Questions About Overclocking - First Build - First OC

[ranger133x]

My motherboard has an option which allows me to select my CPU speed. Additionally, I have GPU Tweak (also came with my MOBO instillation disk). I would like to OC, but I don't know if I even need it or if it is worth the risks. To be honest, I don't really even know the risks.

I have a ton of fans, my temps (CPU, GPU, MOBO) tend to stay below 40C even when gaming, so I feel like heat won't be an issue...but I dunno :/

My CPU and GPU almost never go above 70% usage, but I do have frame rate issues (Which is weird, because, to someone who is not very knowledgeable about this stuff, it would seem like they should be close to maxed out before I get laggy.

I would really like to learn about OC, so please feel free to get down into the details.

My questions are as follows:

1) I often have frame rate issues in games such as Arma 3; my friends with lower-end PCs and slower connections don't have the same problems...could overclocking my CPU and GPU fix this?

2) In Minecraft I experience a constant (almost unnoticeable) blurry, pixelated, screen-tearing. Its really annoying...could OC fix this?

3)Now to the more important stuff. How safe is overclocking the CPU? The GPU? In terms of "chance", how likely is it that something will get fried/overheat?

4)What effect will it have on the lifetime of my CPU and GPU?

5)How "unstable" could it make things? I feel confident about using my BIOS "automatic" OC capabilities, since its as simple as selecting the speed I want and it does the rest of the work. Same for GPU Tweak. However, I really don't know much about this stuff, so, once again, I would like to ask your your opinion.

My CPU runs 3.9Mhz base; My GPU runs 1111Mhz

Here is my build:
OS: Windows 8.1
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K Processor 3.90 GHz
MOBO: Asus Maximus VI Formula Motherboard
GPU: Asus Geforce GTX770-DC2OC-2GD5
Memory: 16 GB Gskill Trident X
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 280L
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 256 GB SATA 6GB/s
HDD: WD Blue 1 TB : 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache
ODD: Asus 24x DVD-RW
Case: CoolerMaster HAF X Blue

 

[mrt3]

1. yes overclocking your CPU and GPU can help to increase some FPS
2. OC can help a little bit
3.overclocking the CPU or GPU is safe only if you have a good cooling system like water cooling. and extreme OC without proper cooling and voltages will cause burnt and damaged hardware.
4. It will effect lifespan noticeably.
5. If your going to OC using BIOS it is Quite stable

 

[ranger133x]

1. yes overclocking your CPU and GPU can help to increase some FPS
2. OC can help a little bit
3.overclocking the CPU or GPU is safe only if you have a good cooling system like water cooling. and extreme OC without proper cooling and voltages will cause burnt and damaged hardware.
4. It will effect lifespan noticeably.
5. If your going to OC using BIOS it is Quite stable

In regards to the lifespan, how much might it reduce it? For my GPU and or CPU how long do you think they would last? I would be willing to buy new components in maybe 3-5 years (preferably later if they are not too outdated). I have had them for almost exactly a year so far. I have used my BIOS to overclock the CPU to 4.2mhz a for a few days here and there just to see, but was always afraid to leave it like that.

Actually, I just turned my CPU up to 4.2 today. I am hosting and playing a modded Minecraft server. The GPU and CPU were each around 38-43 degrees C over the course of about 4 hours. Like I said, I'm afraid to leave it like that though. However, I have heard rumors that CPUs these days can handle overclocking much better than they once could, and that GPUs are the ones you really have to worry about. I'm not sure if this is true.

 

[mrt3]

1. yes overclocking your CPU and GPU can help to increase some FPS
2. OC can help a little bit
3.overclocking the CPU or GPU is safe only if you have a good cooling system like water cooling. and extreme OC without proper cooling and voltages will cause burnt and damaged hardware.
4. It will effect lifespan noticeably.
5. If your going to OC using BIOS it is Quite stable

In regards to the lifespan, how much might it reduce it? For my GPU and or CPU how long do you think they would last? I would be willing to buy new components in maybe 3-5 years (preferably later if they are not too outdated). I have had them for almost exactly a year so far. I have used my BIOS to overclock the CPU to 4.2mhz a for a few days here and there just to see, but was always afraid to leave it like that.

Actually, I just turned my CPU up to 4.2 today. I am hosting and playing a modded Minecraft server. The GPU and CPU were each around 38-43 degrees C over the course of about 4 hours. Like I said, I'm afraid to leave it like that though. However, I have heard rumors that CPUs these days can handle overclocking much better than they once could, and that GPUs are the ones you really have to worry about. I'm not sure if this is true.

Overclocking degrades life span of your hardware maybe around by 20-30%(It differs on different environment and conditions)



There is a message here:
OC does degrade and in a measurable way. Heat will kill your CPU, and the more heat, the quicker. It should be your objective, overclocking or not, to run your systems at the lowest possible temperature. Whether or not the projected CPU Life coincides with economic life is a decision we each make and obviously impacts what you will tolerate as to how hot your CPU runs.


