Why Do People Not OC?

[Lord Gwynz]

Sometimes the option of upgrading to a faster chip just isn't an option and in that case overclocking can give more life to such aging systems which otherwise have no further upgrade path. For instance in my dually BP6 system I run a pair of C366's@550. If it wasn't for overclocking, the road would have ended at a C500 running on a 66mhz bus.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Reverber,

What type of CPU/mobo do you have? What type of peripherals, RAM?

 

[McCarthy]

Why people don't overclock..
(Newegg prices) 1ghz Tbird - 93. 1.4ghz Tbird - 173. Might be able to get that 1ghz to 1.4 so I chose those two. Yes, some got a bit higher, several haven't gotten that far.

1.4 buyer and 1.0 buyer both:
Put the machine together, make sure it works - Done with the 1.4.
Now for his $80 savings, OCer:
Take the CPU back out, pencil or use some other method to connect the bridges (not applicable to all CPUs)
Bump the FSB, try 1.2 Boot, verify. Stable? Go higher
Bump the muliplier. Boot, test, stable? No? Bump voltage. Stable? Maybe. Higher?
Run over to 2cooltek and get a delta. Stable now? Almost, case temps bit high though. Back to the store, 12 fans and a baybus later, all stable, quiet as that coolmaster AMD approved, all done. Only spend two evenings and fifty bucks to get it there. Say you get by without any parts, two evenings (a very conservative number for anyone overclocking) are worth more than $40 each to a lot of people.

5 seconds here, 8 there, maybe a full minute processing some huge job. Takes a long time to recoup the time spent overclocking and testing to make sure it's stable.

It was asked over in the overclocking forum awhile back "why oc" and most agreed it's a hobby. Maybe a compulsion But for most it's not a money saver unless you have a lot of spare time or don't value your time much, and most do spend some money on a bigger heatsink, faster fans, more fans, etc that they wouldn't have necessarily needed if they'd just bought a faster chip in the first place.

Irks me that those who choose not to overclock are labeled as fearful, lazy, lack of knowledge or "skill". It's an appliance, sorry if anyone finds it offensive to have their pride and joy described that way, but it is. Some drive our cars to work, others spend their entire weekend polishing the lugnuts. I wish I could push my 650 past 800, especially when it's taking over an hour for some of my encode jobs, but I've reached the reward/tired of fiddling with it point. Time to just use it and find other things to do while waiting, like reading these forums, petting the dog, whatever.

--Mc

 

[bob63]

Great tread, an enjoyable read. Just a few more reasons why I didn't OC this time around.
1. Been there, done that.
2. Just seemed like more hassle then it was worth.
When I OC'd my Celery 300/450, I had alot of fun, felt great when it booted, and never really had any trouble with it. If you've never OC'd a system before go for it. This time around when I decided to upgrade to an Athlon 900 Mhz, I decided not to OC it. Just couldn't any real benefit. Would it have been a big hassle? No it wouldn't, just more time then I was willing to spend to do something I had already done. I've got to agree with a previous post that the Golden Age of OC'ing was the Celeron300A. Just could't get that excited about it this time around.

 

[MGMorden]

Some people seem to have the wrong idea about overclocking. It doesn't always shorten a cpu's life. It doesn't always require big fans. Sometimes a chip, say a celeron 566, came out of intel's fabs marked as a 566, but they could have just as easily sold it as an 850 because that's what the chip can do (this is for processors that don't require upping the voltage any). Now does a Celeron 850 inheritly have a shorter life than a 566? No. It could have went either way Intel just needed some 566's. As for CDRW's not liking higher bus speeds, you don't have to do that. As long as you stay at the "recommended bus" speeds (66, 100, 133) then your PCI and AGP busses never go out of spec.

Now if some people don't want to overclock there's really no problem with that (I'm not overclocking right now, though I did overclock my previous two setups before this. never had one problem), but don't go throwing around nonsense like an overclocked system is unstable, second rate, or requires insane cooling (or that anyone who does it doesn't do work on their machine. I'm a CS major who spent sometimes 40-60 hours per week coding on my overclocked system).

