Do you find overclocking worthwhile?

[pym]

I must ask you guys this question...

Do you find the time you're wasting overclocking your hardware, installing fans, cooling systems, BIOS tweaking, putting your system in danger with high heat and enormous temperatures worthwhile?
What about the money spent on cooling equipment, wouldn't it be better to invest that money in a better hardware to begin with?

If you find it worthwhile, please explain how?
What performance boost do you get?
Is it just for fun?
Maybe just knowing you got more than the hardware's spec?

Please, do share your thoughts :)

[digitalwanderer]

It depends on the game I'm playing to be honest. I have horrible dust problems with my system due to some highly technical problems involving three puppies and a very muddy winter that forced me to clean out my PC once a week if I wanted to run her at 2.7Ghz.

If I run my little 3000+ stock I don't have to clean her but once every couple of months.

So for now I've been running stock and I really haven't noticed much difference unless I'm playing a high-end game like NFSMW or FEAR or something. I've been replaying Bloodrayne2 lately and I can't tell the difference on it, same with GTA:SA.

Oh, this is on my PC Bubbles: 3000+ Venice, TT Venus 12, K8NS Ultra-939, OCZ EL platinum rev 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) PC3200, 256MB Radeon X800 TT (520/560), Audigy2, Altec-Lansing ADA885, TV, DVDR, 80GB, 200GB, 200GB. :)

[liqnit]

OC is good for me for testing the limit of my hardware to see where i can go
and if i don't get any problem and the computer acts a LOT better then i stay with the OC settings
but usually with my hardware the results are like 5% more and it's worth the usually over heating of the hardware

[Bio-Hazard]

I OC'everything, but only run a mild OC most of the time.......... :shock: For me it's basicly for fun and a hobby to see just how far different parts of my system will go and it makes a huge differance in some games. As for extra money spent, I haven't spent all that much extra money of my own on cooling equipment, most has come from trades, sponsorship or selling old components............ :wink: It's sort of like a on going process with no real cash out flow, self sustaining hobby for the most part, except for when it comes time for a major upgrade............ :shock:

[Null]

Overclockin' is like primpin'.

Sooner or later, you have to say to yourself:

"You look mahvelous!"

"It's time to go play and let everyone else know how mahvelous you are."

"If you were any more mahvelous, you would be too mahvelous, as mahvelous as that sounds."

[pc_man_iac]

Yeah I OC but i dont see 1500% i see about 15-35% depending on what I have oc'd and by how much I oc each thing I like doing it than selling it to someone used before it burns out lol(i don't do that last part) I usually give old parts to my bro for his pc, but yeah I am fine with doing it, i see a good performance boost, and yeah why NOT huh any really good reasons out there why not too??

[pym]

and yeah why NOT huh any really good reasons out there why not too???

Well, as I said, Overclocking is money and time consumer (as I see it).

I saw no real improvement so I just got off the idea.
Not to speak about the noisy fans...
I understood that besides what I mentioned above, I wanted my system to be quiet as a grave, which is almost impossible when OC...

[Bio-Hazard]

You can get a OC'd system quiet if you water cool and it has enough surface area in the radiator(s) to cool the water with low speed fans or no fans at all (passive). My main rig will run a mild OC (275x9) 100% passive if I feel like and still remain below 40c. It's all in how you go about it. I've never had any of my OC'd CPU's over 45c or my GPU's over 40c. So I have no fear about ever burning one of them up.

[PUTALE]

i overclock my system but with today's system running pretty much quite fast, I really think that overclock really does not have as much of an impact as it was before (I think this is why we really don't see much of great overclocking news anymore).

[Null]

we really don't see much of great overclocking news anymore.

Here's some great overclocking news.

My XFX grfx card overclocks great! With factory overclocking, no less!

As overclocking becomes the norm, don't become desensitized to it.

There is always something new and exciting coming out of the overclock crock pot.

