Are you a "compulsive overclocker"?

[VirtualLarry]

Do you twinge at the thought of using a non-overclocked PC?

Do you always look at the BIOS, of every computer you work on, for overclocking options?

Do you tweak BCLK just before the point of failure, on non-multiplier-unlocked systems?

Do you run CPU-Z and RealTemp in the background of every PC you use?

Tell us your stories...

 

[CHADBOGA]

NO.

I chose a motherboard that had good automated overclocking features, set up a modest overclock(i.e. I wanted a 4 Ghz CPU) and then didn't have to worry about anything further.

Now that we have reached a point where despite the slow advances in CPU performance on the desktop, just about all desktop software runs well on stock standard Intel Quads at default speeds, I regard Overclocking as one of the more pointless things to get overly worked up about.

The computer is a handy tool, but one should not worship at its altar, which I feel hard core overclockers do.

Geeks & Nerds should concentrate on other areas in their life, as I'll bet they could do with some attention. :biggrin:

 

[njdevilsfan87]

Not really. The non-K 4790 I have at work doesn't feel any different than my 5960X for casual use. Computers without SSDs bother me a lot more. That I really notice now and it actually somewhat bothers me. It's funny how once you get used the response of a SSD, waiting those few extra milliseconds actually becomes noticeable.

But otherwise, even given how far mobile computing has come, I'm not sure I'm going to want the baggage of a full desktop in another few years. The rumored 990M sounds amazing, though laptop CPUs are still clocked too low and bottlenecking a bit too much.

 

[bbhaag]

No. I set the multi on my 965 to 18.5 and forgot about it. That was a year and a half ago.

 

[Zodiark1593]

PCs without SSDs bother me far more than a slow cpu. Our work PCs are equipped with i5s and i7s, but not one SSD in the entire arsenal. And the cpus certainly go to waste in about 75% of said pcs as an Atom class PC can work with our web-based inventory plenty well.

Goddamn, you'd think bosses want their employees to be able to get to work ASAP instead of waiting minutes on a boot, or god forbid, updates.

 

[SPBHM]

since sandy bridge Intel managed to kill overclock for me, before it yes, I used to overclock all my CPUs (and still do with the older stuff that I have).

 

[DigDog]

i used to be very proud of my OC on my 775, but i changed opinion with the current situation ... being my haswell and my series 7 nvidia. the performance has gone up more than the computational needs, so right now i simply have no reason to overclock.

(my current game of choice is Reflex, and i am sailing at 150fps with everything ultra..)

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'll be honest, I *am* a compulsive overclocker, and also a compulsive SSD user.

I've been tweaking my G3258 a bit, trying to maximize both speed and stability. Thinking back, I think that my G3258 is actually my first Intel CPU with an unlocked multiplier. I would say first overall, but I think my LLano quad-core (that I don't use any more) also has an unlocked multi.

However, I'm thinking of changing that, and maybe just "settling down" with a nice locked-multiplier 35W SKL quad. I'm hoping that maybe, one can BCLK OC a locked-multi SKL CPU, with a Z170. That would preserve the "thrill" of OCing, without having to splash out the dough for a "K" CPU.

I'm not impatient, though, and I can stand using my N2830 laptop just fine for most browsing, although I also have a Samsung 850 EVO SSD in there, too.

 

[ninaholic37]

I am OCD about talking about "downclocking" my CPU to 800MHz apparently :biggrin:

I underclock to 800mhz by turning off Speedstep in BIOS. This way the fan doesn't run at full speed when booting into MS-DOS.

edit: I found another way around it! Download this then add "sstep 6 18" (or whatever it says your lowest value is) to your autoexec.

I usually turn off speedstep on my centrino and browse at 800MHz. As long as you're not running something bloated like Windows Vista/7/8/10 that will eat up the RAM it is smooth and works well for web browsing and everyday tasks (I wouldn't run youtube videos at anything over 360p on it though).

Downclock it to 800mhz and use it full time for everything. :thumbsup:

Yup. Mine is Pentium M @ 800mhz with 1GB RAM and it runs Slacko Puppy Linux nicely.

Mine is a Dell Latitude D410 with Pentium M @ 800mhz (released early 2005). Works great for everything I need with Linux and DOS. Old laptops FTW

I actually turned off speedstep so it always runs at 800mhz.

