Overclocking - Is it worth it?

In the coming months I am planning on getting a solid computer featuring the i7 CPU's. More specifically I plan on getting the new PC from cyberpowerpc. Now, while browsing a plethora of hardware you can't help but notice all the "OC Certified" parts. 

Simply stated, when you overclock you are pushing your computer up 10-20%, right? 

So, with the i7 series already having great performance, is it even worth it to spend considerably more money? 

-Thanks guys

To answer your first question, you're not guaranteed anything with overclocking.  Not all cpu's/gpu's can attain the same overclock, and thus, not all can achieve 10% or 20% etc.  It's really the luck of the draw.

I don't understand your second question.  Are you saying to spend more money on a higher performing stock cpu?  Or are you saying that overclocking will cost you more money?

Ah, sorry for the confusion. 

My second question was sort of a round off of the first one. I've been told by a few friends that overclocking the i7 series processors aren't even worth it because of the small percentage increase of performance. 

I was wondering if buying overclocking gear for my computer would even be worth the money - considering the small chances of getting a decent performance increase. 

Marius Malek:

I've been told by a few friends that overclocking the i7 series processors aren't even worth it because of the small percentage increase of performance. 

What's wrong with a small-percentage increase in performance? I live for that kind of stuff! If I'm going to spend the big buck$ and a bunch of time building a rig, then I'm going to tweak it and wring every last bit of performance out of it. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction, and it helps me to learn a lot, too. Since you posted your overclock query, I suspect that you are the same kind of guy, Marius!

indeed whats the point in running stock? I have a 40% OC on my i7 at the moment from what i have seen it gets me about a 12-15% increase in performance.

I haven't paid much attention to overclocking until now, and I'm really curious about its benefits and drawbacks. 

I want my new computer to the the workforce and my man cave escape all in one. Basically, I'm looking for a computer that can edit and render hi definition video in high definition formats. Yet at the same time eat the latest and greatest video games for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

I'm unsure which route to take in this issue, and wether or not overclocking would grant me anything substantial. 

I know I'm sounding a little vague but I'm not really sure what to ask at this moment, but the feedback from you guys are really helping. 

Lastly, if I do build this new computer suited for overclocking, would you recommend liquid cooling? Even if I don't, I still feel like I should have liquid cooling. But then that draws up another issue about maintenance and the such. 

I just want to make sure I have everything thought out before I sink some money, if I even get the chance too. =D

Mostly guys overclock because they can, they want bragging rights or they just want to get every bit of performance out of their money. Others might spend less on the hardware and overclock. For instance cpu A runs stock at 2.4ghz and costs $300 while cpu B runs 2.66ghz stock and costs $500. If you can spend $40 on an air cooler and get that cpu A to run stable at cpu B's speeds then it's plenty of justification.

^indeed.

As for air vs. water. it really depends on how big of an OC you want. If you want the max your chip can do then water is the only way. but if you dont want to deal with it and its cost you can get a good air cooler for 60 or so and get a nice healthy OC.

nelsoncp21:

Mostly guys overclock because they can, they want bragging rights or they just want to get every bit of performance out of their money. Others might spend less on the hardware and overclock. For instance cpu A runs stock at 2.4ghz and costs $300 while cpu B runs 2.66ghz stock and costs $500. If you can spend $40 on an air cooler and get that cpu A to run stable at cpu B's speeds then it's plenty of justification.

That's the way I look at building computers.  I try to max my savings, by overclocking, which was the initial reason overclocking started, I believe.  Overclocking when I started getting into computers was different from the public than it is now.  The main reason used to be for the savings, but now, as mentioned previously, it's for bragging rights.  Although it's not a bad thing, it's just more competitive now.

HA :D only mods and thread starter is posting in here im going to break that line

I need a new cpu before i should start overclocking anything -.-. Theres no point in being competitive when it comes to overclocking because you don't win anything :P lol, as long as your happy with what you got your good!

note: you spelled the title wrong :)...

Crap, I didn't even notice T.T

Inspector:

Theres no point in being competitive when it comes to overclocking because you don't win anything :P lol, as long as your happy with what you got your good!

Heh, you're never happy with overclocking.  You ALWAYS want to keep pushing your overclock, at least the hardcore enthusiast does.

