Is there a point in overclocking my PC?

[coldvvvave]

I have a decent if a bit outdated PC, I think. But some games just won't run smoothly on max settings. Maybe it's not all my PC's fault( who can run ARMA 2 on High?) but it's still frustrating. I'm completely foreign to overclocking and I'm not sure there is any potential for improving my PC at all since it's AMD and I heard AMD isn't a great choice nowadays. I'd read up on the subject but internet is always full of conflicting information and unreliable sources. So at least point me to a solid step-by-step guide.

So hre is my PC

Asus M4A79XTD-EVO
Phenom II X6 1090T 3,6
8gb DDR3-1333
Gigabyte Radeon HD 6970
Raid0 2 WD 1tb disks

I tried SSD( OCZ 256 gb pci-e) but it didn't help much.

Thanks.

[bad guy]

Thats a powerhouse of a PC you have there.

But often PC games have extremely high settings for future (or very very costly) hardware.
I wouldn't overclock, just adjust those extreme settings to high and not max.

[mashakos]

can't help you with the overclocking as my last amd cpu was an athlon 3000, but on the intel side as long as the cpu has headroom overclocking past the 4Ghz mark makes a huge difference. I posted a video of my new frontend in another thread:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJfuGoKqVN4
what is relevant to this thread is that even though I'm running about 25 games on Dolphin and PCSX2 emulators - none of them are running below 60fps. To compare, try running Super Mario Galaxy on Dolphin (LLE audio) in your system. You will see the difference between an overclocked cpu that can run it at 60fps and a non-overclocked cpu.
The second part of the video has some GTA 4 footage with enbseries mod. That game again benefits from overclocking immensely. Basically any game that has advanced AI or complex simulation will see a massive performance boost with high overclocks.

For reference, Specs:
core i7 3930k @ 4.5ghz
Asus Rampage IV Formula
16gb g.skill RipjawsZ 1600mhz ram
gigabyte gtx580

[Sakkura]

I'm completely foreign to overclocking and I'm not sure there is any potential for improving my PC at all since it's AMD and I heard AMD isn't a great choice nowadays.

Well AMD may not be the best choice when it comes to CPUs for gaming, but that doesn't mean you can't get a decent boost by overclocking the processor. You just need to have a good cooler on the CPU to mess around with that. And a PSU that can serve up the extra power.

[venn177]

I actually have the exact same processor as you. I've got it overclocked to 4.0GHz on stock cooling. Definitely worth it if you're having performance issues or just want to brag.

[trjp]

I think venn177 nailed it - IF you have a performance issue in a game or IF you just want to wave numbers around, Overclocking is great.

It's "free performance" in effect - but it takes time and potentially shortens the life of your kit (either by exposing it to more work/heat or just by raising your expectations and thus shortening the time before you'll want to upgrade it).

Ideally you overclock your PC when you start thinking about an upgrade and that deters you for a month or 6 :)

[mashakos]

I think venn177 nailed it - IF you have a performance issue in a game or IF you just want to wave numbers around, Overclocking is great.

I remember you having a certain performance issue with GTA 4 (you said it looked like a PS2 game on your system if I remember correctly). Why aren't you overclocking? :D

[coldvvvave]

Thanks for the replyes, guys.

I tried some basic things in AMD Overdrive utility both with CPU and GPU but sadly right after I changed some values( disabled Cool'n'Quite thing in BIOS as some giude suggested, then upped CPU frequency to 3,7Ghz) my PC started rebooting almost immediately after any performance-heavy task or a stress test. So I disabled everything back. Before it rebooted, CPU cores were all at 65ºc I think give or take a degree. Not sure what do now.

[trjp]

I remember you having a certain performance issue with GTA 4 (you said it looked like a PS2 game on your system if I remember correctly). Why aren't you overclocking? :D

Because overclocking will - at best - maybe give you 10-15% more - 10-15% more FPS and so on.

GTA4 needs a fucking hell of a lot more than that. It's not really PS2 quality but it's performance is spiky-as-hell even with everything turned way down (and I'm no graphics whore - I can play games in 'fugly' mode if they're playable)!! Despite that, I played it for long enough to realise it's a grim and tedious game :)

p.s. oh and because this PC, first and foremost, is a tool for work and I can't be blowing it up :)

[alms]

I tried some basic things in AMD Overdrive utility both with CPU and GPU but sadly right after I changed some values( disabled Cool'n'Quite thing in BIOS as some giude suggested, then upped CPU frequency to 3,7Ghz) my PC started rebooting almost immediately after any performance-heavy task or a stress test. So I disabled everything back. Before it rebooted, CPU cores were all at 65ºc I think give or take a degree. Not sure what do now.

