Question Should I Overclock my CPU? If so, how do I do it?

[MrPaper146]

My setup is:
-CPU: AMD FX-8370 Eight-Core Processor
-GPU: AMD RX-470
-MoBo: Asus 970 Pro Gaming/Aura

Should I and how can I Overclock my CPU?

 

[512-Bit]

What cooler do you have?
The FX series can run really hot, so you will need a beefy cooler in order to overclock.

 

[MrPaper146]

What cooler do you have?
The FX series can run really hot, so you will need a beefy cooler in order to overclock.

I have a Cooler Master Seidon 120 Ver. 2

 

[512-Bit]

You can try it. Don't go overboard though. Increase in little increments, and stress test until you get to a satisfactory frequency.

What clock speed is it running at now?

 

[MrPaper146]

You can try it. Don't go overboard though. Increase in little increments, and stress test until you get to a satisfactory frequency.

What clock speed is it running at now?

Sorry for my ignorance, but how do I check?

 

[512-Bit]

Sorry for my ignorance, but how do I check?

Go into the bios, and go to the overclocking menu.
If you tell me what brand mobo you have I can guide you through the process

Or you can just use task manager.

 

[PC Tailor]

Also a good query to ask before you start overclocking is WHY you want to.
Overclocking does not drastically overhaul performance, but more gets every ounce of performance for your money. But like all FX chips, you likely won't see a huge difference and isn't really worth it.

 

[Does it work]

If I'm completely honest, if you're not confident overclocking, then don't overclock.

Otherwise, ensure you have a good cooler then slowly increase the frequency and voltage in very small increments and benchmark, if it crashes go back 1 increment and you are where you want to be. Keep your case open with access to your cmos battery/pins to short mobo when it does become unstable.

Never short it while the machine is turned on, don't even think about it, remove power, (plug and flick switch) anything else connected which can provide power, then attempt to turn machine on a few times to get rid of any build up electricity, then either remove cmos battery or short the pins with the reset switch or a metal object.

 

[InvalidError]

I wouldn't put much effort into overclocking pre-Ryzen chips, you'd get far better performance out of a stock Ryzen 1600 than a 5GHz OC on an FX-8xxx. AMD couldn't learn from Intel's Netburst mistake and had to smash its face against a Netburst of its own to realize that pursuing clock frequency at any cost makes no sense.

When AMD launched the $1000 5GHz FX9560, it got ridiculed for getting beat by Intel's ~$120 i3 in most games of the time, so don't expect miracles no matter how much you may succeed at overclocking your CPU by.

 

[MrPaper146]

Go into the bios, and go to the overclocking menu.
If you tell me what brand mobo you have I can guide you through the process

Or you can just use task manager.

Task menager says 4,00 GHz

 

[512-Bit]

Task menager says 4,00 GHz

Try getting it to 4.2 GHz, then 4.5, then keep increasing the OC till you get a crash. When you get a constant crash, that means that is the max frequency your processor can handle. Every Processor will be different.

You should first try stress testing your CPU without any overclocking. Download cinebench, then save a screenshot of your tests.