Estimating the Overclocking Impact on CPU Life:

Now let’s plug into this equation the impact on the C366’s life between running the Running the CPU at spec and overclocking it. A heatsink of .35 c/w will result in a CPU temp of 32.6 C at spec for an expected life of 23,321 hours (“Average” curve). Overclocking the C 366 with the same heatsink will result in a CPU temp of 40 C resulting in an estimated life of 18,359 hours, a difference of 4,962 hours. Now what does this means? If you run this C 366 flat out for an average of four hours per day, running at spec will result in failure in 16 years. Running the same CPU overclocked will result in failure in 12.6 years.

 

[ranger133x]

I see, so (at least with the CPU used in this study) its life is reduced by a very significant amount of time; however, it still has potential to last for a very long time.

I am thinking I might keep my CPU overclocked ever so slightly, and just OC my GPU for short periods of time.

Do you know if constantly changing back and forth creates any risks? (Kinda like how turning a light bulb on and off supposedly makes it go out faster) Also, earlier you said "extreme" OC is not safe. What is considered a reasonable increase in speeds for the CPU and GPU?

Lastly, could you recommend any good articles or other resources for more information?

Thank you for your help so far, I have enjoyed getting a better understanding of this (although I'm sure I haven't even seen the drip off the tip of the iceberg).

 

[gizzard1987]

I'm just going to throw in my 2 cents, as you build is quite similar to mine. With Asus boards, they give you Asus AI Suite, which is a great tool for people who have no idea what they're doing. It will OC your processor just by clicking Extreme Tune. I got my 4770k to 4.3 GHz without any flaws and it does a few quick stress tests to boot. I've been running like this since the 4770k hit the shelves. Up until a few weeks ago, I was even running on the stock cooler. If you go by what people on the forums post, the stock coolers are terrible things and will kill your processor and will be loud and just a terrible experience. Mine never got above 60 degrees playing Planetside 2 or Battlefield 4 or World of Warcraft. If you're not experienced with overclocking, then I'd suggest using the AI Suite, just make sure you download the suite cleaner to remove any traces if you've had it on there before, and install the latest version for your motherboard.

As for the screen tearing and all that, that seems like a graphics card problem to me, more so than a CPU problem. A lot of this also depends on the resolutions that your friends play on in comparison to your own. I noticed my 260x could no longer keep up with my games once I upgraded from my old 1440x900 monitor to my 1080p 1ms refresh Asus monitor. As for overclocking the GPU, there are a lot of great "tutorials" out there that show how people achieve their clocks. Personally I've never had any luck at all overclocking my cards with these tutorials.

BTW: The OC in my Sig was done in AI Suite

 

[ranger133x]

I'm just going to throw in my 2 cents, as you build is quite similar to mine. With Asus boards, they give you Asus AI Suite, which is a great tool for people who have no idea what they're doing. It will OC your processor just by clicking Extreme Tune. I got my 4770k to 4.3 GHz without any flaws and it does a few quick stress tests to boot. I've been running like this since the 4770k hit the shelves. Up until a few weeks ago, I was even running on the stock cooler. If you go by what people on the forums post, the stock coolers are terrible things and will kill your processor and will be loud and just a terrible experience. Mine never got above 60 degrees playing Planetside 2 or Battlefield 4 or World of Warcraft. If you're not experienced with overclocking, then I'd suggest using the AI Suite, just make sure you download the suite cleaner to remove any traces if you've had it on there before, and install the latest version for your motherboard.

As for the screen tearing and all that, that seems like a graphics card problem to me, more so than a CPU problem. A lot of this also depends on the resolutions that your friends play on in comparison to your own. I noticed my 260x could no longer keep up with my games once I upgraded from my old 1440x900 monitor to my 1080p 1ms refresh Asus monitor. As for overclocking the GPU, there are a lot of great "tutorials" out there that show how people achieve their clocks. Personally I've never had any luck at all overclocking my cards with these tutorials.

BTW: The OC in my Sig was done in AI Suite

Thanks, gizzard, I might try doing it through AISuite. I'm currently using the ROG BIOS settings to OC. It has an option where you select the OC speed and it automatically tunes the settings. I assume that it works pretty decently. However, there are hundreds and hundreds of settings and it would seem that an automated processes would not be able to decide which of those settings are best for my specific components.

That being said, I guess if I achieve the speed I want while maintaining stable voltages and good temps, I should be good to go.

Also, if you can get your hands on GPUTweak, depending on your graphics card, it allows you to OC super easy. I read somewhere that its not "true OC", whatever that means. But, it does allow you to increase the core speed and memory speed via a slider. I saw a benchmark comparison of my GPU with and w/o GpuTweak, and there was a notable difference.

 

[gizzard1987]

Yeah i used afterburner and tweak and all that and my lower end cards would always crash. I haven't tried my 970 yet, but it's the first card I've actually bought mainstream. Everything else that I've owned has been hand-me-downs or 3-4 year old technology when I got it.