What's the point of overclocking

[infamousIlusionist]

So there's basically I need some education...
What is overclocking and what is the use? Is it worth it? What's it for? Should I want to do it? Help me understand
Thanks a lot

 

[i7Baby]

It makes the processor - CPU or graphics card - go faster.

Usually only about 10% faster. And it uses more power and gets hotter. So its not always worth doing.

 

[LucoTF]

It can breathe new life into older CPUs

 

[BigBadBeef]

So there's basically I need some education...
What is overclocking and what is the use? Is it worth it? What's it for? Should I want to do it? Help me understand
Thanks a lot

It can breathe new life into older CPUs

Overclocking is one last desperate attempt of performance delusional people to make their hardware work faster than it should. The best possible result most overclockers achieve is 10-15% or 5-10 fps in gaming.

However that requires purchase of specialized cooling hardware, where for the same price you can get the components which are already natively 10% faster.

So then... Core i5 + corsair H100i = core i7 = Xeon 1271 in price.
R9 270X vapor chamber cooler = R9 290 dual-x cooler in price.
8GB of well cooled memory = 16GB of normally cooled memory = 8GB of even faster normally cooled memory in price.

So overclockers... sod off!

 

[youthanasia]

Overclocking it the process of tuning a processor, RAM, graphics card to get more performance than stock standard. Some GPU's already come pre clocked OC'd but usually this is also within safe thresholds and can be pushed further. Also you need to be looking at whether or not your CPU is unlocked so you can change the voltages to further improve performance\clock speeds. Be aware as i7Baby has stated that temperatures will rise and you'll need to do stress testing with applications like Prime or 3Dmark etc, to make sure the components don't crash when under load. So you can consider bigger fans, which tend to be louder as they increase the air flow, or even water cooling which is a whole new question.

So in basic, overclocking is a process to push your hardware a little bit harder to your game, application etc... runs that little bit smoother, at a cost of temperature and cost. Sometimes you'll find it's just cheaper to buy a better hardware and sell your old. But then you can always overclock that! 😀

 

[Undying89]

Well asking that question we can see overlcocking isnt for you.

It's for enthusiasts that want most of their hardware and ofc, knowing what they are doing.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

Overclocking isn't just about gaming, it's also about making tasks complete faster. As a photographer, I batch convert large image files and video files, and overclocking makes this process considerably quicker. Yes, I could have bought a Hyper-Threaded processor, but the overall cost would have been £100 more expensive.

Not only do I gain a productivity benefit, I also gain a slight gaming benefit, and as an enthusiast, I enjoy tinkering with my rig.

 

[truegenius]

a simple google search can answer your query with tons of videos, guides, defination etc
anyway, here it is http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+is+overclocking

 

[infamousIlusionist]

thanks so much , cant decided which is should pick as best. well know i know and thanks alot

 

[infamousIlusionist]

Overclocking isn't just about gaming, it's also about making tasks complete faster. As a photographer, I batch convert large image files and video files, and overclocking makes this process considerably quicker. Yes, I could have bought a Hyper-Threaded processor, but the overall cost would have been £100 more expensive.

Not only do I gain a productivity benefit, I also gain a slight gaming benefit, and as an enthusiast, I enjoy tinkering with my rig.

thanks first time from a editing pov.

 

[infamousIlusionist]

Overclocking it the process of tuning a processor, RAM, graphics card to get more performance than stock standard. Some GPU's already come pre clocked OC'd but usually this is also within safe thresholds and can be pushed further. Also you need to be looking at whether or not your CPU is unlocked so you can change the voltages to further improve performance\clock speeds. Be aware as i7Baby has stated that temperatures will rise and you'll need to do stress testing with applications like Prime or 3Dmark etc, to make sure the components don't crash when under load. So you can consider bigger fans, which tend to be louder as they increase the air flow, or even water cooling which is a whole new question.

So in basic, overclocking is a process to push your hardware a little bit harder to your game, application etc... runs that little bit smoother, at a cost of temperature and cost. Sometimes you'll find it's just cheaper to buy a better hardware and sell your old. But then you can always overclock that! 😀

thanks alot really helps

 

[infamousIlusionist]

So there's basically I need some education...
What is overclocking and what is the use? Is it worth it? What's it for? Should I want to do it? Help me understand
Thanks a lot

It can breathe new life into older CPUs

Overclocking is one last desperate attempt of performance delusional people to make their hardware work faster than it should. The best possible result most overclockers achieve is 10-15% or 5-10 fps in gaming.

However that requires purchase of specialized cooling hardware, where for the same price you can get the components which are already natively 10% faster.

