Overclocking related question.. non OC gaming and hardware

MrCasualGamer

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Hello,

Is there a general thumb rule that those who are going for overclocking go for amd and those who do not overclock their system, go for intel based systems?

If above case is true; how do I figure out which products are meant for OC and which are meant for non OC type gamers?
 
Solution
There is no general rule of thumb between the brands. If you go Intel, get a k-series CPU for OCing, the rest can't be overclocked. If you go AMD, the FX-series CPUs can all be overclocked, but for the APUs (A10, A8, etc) they need to be the k-version to support overclocking.

For AMD FX overclocking you should look at the 990(f)x motherboards (a few 970 boards are decent as well), and for Intel overclocking get a Z-series motherboard, the rest are not meant for overclocking.
There is no general rule of thumb between the brands. If you go Intel, get a k-series CPU for OCing, the rest can't be overclocked. If you go AMD, the FX-series CPUs can all be overclocked, but for the APUs (A10, A8, etc) they need to be the k-version to support overclocking.

For AMD FX overclocking you should look at the 990(f)x motherboards (a few 970 boards are decent as well), and for Intel overclocking get a Z-series motherboard, the rest are not meant for overclocking.
 
Solution

MrCasualGamer

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Thanks, also, is this information part of product manual? Or as a gamer [ I am not a pc engineer ] when I look at a new product, how do I figure out if its OC friendly or non OC friendly?
 
As far as GPU overclocking goes, all GPUs can be overclocked and don't really differentiate a lot between brands as long as the cooling is similar (MSI and Asus for example).

The only parts that really affect your CPU overclocking are the motherboard, the CPU, and the CPU cooler. I explained the CPUs, so let's go with the coolers. You can usually see if a CPU cooler is good by looking at 2 things: User reviews and size. Bigger heatsinks (or waterblocks for water cooling) mean better heat dissipation, but it's better to check out some reviews to make sure that the fans aren't noisy or poor quality, or that the build quality isn't completely awful.

For motherboards, it's a bit trickier. You have to go to the manufacturer's website and check the power phase. Generally a 6+2 phase or higher is decent for overclocking. You also have to check some reviews online to see if the board has heat issues or something like that.

One important part is also the power supply. A bad/insufficient PSU can make your PC unstable if you overclock.

Some of these things are included in the manual, but they don't really give a detailed guide on how to overclock since it technically voids your warranty.
 

MrCasualGamer

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Right .. I understood some of what you said, but the 6-2 power supply stuff right now is little beyond me. Will read more regarding that..

Also, would it be best if I stay away from overclocking especially when I buy a brand new system? .. because it can obviously mess it up and I dont want to lose money ..

Between AMD and intel gaming systems with budget of $1000 , which setup would you recommend as processor and motherboard which does not require OC and will give better performance for $1000? ..

As a gamer, it seems that all pro people are saying that intel i5 is better than amd FX 6 .. [ Please do point out if my comparison is wrong]

I think when I read a lot and understand a lot, I will start overclocking experiment on this old system that I am using =)
 
Well experimenting on an old system sure sounds like a good idea (provided that the system actually supports it) :)

I'd say most Intel i5 desktop CPUs are more powerful than the 6-cores from AMD; You'll need an AMD 8-core to challenge Intel in gaming.

As far as recommendations go, there are a few options:
1. Go for an Intel non-overclocking build that has good performance, but can't be overclocked in the future.
2. Build an AMD system with an 8-core that will lose to option 1 without overclocking, but will beat it if you decide to overclock in the future.
3. Get an Intel build that can be overclocked. This is the option that has the most processing power, but it costs more than the other two.

I personally went for option 2, but it really depends on what you want to do. Pick one of those options (or make a suggestion your own), and I'll make you a $1000 build with PCParPicker. BTW, does the budget include the operating system, mouse, keyboard, and the monitor?
 

MrCasualGamer

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Thanks so much for the clarification .. I live in India.. www.flipkart.com is a locally famous site which we use because it seems to list cheapest rates and ofcourse I pick up rates from that site, search local stores to see if I get a better deal, if not, I will order from flipkart. In india we also try to visit ebay.in, amazon.in, junglee.com etc some other local and yellow page sites to check out approx rates etc. The only reason for this is shipping costs .. and warranty in some cases .. for most brands though, now warranty is available in India.. will have to confirm.. For currency conversion, $1 equals around Rs 60/- .. so $1000 would be around Rs 60000 /- around my 2 month's pay worth ! >.< .. but I have adjusted my expenses and I now have that much cash to spend on new PC

I currently have a good keyboard, mouse and screen and dvd writer .. so those are not needed

So I think I will need to buy

motherboard, cpu, gpu, ram, cabinet power supply , extra cpu cooler fan if pro people like you recommend .. I have never used water cooled cpu or such, not that advanced user yet, but I always have steady temps of around 40 celsius and 45 celsius stable on my old CPU and GPU [ HD 5670 ]


I have an old Q6600 cpu on old dp45sg intel motherboard.. right now I am going to read both product manuals to find out on my own if these 2 products were meant for over clocking or not ..dont tell me yet =D .. let me see if i can figure that out on my own using manual or such ..

thanks so much for your help mate.
 

MrCasualGamer

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Thanks so much buddy ..that list is a great help .. also, my current system has windows7 professional.. i could install the same on this new system .. do I have to go for windows 8.1 ? its extra $100 [ Rs6000+] .. can that $100 go into something better? or windows8.1 is needed for better gaming?

heh also, it seems like just because AMD is cheaper than intel, a budget system like one you compiled above will give more performance than intel system in the same cost? It would surely seem such as intel is more expensive than amd, so i will have to buy for older intel models to fit in $1000 .. is this concept correct?
 
You may not be able to use the Win 7 from your old PC without giving Microsoft a call. That would mean that you couldn't use it on your old PC though. Win 8.1 isn't really a big improvement in most cases, but it's the cheapest OS if you're buying a new one.

And yes, that concept is pretty much correct, Intel just costs a ton more than AMD in India.
 

MrCasualGamer

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The concept holds true only in India or can be correct as general ? even on international sites, there seems to be some price difference between amd and intel.

 

MrCasualGamer

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roger that .. now regarding that cool master cpu cooler fan, I have never used extra cooling because I am absolutely not into overclocking .. i am scared of it especially on new system .. also, generally with the fan that comes with intel processors, the temp used to be stable at 40 celsius .. are amd fans that come with processor not good enough? Also, because I have never installed such, it just looks too big .. with CPU and ram chips usually being close on mobo, can it fit if ram has its own heat sink? newer rams with heatsink on their top can fit if i have to buy coolmaster hypercool fan ?
 

MrCasualGamer

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thanks! trying to find the upvote button ! =D

 


The AMD stock cooler is noisy and not very well performing. The Hyper 212 X should fit with the RAM, at least if you move the fan to the other side of the heatsink, and don't worry, it's not hard to install.
 

Mister Darius

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If you want to buy windows 8.1... Dont. Just dont Windows 10 will launch in coming days so that would be just a waist of money