Why We Overclock

[TheMainFrame]

quotes like these are the reasion i decided to throw in my 2 cents..

I gotta agree with Roosta...
for the time and money you spend in upgrading for an OC... you probably could have afforded better base parts at stock...
plus you end up causing some instabilities, and and lord help you if you don't notice a fan failure right away...
overclocking is fun for bragging rights, and seeing how high a mark you can get in 3DMark... but most people clock it down soon after anyway...
I have yet to truly SEE a difference in any of the games Ive played on overclocked cards...
There ARE SOME exceptions ... but not many...

OK first of there is an article on overclockers.com that has the same title "Why We Overclock" and is an excellently written artivle explaining the art. (And yes its an ART! :p )

There are some great write ups from variouse people explaning why they OC..

It varies from "I wanna see what i can get it to score" all the way down to "Cant afford a new computer so i wanna see if i can overclock it"

Both are acceptable reasons...

Now my point of veiw (Their is a similer post related to hotrods on the article)

I buy a Honda Civic ... ( Beige box discount computer)

i Realize i can tune it up and then ill be able to drag race people to see who is fastest (3dMark scores)

After further evaluation i realize it really a hoot to see how much a can tweak it to sqeexe everlast drop out of it (Overclocking)

Then i decide what i got aint cutting it... time for a new engine (processor)
Now lets redo the transmission with a nice performance transmision (GPU)
Oooo.. look at these nice racing gear ratios ( Overclock speeds)
Ill put in a cold air intake :) (new heatsink)

and so on.. i think you get what im saying..

So if i can spend 150 on a cold air intake for my honda and it nets me about 3 horsepower gain.. Will i notice that when im driving down the road to the liquer store (mmm beer.. anyways) No i prob wont.. but when i slam that pedel to the floor and run it down a track it will make a world of diffrence

Its the same thing with computers.. if i can tweak my 3dmark05 score up another 200 points ima do it! Will i see a diffrence in games.. prob not

But thats not what im going for.. i wanna see how fast i can go... for the fun.. for the thrills.. for bragging rights.. or plain and simply... JUST BECAUSE I CAN!

Any opinions?

Thank you in advance to listining to my rant :)

[pigwalkarg]

Wouldn´t the best option be to run your car at stock while you´re just driving to work and picking up fast food, and then install the after market parts just for when you go racing?

That´s what I try to do with my pc, I´ll oc just abit whenever I´m running an app that will make a noticeable difference. The rest of the time (like when i´m reading these forums) you might as well just have it running at stock speed to save yourself wear and tear.

-wil

[Blackmage]

But rember people normally overclock on stock parts , when there not happy with there overclocks on stock or want to get more out of it they will go buy an artic cooler! in most occasions the coolers only allow for a small increase, but rember it also helps tempretures!

[neonblingbling]

Gah, I forgot who said it, but....
I want to increase my ePenis

[Blackmage]

i want to increase my epenis

:shrug: Weird

[willkill1337]

I can't remember the last time I got spam for VGA coolers..

Yay for Foamy!!!!

[neonblingbling]

:shrug: Weird

WASNT ME :rolleyes:

[lethil]

Look...yes overclocking is for bragging rights to most people. But come on whats wrong with tweaking the most you can to get the best performace. Personaly I like my computer running smoothly...every time before I go to a lan...I do everything I can to make sure I will not have anyproblems...Tweak graphics...start up config. themes/visual styles...off..defrag...all taht storta stuff...then I over clock stuff...clean up hard drive alittle...possiably a format if I have enough time before I go.

In my opinion overclocking to me is like looking after my car... Like the metaphore used before with the car...I want it running as smoothly as possiably, and yes If I have a nice car why not show it off ? and I want to make sure its not just show...I want some go under the hood !

or it could just be a male thing lol

[JoT]

Bragging rights, and because we're cheap (sort of).

[Buhammot]

I personally like the thrill of what my cheap components can get. not bragging rights so mcuh, but to see how far i can tweak my system. I would like to also say that it helps to keep me informed about the latest hardware and technology and what to expect in the near and far futures.

