Why overclock?

I am running a pretty decent machine, I am at about 10k in 3dmark w/o overclocking anything.

9850 black phenom,
2g highspeed ram,
3870hd,
160g hd, 750gb hd.

I can run crysis at well over 30 frames constant.
I can power through pretty much every other game I have thrown at it(oblivion, witcher, carbon, GRAW1+2, WAR Beta) I mean seriously no stutter no lag no heat issues.

Why overclock?
Is there a point, yeah I can get some extra juice but anything over a stable 30fps, is a waste because thats all the human eye can pickup.

So I am curious why risk so much for something that isn't going to make a difference?

Is it all just an epeen thing?

 

the human eye can see more than 30fps

a quote from http://amo.net/NT/02-21-01FPS.html

I will explain to you how the Human Eye can perceive much past the mis conception of 30 FPS and well past 60 FPS, even surpassing 200 FPS.

 

I overclock my stuff because I hate using a slow computer. The risks are minimal if you use a bit of caution and planning (buy better cooling, monitor your temps, and overclock slowly).

I dropped 4 seconds off my SuperPI time last weekend. Don't overclock if you are not comfortable with it. It is fun though...:-D

And welcome to MajorGeeks!

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Touche, but looking "smooth" is the least of my concern when I am blasting someones face in as long as I am at a stable (30fps) I could care less about my character not being fluid, I am not missing any CONTENT, and thats honestly what matters isn't it? Thats why we play games, for the content.

At least for me as a gamer that is how it is.
Content > Story > Graphics > Genre

Last minute edit:
How many animations are programed for 200+fps? When people make animations they generally make them in frames of 24-30, so again you still wouldn't be missing anything unless they are framed for 200fps, or am I misinformed?

I guess because I would be considered a NOOB to overclocking, I can't really disagree on the "minimal risks" because $700 is not minimal for me =/ (total I payed for my tower)

Thanks for the welcome.

 

The 'caution' can cost several hundred more in addition to the 'tower'. I am curious, you asked the question about overclocking, but seem to be against it. Now, I am not trying to start an argument. I have yet to 'fry' anything, and I am not the most cautious overclocker. Give me a few beers and I will try some suicide benchmark runs. :-D

My Q6600 is at 3.26GHz now, had it around 3.4 the other day. 3.26GHz is pretty safe with the cooling I have. Overclocking can give you better gaming/benchmarking results. It can also void your warranty, and if you go too far, you can let out the 'Magic Smoke'. I guess it is just a personal choice. If you do minor overclocking with proper cooling, you should be ok, and have a faster machine. If you want to go farther, you may need more extreme cooling, and risk more $$.

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I understand I am not one for supporting arguments.

But FOR ME, I would say the cons outweigh the pros for overclocking.
I am not willing to lose my tower for a few measly frames that won't matter in the long run.

Again I was just curious, why someone overclocks. Because in my situation w/o overclocking I am running everything great.

 

Doomed PC put it better then I could

 

Code:

This is one of those questions that gets brought up occasionally. What’s the point of overclocking. The argument against which I so often hear is “it’s fast enough at the speed it comes at”.
Sure it is.
My Peugeot gets me from A to B, so why the hell would I want a Ferrari?
My girlfriend is beautiful, so why the hell do I feel a need to ogle at Natalie Portman?
Let’s face it, bigger, faster, better, sexier, is better. It’s the ability to post the “I just got to 3GHz” thread, the “I just got to -60*C” thread, and the “have a look at these photos of my rig” thread. More to the point is the “holy shit that’s cool,” “you’re cool” “I want your babies” answers that you get which make it all worthwhile. Add to that the feeling of accomplishment and we seem to have hit something.
Of course this in itself isn’t a practicality point. I’ll argue practicality points next. The point here is simple, people love admiration. People like to have things that other people are impressed by. People like having nice things, full stop.
Moving on, 

I guess that really does answer my question.

About the saving money on a gaming rig part. How many processors might you eat through burning them out trying to give them almost 50% more power...
2.5-3.0 is doable, but 2.0 to 2.8 is a little out of whack and you would need some mad cooling. So if you ruin 2 processors, that $250, then the one you managed to get stable burns out because it overheats, that adds up to about $400... purchasing one more of the 2.0 processors would run you about the same as the 2.8 stock.
Sorry to nag and argue, I know its all what ifs and shooting the shit. But I still fail to see any other reason to OC than Epeen.

 

atticus, I think you misunderstand how overclocking is done. I have yet to fry anything. I have overclocked 8 or more CPU's, so I am by no means an expert. I buy CPU's, memory, mobo, and stuff that is known to overclock well. I get good cooling parts. Then I start to overclock.

You don't just try a 2GHZ CPU at 3.4GHz. You slowly bring it up by a few MHz at a time, checking temps and stability. At some point, the CPU will not boot or will not be stable. You can increase the voltages and continue, or back down to where it is overclocked but stable.

My current CPU seems to be good at 3.24GHz. I just bought a new one that should overclock a bit more. Stock is 2.4GHz on the Q6600. I feel, since it is a Quad, I should have at least 4GHz extra power. Others have pushed a simular setup farther, but my goal is 3.4GHz on air. Should be pretty much safe and doable. Course if I fry it, oh well, I will toss my old Q6600 in and run it at 3.24 or so. :-D

You might be suprised at the tests some overclockers do to test for stability. That is the boring part of the 'hobby'. The fun part is cutting time off benchmarks or getting a few more FPS. Doomed PC put it very well.

Be carefull atticus... Overclocking can be contagious.

