Why Do People Not OC?

[technogeeky]

I don't O/C my computer because:

I can't. My motherboard won't support any higher speed. And I have less than 1 CM space between the two heatsinks in the SLOT 1 processors.

How's that?

 

[RossGr]

ST4RCUTTER:
What is your problem man? You ask a simple question, then when you get answers you argue with them. Let it rest. I am glad to see that you are so experianced, been OCing since '98... wow. LOL,... I built my frist system in '91, I currently have one oc'd system and 3 non, I simply have not seen suficient gains to make it worth my while, I will not spend extra on cooling oc, I'd rather but it into the CPU. But what ever paddles your boat, have fun. Just don't put down others because they choose differently.

 

[le3tplaya]

I always leave my system running defualt settings untill it starts to get outdated. Then I pull out all the stops an oc the sh!t out of it. Makes you feel like you just got a new comp, and also helps to run all those new programs that you can't run as well because your computer has become "outdated".

 

[Jiggz]

If it takes a lot of your time, patience and you require ear plugs to OC, then maybe your knowledge and skill aren't up to par! Overclocking is not like trying to shoot for the Stars to say you are OC'ed. Overclocking is economics when done correctly, Or a form of hobby when done to the extreme. Correctly, means using the same component and finding out the highest Mhz/Ghz your system will do without affecting stability (just like fine tuning your car). Extreme OC'ing is like a drag racing hobbyist! Now that requires special talent and money to accomplish! You're absolutely correct, with the price of CPU no one should be overclocking! But why do people buy the higher Ghz/Mhz anyway? Speed? Isn't that what OC'ing does? Maybe I and other OC'ers just don't get it and should just keep buying new CPU everytime we want higher Mhz/Ghz, which you can get free from OC'ing.

 

[TunaBoo]

<< I don't overclock my pc because

1 - I like it to be stable, I really don't like to have to reboot or have apps crash on me.

2 - Noise, I like my pc to be nice and quiet, having lots of fans dosn't help. >>



1 and 2 are both sterotypes (untrue ones at that).

 

[spyordie007]

<< It was very easy to overclock too, its like adding things to your car to get more horsepower, it is kind of a guy thing i guess. >>



To be honest this is really the reason that probably 75% of the people who OC, OC in the first place.

If you want to OC your system, that's cool I DONT CARE.

As for me I'm not OC'ing because with a P3 733 running at 133 fsb there isnt much of a point, no matter how about this one I go I'm not going to see any major increse in performance, if I could get a decent increse (% wise) than I probably would, but in my case it's just not worth-wile to OC just so I can get a whopping 5% increse in FPS when I game (which I rarely do).

When 80% of my time on the computer is behind a web-browser anyways, what's the point?

my 2 cents

 

[McCarthy]

Jiggz brings up a good point. Well, others brought it up, but he made it clearer. There are two types of overclockers. The pennypinchers and the hobbyists. If you can get by with the stock fan and pick up a few mhz, great, no problem, got 50mhz for free. Several have said the new celerons still do 150% overclock, I was under the impression it was rather hit or miss with them. The 533's, some 566's, beyond that you had to be real lucky.

Which goes back to my point - here I am, hitting the forums daily, spending a few minutes browsing through, many hours combined over the years and I still am not sure about this example. And then there's always the fluke (some 300A's didn't do 450). So for the average guy coming home after work and reading up just to find out of he can overclock, putting in the time to pick the motherboard that'll let him do it, etc, there's TIME used to calculate. I've got the time. Most of us do. But if we were to take the time we've spent reading these forums and convert that to cash at say $20/hr most of us could probably buy a brand new rig right now. The vast majority of computer users don't ever look at tweak sites, they don't find them interesting, and when you compute the time we devote to them it doesn't pay on a straight time/savings scale. Throw entertainment value in, it does.

The hobbyists, that's another thing altogether. It's often cheaper to just buy a faster CPU to start with than to break out the peltiers, watercooling, etc, but it's no fun.

Just saying for a whole 80bux difference in my earlier example, most people would rather just work a couple of hours of overtime every few years and avoid researching constantly to keep up with the changes. If you're one who finds it entertaining to read this stuff (like most of us do) then it's a positive/positive thing.