[ropey]

My first overclock was a 386 DX 25 that I pumped up to 40MHz and man that box rocked circles around all the other boxes at the time. My buddies would come around and play Commander Keen with me and it was fun.

Since then I have matured and so has my desire and knowledge for overclocking. However, I need to have a reason for doing such and that is Price/Performance.
I have told my wife this is the reason and I stand by it :p I have "Pumped Up" all my friends (except for the ones who have done their own and they can be found over at my place or me at theirs) computers, my brother, sister, mother etc and this feeds into this desire.

I sell my computer every three to six months and move up more to play with the overclock and new technology than "Use the System".

Hey, I like it and I enjoy it. My wife says that at least it keeps me and my buddies at home where she can keep an eye on us and when I buy computer parts, she buys shoes.... etc... :p Works for us ;)

R

[shellshock]

yes! ocerclocking is a art! Not everyone think so though. I go and brag about how far i got my cpu to at school and everyone calls me a nerd but i dont care lol

[hainer36]

i oc because i like to brag to my friends that my comp is fast and better than theirs when they payed over double of what i payed

[SolidxSnake]

*ahem*

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=372728

Search Function ^^


:D :D

first overclock was my dads TNT 16MB AGP2x.... when you get red lines all over your screen after a 15Mhz overclock, you know you got a lemon LMAO

[Jotolicious]

wait, ok i was under the impression that overclocking makes a difference in games!

so if i overclock a 3000+ from stock 1.8ghz to 2.2ghz, what difference will i see in a game, like HL2 or whatever? FPS change any?

sheee if there's no difference screw overclocking. i've been deceived! :o

[jchsatx09]

this thread is pointless

[jchsatx09]

and its in the wrong section

[JoT]

Learn to edit your post. And this is not in the wrong section, because it pertains directly to why we overclock videocards. If it's totally general, it can go elsewhere, but as Snake pointed out, that thread already exists.

[Hellion]

I myself OC for the same reason Hainer does. Because my Cousin built a system EXACTLY like mine, except 3 things, A, the mobo is K8NS Pro, his is K8NS. and the ram is Corsair Xms, his is corsair....., and last thing, his has a ATI 9800 pro. mine is a 6800 GT....soon to be an ultra. and the point is. when i used my old ram, my old 5900 XT, and old K8NS mobo, i STILL paid less and got more performance out of mine, at LEAST 400 pnts more, and i DO see a performance increase in games, in D3 he would get ****y cause when he fires his comp lags immediatly and he takes damage from something hitting him that he couldnt see. mine, ran so smooth, at same settings. so OCing has HUGE advatnages, when you know where to look. now for instance if you OC from 2.4 to 2.8, you wont see a diff if your playing.....Commander Keen. :P (Loved that game) but you would if you were playing D3 or far cry. or other such game recently released.


P.S, 3dmark scores are good too..

[RHARLE10]

Some things you can do with overclocking can be astounding !!!

You can do the little tweaks like up the clock and memory speeds using options in ure drivers like radlinker.

Then you can flash cards from like 9500-9700pro and 9800SE to 9800pro now thats real O/C mines is just for fun really :)

[mdameron]

too bad women don't drool over benchmark scores like they do cars... it'd be a better place! :santa:

[Sjaak]

i'm in for the fun



I just like playing with hardware..call it some sort of fetish or something, but the smell of a brand new motherboard...hmmmm. And it's cool gaining experience to put to use in a great community like this.

[Sir Golitech]

I have told my wife this is the reason and I stand by it :p I have "Pumped Up" all my friends (except for the ones who have done their own and they can be found over at my place or me at theirs) computers, my brother, sister, mother etc and this feeds into this desire.

I sell my computer every three to six months and move up more to play with the overclock and new technology than "Use the System".

Hey, I like it and I enjoy it. My wife says that at least it keeps me and my buddies at home where she can keep an eye on us and when I buy computer parts, she buys shoes.... etc... :p Works for us ;)

R

I couldn't of said it better. Your bang on.

i'm in for the fun
I just like playing with hardware..call it some sort of fetish or something, but the smell of a brand new motherboard...hmmmm. And it's cool gaining experience to put to use in a great community like this.

ahhhhh brand new motherboard. I know just what you mean.

