Windows 7: Overclocking Question

I have never even read, much less tried to overclock. If you could answer some lifelong questions, I would appreciate it. == If you do overclock you CPU, is it really that noticeable that you can tell a difference? Is the main reason to do it, just to be fiddling around? Kind of like the kid down the street that makes his car idle rough. Thanks,

I have overclocked quite a bit, I don't really do it anymore outside of stress testing new builds of mine.

The gods honest truth is I notice the numbers getting bigger in the benchmarks and what not, but actual real world difference... not a whole lot.
Even in games it's usually only a 2-6 fps which if you are dying to squeeze that out...
your system really just can't keep up anyhow.

For me, when I first started with it, it was a interesting excuse to learn about all the components in my computer and how they related to each other... there was even some math involved.

As to it ever making any difference that I could notice at all in everyday use or even largely in gaming
No there never was one, and I honestly believe anyone that says otherwise is just trying to justify their efforts.

If you have a older system that's on it's way out anyway and you just want to try and squeeze that tiny last bit of life out of it, you might notice some difference, though obviously in that scenario it would just be a slightly more tolerable level of suck.
If your system was built in the last 5 years or so... not so much.

Only reseaon I overclock is for my games and that's were I notice the difference. Have my cpu OC at 3.6GHz and stock is 3.0GHz. I get like a 10-20fps difference from what I have seen in my system. Also temperature wise with my cooler,I only see a 4degrees difference to be honest. Most ppl overclock to get higher benchmark scores or higher fps in games or to get the most out of there machine. I do it to get the most performance i can get in my games to be honest.

Overclockers do it because they like to tinker. They like to think they are getting something for nothing---getting the same performance from an overclocked $150 CPU that they would get from a non-overclocked $300 CPU.

A lot of it is in the bragging realm--look at my stuff compared to your stuff. It's a contest of sorts. Why did you pay $300 for that CPU when I can get my $150 CPU to do the same thing, etc.

The money supposedly saved is most often a minor consideration. Overclockers spend more on gear in general and fans/cooling in particular than the average non-overclocker.

The real world impact is minimal in most user profiles. And you don't hear of corporations doing it for obvious reasons. It's a hobby.

Like your hot rodder who has put hundreds of dollars and hours into a modified 283 Chevy. He will likely get destroyed in a drag race by a stock 426 Hemi, but that's not going to discourage him.

Over clocking for me is just a what if. What happens if I do this. The effect varies from computer to computer. Even with the same hardware. I see very little difference during normal use that a over clock will help. You do learn some things while you are learning to over clock. It's a good way to test your cooling systems capabilities. Some say over clocking shortens the life of your system. I don't believe that to be true if you keep the temps under control. I have been running 4.1 over clock on my system for about two weeks now and peaking at the temps on and again just to see what happens. The only time I notice a speed improvement is when doing scans of one sort or another. If one really wants to see speed improvement two things. Ram amount and a SSD. I bought a O/C video card but still tried to crank it up more and for what I use a computer for it did nothing but increase the temps. I'm back to factory setting on the card. To me if a person is a gamer over clocking might help. Really all it is telling that person is that better equipment is needed. You can't make a Formula 1 car out of a Pinto I don't care how much tweaking you do.

Why couldn't I just have put it that simply?

Yes David you got it. We like to tinker. You can tinker and learn at the same time. Some times I do get in the tinker mood.

Many people spend good money stepping up to a CPU that is only a few hundred mhz faster.........as easy as it is to OC these days, there is no reason not to bump it up a little bit......it's free!

Thanks for the reply everyone. It was an interesting read. I like Layback Bears statement best. "You can't make a Formula 1 car out of a Pinto, I don't care how much tweaking you do". So true.............

I achieved a 20% overclock with literally one mouse-click, with no extra heat or stress......I'll take that every day. That's why they make "K" and Black edition CPU's.