So then... Core i5 + corsair H100i = core i7 = Xeon 1271 in price.
R9 270X vapor chamber cooler = R9 290 dual-x cooler in price.
8GB of well cooled memory = 16GB of normally cooled memory = 8GB of even faster normally cooled memory in price.

So overclockers... sod off!

thanks gave me a whole other look at it

 

[infamousIlusionist]

Well asking that question we can see overlcocking isnt for you.

It's for enthusiasts that want most of their hardware and ofc, knowing what they are doing.

well thanks anyway. by the way im 16 and just started getting into pcs and that so trying to learn fast. So i can help others . thanks anyway and broaden my knowlage. so that i can decide for my self on what to know.

 

[BigBadBeef]

Its a fashion statement, its a bling thing, like in the old days where they used to buy cheaper import cars and slap neons and sport bumpers on it and somehow convinced themselves that their cars were fast, then somebody with a bit of common sense like me came along with a stock beemer and x-ed them up so bad that even today, years later, they are having trouble getting the smell out of their cars when they shit themselves back then.

 

[infamousIlusionist]

Its a fashion statement, its a bling thing, like in the old days where they used to buy cheaper import cars and slap neons and sport bumpers on it and somehow convinced themselves that their cars were fast, then somebody with a bit of common sense like me came along with a stock beemer and x-ed them up so bad that even today, years later, they are having trouble getting the smell out of their cars when they shit themselves back then.

haha i get it

 

[LucoTF]

So there's basically I need some education...
What is overclocking and what is the use? Is it worth it? What's it for? Should I want to do it? Help me understand
Thanks a lot

CPU overclocking - not necessary for gaming with the current generation of intel CPUs.
GPU overclocking - free performance, everyone should be doing this
ram overclocking - generally doesn't yield big performance gains
monitor overclocking - awesome if you can do it

 

[infamousIlusionist]

So there's basically I need some education...
What is overclocking and what is the use? Is it worth it? What's it for? Should I want to do it? Help me understand
Thanks a lot

CPU overclocking - not necessary for gaming with the current generation of intel CPUs.
GPU overclocking - free performance, everyone should be doing this
ram overclocking - generally doesn't yield big performance gains
monitor overclocking - awesome if you can do it

Thanks well heres my GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970, 4GB, DDR5, PCI-Express 3.0, G1 GAMING Ed.
thoughts? overclockable?

 

[i7Baby]

The G1 is overclocked already from the factory about as high as it can go.

 

[LucoTF]

The G1 is overclocked already from the factory about as high as it can go.

Not true, the memory clock is 7,000 out of the box and 8,000 is doable on this card

 

[i7Baby]

Doable but not advisable.

 

[BigBadBeef]

The G1 is overclocked already from the factory about as high as it can go.

Not true, the memory clock is 7,000 out of the box and 8,000 is doable on this card

Overclocked to 8000, and 2 weeks later:

 

[LucoTF]

Yeah, look at the sweet graphics on that explosion! My card rocks!

 

[BigBadBeef]

About as real as it can get actually! 😀

 

[LucoTF]

 

[4Ryan6]

So there's basically I need some education...
What is overclocking and what is the use? Is it worth it? What's it for? Should I want to do it? Help me understand
Thanks a lot

Just to clarify since you've already chosen a best answer literally based on fear!

Overclocking is simply getting more than you actually paid for by manipulating the safe zone built into every CPU or GPU to get more speed from it, but to do that requires educating yourself on how to overclock in the first place, or else you live in fear of the unknown, always curious about overclocking, but fearful to take a step towards learning how to do it.

My fear reference comes for the user BigBadBeef that you chose for a best answer he is using fear to scare you away from it, and he obviously told you exactly what you wanted to hear anyway, for you to choose him as your best answer, think about it.

Overclocking is actually an addictive hobby, the more you do it, the more you want to do it, some just dabble in it, some are much more serious, and some are very extreme overclockers sometimes going all the way to doing it for competition and winning prize money for world record overclocks.

BigBadBeefs fear reference of an overclock that ends in an Atomic explosion 2 weeks later, could happen (as hardware failure but not an atomic explosion), if you overclock in ignorance, missing or disregarding all the information you need to keep that from happening, the highest investment in overclocking is knowledge that you invest yourself into learning.

If you're not willing to do that, then do not overclock!

Overclocking is not for everyone because besides the monetary cost of buying overclockable components and the cooling to allow it, you have to educate yourself on how to do it, without damaging your hardware and if you are not willing to invest that time in learning then do not overclock.

When you say is it worth it?

That can only be answered by those that actually do it, and it is definitely worth it to me!

Check out my CPU-Z validation.