I guess I have always been in the overclocking to get better running parts for cheaper camp. My old CPU a 1.8GHz Core2duo e4300 I overclocked to 3.0GHz and ran it like that. I got it for cheap at the time $100 and pushed it into the $300+ CPU speeds. I did push it to see how much I could get out of it. I think I got it up to 3.5ish or something, but I never ran it day in day out at that speed. Now that I have a 3GHz Quad (Q9650) I am still a year later running it at stock speeds. It is watercooled. The watercooling system carried over from my old CPU so I could push it but I am still happy with the performance. Now in another year or so when it is not fast enough to keep up with games I will push it. Hoping it will get 4GHz, but like said above nothing is guaranteed with overclocking.

Anyway sorry for the long story. Back to the answers now. Is overclocking worth it? To me Yes for both getting cheaper parts on a budget and making them run like parts I can't afford and for pushing a older part that is just not quite fast enough so you can get the performance needed until the time or money comes around for upgrades.

As far as air or water cooling. I would recommend sticking with air cooling to get your feet wet in overclocking. Watercooling can carry quite a heavy pricetag for a good system and I wouldn't recommend getting it until you know you wanna spend the time it takes to overclock.

I've only got one game, and that is Audiosurf, which I friend of mine gifted to me. Until I get a better PC, I won't be getting any games on Steam. (Crappy integrated graphics cards)

If you have watercooling installed definitly overclock....just make sure to time out the purchase of CPU and other components along with the support for games. For example, 2003-2004 was an excellent year to purchase a PC with the release of Doom 3 and HL 2. Those two games were the benchmark for PC performance just as Crysis continues to be and eventually Crysis 2.

is there a reason you want to OC it?

It is an i7 after all, it can handle quite a bit.

Ocing its just fun and yeah the bragging rights are ok too. The thing is when your doing it you know going in your stressing your system hardware and that very well could be the downside!! LOL But its a lot of fun seeing how far your can push the system without actually KILLING IT .I,ve got my system rather warm on a couple of occassions and suprized I didnt smoke it.Still running strong might get me a  BE965 to play with and when the price goes down   check in to the 6 cores but Im happy with my rig regardless!

I wouldn't worry about killing your system from overclocking. Breaking your install of windows maybe. Had that happen once ever I think. I have seen Core2s get up to 100c and not die. No it was not mine. Was a guy with a very dead fans. He had been running it like that for weeks and said it kept cutting off.

I was,nt worried about  killing the system if that was an issue i would,nt do it in the 1st place!! LOL

Sort of, but you waste more energy when your OC. If your hardcore gamer, then yes, it's worth it to OC for performance boost.

dlim783:

Sort of, but you waste more energy when your OC. If your hardcore gamer, then yes, it's worth it to OC for performance boost.

That is mostly incorrect. You don't waste energy when you OC as you can OC even with stock voltage. Only when you increase the voltage of the CPU is when you risk decreasing the lifespan of your CPU.

OC'ing is also worth it if you want to save some money. Originally, people used to OC CPU's to get higher performance out of lower priced models. The same thing is done even today, people buy a low clocked model for about $100 dollars and when they overclock it, BAM! It's like they got a $1,000 dollar CPU.

But yeah, OC'ing is mainly done for breaking world records and trying to gain every once of performance from a CPU now but it's still a decent way to get your dollar's worth.

Personally... I don't think overclocking is worth it.

You don't get much performance increase that you can see and you really work the crap out of your parts and severely shorten their life span. I know from personal experience in my own past builds, and in other's builds.

It is a fun(potentially very expensive) hobby tho. But it's not like the old days where you can really see the difference.

As long as you don't take your parts to the extreme 24/7, overclocking is so worth it. You get an extra added performance boost for FREE!

But the question is... will you actually notice this boost in performace.. OTHER than benchmarks.

Personally even with my i7 clocked up to 4ghz I didn't notice a difference. Everything ran at the same speed.

If you are talking about an i7 chip then not really since they are powerhouse chips yo begin with but when I had an E2140(stock is 1.6GHz) clocked at 3.0GHz, I did notice a difference.

There really aren't any risks to overclocking as long as you don't run any crazy high voltages 24/7 and your temps are in check. As for reducing the life of a part due to overclocking, I'd say it doesn't really matter because by the time an overclocked part is on its last leg you would have upgraded by then.