[bandit390]

The difference is overclocking usually has different goals. You have a crappy 1.6 celeron (Real?) so you overclock it so it wont suck so bad and because you have no more money. You have a Honda civic and you want to hotrod the 1.6 liter motor, that would be the same as putting a vaporchill system on your 1.6 celeron. Has nothing to do with lacking money, has more to do with saying hah I have the fastest 1.6
Thing I dont get is: Why is it "cool" to hotrod a 1.6 liter honda motor but not cool to spend massive money putting vapochill on a 1.6 celeron?
(sorry, not a fan of big money into tiny motors for modest hp)

[godofgorks]

Thing I dont get is: Why is it "cool" to hotrod a 1.6 liter honda motor but not cool to spend massive money putting vapochill on a 1.6 celeron?
(sorry, not a fan of big money into tiny motors for modest hp)

I never got that either, I'd rather get a muscle car with a V8, with some moderate tweaks then blow 10k on a four popper. Mainly because I don't have money like that, but If I did have money to blow, 1.6 with a supercharger, intercooler, and nitrous kit could be fun to play with. :)

Because I probably look at it towards the OC to save money side, while also having fun doing it, while others do it souly for the fun I feel there is a point where the costs outway the benefits of the OC. Why not invest in a few grades better hardware with a moderate OC, but it's all in how you look at it.

I know once I have money I'll probably play around with older computers just to see what they could do with extreme circumstances, and the reason you use older components is loosing the fear of burning it up. The majority of the cash is spent in the cooling system can always be adapted to something else, burn the MOBO and that's a different story. So I say to all the OCers out there, have fun with YOUR style of OCing.

[Hellion]

ahhhhh brand new motherboard. I know just what you mean.


MMMMMM. its sooo slick, and nice. especially asus and gigabyte boards. they add color in with the beuty of all the tech that goes into thes OC motherboards.

[firebat45]

wow, i didnt expect to see so any people here that still liked muscle car style motors. I thought nearly everyone would be all into the technology of todays motors over the brute strength of the 70s. I myself think there is no better engine than a twin turbocharged wankel engine - pretty much the most "out there" engine in a car.

(best engine for performance - weight - money, the rotor tips usually sucked.)

[speed bump]

i'm in for the fun



I just like playing with hardware..call it some sort of fetish or something, but the smell of a brand new motherboard...hmmmm. And it's cool gaining experience to put to use in a great community like this.

Yes its a fetish that almost makes me regret pay check time because I start thinking hey I really could use a new vid card, or ram, or DDR booster and by by pay check.

wow, i didnt expect to see so any people here that still liked muscle car style motors. I thought nearly everyone would be all into the technology of todays motors over the brute strength of the 70s. I myself think there is no better engine than a twin turbocharged wankel engine - pretty much the most "out there" engine in a car.

(best engine for performance - weight - money, the rotor tips usually sucked.)

Wouldn't you be saying 60s motors 70s motors with exception of pre 1973 weren't all that great. I personally like the GM LS1/LS6 engine that they use in Corvettes and the Caddy XLR. Perfect blend of the small block chevy and a great intake manifold, head combonation. I personally think the small block chevy is the ultimate engine. More parts are available for it than newegg has warehouse space in cubic meters, and you can go anywhere from 30mpg 300HP cruiser engine, to an easy and cheap 400HP, to a 1500HP supercharged screamer. Also I like the reliability and solidness of older engines. If I have a problem it doesn't take very long to pin point and fix and becuase these engines were built in a time before gas was $2+ they wen't for durability over effienency so they last longer than most engines today will.

[0SER]

The cars are lighter, depending on who owns them they are more attractive, better handling, better gas mileage, probably more fun to drive. I own a Honda CRX with a 1.5 liter engine, all I've done is a CAI and catback exhaust, and it's fun as hell to drive and I get around 35 mpg. I'm not saying that I wouldn't love to have a 74 Stingray with a 454, but on a curvy track, a Civic would probably beat the Stingray, but in a dragrace it's a different story.
It's about gas mileage, and I know that you're not gonna get/build a muscle car for cheap.

