Is the few extra hundred MHz worth it?

[stompah]

Just an opinion poll.

My system specs:
1700+ b
8k3a+
crap pc2700 that has hit 200fsb not stable
ATI 8500 64mb retail
sk7 + 32cfm 80mm fan

I recently upgraded from a SVC HS which resembled the original OCZ Gladiator with a 7000rpm fan modded to 7volts.

I have my system currently running at 2300MHz 185MHz x 12.5 @1.7volts. Thats the max I can up the fsb with RAM stability and the max multiplier I get without modding the chip or MB.

I used to be able to run the RAM at 200fsb but there was instability issues. Nothing horrible but not stable enough for a main rig. Likewise with the CPU at 2500MHz I could encode a DivX file with it but still would fail some tests.

Once I migrated the CPU/RAM to my main rig I downed the voltage of the fan to 7volts and installed a heat spreader on the RAM. Now if I overclock much higher I get HD corruption. The only other thing that changed was the MB still an 8k3a+.

I am blaming my inability to reach the same fsb speeds on the heat spreader.



So my question is now that I have the sk7 is it worth the effort to remove the HS, mod the chip for higher mults, increase voltage which will up my temps, possibly trash my HD ( I plan on reinstalling windows soon as I mucked it up) and either downgrade my rig once again while max testing the CPU or live with main rig instability and the pain of testing it for several weeks?

[fiji]

IMO, unless your all about benchmarking no
not right now anyway


is it going to affect any real world applications? probably not

[XWRed1]

If there is any kind of instability whatsoever, then no.

[DAGO]

Voted NO because instability is not what I am seeking...
Gimme a rock solid performer anytime, a little performance gain just isn't worth it in my opinion... ;)

[DarkArctic]

I value stability over speed myself. Personally I may not put that much effort into upping the speed for a little gain that may result in more instability. So I vote no.

-DarkArctic

[n17ikh]

I'm a stability guy myself. (also I'm lazy--an FSB-changing-only guy, don't wanna mess with memory and all that... My P4 2.53 533mhz bus will o/c to 3Ghz by only changing 1 setting and on stock air... that's almost 500 Mhz! with 1 setting! and stock air! I could probably get it to 3.5 or more if I wasn't lazy, but oh well... :rolleyes: )

[Frodo Baggins]

Your not being very specific here. I mean, is there a chart for aggravation?

If your talking abotu aggravation as in effort, time spent, errors, etc. (Not money!) then I think that it is definately worth it to OC your comp. If your going to go out of your way to get a few more Mhz (let's say, less than 100), then maybe not

But if you can get a stable machine running for, let's say 30-40 bucks more in cooling, pumping out let's say 200-300 more Mhz, spending a couple days every 6 months fixing and tweaking, than I don't see the big deal.

[dropadrop]

Depends how much you enjoy playing around with your computer. I often wonder afterwards about the trouble I go through to do little gimmicks to my computer, as it seems it really was'nt worth the trouble. I still do it cause I also enjoy the process of doing it.

[stompah]

Originally posted by Frodo Baggins
Your not being very specific here. I mean, is there a chart for aggravation?

If your talking abotu aggravation as in effort, time spent, errors, etc. (Not money!) then I think that it is definately worth it to OC your comp. If your going to go out of your way to get a few more Mhz (let's say, less than 100), then maybe not

But if you can get a stable machine running for, let's say 30-40 bucks more in cooling, pumping out let's say 200-300 more Mhz, spending a couple days every 6 months fixing and tweaking, than I don't see the big deal. $0 cash to shoot for a the extra speed.

All that is involvled is initial mod time, initial tweaking for max speed then stability testing for a few weeks. All of this could be done on another MB so I dont have to deal with it on my main PC.

I have hit 2500MHz before stable enough to encode a DivX movie. It took some voltage but now I have better cooling. Any instability above that could be attributed to the RAM not going any higher. By modding it for higher mults I can keep my FSB down and play with the CPU only, maybe giving me 2600MHz+ but at higher voltage. So the only cost could be a CPU, a 2300MHz cpu :(


Originally posted by dropadrop
Depends how much you enjoy playing around with your computer. I often wonder afterwards about the trouble I go through to do little gimmicks to my computer, as it seems it really was'nt worth the trouble. I still do it cause I also enjoy the process of doing it. Thats what I am leaning towards, doing it just because I feel like it. I just wanted other's opinions. And I didnt expect so many 'no'votes. Maybe I should have worded my original post better. Maybe saying mentioning how in the end my system wouldnt be instable but I may not hit my goal of 200MHz and still be stable so the mod may be for nothing.

