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Should I worry about overclocking?

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  • Overclocking
  • Heatsinks
  • CPUs
  • PC gaming
Last response: in Overclocking
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April 28, 2014 5:36:38 AM

I had built my first PC about a year or so ago, and I went ahead and bought an i5 3570k along with a z77 ASRock Extreme4 motherboard. I did that as a precaution, being that I didn't know too much about computers to feel comfortable enough to start trying to overclock anything.

Now I think I'm ready. The only thing I haven't done is buy a heatsink to accommodate my needs. I was just going to go with the EVO 212 being that I only plan on overclocking this CPU to around 4 GHz. I've heard the EVO keeps it quite cool.

One of my reasons for wanting to overclock now is because I noticed on "Can You Run It" is that Watchdogs required an i7 3770 or an AMD processor at 4 GHz. I figured it's only a matter of time before those specs become the norm.

My main questions before starting anything were:
1. Is it worth overclocking or should I just wait and upgrade?
2. Will the heatsink I've chosen fit in my case, and will it fit well between all of the other components?

Build specs here: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3A08L

More about : worry overclocking

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a b K Overclocking
a c 99 à CPUs
April 28, 2014 6:19:19 AM

Since the context here is gaming, not apps...

Performance between CPUs can vary slightly from title to title and driver version to driver version. But overall, at stock and overclocked. an FX 8350 will fall on average slightly faster than an i5 and slightly slower than an i7. In some well threaded games, an AMD 6 core can even keep up with an i7 3770k.

The margin between CPU manufacturers is only 3-5% when for gaming in the same speed ranges.

But the difference for all 3 CPUs between stock speeds and moderately overclocked speeds can be 10-20%, sometimes more.

So to answer the OP, regardless of your CPU or a given game's specs, it is free performance you can get for the price of a decent cooler. And it can help you get more use out of your existing rig without needing to upgrade. Just do it properly and carefully and be safe. :) 


Quick refs for earlier statements - ALL gaming related comparisons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV2Voo5h3eU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbRc6Fb2u0A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LPsyc0FFyI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu8Sekdb-IE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4et7kDGSRfc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIVGwj1_Qno
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a b K Overclocking
a b à CPUs
April 28, 2014 6:03:34 AM

gibson_guy said:
I had built my first PC about a year or so ago, and I went ahead and bought an i5 3570k along with a z77 ASRock Extreme4 motherboard. I did that as a precaution, being that I didn't know too much about computers to feel comfortable enough to start trying to overclock anything.

Now I think I'm ready. The only thing I haven't done is buy a heatsink to accommodate my needs. I was just going to go with the EVO 212 being that I only plan on overclocking this CPU to around 4 GHz. I've heard the EVO keeps it quite cool.

One of my reasons for wanting to overclock now is because I noticed on "Can You Run It" is that Watchdogs required an i7 3770 or an AMD processor at 4 GHz. I figured it's only a matter of time before those specs become the norm.

My main questions before starting anything were:
1. Is it worth overclocking or should I just wait and upgrade?
2. Will the heatsink I've chosen fit in my case, and will it fit well between all of the other components?

Build specs here: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3A08L


Now I'm not totally sure about this but I believe those specs are massively over exaggerated.

Let's take a look at the requirements.

For the Ultra spec they want you to have either a 3930K or an amd 9370. Now here's what I don't get... The 9370 doesn't stand a chance against the 3930K or even the 3770K which is listed for the recommended requirements. It just doesn't add up. Even in multithreaded situations the 9370 just can't keep up with the 3770K and it barely manages to keep up with the 3570K in multithreaded applications.
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