Like HansXP said, as long as it does the job, who cares what the # is? Car example is perfect. Hell, when I was 18 I drove a Camaro. Poured a few grand into that thing tinkering. Bought more aluminum from Edelbrock than I'll ever buy from Globalwin, never got it how I wanted, but still did it because I enjoyed it then. Now I drive a Geo Metro, hauls me back and forth cheaply and dependably, that's all I care about at the moment. Still overclock, still tinker with the computer, someday I'll probably lose interest in it and find a new distraction again. If that's not ok with some, that's their problem, not mine. Never knew it bugged some to know others aren't overclocking, I couldn't care less what others do to their computers. For the hobbyist the economics are a minor detail, from a pure economy standpoint it doesn't make sense for most.

--Mc

 

[MrWhiteUK]

<< For the hobbyist the economics are a minor detail, from a pure economy standpoint it doesn't make sense for most. >>



Sums it up in one sentance, well done my man.

A few other points:

OC'ers are always in their machine removing the HSF, removing HSF's is probably (now with socket a especially) the no.1 cause for people fubar'ing there already working comps.

[girly] &quot;Overclocking is like, so last year darling!&quot; [/girly]

I think most people here DO have the knowlege to overclock, don't go making out that OC'ers are brain surgeons now.

Later.

 

[julianf]

<< 1) i can't live w/out complete stability

2) the last thing i want to do is worry about heat issues >>




check out vapochill on the heat issues...
the cooler the better...

 

[murdock2525]

The name in itself....PC
PERSONAL COMPUTER
Do what you want with it and screw the rest.
I don't OC. Never will.Wouldn't want to waste the time benchmarking and tweaking.
I spend my time messing with file management and registry tweaking /organizing. Three hard drives......NUTS
I love HTML editors, digital photography, and 3d programs.
I'm getting into Audio now.....oboy $$$$
People sit at my computer and go Holy Sh!t ! Everything is super organized in folders on the desktop. Open a folder on the desktop and its like being on another machine from programs to favorite links to Zip libraries. Even my Zip disks are like another system. Put in the 250 M &quot;Kitchen&quot; disk for the wife and she has a chefs computer in front of her.
Put in my &quot;sporting&quot; disk and you have a hunter/ gunsmith/ fishermans computer in front of you.
Just MY wierdness...........Relax guys...We're all WHACKED IN THE HEAD !!

 

[Prince of Persia]

Please forgive and spelling/grammer mistakes I'm in a hurry.


As I read this entire 84 post thread, I sit here thinking about my experience with overclocking....

Kiddies gather around as I tell you the tragic tale the little p3 that couldn't.

Ahh yes, I could remember it as if it were yesterday. The entire 300@450 craze had overwhelmed the message boards and my friends had easily jumped onto the OC train. I sat alone, with a p2 300. I came to the forums looking for spiritual advice on what to do, and quickly was pushed to OC. Unfortunately my p2 model was the older, HOTTER (not in a good sense) model. I sunk my head in sorrow and headed back into the mundane world of NON-OC'ing world.

At the time I was working and about 15 years old. As the month went on a NEW craze was coming up, the p3 450@550 even 600! Boy oh boy, I thought heres my chance to fullfill my OC niche. So at the end of my days working as a loley mail boy, I had some spare dough to live out my OC'ing dream. Now on a side note the new company STEP Thermodynamics company had been cropping up and its name was appearing in many threads. Lots of recommendations and lots pondering led me to believe that Steps cooling systems was well worth the 140 bucks! So, being the naive teenager that I was, I felt hmmmm 140 bucks it HAS to be the BEST thing out there to let me reach 550 even 600mhz!

So, boys and girls, listen and listen closely as I am about to unveil the event that scarred and killed the OC beast inside me.....

I quickly sold my p2 300 computer to a family friend and put in an order for a p3 450 with the Yukon STEP cooler! (Doesn't the cooler's name sound spiffy?) It arrived in my home with the p3 and a monster cooling unit attached to it. It had a peltier running to two large socket heatsinks, with the two fans on the heatsinks.

