Overclocking Value & FPS & HZ?

[XAuTomaT1CX]

Before answering any of these Questions, my goal is to get the best smoothest gaming value performance I can for my money

How much of a % can I overclock my video card (GTX 560) and processor (Intel 2500K) by with stock cooling

How much will the increase in voltage effect my electricity bill and how much more money will I have to spend on a power supply and motherboard, is it worth losing the warranty

I've heard that overclocking can always breathe new life into a system so you don't have to upgrade it or you won't experience a bottleneck, should I buy a decent cooling fan a Coolermaster hyper 212 right now so when I approach that moment I already can do that. plus I have a quieter and cooler pc anyway

I've seen some posts online, that when people start new games for the first time that there overclocking actually hurts there gameplay and doesn't help them. can someone elaborate this for me, I don't understand

Should I Overclock my CPU &/or GPU - How much of an increase will I see in these games FPS %wise : Battlefield 3, Batman Arkham City, Guild Wars 2, GTA IV, Metro 2033, Rage (no it's not out but an estimate would be great) & Starcraft 2 & The Witcher 2

What is the odds of the gpu and cpu dying, if I overclock them. because I know I will lose the warranty if they do and I have overclocked. should I wait a while after I buy my pc to overclock the cpu and/or gpu that way if there's an actual problem with one of my parts I can get a new one or refund

Other Questions

Is there a way that Can I lock my framerate that way it doesn't dip below 25 like in a program file or something? I don't want to use vsync.

Should I buy a 60Hz or 120Hz Monitor, if I a 1000-1200$ (All Parts & Monitor Not Including OS & KB+M) midrange gamer, what will it give me, is it worth it.

[pmh]

How much of a % can I overclock my video card (GTX 560) and processor (Intel 2500K) by with stock cooling

Depends on the ambient temperature and overal effectiveness of the coolers and available overhead on the GPU/CPU. Each chip is different and will react differently to overclocking. You may have have a GPU that can get a 20% OC on stock cooling or one that'll struggle to get even 10% on better cooling. It's worth noting that the 2500k will automatically OC (what Intel calls Turbo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Turbo_Boost)) when it can depending on temperature and load.



How much will the increase in voltage effect my electricity bill and how much more money will I have to spend on a power supply and motherboard, is it worth losing the warranty

Assuming your power supply isn't already running at its limits, OC'ing shouldn't make much of a difference. Your electricity bill might go up a few dollars if you run the OC 24/7 and disable the power management features on the CPU. You can get a decent CPU OC without spending a whole lot more on a motherboard (assuming you're not running e.g. a Dell, which won't allow you to OC at all). GPU OC will be more or less independent of the motherboard and is typically done via software.



I've heard that overclocking can always breathe new life into a system so you don't have to upgrade it or you won't experience a bottleneck, should I buy a decent cooling fan a Coolermaster hyper 212 right now so when I approach that moment I already can do that. plus I have a quieter and cooler pc anyway

Unless the noise of the stock cooling is bothering you, I'd leave it alone for now. It's unlikely that you'll be bottlenecked by the CPU for the foreseeable future anyhow.



I've seen some posts online, that when people start new games for the first time that there overclocking actually hurts there gameplay and doesn't help them. can someone elaborate this for me, I don't understand

Unless the OC is not stable (leading to overheating, crashes, artifacts, etc), this is horseshit.



Should I Overclock my CPU &/or GPU - How much of an increase will I see in these games FPS %wise : Battlefield 3, Batman Arkham City, Guild Wars 2, GTA IV, Metro 2033, Rage (no it's not out but an estimate would be great) & Starcraft 2 & The Witcher 2

A GPU OC will likely increase your FPS in most of those games, but it's difficult to give percentages without actually testing.



What is the odds of the gpu and cpu dying, if I overclock them. because I know I will lose the warranty if they do and I have overclocked. should I wait a while after I buy my pc to overclock the cpu and/or gpu that way if there's an actual problem with one of my parts I can get a new one or refund

The first thing you should do is make sure your PC is stable at stock settings. Without that foundation, it becomes more difficult to get a stable OC since something unreleated to the OC may be causing instability. The odds of the GPU or CPU dying to anything other than overheating or overvolting is low. The goal is to find an OC that is within the temperature and voltage limits of the chip (I don't know the limits of the 560/2500k off hand) and that is still stable.



Is there a way that Can I lock my framerate that way it doesn't dip below 25 like in a program file or something? I don't want to use vsync.

No. If your machine can't run a game at 25FPS, no setting in the world is going to help you. Otherwise why wouldn't you set it to 60FPS all the time?



Should I buy a 60Hz or 120Hz Monitor, if I a 1000-1200$ (All Parts & Monitor Not Including OS & KB+M) midrange gamer, what will it give me, is it worth it.
120Hz feels smoother (and you get 3D support), but locks you into TN panels and is more expensive in general. It's not worth it IMO, but it's more of a personal decision than anything else.