chip is 400 MHz by moving the multiplier up 4 notches, which isn't a very large OC. It shouldn't pose a terribly great risk as overclocking risks go. It also shouldn't' need much other adjustment, being such a small OC.

 

[Asmari]

The most you can OC that chip is 400 MHz by moving the multiplier up 4 notches, which isn't a very large OC. It shouldn't pose a terribly great risk as overclocking risks go. It also shouldn't' need much other adjustment, being such a small OC.

Do you think it is worth it? Will i see much difference? Would moving it up 4 noches make it 4.0 ghz?

 

[SchizTech]

That 4 GHz would be the max turbo speed, not the regular clock speed. Turbo Boost is a feature on newer Intel chips which lets the clock speed of a few cores raise while keeping the other cores at the rated clock speed. SO the 3550 defaults at 3.3 GHz (100x33) with a turbo up to 3.7 on one core (100x37).

This means depending on the load the CPU will automatically raise one core to 3.7 and keep the other 3 at 3.3
or
raise TWO cores to 3.6 and keep the other two at 3.3
or
raise three to 3.5 with one at 3.3
or temporarily raise all four to 3.4 GHz

Raising the max turbo from 3.7 to 4.1 would raise the normal clock speed from 3.3 to 3.7.

IS it worth it? Well as long as it's stable and doesn't hurt your temps too much you're getting a free performance boost (and with a modest OC like this those aren't huge concerns). Will it be a big difference? 3.7/3.3 works out to roughly 12%. That should be noticeable, at least in programs which place a high load on the CPU. You won't see ordinary browsing go much faster because it's already as fast as it's going to get, more or less but demanding tasks will finish sooner.

 

[Asmari]

That 4 GHz would be the max turbo speed, not the regular clock speed. Turbo Boost is a feature on newer Intel chips which lets the clock speed of a few cores raise while keeping the other cores at the rated clock speed. SO the 3550 defaults at 3.3 GHz (100x33) with a turbo up to 3.7 on one core (100x37).

This means depending on the load the CPU will automatically raise one core to 3.7 and keep the other 3 at 3.3
or
raise TWO cores to 3.6 and keep the other two at 3.3
or
raise three to 3.5 with one at 3.3
or temporarily raise all four to 3.4 GHz

Raising the max turbo from 3.7 to 4.1 would raise the normal clock speed from 3.3 to 3.7.

IS it worth it? Well as long as it's stable and doesn't hurt your temps too much you're getting a free performance boost (and with a modest OC like this those aren't huge concerns). Will it be a big difference? 3.7/3.3 works out to roughly 12%. That should be noticeable, at least in programs which place a high load on the CPU. You won't see ordinary browsing go much faster because it's already as fast as it's going to get, more or less but demanding tasks will finish sooner.

Okay so im using asrock extreme tuning utility. And there is an option called CPU Ratio. Right now its at 36x, and its able to go up to x41. Should i bring it up to x40 or x41? I don't have to change any of the voltage or anything correct?

 

[SchizTech]

For a modest OC like this you shouldn't need to make other changes. If you want to be careful go in steps up to x41 though it shouldn't be too hard to get there.