[craigiz1]

It's no good without stability. Stay with what work's. I never liked the idea of cpu modding. (jmo)

[emericanchaos]

Originally posted by craigiz1
It's no good without stability. Stay with what work's. I never liked the idea of cpu modding. (jmo)

word. hard modding's no joke. if you mess up you could be out a processor. just leave it the way it is. 2.3Ghz on a 1700 B is nice. let it ride. if anything swap out the memory and get something that will give you more head room.

[mdcomp]

If you are a skilled overclocker it is worth the tiny bit of aggravation in stability testing and bios tweaking for the few extra hundred MHz. Just do it step by step. Its really no big deal if you know what you are doing. I say go for the overclock.

Matt

[XWRed1]

Sure, stability testing is fine.

Just don't act like it is stable when it isn't.

[RedDeathDrinker]

No, if your PC performs at the speed it's at (whether overclocked or not), why would a few more MHz matter?

Well......;)
Shave minutes off SETI/Folding times
That extra few 3DMarks (it matters to some people I believe.....)
Something to do to pass the time
Because we can!


And yes, I overclock. Running an XP1700 TBred "B" on an 8KHA+ at 12.5*166 cooled by an Alpha PAL8045 and some Crucial PC2100 (at 166MHz) CL2.

Not exactly "bleeding-edge" technology these days, but it's more than adequate for my needs:)

[stoopid]

Man, can't believe I didn't share my wisdom (again) with all (who are sick of hearing it) about this very subject :p

http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=149942

[stompah]

hey stoopid, please note that I will not be spending anymore money that the nickel trace paint that I already have, extra juice for the extra MHz :) and time. Maybe some risk of fubaring a perfectly good CPU. But at this point I have extra CPUs so lunching one wont break me too badly.

For right now my upgrade for everything is as follows (assuming i dont kill my CPU) in that order most likely:

512mb pc3200, likely to be buffalo
better mouse/keyboard
9700 pro or better (I will buy several games to accompany this card, so i will get to use it) and a better PSU to power that
5.1 sound (massive sub juice isnt needed) for my HTPC with card
4.1 or better (massive sub juice needed:))


If I kill my CPU then add a Barton to the mix and if that isnt 8k3a+ compatible then add a motherboard to that list.

I dont think I am too off base with my uprades. Still way behind the bleeding edge.

stoopid, do you deny me this pleasure? HMMMM? (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190147)

Also getting the few extra hundred MHz will likely keep me good for another year. I do use those extra cycles for more than F@H you know :p

Oh Kevin, can you post me your system specs?

[rogerdugans]

Don't be a wimp, Stompah:D
Joking of course!

Seriously though: pushing a system as hard as I can is something I enjoy as a hobby: is it worth all the work? Not for just a few hundred mhz, no, definitely not.
But I enjoy it.

So I say do it, as time allows.
Back up any data, etc, and if you have spare drives around use one of THEM while testing/tweaking and then do it.
Find the MAX you can get and then the max you can get stable.

I still run Pally XP chips because the extra performance of TBred is not worth the money to me, so that says just how cheap I am.
But I will spend hours modding, tweaking and water cooling a system to go from 1.8Ghz to 1.9. :D

[stoopid]

Originally posted by stompah
stoopid, do you deny me this pleasure? HMMMM? (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190147)

Also getting the few extra hundred MHz will likely keep me good for another year. I do use those extra cycles for more than F@H you know :p

Oh Kevin, can you post me your system specs?

rotflmao :cool: I owned the AIW impulse purchase (which I still do not regret) toward the end of the oolha thread...

Specs are in the sig silly.

Sir Dugan, I used to put white powder up my nose and it almost sucked as much $$ from my wallet as the PC addiction... so does that also make drug use a "hobby"?? :p

[stompah]

Originally posted by stoopid

Specs are in the sig silly. DOH!