The difference is overclocking usually has different goals. You have a crappy 1.6 celeron (Real?) so you overclock it so it wont suck so bad and because you have no more money. You have a Honda civic and you want to hotrod the 1.6 liter motor, that would be the same as putting a vaporchill system on your 1.6 celeron. Has nothing to do with lacking money, has more to do with saying hah I have the fastest 1.6
Thing I dont get is: Why is it "cool" to hotrod a 1.6 liter honda motor but not cool to spend massive money putting vapochill on a 1.6 celeron?
(sorry, not a fan of big money into tiny motors for modest hp)

[Cheator]

this thread is pointless
No it ain't, now be quiet.


I remember the first time I heard the term 'overclocking'. My first thought was "Wow! I can finally get my moneys worth out of this stupid Celeron!". And I did. Soon a Celeron 566 was a 900 with stock cooling.

But after a while it was more about optomizing my system to perform at it's best. I mean when you think about it, Stock is just for safety's sake. AMD makes a CPU and tests it. If it can yeild 2.5 ghz they might say "Hm. Alright well lets roll it back a tad just in case and sell it as a 3200". Even if that chip can do more than a 3200 can. And thats why I do it mainly. Cause my computer has the potential to go beyond what it is set at when it comes to me from the store.

OK first of there is an article on overclockers.com that has the same title "Why We Overclock" and is an excellently written artivle explaining the art. (And yes its an ART! )

I gota say thank you for calling it an artform. Many people would laugh at the idea of it being art but really, what is art? Creativity. And aren't we creative when we OC? Sure. I am, at least. "Well.. I can't post at this FSB cause my ram isn't meant for dual channel. But if I roll back some of the timings it could work". Thats my view of it.

[Steven4563]

i wish girls would drool over my computer instead of my car lol :) but maybe not because i already got a g/f and she would go mad :p

i only overclock for the fun of it just like ive started doing my car up ( coz its fun ) :D

[TheGreySpectre]

Its fun, and I do actually see a performance increase, esp when your framerates are borderline

also well my computer isn as I still have an AthlonXP, ask the people with 3.3GHZ AMDs and 4.5GHZ pentiums and see if they no anyone with a faster computer

[hibner]

...ask the people with 3.3GHZ AMDs and 4.5GHZ pentiums and see if they no anyone with a faster computer
I think that says it all right there

[redwraith94]

IDK the new civics make almost 200 hp, I would really like it if car manufacturers started making vvt conversion kits. Esp for my car a 2.3l Ford Tempo GL! hahahaaa....It's supposed to make 90 hp stock but my 0-60 time used to be 15 secs, now it's 12. So I figure at least 120hp?

I oc for the same reason that I do my car, it's challenging and thrilling, and of course there is bragging rights!

i'm in for the fun
I just like playing with hardware..call it some sort of fetish or something, but the smell of a brand new motherboard...hmmmm. And it's cool gaining experience to put to use in a great community like this.

They are quite inexplicably pleasent :)
Almost as good as a woman, fresh from the shower, ahhhh.....

edit/ I meant the toyota celica, oops...time to go to school /edit

[Sjaak]

They are quite inexplicably pleasent :)
Almost as good as a woman, fresh from the shower, ahhhh.....


Lol. I'm sorry to have to admit that i haven't yet had that pleasure.

[Hellion]

Lol. I'm sorry to have to admit that i haven't yet had that pleasure.
!!!!! ah but you must, few things are sexier than your fine women coming out of the shower, covered with steam.....GUH, brb,.....*HONEY!

[Sjaak]

!!!!! ah but you must, few things are sexier than your fine women coming out of the shower, covered with steam.....GUH, brb,.....*HONEY!

Be careful before we get cuffed by a mod :p

I ain't gonna hurry those kinda things.

[troutbumoh]

Its real simple...I OC because I can!

Enough said.

