Pros and Cons to overclocking help

[dan1073]

Hi, so as you can tell I'm fairly new to the forums, but I'll just cut to the chase. I'm VERY new to PC and PC Gaming, I've used a mac all of my life and I recently switched to PC for the gaming experience. Now I'd like to know what are the pros and cons to overclocking, what can I overclock, and why should I use overclockers. This is a general question regarding to overclocking not regarding to my PC in specific. Thanks

 

[PCunicorn]

Well you shouldn't be overclocking if your new to PCs. If you have a off the shelf PC or Laptop, you can't overclock. There are no real cons to moderate overclocking if you have the proper cooling.

 

[G80FTW]

Well you shouldn't be overclocking if your new to PCs. If you have a off the shelf PC or Laptop, you can't overclock. There are no real cons to moderate overclocking if you have the proper cooling.

Plenty of cons to overclocking. You can ruin all equipment involved. Heat is not the only suspect to look at in overclocking, when you increase the voltage to the processor you not only introduce more heat but you can also introduce electromigration which will slowly kill your processor no matter how cool you keep it. There is no telling how long the processor can last overclocked, it varies from processor to processor.

Which is why I run my processor at stock speeds with a slightly lower vcore than was set by the manufacture. Not only does it make my temperatures lower, I would like to think it will make my processor last forever Which to most builders is pointless when the average acceptable life span of a platform is probably 2 years. So to those who overclock regularly have no use for their current hardware after 2 years so they could care less if they shorten the life of their hardware.

I used to be heavily into overclocking. Fried 2 processors and a motherboard in the process. I still do it on occasion just to see what my hardware can do, however I am still running an 8 year old power supply so I limit myself.

If you ask me, I would only start overclocking once your current hardware starts becoming obsolete. Like mine. My first gen i7 is starting to show its age, though it still is able to perform, I think once the next gen i7s come out it will really become a dog to me. At which point I will probably invest in water cooling and overhaul the crap out of my system for fun until it dies and I will just get a new build.

 

[PCunicorn]

As I said, MODERATE overclocking. A slight voltage increase and 300 to 600 megahert increase won't hurt a normal CPU one bit.

 

[G80FTW]

As I said, MODERATE overclocking. A slight voltage increase and 300 to 600 megahert increase won't hurt a normal CPU one bit.

Every processor will react to overclocking differently. 600MHz to one processor can be cake, another might need alot more than a slight voltage increase. I know 600MHz for my processor requires more than a slight voltage increase to be stable. I would consider .2v - .4v a significant increase which is what it takes for mine.

 

[Okedokey]

Most manufacturers bin processors with a K or similar functionality with the full expectation that users will overclock. It will take many more years to see the impacts of electromigration compared to the amount of time most people keep their machines. Overclocking is now very easy, in many cases simply putting a two digit number in a bios field. Many cases a mild / moderate overclock wont even require additional cooling.

But to be clear, its easy, you may need better cooling but the risk is pretty low. If you have a good motherboard, good psu and good cooling you wont ever see the impacts of electromigration i think.