Okay quick overclocking questions

[imported_lamer]

Alright, can I buy a mediocre system and overclock it? I was thinking of getting something totally souped up, but I think it would be cheaper to get stuff on sale and just overclock it...but I've never overclocked a computer before, much less even built a computer before!!! haha... So.. well would the budget stuff be overclockable or do I need the premo sh1t to overclock. Overclocking is a good idea in general though, right? I mean what's the point of driving a slow car when you can go faster?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Everything you need

here,

and here, and at the top of this forum. Read it all and if you are still confused at least you will be able to ask more pointed questions :light:

 

[imported_lamer]

I've already read those two things and they don't really address my question about overclocking

 

[VIAN]

You can overclock anything that moves.

Basically anything but OEM computers such as Dell, HP...

OCing really low end components really won't get you a killer system.

At least a midrange system is needed to OC to a high end or a near high end system.

Overclocking is done for fun by most of the community. And Overclock is never guarranteed. So if you want a PREMO system, don't expect to buy a midrange system and be able to OC it to that. You might get there, you might not.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: VIAN
You can overclock anything that moves.

Yeah, I overclocked my kid sister once, she didn't like that though. I had to increase the voltage until her instability stopped.

 

[sbuckler]

Most important thing is a motherboard that supports overclocking, which won't exist on any brand name computer (they obviously don't want you to fiddle with it) so you've got to build the computer yourself. Other then that how much you overclock depends on what components you pick - you've got to do your research. e.g. some cpu's overclock better then others, some need fancier memory that can overclock as high as the cpu (athons), for others you don't (pentium 4 you can use the divider so memory doesn't have to run very fast). Some motherboards overclock well, some don't (due to bugs, limitations, etc).
Work out how much you are willing to spend, then start researching what you can get for your money. Once you've got the basis for a system post it on here and ask for opinions - there's no lack of them around here

 

[Mean MrMustard]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: VIAN
You can overclock anything that moves.

Yeah, I overclocked my kid sister once, she didn't like that though. I had to increase the voltage until her instability stopped.

We've all been there.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Looking back, and keep in mind I'm watching John Carpenter's sci-fi movie on my Hauppauge TV-tuner-capture-card while I write this -- the industry seems to lurch forward like "The Thing" going through its shape changes. Different parts of the technology are never in perfect sync.

True, there are industry "task-forces" and ad-hoc inter-corporate panels devoted to setting new standards, and if you watch the industry news (there used to be a publication called PC Week, but I don't take it any more) -- you can keep abreast of these efforts.

For my part, I would say you would prefer over-clocking if you want to open up bottlenecks farther down the storage pyramid -- especially now with the still-prevalent memory and FSB standards of DDR400 and 800 Mhz. Since P4 processors are still "locked", they only way you can go beyond FSB 800 is to over-clock, and that may be better than buying a faster processor and using it with DDR400 memory and DDR400 settings. That's why I bought DDR500 RAMs and started looking around for a CPU that would over-clock and stay cool.

Now, with DDR2 and 1066 FSB, the "standard" is catching up again, and Intel is now touting its 3.8E (or is it EE?) P4 CPU on the LGA775 socket, tested with an i925 chipset. And the round begins again.

On the other hand, whatever rationalizations you can dream up, this is just another addiction. But we don't have 12-step programs here -- those are for over-clockers who are also credit-card spend-thrifts. I may SAY I have this rationalization that I made above, but some people just like to blow money on parts and then try and push them to the limit. For instance, phase-change or refrigerative cooling -- geez -- the AseTek Vapo-Chill kit costs some $800 last time I checked.

And no -- you can't just buy a mediocre system and expect stunning results from over-clocking. You trim your budget here and there -- for instance, processor cost --and use the savings to spend on other parts that complement the plan.

Anybody ready to buy themselves a PCI-X mobo, and PCI-X x16 graphics card, yet?