All these haswell overclocking records.... are they relevant?

swordrage

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Jul 4, 2012
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The haswell OCing screen shots showing 7+ GHz and so on, but are they of any significance in real life? How much benefit can one get in terms of earnings? I mean if somebody is doing some simulations or number crunching, how can a 7 GHz OC give him an advantage if time is money. Considering the fact that Liquid N2 is not a sustainable cooling solution for a small firm which is opting for a consumer grade CPU.
Has anyone done a cost-benefit analysis for such high overclocking in previous gen CPUs? (Excluding the Enthusiasts who overclock just for the sake of overclocking)
 
The records are really only relevant for people who overclock for the sake of overclocking. As you said, running your CPU on extremely high voltages under LN2 is not very practical, and the chips wouldn't last very long under those conditions. The chances of getting errors in the CPU calculations also goes up when you overclock. As such, it usually isn't recommended that you overclock in a production environment where the accuracy of the calculations is vital. A more reasonable overclock can help you get things done faster, while not using an exotic cooling system or burning out the chip, but you do run the risk of having small errors in your calculations.

Generally speaking, if you want your simulations and number crunching to go faster while retaining accuracy, you're best off keeping to stock clocks, and maybe look at getting software that has better multithreading, that way you might benefit more from higher core counts and hyperthreading available on the enthusiast grade Intel CPUs (if you have the money) or the higher core count on the FX CPUs (if you are more strapped for cash)
 

swordrage

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Jul 4, 2012
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Thanks a lot..
 

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