Overclocking my 3500+

RyanW2050

Senior member
Sep 2, 2005
311
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I've never really overclocked my stuff before because I've never had to.

I upgraded to an 8800GT recently putting my system up to this:
3500+
EPOX EP9NPA +Ultra
450w FSP Group
2GB PC3200 ValueSelect
8800GT



I bought crysis tonight and it runs at 15-20fps at Low settings and 15-20fps at very high settings. It's got to be the CPU holding me back. Not that it wasn't expected.



I'm not wanting to upgrade my ram/mobo/cpu for another few months, so in the mean time, would overclocking my CPU make a noticeable difference in my in-game performance? More than 3-4 FPS?



Thanks in advance,
Ryan


PS: I'm using stock cooling for my CPU and i have 1 intake, 1 side and 2 exhaust 80mm fans.
 

error8

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2007
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Well your biggest problem is that your cpu is a single core, you should get much more performance with a dual core. Crysis is dual core optimized, so you won't see much of a difference with an overclock. There are other games out there that don't really know anything about multi core cpu's, like the Witcher for example, so you can play those until you will find money for an upgrade, but Crysis doesn't get much more playable with an overclocked single core. Your 8800 GT is seriously bottlenecked by your CPU.
 

LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
8,770
54
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no point in overclocking that... won't make a difference in your case. you're probably better off getting a new cheap dual core setup
 

MarcVenice

Moderator Emeritus <br>
Apr 2, 2007
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Erm, it runs at 2.2ghz stock. If he can overclock it to 2.6ghz he will notice an improvement, if it frees up some of the bottleneck, Crysis might actually become somewhat playable. Why not just give it a try instead ? My 1.8ghz amd venice 3000+ overclocked to 2.6ghz without to much trouble. And if you are replacing that PC in a few months, thats just more reasons to overclock it, because overclocking is free, it's fun, and it improves performance. Especially if you decide on getting an Intel rig in the future, you can easily save 100$ if you buy a lower-end CPU and overclock it to run at the same speed of much more expensive CPU's.
 

Sylvanas

Diamond Member
Jan 20, 2004
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Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Erm, it runs at 2.2ghz stock. If he can overclock it to 2.6ghz he will notice an improvement, if it frees up some of the bottleneck, Crysis might actually become somewhat playable. Why not just give it a try instead ? My 1.8ghz amd venice 3000+ overclocked to 2.6ghz without to much trouble. And if you are replacing that PC in a few months, thats just more reasons to overclock it, because overclocking is free, it's fun, and it improves performance. Especially if you decide on getting an Intel rig in the future, you can easily save 100$ if you buy a lower-end CPU and overclock it to run at the same speed of much more expensive CPU's.

Sure it could prolly gain 400mhz, might aswell do it nothing to lose, however it won't put the OP in the ballpark for being playable in Crysis, its just too demanding.
 

Marty502

Senior member
Aug 25, 2007
497
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You might see around a 20% improvement if you make it around 2.5 Ghz or more. My 3000+ does that, 2.6 and more are a bit unstable (won't always boot up). You might be lucky and have a chip capable of going up to 2.7 Ghz, or maybe more.

Give it a shot! Crysis might not end up being really smooth, but it will definitely be better.
 

sutahz

Golden Member
Dec 14, 2007
1,300
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I wouldn't waste your time overclocking, unless you want to learn about it (it is fun to an extent). Cheapest dual core is 3800+(2GHz) for $60 at newegg. next up is 4000+(2.4GHz) for $66. I'd buy one of those, test it, lap it, overclock it.
Or just put that money to good use in a (cheap?) C2D/mobo/ram/(psu) computer.
 

ja1484

Platinum Member
Dec 31, 2007
2,438
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Them dual cores is cheap son:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103222

Go that route. Mannys seem to top out around 2.5Ghz @ stock voltage + air, which is roughly ~4800+ speeds.

Main thing these days is that you need a dual core system. Other than that, it's almost all about the graphics chip. The recent scaling tests with the new G92s have shown that they don't give much of a shit whether you have a 2.5Ghz or 3.3Ghz processor, as long as there's more than one core.
 

TC91

Golden Member
Jul 9, 2007
1,164
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i would try oc'ing first anyways, and if it still does not give suitable performance, then go and grab a dual. doesnt hurt to try.
 

pcmax

Senior member
Jun 17, 2001
677
1
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Originally posted by: ja1484

Them dual cores is cheap son:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103222

Go that route. Mannys seem to top out around 2.5Ghz @ stock voltage + air, which is roughly ~4800+ speeds.

Main thing these days is that you need a dual core system. Other than that, it's almost all about the graphics chip. The recent scaling tests with the new G92s have shown that they don't give much of a shit whether you have a 2.5Ghz or 3.3Ghz processor, as long as there's more than one core.

He has a 939 board FYI! Still, tigerdirect has a 3800 939 for $59. My 3800 does 2.78 in spare rig, I don't know the overclocking options of your mobo though.