[Makubex_GB]

I love OCing. I OC everything even if it's just a moderate OC, so I can get the extra performance my hardware can easily put out. :wink:

[werty316]

I OC my CPU only. If you are a person who doesn't know what OC'ing means then stay away. I think it all depends on how far you wanna to push your system. I got my 3000+ to 2.8GHz stable but just long enough to run a bench and backed it down to 2.4GHz. Every little bit helps. OC'ing can make your slow CPU last longer. Also getting a slower CPU that can OC like the venice or Opteron 146 can save you money. Turning a $200 CPU into a $400 CPU is totally worth it. I mostly do it because I can say " You got a 4000+??? well I can OC my 3000+ to 2.4GHz and didn't pay $400 for it so blah"

[Fantasma]

You can get a OC'd system quiet if you water cool and it has enough surface area in the radiator(s) to cool the water with low speed fans or no fans at all (passive). My main rig will run a mild OC (275x9) 100% passive if I feel like and still remain below 40c. It's all in how you go about it. I've never had any of my OC'd CPU's over 45c or my GPU's over 40c. So I have no fear about ever burning one of them up.

A bit expensive for me, I prefer invest the money of water cooling in better hardware with air cooling.

I like overclocking, I have all overclocked, and in games, when I have the graphics card overclocked, games run smoother and faster. I like seeing my PC running like a +500$ PC. It´s like say "Wow, why waste 500$ more if I can do the same with these parts". It really saves money if you overclock moderately.

I can get about 30%boost

[Bio-Hazard]

To be 100% honest, I didn't pay jack for my water cooling rig (except for the tubing) I got or get my stuff from sponsors of the different types of component makers and or retailers. And lets not forget case mod contests and other types of giveaways.
If you write to different parts manufactures and show them and describe to them in detail all about your project, you'd be surprized as to how much stuff you can get from them for free or at cost if you pay anything. Yuo just have to talk the talk and know how to deal with people.

[Bio-Hazard]

An example of what you can get done with a little outside sponsorship is my external water cooling box I built about 2 years ago. It was one of my fist major water cooling projects, I had posted worklogs on several sites and it generated a lot of interest and I ended up getting all the water cooling components sponsored and the only thing it costed me was the time to build it and a old AT tower that was given to me.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/sbrehm72255/hpbimg/DSC00842.JPG

I was even able to have the article published on the front page of the site that started sponsoring the project which I ended up writing for articles after a while. A little hard work does pay off in the long run and it helps pay for a expensive hobby............ 8)

http://www.systemcooling.com/waterbox-01.html

[zachig]

I also voted "YES" for overclocking, altough I'm not sure I really do get such a huge performance boost. :wink:

I'm currently overclocking my Barton 2500+ to 3200+ (210x11) which gives me, according to benchmarks, a performance boost of 'bout 20% percent.

The question is? Do I really notice the improvement? To be honest, NO!!! but, I still like overclocking for the fun of it. And yeah, I'm even willing to spend money on it (improved cooling, better fans, watercooling equipement) as long as I don't spend a fortune.

So...I'm overclocking and I guess I'll overclock even my next system to come (hopefully a nice X2 3800, as I'm planning to upgrade soon). I'm doing it just for fun and experimenting. That's me. :wink: :)

[Fantasma]

To be 100% honest, I didn't pay jack for my water cooling rig (except for the tubing) I got or get my stuff from sponsors of the different types of component makers and or retailers. And lets not forget case mod contests and other types of giveaways.
If you write to different parts manufactures and show them and describe to them in detail all about your project, you'd be surprized as to how much stuff you can get from them for free or at cost if you pay anything. Yuo just have to talk the talk and know how to deal with people.
In that situation, I also would have put a system water cooled, but doing that modded case is a very hard work and most people don´t have the time to do that, so you can be considered a "special" person :wink:

About your case, it´s superb considering that you have done it, I´m impressed.

[tomato]

Overall, it's not worth the 10-15% performance boost for me. The time and effort invested into OC'ing to get that extra 2-5fps just isn't worth it anymore... Sure it's nice for bragging rights and to reach your OC goal, but give me stock and stable and I'll be happy :)

[Null]

give me stock and stable and I'll be happy :)

Stability is Job #1 for me. Above all else, I want stability. And if I can get a wee bit of added performance for nothing, so much the better.

Well, actually nothing wasn't nothing. It was a a little something. But just a little. Big roomy case, lots of fans, and a big ol' heatsink for the cpu.