You don't really need to disable CnQ on a Phenom II, but you'll likely need to disable C1E and possibly other advanced power saving features in order to get an overclock (I had to). OTOH it's almost imperative you lower your HTT multiplier and increase your memory divisor (i.e. decrease your memory clock) before you start increasing HTT frequency.

To test for stability Prime95 is a good, honest tool but make sure it's using a high priority (at least 8) and all of the cores. If the guide you're following didn't mention these basics, it's likely junk, look elsewhere.

BTW AMD Overdrive never worked quite right for me (made stupid changes I did not ask it to do, that would result in an instant lockup) so I did most my overclocking using the BIOS and a couple free utilities.

Last but not least, keep in mind overclocking is an act of balancing and can use a good amount of time to get things right.

[Sakkura]

AMD overdrive is fine for moderate GPU overclocking, but for the CPU it's better to use BIOS/UEFI.

[digirob10]

not really games don't demand quite that much yet

[coldvvvave]

So, I cleaned my old case( CM Advanced II 690) bought the new mobo( Asus Sabertooth 990FX), plugged in some new RAM( 4x4gb corsair low profile 1600, it still works on 1333 though I think), changed all the case fans( just because I wanted to) and installed the monstrous Noctua NH-D14 cpu cooler. Average CPU temp is now 35-40 when nothing serious works and 45-50 when BF3 on Ultra. Which is about 10-15 cooler than it was( so my CPU went far above Maximum operating temperature before, huh).

My updated hardware list is:

Asus Sabertooth 990FX
Phenom II X6 1090T 3,6
16gb DDR3 1333
Gigabyte Radeon HD 6970
OCZ Agility 4 256Gb

Will try again.

[coldvvvave]

I bought a second HD Gigabyte 6970 GPU for cheapz( relatively speaking) from some guy, it works and has a year of warranty. I put the second GPU into the PCIe slot that my mobo manual suggested for SLI/Crossfire, so far so good. I connected GPUs with two Crossfire ribbons, uninstalled and reinstalled drivers and enabled Crossfire. Since I knew it's going to be hot I put a 120mm cooler above my GPUs to pump in some air. So. I tested my updated PC in some benchmarks, 3dmark showed some good results( 2100 points before, 3500 after). And BF3 is runnning smooth on Ultra now. Though the second GPU is never really getting any use, CCC shows only 1-3% of activity. Is this normal?

Also, is 75C ok for a HD 6970 or a modern GPU in general? It's the maximum I get under BF3 or Furmark.


Must resist upgrade addiction.

[Sakkura]

75 in Furmark is fine. Very weird if you're only getting 1-3% load though. Maybe CCC is just reporting wrong?

[asskicker]

I don't think it's worth creating a new topic for me to basically ask the same question, so here it goes;

• Intel Core i5 3550
• Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H
• Adata XPG Gaming V2.0 AX3U1600GC4G9-DG2 (8GB RAM)
• Radeon HD 6950 2GB

I'm quite happy with the performance in most games, but I will like for Battlefield 3 to run at a solid 60FPS, which it doesn't.

I'm not even sure if it's possible to oc my cpu (on a quick google, it isn't). So yeah, what do you think?

[Sakkura]

You can overclock your CPU by 400 MHz by increasing the Turbo Boost multipliers. You could also increase the BCLK, but I wouldn't recommend that.

This Intel diagram is actually about the Core i5-2500, but the Core i5-3550 features the same clocks, so it works exactly the same way:



If your motherboard supports "multicore enhancement", you can cheat the system and set the multiplier to 41 regardless of the number of active cores. The GA-Z77M-D3H doesn't seem to support that feature though, as far as I can tell.

[asskicker]

You can overclock your CPU by 400 MHz by increasing the Turbo Boost multipliers. You could also increase the BCLK, but I wouldn't recommend that.

This Intel diagram is actually about the Core i5-2500, but the Core i5-3550 features the same clocks, so it works exactly the same way:



If your motherboard supports "multicore enhancement", you can cheat the system and set the multiplier to 41 regardless of the number of active cores. The GA-Z77M-D3H doesn't seem to support that feature though, as far as I can tell.

Thanks for the information, unfortunately I'm not entirely sure what you are talking about. I haven't overclocked before so if you would be kind enough to point me in the right direction? :)

[Sakkura]

Uhm, well, this type of overclocking is relatively straightforward. You just go into BIOS/UEFI by pressing F2, DEL or whatever when prompted while the computer boots, find your CPUs Turbo Boost multipliers, and increase all of them by 4. No other modifications should be necessary.

To ensure it's running stable, you should run a stress test program like Prime95 for a while afterwards, to make sure it's stable and sufficiently cooled. It's highly unlikely it would be unstable though, this is a very conservative overclock.

[asskicker]

Cool! I'll give that a try tonight, thanks a lot! :)