 

[spanner]

My reasons are as follows,
My case does not have the best ventilation(no bottom intake on PS and no space for a rear fan).
My power supply is not approved above 1.2 ghz(which is what I have)
I have a tnt2 video card which is the bottleneck hence overclocking won't help and I can't afford new components just yet.
If I screw up I am screwed cos my dad just paid for my new mobo cpu and ram and how am I to explain why i need another one.
Warranty becomes void (very important after your dad buys you components)
I hate it when my system crashes, I would take stability over speed any day of the week.
Overclocking DOES decrease the life of components esp bus speed overclocks.
Even if I had a better vid card and PS overclocking would not give a noticable difference.
Noise of high powered heatsinks and case fans is annoying(very important in dorm room) though I just bought a taisol Cek747092(low profile copper base).

Make no mistake, I will oveclock later once I get around to a new vid card, power supply, and if my temps remain below 50C and the warranty period is coming to an end. If you have a Duron then I would say overclock because the difference will be noticable and they are cheap.

 

[netdude]

I unlocked my 1 gig T-Bird just so i had the option to overclock it down the road if i wanted to. I tried as a test 1.1 gig at stock voltage and it was rock solid stable for three days. I put it back to stock speed because it's fast enough for me for what i run. Bottom line, if you want a nice increase in 3D gaming FPS performance, get a GeForce 3.

 

[noninterleaved]

I want my computer to be dead quiet. I cannot, therefore, afford the luxury of stuffing a million case fans into my computer.

Besides, I don't really have the time to tinker with the damn thing that much. 700mhz t-bird is fast enough for me to play games, browse, and write code. That is all I need it for.

 

[Barrak]

I think the question is all wrong, It should be, why DO people overclock. Lets admit that those of us who do overclock do it as a hobby, not because we NEED to. Most people, even those who are into computers, just do not enjoy pushing their systems to the edge. They get a good computer and are happy with it. Most overclockers just want to play, and have something to brag to their friends about. That my view on the subject, I could be way off, but I have a T-bird 850 running at 1.1

 

[billyjak]

Oc/ing is a Rush, people get their Adreniline juices flowing when they see they can run at higher speeds.
I oc/because I like to push my system to the upmost value at the highest speed possible before it crashes, then back it off one step below.
It is a compulsive habit to see what your computer can do.
I have an extremely stable computer running a 1 gig oc/ 1.366 at 1.775v which is not pushing it.
I will continue to oc/as I upgrade.
I use a 3rd harddrive for my important data so I always have it incase something goes wrong.
Some people are just happy running at the normal speed and that's OK
Cumpulsive addiction is my bag, and it satisfies my curiosity to see if I can do better.
It's a Rush when it works and that's cool too.
So many people don't even have a clue as how to do it correctly, that's where many of the problems arise.
It's best learned by research and trial and error.
I wouldn't recommend someone oc/if you need the computer for important business or data files, that's just insane.
But for Us who like to be challanged, it can be very rewarding.
Happy oc/ing to you all.

 

[HansXP]

Well said, McCarthy, I completely agree.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Well said, McCarthy, I completely agree.

Or, being a smart chuck, you could just buy what you need ahead of time and be done in 45 minutes. It's called knowing the hardware and what it needs to work. Knowledge leads to no unneeded trips to the store, no wasted time figuring out what went wrong. Sorry guys but there are alternatives to being stupid.

Sorry if I come off a little harsh, but this is getting absurd.

 

[SinNisTeR]

if i dont overclock i go coo coo. thats just me, other ppl have other interests and to me that is acceptable, i consider it fun and a hobby. my 1 & 1/2 cents.

 

[crzyc]

I overclock because I can. If it dies in a few years I will be glad because I can upgrade!

It is rock solid stable, and if it runs stable, why would you even look at the temp, who cares it is stable.

It was very easy to overclock too, its like adding things to your car to get more horsepower, it is kind of a guy thing i guess.

 

[Pikachu]

It is absurd. The question IS, "Why Do People Not OC?" If you guys would stick to answering the question, it wouldn't be so controversial.

If somebody says they don't OC because X,Y and Z, there's not much to argue about. That's why they don't and that answers the question.

BTW, Celerons STILL OC by 50% with stock HS/Fans. That's just a little tidbit for all you guys nostalgic for the C300s, and peeps with old slot1 BX boards and limited fundage

One more thing. About the warranty issue. How would the manufacturer know that you OC'ed the CPU?

 

[raven82]

people like to have the security of a warrenty on the cpu.

