Overclocking without cooler?

[bennyboy9201]

I'm not going to be getting a cooler for about a month because I spent all my money on the computer, but would it be a good idea to overclock (even a small OC) without an aftermarket cooler? I am using a 550 BE that I unlocked to a quadcore, with a antec 900.

One more thing, would the unlocking of the extra two cores change the chips ability to OC and change the heat it's at right now compared to when it was a dual?

 

[Jamin43]

I wouldn't overclock without an aftermarket heat sink -but others might disagre. As long as you stay under 70 degrees you should be fine.

re: stability - it depends on the luck of the draw in why your chip was binned to a dual core. It's a numbers game - based on supply and demand at a given price point. Your CPU started as a quad core - and was binned down to a dual core.

* It could be b/c one of two of the cores were not up to specs in one way or another - so they shut them down and sell them as a dual or triple core

OR

* If they didn't have enough defective core CPUS to fill the need demanded by consumers at your price point - the company can shut down a perfectly good core or two to fill the demand at a lower price point. In that case - you could have a perfectly stable quad core on the cheap with the right MOBO and BIOS that supports it.

 

[bomberboysk]

I'm not going to be getting a cooler for about a month because I spent all my money on the computer, but would it be a good idea to overclock (even a small OC) without an aftermarket cooler? I am using a 550 BE that I unlocked to a quadcore, with a antec 900.

One more thing, would the unlocking of the extra two cores change the chips ability to OC and change the heat it's at right now compared to when it was a dual?

Oh yes, the 550's unlocked to quad will probably not overclock too well, as the cores are disabled for a reason most of the time. It will put out around twice the heat of stock with unlocked cores. The 550 stock cooler isnt as good as the stock on the quads, i would wait to overclock until you get an aftermarket hsf.

 

[CardboardSword]

You could see what you get off of stock or a VERY small increase in voltage. It will produce more heat and your chances of running into stability issues with the unlocked cores are much higher, but you should be able to toy around with it a little before you get your new cooler. Be careful of your temperatures and keep your voltage down....far down. If even after you get your cooler, you find you have stability issues at even a modest OC, I'd say its one or both of the unlocked cores fault and ask yourself if the clock speed is worth two cores or not.