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[rootsrat]

In regards to 970 - I have one (ASUS Strix) and I've never noticed any problems. Running heavily modded Skyrim (over 400 mods) and some latest games like Elite Dangerous and GTA V, no problems whatsoever.

 

The 970 "memorygate" is an exaggerated problem IMHO. Tinfoil hat anyone?

[Octopuss]

You can't really fry a CPU easily just by overclocking these days. It would automatically shut down before damage could be done. Not saying it's impossible, but also not as easy at it might seem.

[TechAngel85]

I don't hold with overclocking on general principle. Yes, I know it can be done successfully, but as all it takes is a single mistake in setting it up to fry a chip, I simply won't do it. I've lost hardware to tweak attempts before - I'm not doing it with a CPU or GPU, even if there are pre built settings for it. They may well work - and then again, they may well not. It's not like products ship with bugs or anything, right?

I'm with Shadriss on this subject. I don't condone overclocking, but I'm not against it either. I personally thing you should buy hardware that will handle your current set of games or the games you plan on purchasing soon without any issues. Then over the next few years, if you find you need more power to play the latest games, then you can overclock. There is not a single component in my system that is overclocked. My system is now a year old, is still running smoothly, and is still an extremely stable system. In fact, I'm still running the stock CPU cooler. It's all I need right now. I have software that came with the motherboard from ASUS which controls the fans in the system so that when not under load, I can barely hear anything from it. Then when I put the system under load (like gaming), the software cranks up my fans to compensate...which I still never hear it because I have the volume up or my headphones in. Overclocking, imo, is a final opinion before buying new hardware; not an initial option for a new system. Imo, if you're having to overclock your new system, you failed at building it properly.

 

Now, with that said, I am fully aware there are some that do it as a hobby and do it simply because they can. However, in real world use, overclocking should rarely be needed.

[Neovalen]

I overclock everything when I buy it... is it absolutely needed? No. Do I enjoy getting the best possible performance for my dollar? Yes.

 

99.9% of the time I will replace my hardware before overclocking ever becomes an issue so there is only upsides in my experience. :)

 

If you do it right, it is also as 24/7 stable as a non over clocked system.

[Guest]

In regards to 970 - I have one (ASUS Strix) and I've never noticed any problems. Running heavily modded Skyrim (over 400 mods) and some latest games like Elite Dangerous and GTA V, no problems whatsoever.

Good to know. That's about double the number of mods that I use, I have just over 200 mods that I'm currently running, so I shouldn't have any problems running Skyrim with the 970 (ASUS Strix) if I decide to go with that card.

 

...over the next few years, if you find you need more power to play the latest games, then you can overclock.

This is going into the third year since my last computer build. It would be about the right time to overclock probably if I was going to in order to get a bit more power out of my system without moving onto a newer chip.

 

I overclock everything when I buy it... is it absolutely needed? No. Do I enjoy getting the best possible performance for my dollar? Yes.

 

99.9% of the time I will replace my hardware before overclocking ever becomes an issue so there is only upsides in my experience. :)

 

If you do it right, it is also as 24/7 stable as a non over clocked system.

The bad thing about overclocking is I know just enough about it to be dangerous. I have a general idea of how the process works but don't have a clue how to actually go about it to successfully utilize it. I'm only running the stock cooler with my i5 currently and I assume that I would either want to purchase a larger aftermarket cooler or invest in watercooling if I were to get the most out of it?

 

I just noticed that you're running the exact same i5 chip as me, the 3570k and have it up to 4.4GHz. I'm curious what you're using to cool it as it sounds like you've overclocked it with good results.

Edited April 30, 2015 by Kessno

[werewulfking]

Honestly athough overclocking can be dangerous it really is implemented very well in the newest genearations of motherboards and graphic cards so that almost nothing can go wrong unless you have a severe problem elsewhere. The overclocking tools for graphics cards like mSI afterburner only aloow sensible settings and if you want to exceed that only then you are entering dangerous territory. And every cpu/motherboard shuts down and even doesn't let you start with stupid settings.