I beat your CDRW 48x Lite-on and I have a Pioneer slot loader... some like it some dont. I just like the convenience of slot loadind. :)

[stoopid]

Originally posted by stompah
I beat your CDRW 48x Lite-on and I have a Pioneer slot loader... some like it some dont. I just like the convenience of slot loadind. :)

Next, we'll get you a good paying job so you can blow all your spare cash as I did for over a year on frilly PC toys that do nothing more than work like less frilly toys :p

[rogerdugans]

If you had asked me that a long time ago I would have said yes ;)
Now I will only state that use of illegal substances is- well, illegal.

So how much further have you overclocked that thing now, Stompah? :D

[stompah]

Originally posted by stoopid


Next, we'll get you a good paying job so you can blow all your spare cash as I did for over a year on frilly PC toys that do nothing more than work like less frilly toys :p I had that remember? Those days are gone. BAH! screw money I can get $300 performance out of my $80 chip with a $20 heatsink (shipped no less) $10 fan and $20 RAM :p

Doug right now I am having trouble with the PC hooked up to my TV. It wouldnt play a certain DivX codec properly. I attribute it to windows 2003 or my video card. I tinkered for quite some time even installed Longhorn... didnt install right tho. Not easy working the interface thro a 20" TV. 2000 will go on it soon.

[CrashOveride]

As long as I'm not doing the work.

[Malpine Walis]

Well, there is really no good reason to run unstable but that is not the question at the top of this thread. If you take the time to plan out a box before whipping out the credit card, there should be 10~15% extra speed availiable without risking stability issues.

For example, my main box (17 months old) has a pally 1700 proc that I can take to 1727mhz on air and default voltage. That is an extra 250mhz for only the investment of parts that are OC capable. So where does this put me relative to the rest of the world? Well AMD says that I am running at what they would call a 1900 proc. When I adjust for PR, I come out to the equivalent of a 2100 P4. A quick look at the dell website shows that they are curently selling procs from 2200 to 2800 mhz.

Is the few extra mhz worth anything? All I can say is that I haven't pushed to box to the point of being unstable, done any voltmods or unlocked the proc and I am still pretty close to what I could buy retail after all this time.

[Robbie]

For the bragging rights yes it's worth it.
Rob

[Kronos138]

i do it for the challenge and the fun. i thought that's why everyone does it. and if you can get that extra performance for minimal $$$ and almost no effort (changing the fsb by a few mhz) than why not? it isn't like its THAT hard unless you nuts like hipro or something

[deeman]

I agree it is worth it just for the fun/Bragging rights ive got my old 1.7willie running 2+ghz and i figure as long as i can surf and play the new games coming out stable,For the price of a Zalman 7000-cu push it till it mhz but that is just my opinion

[9mmCensor]

I all for a couple xtra FPS

[{PMS}fishy]

I voted YES.

Push it hard and make it cry.

What HDD is giving you problems?

[Burning Phoenix]

Yes
I overclock mainly for seti to which my P4 2.4C @ 2900 will complete 3 more wu's over the stock speed.
My 3d rendering times and video compression times are also noticably shortened.

[stompah]

Originally posted by {PMS}fishy

What HDD is giving you problems? Western Digital 40g 7200RPM.

An update for everyone. One 8k3a+ dead for no reason. upgraded RAM to pc3200. And still at 2300MHz because if I kill it I may not be able to replace it with what I want. I really hate when parts die for no reason at all.


:(

[Blue_Dragon1521]

i say yes.. its worth it/...:)

[deathstar13]

to me even 50 mhz is worth it.
but im so anal about maximizing any and everything to its limits.
the time taken to do so is fine for me also.
long as everything ends up 100% stable the time and effort were well spent.plus look at all the enjoyment you will get learning more about your system.

will also give you ideas and point out any flaws and system weaknesses,that can be done with later upgrading.

fix one thing find 3 things that need upgrading as once you maximise one thing it shows other places to work on and speed those up.its the bad "oc cycle"

[Pinky]

Raising bios settings a click, watching memtest or whatever benchmark run its course again and again lost its fun a while ago... I will admit to having learned a lifetime full of info on overclocking and I gladly share that with others, but my learning curve has reached its bottom in this field of interest...