[redwraith94]

I haven't yet either :shrug: but I have had girlFRIENDS of mine, come out, covered in water. Beautiful creatures they are :clap:

[Sjaak]

The first american to start about 'overclocking is my god given right...' will get personally slapped by me

[Slimmy]

Because it ain't illegal!!!!!! Yet....

[neonblingbling]

Peer pressure ><

[Sjaak]

Peer pressure ><


The force...the force is pulling you in!

[elfiena]

believe it or not, ocing actually makes a noticable difference for my system. it makes windows load faster and as a bouns because of oced graphics card, i get to turn all the bell and whisle on ffxi and some other games without lag. to me, that is impressive since it lags cats and dogs when run with everything on at stock speed. mind you that you don't have to spend a fortune on heatsinks. and some heatsinks are transferable from older systems to new. i am pretty happy with my current amd box which has the same performance as a prebuilt computer 150% of its price. I still would like to see how much more i can squeeze out of my system. the truth is, there are too many myths surround ocing and cooling. you don't need to spend like 200 bucks on water cooling to squeeze out performance when a $30 hsf does about just a good of a job when moderately oced so that there is a noticable difference, but not oced so much that it generates heat like your stove (note OEM processors don't supply you with hsf, so you have to buy them anyways) in most cases, the real difference maker is a hsf for your northbridge rather than cpu since some north bridges don't have fans at all and tend to overheat when oced. for athlon 64 owners, this isn't even an issue since nb is integrated on the cpu die. most stock video card hsfs work well as long as they don't got dust clog up the airways. with about 20 bucks extra, you can oc your system that can perform as well as a system that cost 200 bucks more running stock speed. the key is moderation. a lot of people go on spending frenzy and believe into hype and buy things they don't need and end up spending extra, it's just silly. you can save money by ocing, you just need to control your own impulses on buying things and do proper research

[Karbon]

I OC, well, because I can. If I mostly spend my computer time playing demanding games and OC'ing can make it more enjoyable, why not? I don't see a valid reason for many people not to overclock at all. I remember reading in PCGamer a few years ago and reading the hardware Q&A's, whenever someone asked about overclocking they would reply something like "It will ruin your card or processor quickly and causes system instability blah blah blah", since then I have gone to the good side

[Hellion]

believe it or not, ocing actually makes a noticable difference for my system. it makes windows load faster and as a bouns because of oced graphics card, i get to turn all the bell and whisle on ffxi and some other games without lag. to me, that is impressive since it lags cats and dogs when run with everything on at stock speed. mind you that you don't have to spend a fortune on heatsinks. and some heatsinks are transferable from older systems to new. i am pretty happy with my current amd box which has the same performance as a prebuilt computer 150% of its price. I still would like to see how much more i can squeeze out of my system. the truth is, there are too many myths surround ocing and cooling. you don't need to spend like 200 bucks on water cooling to squeeze out performance when a $30 hsf does about just a good of a job when moderately oced so that there is a noticable difference, but not oced so much that it generates heat like your stove (note OEM processors don't supply you with hsf, so you have to buy them anyways) in most cases, the real difference maker is a hsf for your northbridge rather than cpu since some north bridges don't have fans at all and tend to overheat when oced. for athlon 64 owners, this isn't even an issue since nb is integrated on the cpu die. most stock video card hsfs work well as long as they don't got dust clog up the airways. with about 20 bucks extra, you can oc your system that can perform as well as a system that cost 200 bucks more running stock speed. the key is moderation. a lot of people go on spending frenzy and believe into hype and buy things they don't need and end up spending extra, it's just silly. you can save money by ocing, you just need to control your own impulses on buying things and do proper research

DUDE! lol, break it up into segments! you know....paragraphs. :P

[redwraith94]

The first american to start about 'overclocking is my god given right...' will get personally slapped by me

It is my god given right! :p

[tenchi86]

Did I already post here? any way if I havent I OC because of the performance increase. I like taking a system weaker then my friends and by far passing it in terms of Mhz. I also liek seeing how far I can push it.