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I have been overclocking for over 12 years now and to put it bluntly I'm fed up with people talking crap about overclocking when they clearly don't know what there talking about. With the right knowledge and experience one can easly get 40% speed out of any given system without suffering any damage or shorter component life. The knowledge and experience part means its not for every one. I ran a 1.6Ghz thoroughbred core at 2.4 Ghz with a volt modded 9800pro for over 3 years before I handed it down to my brother who ran the exact same thoroughbred at 2.3Ghz and the exact same modded 9800pro for another 2 years by that time both were out of date. Both the CPU and card are a live and well still running modded and overclocked in a friends system. If you want to overclock then overclock, if you don't then don't.

 

for some it is epeen.

For others, it is like an addiction... a drug that you must indulge in.

Some of us do it the same way as ricers do with their cars... Because that is our life.

Some of us do it just to say that "Hey, yo, i can do it, here is my results, take them or leave them, brah"

But there does come a point at times... where it is just silly to overclock...

but that's the point of geeking out. When is geeking not silly and fun?

 

Lets face it the vast majority of manufacturers who sell PC components want to satisfy a market base of mums and dads who potentially know nothing about whats "under the hood" (what the individual parts are), can use it day to day for 24/7 (even for 24 hours a day) and minimise the likelihood of returns, say 99%, before the parts warranty expires. They therefore sell the components set at "safe" and reliable levels (midway to 3/4 potential capacity) to maximize stability and minimise returns. The vast majority of enthusiasts know this and are aware that these components are able to go a lot faster with added cooling, know-how and caution.

Why overclock? Because I want my PC to do "everything" faster. Personally I spend quite a bit of time on my PC and If I can "safely" increase it by 25% overall (without ANY damage) to do Word, Burn DVD's, play games, surf the net and really be able to multitask I have saved myself a lot of time of being in front of my PC. Frankly it's called productivity for amount of time spent to outcomes achieved and I do serious multitasking. I have saved my self a great deal of unnecessary time by OC my CPU and RAM to free myself up from having to sit in front of a "stock PC". Why does every company always look for efficiency and improved quality standards at work!!! That is what the vast majority of OC's are truly aiming for!!!!

Damn I'm a scientist and sometimes do complex modeling, GIS, statistical analysis so I either spend copious amounts of money on high end processors or buy a reasonably priced one, OC it and and achieve better results. You ever done any modeling and have had to wait 30mins for results to be generated, or suffered a system freeze 1/2 through outcomes, and then question any results generated after that! Most guys have clearly stated they DON'T shorten the life of their components because they are EMPOWERED with the knowledge on how to OC safely. OC is to get the most out of your system.

 

A final point a sportsman doesn't aim for mediocrity, they aim to push themselves within clearly defined "safe" boundaries (not going to injure themselves) to try their best, achieve the highest possible standard they can with the physical resources they have at their disposal. That is what the vast majority of OC's are doing.....there is a small percentage who push things till they break but only a small percentage who either have to much money or lack sufficient knowledge.

 

This is a very interesting thread,
I agree with the last statement and think this sums it up.
I have dabbled with minor overclocking, as I don't really want to push it and would rather spend the time "overclocking" my car. I know the risks with this, but why do it?
Because it excites me, the thrill that I have improved something a company has spent millions on, I have made it more to my taste.

 

That is the spirit of it! So when you overclock a car, do you put a 14V battery in it? Or crank up the alternator?:-D

I will crank up the PC's, my old hooptie, well, I am just happy when it cranks!

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A short story why I overclock..
Playing Diablo ][ my son was kicking my *** all over the place. I got to thinking reaction time is not my forte - but I have more money and a bunch more talent with hardware. With a top end computer, raid array, tweaked Windows 98 and a volt modded Voodoo 5500 clocked to the max I started winning. I had between half and 3/4 of a second advantage in rendering his character when we met head on.
I overclock to win, it is as fair as any other tactic.

30 FPS will lose to 45 FPS given perfectly even players. that 0.05 second is a location error on the screen you cannot compensate for when aiming. Not much, but still an advantage. If you play modern games 30 FPS is average for a gaming computer, but you only get 15 or even less when the going gets rough. Which is why so many manufactures sell overclocked rigs.

 

This thread looks like a passive aggressive way for the OP to call overclockers epeen obsessed losers. Call me cynical.

You wanted to know why OTHERS OC and several reasons have been shared so theres no reason to keep going back to why YOU wouldnt OC.

The risks aren't the same for everyone it's dependent on each individuals abilities.

 

Y overclock? plain and simple some of us don't have a thousand dollars for the fastest cpu.. heres my deal I wanted the qx9770 but couldn't afford it so I got me a q9450 for 249.99 frys special got rid of the free board for $30 so $220 for the chip.. difference between the two locked/unlocked multipliers same structure.. I overclocked mine to 3.7ghz fsb 463*8 vcore 1.32 max vcore for my chip (1.36) Prime stable and it never hits above 60C on W/C.. so this is why overclock I just saved a thousand bucks.. and my chip is just as fast if not faster... I do a lot of video encoding so a fast system is a must...

 

Nice OC ZeroX_G! Have you thought about running the F@H thing from Stanford university on that beast? I personally fold for a different team, but the Geeks here have their own team. If you are interested in either one, PM me about the Pimptastic team, or post here for the MajorGeeks team: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=136600

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i bought one of the fastest gaming unit alienware could build.spent coupe thousands on it...i still overclocked the cpu a bit..didnt need to but i couldnt help it.its really an addiction for speed(plus i got warranty hhehe).wish i could overclock the processor on my laptop!

 

Look, I love overclocking and I haven't got my Agena Phenom 9500 to go past 2.563 GHz. Why should I bother? Because I can. That's the bottom line. I bought a PNY 9800GX2 factory OC'd to 675/1050 but I couldn't settle for less than 805/1128-not even the cieling. The point is that if the factory sent me an overclocked kryptonite core I'd push it till I found some rediculous stability or let the smoke out of the machine.