Overclocking to Boost FPS in Games

Saar Koren · May 26, 2014

I play a lot of Blacklight: Retribution with my friends, and I really want to have it maxed out. My old computer would crash on high settings so I built a budget gaming-ish computer.

I have an AMD FX-6300 and a Radeon HD 7770. I watched a video of someone with the same GPU playing Blacklight maxed out at about 60 fps. I only get 45-50 fps. The guy in the video had an i5-3570K, so I assume the difference is because of the CPU.

I am not going to buy a new CPU or GPU, but I want to overclock my CPU. So here's my question:

If I overclock it, will I notice a difference in fps? Also, will I need a new CPU cooler if I overclock? (I've heard terrible things about stock FX coolers.)

Any help is appreciated!

coolcole01 · May 26, 2014

yes higher clock will get you more fps no guarantee on how many

coolcole01 · May 26, 2014

whats your cpu usage while playing

Saar Koren · May 26, 2014

How do you check CPU usage while in a game?

coolcole01 · May 26, 2014

lots of ways you can use msi afterburner to show in the corner of the screen or you can use the resource monitor in windows

coolcole01 · May 26, 2014

a lot of people use coretemp because on top of showing the temps it also shows load

Saar Koren · May 26, 2014

Sorry it took me so long to reply... CPU usage in game is about 50%.

rishiswaz · May 26, 2014

Overclocking to get better FPS hits a point where the performance increase starts to get smaller and smaller. Law of diminishing returns really applies. I have a FX 6300, the gaming boost I got going from 4.3GHz to 4.9GHz really wasn't worth the increase in temperatures. Also, I can't say for sure about any particular situation but power costs do come into effect, especially on a 24/7 OC.

coolcole01 · May 27, 2014

Yeah at 50% that cpu is not bottlenecking the card it's the other way around could you post the link to the video of the guy with the 3570

Saar Koren · May 27, 2014

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RyRVMdwvbg

Except for the processor being faster, the only differences are 2TB HDD over my 1TB, and a 750W PSU over my 500W. Although that's insignificant to performance.

coolcole01 · May 27, 2014

Could you list all your settings in game

Saar Koren · May 27, 2014

Edit: I play on 1920x1080. Wrong resolution in picture.

coolcole01 · May 27, 2014

Very skeptical of the guys video with no fps counter but could you take a pic of your 3d settings in catalyst control

rishiswaz · May 27, 2014

I don't think that he was at 60, I am no specialist in checking fps but I know that the difference between the 45-50 and the 60 he is supposedly getting is a lot less visible than the difference between 45 and 30. 30 scratches the bare surface of playability but at 45-50 you are getting decent fps and for sure playable. Don't look for 60 as the end all magic number, go by your own gameplay experience.

Saar Koren · May 27, 2014

I've never changed anything in these settings.

Saar Koren · May 27, 2014

rishiswaz :

This average fps is acceptable for me, the problem is that I feel it dips down a lot. In fact, I did a Fraps benchmark on this game today, and the minimum fps was 0. There is a thing in the game called HRV, which is basically x-ray vision. Everytime I use HRV (a lot), the game dips down to a really low fps. That's why I care so much about fixing this.

coolcole01 · May 27, 2014

i think your running it as good as can be expected the dropping to 0 may just be a glitch

Saar Koren · May 27, 2014

OK, I guess there is nothing I can do. Thanks for all your replies.

coolcole01 · May 27, 2014

if you do decide to oc do not use the stock cooler bud get a 212evo

rishiswaz · May 27, 2014

To get butter smooth performance in any game you are going to have to lower settings. The card you have is a great value but it can't push really high settings in every game. I suggest you maybe get rid of bloom and some aa. Overall you are close and a little bit of tweaking can get you much better performance without sacrificing too much quality.

Saar Koren · May 27, 2014

coolcole01 :

Based off other reviews, the 212 Evo will barely fit in my case, it will be about 1mm from the side wall. Is that ok, or should I look for something a little smalller?

rishiswaz · May 27, 2014

check the cooler master website and the case manufacturer's website for specifications on the fit, at 1mm I would be wary but if you can't do that a Cooler Master GeminII M4 is low profile and still a pretty decent cooler and around the same price as the 212 Evo

Overclocking to Boost FPS in Games

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