Running on the famous A-Bit bx6 2.0 mobo, I booted up and set up all the options for 558....I booted up, go to windows then bam crashed....
Let me make a long story short. I'm sitting here telling you the tale about me spending a summer's worth work on a processor, mobo, ram only to be typing on a p3 450@527. Its 3 years later, I've come to the msg boards, tried every dang setting known to man. But alas the p3 450 could not give me what my dreams desired. Now I site here with a step cooling unit with both the fans busted, and in replacement i screwed on a case fan onto the heatsinks in frustration of my wasted moeny.

So, why don't I overclock? Well because of the traged that slashed my heart. Money doesn't come easily to me and when I could have saved that extra 140 bucks, it seems that OC has to HIGH of a risk for me.

Trust me, been there and failed that. As a hobby it may seem fine, but otherwise the OC beast my consume your very essence and money!


Please shed no tears for this OC failure....I will be upgrading soon to a beast of a machine withOUT OC.

 

[MrWhiteUK]

Yeah and if everybody turned into an overclocker this forum would end up like some of the other (won't name names that would be 'Hard' on them) primarily OC'ing forums.

Threads would be as follows:

[billtedvoice]

Dude#1 &quot;Whhoa, I like Sooooo overclocked my mom's toaster, it at like at least 500Mhz, stuck like at least 20 gorbs on it with AS epoxy and stuck this big like erm....plane fan on it yeah! It was totallt smokin' man.&quot;

Dude#2 &quot;You like never did, you c*@k su@$er, su*k my mo*@er£&quot;king d*@k. Those toasters are like 200Mhz stock speed man.
Well check dis, my mate knows this kid who has his Geforce 3 at 9000Mhz! It was cooled wiv dis liquid nitroleum or sum sh!t.&quot;

Dude#1 &quot;No way maaaan! Your'e a fu*#in' lyer!! I'm gonner like wrap those 3/4 length trousers round yer face if u don't shud up, or like vanderlize yer skateboard or sumink!

[/billtedvoice]


See, bad.

 

[Remnant2]

Why not overclock? Well, the last processor I overclocked was a K6-2 300 that went to 333mhz. Needless to say, this vast increase in processor power blew me away.

Seriously, with a 500mhz Athlon, I've never felt the need to indulge in the hassle of OCing. I can't tolerate any system instability, and the period of days/weeks of tweaking the speed while still staying stable (was that BSD/system behavior/program quirk by design, or my overclock?) is too much.

Not to mention it requires a GFD for my slot-a; all for what, a couple hundred mhz? I can buy a new 850mhz processor for bus fare practically.

 

[Sniper82]

I started overclocking a couple years ago when I had my K6-2 350@400+. Then I went from it to a celeron 366@550,Celeron 2 566@900 and am now on a Duron 600 that does 950 9x100. I heard as long as your FSB ain't over 100/133 you aint hurting any of your other hardware other than the CPU being you have the right speed ram in there.

As far as heat I don't have this problem as I am using a Alpha PEP66 with a YStech fan which was designed for a Coppermine but with a copper spacer it fits my Duron that I have been running for the past 6 months. Oh yeah I have zero case fans I just keep my side panel off which keeps everything cool. I had it off for the past year or so.

 

[Rectalfier]

I am an Avid overclocker and I can only say good things about it. I have overclocked every chip I ever bought. Pentium 233@292, K6-2 266@300, Celeron300@450, Athlon500@700, Duron700@950, and now my sweet beauty the Athlon1.2@1.4ghz.

I overclock them to only the degree of utter stability. I run loops of sandra or quake demos for 24+ hours. Large corporations run same such tests for there PC products. My parents are still running the Celeron300@450, two and a half years now. I have always had overclocked chips as fast as the fastest processors out at the time. I was running at around 56degrees yestarday, one of the hottest days yet overe here 35+ degrees in my room.

I advise anyone who gets into overclocking to first do there research before touching anything. It's not hard to overclock, however if uninformed you may do some damage. When running perfectly stable you will have the raw power of a processor outside budget and sometimes not available, like those with 1.5Ghz Athlons right now.