is cpu overclocking a big deal?

[Liquid-X]

i have i7 6700k, right now it is 4.2 Ghz, if i get it to 4.4 Ghz, is it really a big difference?

 

[alpacino2368]

In some cases yes and in some cases no.

In your case for example, that overclock would net your a 5% increase in processing power and would probably not be noticeable in day to day operations or gaming. This is partially due to skylake being a very new process and having the best ipc available atm.

However in my case were I am running a sandy bridge 2500k running at 4.2 ghz, this is roughly a 20% overclock. This allows my chip which is 5 years old to compete pretty directly with new cpu's released on the market in terms of day to day performance as well as most games.

 

[blazorthon]

It's not a big difference. Best case scenario with overclocking is an increase in performance that is proportional to the increase in frequency, so a little under 5% going from 4.2GHz to 4.4Ghz. Realistically, some things don't get that best case scenario and the performance improvement will usually be a little lower. Overclocking is a bigger deal when you're starting with a lower frequency like a 3.6GHz i5 and going up to 4.4GHz, a roughly up to 22% improvement.

CPUs have a hard frequency limit in modern silicon technology of around 5GHz. As stock frequencies get closer to it, overclocking makes less of a difference. The days of taking a 2GHz stock chip and doubling its performance are over for the foreseeable future.

 

[Geekwad]

i have i7 6700k, right now it is 4.2 Ghz, if i get it to 4.4 Ghz, is it really a big difference?

In general no:

http://ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3948&page=3

Overclocking on newer equipment has become very highly overrated. On something like the G3258 or i5's (especially older i5's) yes. AMD's older stuff. Certainly. New Skylake i7's? No.

 

[aquielisunari]

i have i7 6700k, right now it is 4.2 Ghz, if i get it to 4.4 Ghz, is it really a big difference?

The reason why overclocking on the i7 that little is really two fold. For one, it's a 200MHz push. Nothing to text home to mama about.

Secondly it depends on the program being used. Your 6700K most likely exceeds the CPU requirement. I compare it to being in 3rd gear but having the pedal to the floor. Lots of power going nowhere fast. Overclocking at times can be useless regardless of how significant the OC is. Then there is the hardware. Having an OC in place but not having your OS on a SSD can limit the benefits of that OC.

In short, no it isn't Even a 500MHz OC isn't all that great. OC about a GHz and then it starts to be called a moderate OC instead of a light OC or simply getting your feet wet as you are.

Can OCing be a big deal? Absolutely. It depends on the supporting hardware, the level of OC and the software being utilized. Or someone can OC just for the challenge. Why OC when it doesn't improve anything? Why climb the mountain when you can fall?

As for me there is no reason to OC currently. It only creates more heat and wastes energy. There isn't a noticeable return because my hardware exceeds the sys. reqs. of all my software and my OS is on an SSD. No need for an OC right now.