On my Dell D410 with 800mhz Pentium M processor, with 5 Firefox tabs open my CPU usage for Firefox is between 0-10%. Memory is at around 195MB (19.5%).

Nice! One thing I miss about the 725/1.6Ghz and 735/1.7Ghz is that they idled at 600mhz, whereas my 750/1.86Ghz only downclocks to 800mhz. I turned Speedstep off in BIOS about a month ago, and it handles everything quite well at 800mhz though (with less heat/fan noise), so well that I haven't felt any need to turn Speedstep back on since. Yeah, screw upgrading, rockin' my Pentium M 750 @ 800mhz (CPU-Z says 798mhz) always!

 

[escrow4]

Nope. I run stock and stable. Same with a recent smartphone I got. I don't root or tinker anymore with my tech (that came out so dirty didn't it :awe.

Plain, simple and if its a little bit more for stability or quality no issues.

 

[Sable]

If I felt the need to upgrade my 2500k then yes I'd overclock it. Standard. Maybe next year Intel, maybe next year..?

 

[ShintaiDK]

Nope, stock all the way.

 

[AtenRa]

There is not a single CPU i have owned (from Pentium 166 onward) that hasnt beed OverClocked one way or the other.

 

[rodserling]

I am OCD about talking about "downclocking" my CPU to 800MHz apparently :biggrin:

Haha, you're like the king of lowend.

 

[StrangerGuy]

2500K was the last CPU worth OCing from a value perspective. Haswell-DC and Skylake? Won't even bother.

 

[Flapdrol1337]

Yeah, every new intel gen seems to have less overclocking headroom and higher added cost.

 

[Shehriazad]

Not much of a BCLK OCer...instead I try to see how far I can undervolt a CPU and remain stable...and then I check how far I can overclock while remaining undervolted.


Undervolted OCs are what I want xD That Athlon in my sig runs @ 4.1 Ghz with only 1.21v. The NB is even undervolted all the way to 1.1. The automatic values are horrifying. For 4Ghz the 860K is placed above 1.4v. The NB sits at 1.26 or so just for 1.8 Ghz...a shame what they do to their CPUs there. And yes, I'm fully aware that even the stock fan would've been enough to cool this CPU...I simply tried to cram in a watercooler for the novelty of it.

 

[zir_blazer]

Agree with the last guy. Undervolting is where the fun is at now since you can get power consumption and noise reduction and keeping the same performance levels.

 

[guskline]

I like to OC if I can.

 

[Burpo]

I do it for the efficiency.. Time is money, and making a Blu-Ray iso in 1 hr 15 minutes instead of 1:47 saves me money..

 

[YBS1]

You know I'm probably one of the strange people in that I always overclock any cpu I have, however even though I tend to buy overclocking focused high end GPUs (Classified, Lightning, HOF, etc.), my GPUs spend 99.5% of their lives at default speeds.

 

[Insomniator]

I was when I was a kid, and when overclocking mattered a little more. Now I set my Asus board to auto overclock my i2500k (around 4.3) and don't really give a crap if I could get 4.6 if I spent 5 hour tweaking settings.

 

[rgallant]

I did not like the big swing of the voltage and clocks of my 3770k with a oc to 4.6 .

so I turned off all the downclocking [c1 etc.],but left eist on ,maxed out the w7 power plan.
giving a 3.5 idle speed [vid per coretemp 1.1759] and a 4.6 under load.

the cpu clocks still ramps up and down at insane speed at times as windows does not have any settings /timers to keep the oc for a given time ,even 60 sec before it downclocks would make me happy not every millisecond some times.

but still better than 1.6 to 4.6 vs 3.5 to 4.6 ,cuts down the volts and current over shoot in my way of thinking.

 

[MongGrel]

Stock is no fun

 

[Leyawiin]

Depends on what it is and what it can do at stock. My old X4 980 BE was set at 4.1 Ghz and it did help it in gaming. My i5-4690k is still at stock. I OC'd it to 4.3 Ghz and it had no noticeable effect on my games. I was already fast to begin with so I set it back to stock. Bought a Petium G3258 for fun and of course I OC'd it. What's the point of the chip otherwise?