What are the goods and bads of overclocking?

[banglam080]

What are some good things about overclocking and bad things. Also, what is the best overclocking tool and artifact thing.

[Mr_Keroro]

Overclocking gains you more speed, but if the heat can't be dispersed well it can kill the part or just mess it up and have the appearance that it works with a issue inside the computer.

[borg_7_of_9]

Pro: Slight performance gain

Cons: Heat, Stress, Stability, After market cooling, uses more power, time consumed over clocking and testing the setting's, possibility of corrupting the OS

Component life is hard to say as temp's will play a part in this..
I have fried a Graphic's card once.. My CPU has been oc'ed for 3 years (water cooled)

CPU-ID (http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html) (general info), OCCT (http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Download) testing the CPU's/GPU overclock

RealTemp (http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/) (Intel CPU Only) Temp Monitoring Program
HwMonitor (http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html) Temp monitoring program..

The the Basic tool's, every thing else is done in bios..

[Lachrymosity]

Pros:

Speed

Cons:

Reduced lifespan (not super relevant)
Increased energy requirements
Heat output
Stability issues if done incorrectly
Places additional stress on PSU/mobo
Potential to kill a component if done stupidly

[Omphofo-Bravo]

Lol! Way to scare him off. :p

[borg_7_of_9]

Lol! Way to scare him off. :p

I hope I didn't scare him :/

[Washell]

Someone asking for the best 'overclocking tool' should be scared off a little. Just to make sure he'll go through the trouble of educating himself a bit before cranking up the voltage way beyond spec to make his system stable because that's what they said to do.

[banglam080]

I was going to overclock my gtx 460 but now I think I will change my mind.

[NJuice]

Pro: Slight performance gain

I wouldn't say that. CPUs nowadays scale terrifically with frequency.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/06/24/intel-pentium-g6950-cpu-review/4
I mean, just look at that.

[Washell]

I mean, just look at that.

What I see a very specific CPU being benched with very specific CPU intensive tasks and games. Benching something to show 50%-100% improvements is easy.

When looking at your core2's, i5's, i7's, Athlons and Phenons and a decent cross section of current games and actual daily use, overclocking only gives a slight performance gain.

[madpistol]

Overclocking should never be a substitute for more powerful hardware. Overclocking is and always will be an enthusiast hobby for me. If you're overclocking for absolute performance, you'll be disappointed when you hit that first wall and run into stability problems. I know I was very disappointed the first few times I ran into stability problems on my Phenom II.

I thought there was something wrong with the chip because I couldn't get even close to what others have posted. I began to do research, and I figured out that I was forgetting a critical aspect of Phenom II overclocking: Northbridge voltage. Once I began increasing that a little, I suddenly got much higher overclocks that were stable too.

The moral of this story is "Do research" Don't assume that you can get a super high overclock without having to work at it a little. As others have pointed out, there's also the risk of damaging the piece of hardware you're overclocking. Be wary of that risk.

Also, improvements are always marginal. You may see improvements in benchmarks, but usually, the noticeable difference between stock and a nice OC is minimal.

[Bad_Motha]

Also, before you even start overclocking anything, install software that allows you run benchmarks and stability/burn-in tests. It's best that this type of things are run after each successful loading of the OS before going on to do other tasks, so that you can ensure the overclock will be stable for games or other tasks.

[whisperity]

Advantage: You can get a better performance with a lower CPU/GPU.

And that's all.

Disadvantages: You shouldn't run a computer overclocked every time because: it consumes more power, it's aging the cpu/gpu.
Reduces stability, wrong values can instaltly screw up the system. (My friend over overclocked his CPU, and the CPU gone kaboom, bringing his motherboard to the afterlife as well.)

I suggest to buy a better CPU/GPU rather than spending the money you could spend on a new part to replace the corrupted ones.

[Lachrymosity]

While overclocking is definitely dangerous for those who lack knowledge, I feel it's entirely safe if done correctly. It is device physics after all. A primer: operating voltage determines maximal frequency.

Intel (or AMD, Nvidia, whatever) produce chips. Dozens to hundreds of them on a wafer, and due to imperfections/impurities/dopant distribution/chance they come out on a bell curve. Some chips are able to run at XGhz at Y voltage, but others take more voltage for the same speed or have to run slower to be stable at the same voltage, yet others run at the same clockspeed/voltage, but produce more/less heat. (Hence, the i7-950, 960, 930, Xeons).

Companies seeking profit sell the chip at the maximum speed it can run within the TDP (heat output) of the product line (eg, i7s are 130 watt max) with 100% stability. As voltage increases, heat output/energy requirements increase cubically (or to the square with older chips), hence Intel can only set the voltage (and therefore, maximum frequency) so high before it runs into a TDP wall (where the stock cooler cannot guarantee operation at maximal load at the maximal rated environmental conditions).

Now, minimal operating voltage is directly related to the temperature of the chip. The input voltage is the signal, and the heat is the noise. Each chip on that bell curve has a specific signal/noise ratio required at a specific clockspeed. Intel tests in worst-case conditions (stock cooler, crappy PSUs, 100% usage for 3 years in some desert server cluster with unstable power) Overclocking basically comes in saying, "Let's put the CPU in more ideal conditions (aftermarket cooler, premium mobos/ram/PSUs, airconditioned rooms)" to get a better s:n ratio and run at a higher clockspeed than Intel spec'd it for at the stock voltage.

Overclockers can also come in saying, "I don't care about TDP, let's crank the voltage (signal)" and get the really high overclocks. This is the type of overclocking that can destroy your chip. Voltmods are where it's not 100% safe, and unfortunately are what you'll get a lot when asking for advice. That said, lower temps can make higher voltages more acceptable, but don't expect a 45nm chip to live too long past 1.4 volts at room temperature. ~2 volts will fry a chip instantly at room temperature, but you might have a few minutes under LN2.

/rant, but that's the simplified physics behind why non-voltmod overclocking is safe if done correctly. Understand that and you can avoid a lot of the danger involved, and potentially make more intelligent decisions overclocking.

[marie pavie]

What are some good things about overclocking and bad things.
Good is that it's a fun hobby where you can learn a fair amount about hardware and save a buck or two. The bad is if you get into it too much you turn into one of the most boring people ever.

[madpistol]

Good is that it's a fun hobby where you can learn a fair amount about hardware and save a buck or two. The bad is if you get into it too much you turn into one of the most boring people ever.

I lol'd... hard. So true. :D

[Lachrymosity]

I'll third that one. I've never personally spent more than ~30 minutes overclocking a system, but I know people that spend hours upon hours testing/iterating/whatever to get another 20mhz.

But I am an ex-IC designer, so don't judge. Understanding how overclocking works allows you to avoid a lot of the stupid advice out there on the internet.

[rotNdude]

What are some good things about overclocking and bad things. Also, what is the best overclocking tool and artifact thing.

Good - It can improve your performance.

Bad - It can compromise your system stability and temperatures.

Tools:

CPU - Use the BIOS.

GPU - It depends on the card.

[Kaboom]

Huge performance gain on some processors take the i7 920 2.66Ghz it can be overclocked to 3.8Ghz and be 100% reliable at all times.

Overclocking will not damage a modern processor they all reboot if the heat gets to the max safe level.

Overcloking won't age the CPU as you will need to upgrade the CPU before it dies from overclocking anyway. I've always overclocked and kept my computers gaming way beyond their usefulness.