Is the E6600 worth overclocking???

[still_life]

Getting one just after Xmas. Wondering if it was worth overclocking it to the max? How much of a performance increase would i see in terms of gaming, encoding, compressing, etc.

 

[forumtroll]

I have a thread (titled "Overclocking my e6600 (on a bad axe 2) questions.") which describes my experiences so far in overclocking the e6600. It is from a noobs perspective. I've never bothered with overclocking prior to this.

At least for me, I can say the answer to your question is a definitive YES. It is worth it.

(note: I have two x1950 pro video cards in crossfire mode on my xbx2 mobo)

I did before and after "performance test" runs in F.E.A.R. I have nearly everything set to maximum detail @ 1600x1200. The only thing I have scaled back in FSAA, which I've turned off.

At stock speed (2.4ghz) my e6600 was averaging 73fps. I've overclocked to 3.2ghz and I'm now running at 87fps. I'm blown away.

I wasn't expecting the impact to be so significant.

Your own mileage may very? It really comes down to how much you care about a few extra FPS.

 

[CompuTronix]

My rig's primary mission is Flight Simulator X, which is heavily CPU bound, so I need all the horsepower I can get. 2.4Ghz to 3.7Ghz is a 54.2% OC, so FPS increased from 35 to 52, which is 48.6%.

 

[still_life]

(note: I have two x1950 pro video cards in crossfire mode...

Cool, tis what i'm getting...do they run well?

The only thing I have scaled back in FSAA, which I've turned off.

Why?

Oh well......better order water cooling as well....OC it to hell

 

[quantumsheep]

Getting one just after Xmas. Wondering if it was worth overclocking it to the max? How much of a performance increase would i see in terms of gaming, encoding, compressing, etc.

Well the performance increase is only as large as you overclock. But i personally believe it is definetly worth overclocking an E6600, you can easily reach x6800 speeds and most probably reach around 3.2-4ghz with the stock cooler!

In my opinion it is definetly worth overclocking the E6600.

 

[forumtroll]

An interesting addendum to my post above (about the F.E.A.R. average FPS values)... I just tried a before & after run w/o crossfire on (ie, single video card). My average frame rate w/o overclocking was 57, and overclocked to 3.2ghz it was 58. It made almost NO difference. I'm really confused as to why it makes such a huge impact with my crossfire but almost no impact w/o. Apparently with crossfire it is cpu limited in some way even though I never see more than a 50% cpu load while playing.

 

[still_life]

Probs only using 1 core.....single threaded.

100% = 1 out of two cores is 50%

 

[quantumsheep]

An interesting addendum to my post above (about the F.E.A.R. average FPS values)... I just tried a before & after run w/o crossfire on (ie, single video card). My average frame rate w/o overclocking was 57, and overclocked to 3.2ghz it was 58. It made almost NO difference. I'm really confused as to why it makes such a huge impact with my crossfire but almost no impact w/o. Apparently with crossfire it is cpu limited in some way even though I never see more than a 50% cpu load while playing.

The drivers for crossfire will need much more CPU overhead and there's the fact that with twice the graphics power you're very likely to get a bottleneck.

 

[UAL3312]

in a word: yes with all that glitterish gold of a processor you could buy a stairway to heaven

 

[outlw6669]

You really should overclock it.
The extra power will make you really happy!

Make shure to get a good motherboard and cooler so you can really max it out!

 

[still_life]

Asus P5W-DH Deluxe and Thermaltake Bigwater 735????

 

[UAL3312]

personally i will NEVER buy an ASUS board EVER again their tech support is rediculous and BIOS updates take forever as for the Thermaltake Bigwater, give it a shot. as for the motherboard though try a Gigabyte DS3 you will be very happy with that me thinks

 

[outlw6669]

Some of the best numbers I have seen are on the ASUS boards.
Everyone I know who has an asus mb has nothing but compliments for them.

I currently have the Msi P965 Platinum with a 6600.
Having trouble pushing past 367Mhz FSB.

Just for comparison, that puts it at 3.3GHz, or 300Mhz faster than the x6800.

I've seen posts with this cpu and asus mb's passing 3.6GHz.
That would be a 400MHz Fsb.

As for the thermaltake bigwater, that = watercooling right?
Never tried it but I hear great things.

Just do your homework before you get your setup.

I am using a zalman 9700 which keeps me at ~36/58C, idle/load.
The scythe ninja is suposed to have even better cooling potential.

Whatever you decide, you have plenty of time to do your homework on all the options.

-Good luck