[Sjaak]

It is my god given right! :p

*sjaak slaps redwaith with a large trout

Thank holy heaven that CPU'd can't kill people

[WA2]

I have oc'd since back in the days. I still my my Celery 300a (wOOt 464) Anyway, I buy all of the correct parts for the specific reason of oc'ing. I love to see a cpu/gpu/mem all pushed beyond what they are sold at. Some kind of high doing it..very addictive, too. :)

[Hellion]

you can always say......take ANY SYSTEM that is built with your specs, and yours will STILL be faster! hehe.

[mista ting]

i like ocing because i can ownz overpriced pos intel rigs :D

[redwraith94]

Large trout?!? 1...2...5...three sir...3 <redwraith whips out the holy hand grenade of antioch shouting> "It is my god given right!!!"
I like oc'ing because it is fun...someone had the idea of oc'ing a ps2, though impracticle blah blah blah, I like it :D

[Enablingwolf]

Why I overclock...
Hmm easy question to answer but a complex issue. Since everyone has a different agenda.
Myself, I start at stock parts and speeds. Then bump them up till they get hot or give out. Then I get more parts to make it stable and go faster. If it isn't stable, I get out the power tools. That my friends is the fun part, making a rig your own, not an out of the box experience. No matter what brand the part it becomes mine after a time. All your manufactured parts are belong to me.
For some this is not enough they make their own to get this same idea. No design is safe in an overclockers case.
Plus I am a cheapskate.

[Hellion]

Large trout?!? 1...2...5...three sir...3 <redwraith whips out the holy hand grenade of antioch shouting> "It is my god given right!!!"
I like oc'ing because it is fun...someone had the idea of oc'ing a ps2, though impracticle blah blah blah, I like it :D

DUDE! Monty Python rules!

Why I overclock...
Hmm easy question to answer but a complex issue. Since everyone has a different agenda.
Myself, I start at stock parts and speeds. Then bump them up till they get hot or give out. Then I get more parts to make it stable and go faster. If it isn't stable, I get out the power tools. That my friends is the fun part, making a rig your own, not an out of the box experience. No matter what brand the part it becomes mine after a time. All your manufactured parts are belong to me.
For some this is not enough they make their own to get this same idea. No design is safe in an overclockers case.
Plus I am a cheapskate.
nice post. makes perfect snes to me :P

[StormPC]

i like ocing because i can ownz overpriced pos intel rigs :D

Not a good reason. With an A64 you can do that without overclocking. :D

And this IS in the wrong section.

I overclock for a slight performance boost but that's not the main reason. I extreme overclock to push the limits of the hardware to see what they are.

ALL hardware is designed to be within certain tolerances (overengineered). It will all go faster than it is designed to go. I like to find out how much faster so I can know how reliable the hardware will be in a given situation.

Take an X800 XT PE and an X800 XL. Both will do 30k on FM 3DMark2001 on air, but the X800 XT PE will do it a lot easier. So at high outputs the X800 XL will be more likely to fail than the X800 XT PE because it's working much harder.

Sure I could just read about it but I don't trust review sites or online data as much as I trust my own tests because I know the conditions my tests are run under.

[eystan]

EnablingWolf is dead on the mark.We do it because it's there and because we can!!!
my mind was backed up on disc also,but the file got corrupted! :drool:

[dfonda]

Because it seems illegal

[Sjaak]

Because it seems illegal

lol...overclocking illegal...if they bring it that far im gonna move to sealand! (http://www.sealandgov.com/)

[jdheeter@charte]

im new to this site, my pc if fine right now but ill probly look into overcocking in a year or so

anyways, ive heard that overclocking shortens the life of hardware, is this true or just a myth?

please excuse my n00bness

[Sjaak]

anyways, ive heard that overclocking shortens the life of hardware, is this true or just a myth?


It does, but it has to be seen in perspective.

Alot of people have pentium 1's and 2's running for internet machines, servers or casual oldstyle gaming rigs, so it's safe to say that general hardware will last 10 years. Overclocking itself does little to shorten the life, it's more the voltage increases that usually come with it.

I read somewhere that every 15% you overvolt shortens the life by 50%...which would mean five years. So you care in 5 years, or even 2.5, whether your pentium 4 dies or not?

