Overclocking my q6600 + 3870x2

[bhamx2]

Hi guys,

My xps 420 is getting a bit old these day but still runs alot of modern games on high at 1080p (metro 2033, napoleon total war, new vegas etc) specs = q6600 2.4, 4 gb ram , 3870x2

until recently i never had to worry about system specs as my pc could handle most games on high/very with no aa at 1080p , however recently iv noticed iv had to start decreasing quality settings. e.g. Metro 2033 i can get 30 fps in dx10 on high at 1080p no aa .

Basically my point is assuming an overclock is possible with my dell xps 420 ? how would i go about doing so ?

Also how much would i gain from overclocking both my cpu and gpu ?

Thanks

 

[sportsfanboy]

You wont be able to overclock a pre build computer from dell from the bios. The only way would be using software and I wouldn't recommend that. Your other option is to buy a 50 to 75 dollar motherboard and replace the dell one. This way you'll have an unlocked bios to tweak with.

You will see some good returns from overclocking the q6600 to around 3.0 to 3.2ghz (make sure you buy a decent heatsink for this) as well as the 3870x2.

 

[sportsfanboy]

Another option would be, sell the q6600, motherboard, and ram, then go with an upgrade to a newer platform.

 

[festerovic]

bhamx2, I have a q6600 and overclocked to 3.0 or 3.2, it runs very well. I think my PC is well fast enough for everything I do. A faster video card would help the frame rate more than OCing the CPU. If you got, say a 5870, it would probably be held back by your chip though. Not a ton, but some. Not ideal, but you could take the card with you when you upgrade to the next platform.

I would not recommend buying a new platform yet, as all the current stuff was born dead as far as upgrades go. Wait till q1 2011,

 

[festerovic]

oh yeah, about the GPU overclocking, it is reasonable to expect 10% overclock on the gpu. So add 10% frame rate. Not really worth it unless you are sub 30 fps.

 

[bhamx2]

bhamx2, I have a q6600 and overclocked to 3.0 or 3.2, it runs very well. I think my PC is well fast enough for everything I do. A faster video card would help the frame rate more than OCing the CPU. If you got, say a 5870, it would probably be held back by your chip though. Not a ton, but some. Not ideal, but you could take the card with you when you upgrade to the next platform.

I would not recommend buying a new platform yet, as all the current stuff was born dead as far as upgrades go. Wait till q1 2011,

I was kind of thinking along the same lines, how much would my stock q6600 hold say a 5870 back in crysis at very high ? or any other game at max settings for that matter , would i still be able to reach the 60 fps mark ?

Also im under the impression things shouldn't advance to far in the near future as most pc games are ports of console versions and consoles have a limit on what they can render

 

[festerovic]

q6600 will def. hold back the 5870. If you OC real hard, it will give it a bit more legs, but I'm not sure a 5870 with ANY socket 775 chip will do 60 fps (unless res is low).

Your statement about consoles is only part true - there are many ticks computers can do to make image quality much better on PC than a console. Even if the geometry is the same, the PC could have, and usually does, better graphics. On top of that, you can't play consoles with 3 screens at a time, at insane resolutions. Oh, and Sony and M$ will soon be releasing their next batch of consoles that will have even more power.