Should I overclock?

[barnett25]

I am getting a A64 3200+ newcastle and soltek nforce3 250gb motherboard (along with all the other goodies to fill my new TT Tsunami) next week, and of course I'm really pumped about it. I have been reading alot about overclocking on this board as well as other places and thought it might be fun to try. My question is should I? I don't do anything really hard on the cpu like encoding, so will I really see any difference? Also, does overclocking to get the highest clock speed hurt actual real world performance?
Probably the most cpu intensive thing I will do is play Far Cry, and I think my 9800pro will be the bottleneck as opposed to the cpu.
Thanks.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Programs in general will seem snappier. ALso Far Cry will run a bit better.

Im not sure i understand your last question. Anything that is above what the stock speed is is going to help your computer. Even if it is 1mhz it will help your computer (well very very very little if 1mhz but you get the picture). Also you wont make it to max OC unless your using Volt Mods, And exotic cooling (ie Liquid Nitrogen, Dry Ice, Phase Change).

-Kevin

 

[barnett25]

I just thought I had remembered reading somewhere that in the process of overclocking (for higher clock speed) you slowdown something else (ram maybe?). I guess I was mistaken.

Well in that case, what kind of speeds should I be able to get with the stock heatsink/fan? Also I've read that my soltek is voltage limited at 1.55, and my ram is 2x512 crucial (not balistics) cas 3. Is my ram going to hurt me much with a mild to medium overclock?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Nothing will hurt you in an OC. Things might limit you however when OCing nothing will hurt you.

Memory timings mean much less in A64 systems than P4 due partly in fact to the ondie memory controller, however even on P4's the difference is negligable. If your doing a mild to medium OC you dont need to apply any more voltage. You only stick the voltage up a notch if you OC and are having stability issues.

Well i cant say what kind of OC youll get with stock cooling. I need more info and also all Processors are different. I would aim for about 200mhz OC with stock cooling and proper case cooling. Anything more than that you have to watch temps so anything more i would advise getting a better cooling. Also make sure you get some decent thermal grease. I would highly recommend Ceramique or Arctic Silver 5.

-Kevin

 

[barnett25]

Thanks, thats what I wanted to know. When I get my system together I'll probably leave it stock for awhile. Then when I get bored I might try to up it to 2.4 or so.
Thanks again.

 

[WW2Planes1]

I think what you're thinking of... (in reference to slowing down RAM), is running your RAM asyncronously with the processor:
i.e. (for an A64) if you run the processor/HT bus at, say the default speed of 200MHz (so 4xHT=800MHz and 11Xproc.=2200MHz) and OC your RAM to 233MHz (DDR 466), your RAM and your processor won't always be hitting a clock edge at the same time, thus, one has to wait for the other. This will affect your performance a little bit, but I think the general concensous is (at least, my opinion is) that this slight loss is greatly outweighed by the increase in clock speed in your RAM (or processor, or whatever).

Basically, yes, there is a slight loss of efficiency by running your memory async from the processor, but in light of the other gains of overclocking, it doesn't matter.

Also, I've got the same RAM (Crucial DDR400, non-Ballistix), and while the default seettings are 3-3-3, you can probably drop the timings down. I was reading that some people were squeezing pretty nice timings (like 2.5-2-2, or something) out of the ram with a mild overclock and voltage adjustment.

 

[Blain]

"Should I overclock?"
Just asking the question indicates that you SHOULD NOT.

 

[caz67]

Overclocking offfers a good result, just be careful at first..Slow and patient, in 5mhz increments, test with Prime95 etc.