 

But yeah good cooling is always a necessity otherwise again the cpu will shut down. I for example have a huge two fan tower cooler for my cpu and only overclocked it to 4 GHZ but I also run boinc on this machine which is much more stressfull than any game can be.

 

I have the previous version of the Dark Rock Pro

Edited April 30, 2015 by werewulfking

[Neovalen]

I believe I use a Hyper 212 Evo in my system. There are plenty of good options out there.

[Greg]

I don't hold with overclocking on general principle. Yes, I know it can be done successfully, but as all it takes is a single mistake in setting it up to fry a chip, I simply won't do it. I've lost hardware to tweak attempts before - I'm not doing it with a CPU or GPU, even if there are pre built settings for it. They may well work - and then again, they may well not. It's not like products ship with bugs or anything, right?

I've never been into overclocking, either. I do a lot of software development and play Skyrim on the side when I can find time, so stability and cooling are my primary priorities. I know the last few ASUS motherboards I've purchased are fairly easy to overclock, but I've had the desire to try because I don't want the components running any warmer than absolutely necessary.

 

I believe I use a Hyper 212 Evo in my system. There are plenty of good options out there.

I use the Hyper 212 EVO in my system as well and love it. The only minor complaint I have with it is that it might have been easier to install with three or four hands, but I think this is true of all the coolers that are designed for multiple processors.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Greg

[Octopuss]

I have the cooler as well, only I swapped the useless fan for a Noctua one.

I also cool i7 3770K overclocked to 4.4GHz with it. Delidded, admittedly, but still. This cooler does the same job something three times as expensive would. And it doesn't weight over 1kg or something.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Octopuss

[Neovalen]

Luckily I did not have to delid my 3570k.

[Octopuss]

I didn't have to either, bit 15-20°C lower temperatures were too appealing.

[Guest]

Luckily I did not have to delid my 3570k.

I noticed both of you mentioned 'delidding' what does that mean in regards to overclocking?

 

If I decide to overclock, after removing the stock CPU cooler getting a better one, how would you recommend going about it? Are there certain sites you'd recommend I take a look at or should I check if my Intel motherboard has any overclocking profiles?

[werewulfking]

I noticed both of you mentioned 'delidding' what does that mean in regards to overclocking?

 

If I decide to overclock, after removing the stock CPU cooler getting a better one, how would you recommend going about it? Are there certain sites you'd recommend I take a look at or should I check if my Intel motherboard has any overclocking profiles?

Delidding is the process of removing the heatspreader of the cpu and apllying new thermal-paste it's like the most dangerous thing you can do your cpu as you will pry appart the manufactured cpu.

And overclocking can easily be done without delidding is only really for the most enthusiastic overclockers. Even mist guys who watercool their whole pc don't do it.

 

And overclocking is indeed motherboard dependant and you have to really look at what is already written for the motherboard online to get the best results. But overclocking just a bit is often fairly easy. Look on overclock.net for your motherboard. most often there are guides already there.

[Guest]

Had to look up what my current motherboard is, it's the Intel DH77KC. Can't seem to find a whole lot of info out there on this specific board and overclocking. After seeing some of the other motherboards that were suggested to me here, it doesn't look like this one is really the best one out there.

 

 

 

 

 

[Spock]

I noticed both of you mentioned 'delidding' what does that mean in regards to overclocking?

 

If I decide to overclock, after removing the stock CPU cooler getting a better one, how would you recommend going about it? Are there certain sites you'd recommend I take a look at or should I check if my Intel motherboard has any overclocking profiles?

If you overclock, you really want to do it manually. Auto overclock features usually apply too much voltage to get stable results which is certainly not desirable. I would advise you to stay away from overvolting for the start. It also requires your board to have some required bios options, a custom CPU cooler and potentially a custom Northbridge cooler (you really need to watch out for NB temps when overclocking a CPU without an unlocked multiplier! So your board needs to read those temps). You should really invest some time in reading overclocking guides for your CPU, or even start watching videos. Linus tech tips is a decent starting point, overclock.net has some really good guides.

 

To be honest, you will probably get the most extra performance if you invest your money into a new GPU. I would advise to wait for the r9 300 series, no matter what team you want to go with because prices will drop.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Spock