[Streifenkarl]

"Why do we overclock?"

I dont have a "valid" reason. Gaming performance has never noticably improved, benchmark scores dont mean much and losing warranties isnt exactly "clever". This question is like asking "why do I have to fart after eating Chili?" Some things just are the way they are.

Yet I do it... go figure. :)

[jdheeter@charte]

is there a performance difference between a 3 ghz p4 and a 2.4 ghz p4 overclocked to 3? besides maybe the ht on the 3 ghz, im just wondering, if speed is the same as overclocked speed, cuz ive heard of people overclcocking their computers pretty far, using water cooling and such, anyways the reason im kinda asking these things is I have an old pc i dont use much, its got a 900 mhz amd proccessor, a gforce 2 64 mb vid card, 256 mb of ram, its an old gateway pc, which makes me think it might not be moddable or w/e, it runs half-life 2 and CS:S surprisingly well, the framerate is incredibly smooth untill physics stuff starts moving and then it will usually slow to a crawl and then pop back up to normal speed, in normal css gameplay the fps stays at a solid 30-50 fps, this is of course at 800x600 with all graphics on low and running dx 8 mode

ive got all new computers now and dont really have a huge need for this old gateway, my brother plays games on it from time to time, anyways, i was wondering how i should go about overclcocking it, just to see if i can get better performance out of it, im impressed by how well it already performs, i need to put doom 3 on it and see what happens :)

i have riva tuner on it,it lets me increase the clock for the lower end portion or w/e its called, but if i try and overcock the high end clock settings they are just blanked out and it wont let me adjust them, even when i reset, i tried installing the latest drivers from nvidia but for some reason the latest driver causes bizzare graphical bugs and glitches in game, (planned obsolecence lol) so i reverted back to the old gateway drivers that came with the system and it looks fine now, though riva tuner wont let me overclcock, thats about all i know about overclocking, i looked in its bios and i didnt see any settings for voltages or anything like that, just system time and boot order and boring stuff like that

ahh im such a lost newb, woe is me!!!

[Dell_Axim]

To me, saying that my PC gets a few more MIPS than a friend's PC is like saying that my breasts are 5mm larger than a friend's. Is there a real point? No. It may be impressive in measurements, but it won't get noticed in real life.
On the other hand, a major case mod would be akin to a makeover, which would make a difference.

The good news is that CPU upgrades are usually cheaper than breast implants.


Oops, I just knocked over my stack of Redhat Enterprise Linux CDs, I guess that I have too much of a good thing, LOL.

[Enablingwolf]

I would look funny with augmentation so I overclock. Having 400MHZ+ on my CPU makes it the fun part of the hobby.

[shellshock]

"Why do we overclock?"

I dont have a "valid" reason. Gaming performance has never noticably improved, benchmark scores dont mean much and losing warranties isnt exactly "clever". This question is like asking "why do I have to fart after eating Chili?" Some things just are the way they are.

Yet I do it... go figure. :)


hahaha!!!, Nice analogy!! :)

[Hellion]

Because it makes peoples E-Penis bigger.

[Zippykid9]

I got into overclocking at first when i was researching parts to buy for this computer. i was on a real tight budget, and i wanted to get the most out of what i had, and to have the fastest system around. Overclocking was the greatest way to get the most out of what i could afford, and even surpass what was available at stock.

Since then, my natural affinity for tweaking things, taking them apart, etc has come into play, and i've stayed interested, even after i settled my computer into what was the maximum possible speeds.

This computer isnt actually the first computer i overclocked. I was stuck with my celeron 366 before i could get all the money together, and i wanted to get a performance boost out of it, because i was hurting! well, i got it up to 450 but alas, my mobo lacked any sort of divider and it would lock up at anything above 38mhz pci bus.

Of course recently i've been feeling the bad sides of overclocking. my beautiful computer has been falling apart on me for the last several months. it's down a video card, losing stability because my power supply is dying, and the case no longer fits together because of some poorly concieved mod ideas. Oh, the joys of learning.