 

[HansXP]

<< How would the manufacturer know that you OC'ed the CPU? >>



For the Athlons, they could look how the bridges were connected.

 

[BMdoobieW]

Because when I built my sister's computer I didn't have any spare conductive pens lying around and I was already nervous enough about scraping off the pad and applying the grease stuff to the CPU and then putting the Volcano II on top. The way I see it, a Duron 800 is plenty fast today, and one year from now when an Athlon 1.4 266 is $40, I'll pop out the Duron and slap on the Athlon.
[Edit] I can do that because I used an Iwill KK266, which, it seems, is also great for O/C'ing. So sometime in the future I could try overclocking.

 

[TunaBoo]

I agree, OCing is a major hobby of mine, and it is one of the things I enjoy to do most (next to *** among others ).


I mean I definitely see a reason not to OC for a lot of people such as the web surfers. But for the gamers and hard core multitaskers, some have never tried it. Its a pretty FUN thing to do, and in the end you have a USEFUL product (i.e. faster computer). I dunno, maybe part of it is I am 18 and like to push everything to its limit. See what it can do. Why do people take cars and get them up to 500 HP? Surely you do not need this to go to the grocery store? Its about tweaking and POWER.


For anyone I offended by criticizing for not overclocking, I apologize. I guess others find fun other ways than I do

 

[chiwawa626]

Have you ever thought that mabey some people just dont give a sh!t?
FPS, our Tv's are 30 fps, whats teh point of being 80fps or 100 still the same thing for my eyes. I dont realy feel the need to overclock, wory about cooling, stablility and all that crap....i know ur gonna say...&quot;overclocked and rockstable here&quot;...well i suppose it did take u sum tinkering to get there rite?...Why bother for that extra 100-50mhz bceause its not realy gonna make a diff for me.

 

[SnoopCat]

main reason:

some people cant afford replacing a a burned out cpu/mobo

 

[HansXP]

<< I mean I definitely see a reason not to OC for a lot of people such as the web surfers. But for the gamers and hard core multitaskers, some have never tried it. Its a pretty FUN thing to do, and in the end you have a USEFUL product (i.e. faster computer). >>



It's a fun thing to do? IMHO, marking pencil lines on a CPU is not my definition of fun. And it was plenty useful before - I doubt I would see any change if I OC'd my processor, except of course that benchmarks would give me a few more points.



<< I dunno, maybe part of it is I am 18 and like to push everything to its limit. See what it can do. Why do people take cars and get them up to 500 HP? Surely you do not need this to go to the grocery store? Its about tweaking and POWER. >>



I guess I don't need to feel this sense of &quot;power.&quot; I don't care what HP my car's engine is, as long as it gets me to my destination everytime. Same thing for my processor.

 

[apoppin]

<< well i suppose it did take u sum tinkering to get there rite?... >>



Some of us didn't require much &quot;tinkering&quot;. When I got my 2nd PIII 600E (the first one fried at default), I plugged it into the socket for a couple of days to assure stability. Raised the FSB immediately to 124 - Rock stable at default voltage (748Mhz) - no rise in CPU temperature. A nice 25% speed increase increase for less than 15 minutes of work.

Here is where the (moderate) overclocker inside took over.

Tried to go higher but lost stablity without a voltage increase (10%) and realized the temperature was a bit high. Spent $15 on a Golden Orb H/S and went right to 133FSB (perfect for the BX chipset 1/4 PCI divider and 800Mhz - the only thing out of spec is my Radeon 64 VIVO and it loves the o/c). No other cooling or case fans and saved almost $200 by buying the 600E instead of the 800EB (and a couple of hours of &quot;work&quot; - to you - not me).

It's been running solidly for the last 18 months and only now I am considering an upgrade. If I was stuck at 600Mhz, I'd have upgraded long ago.

I can't see why anyone doesn't o/c but am glad they don't. When I get my next CPU/MB I will overclock again if it is possible. 1.4Ghz overclocked a moderate 15% is 1.6Ghz - why not? Perhaps more (IF you know how.)

 

[magicslax]

i definately cannot spend $40 if i screw up and fry my duron. the whole teenager with no job thing just tends to interfere with oc dreams.

secondly, i'm chicken.

on a more serious note, when socket A was a brand new thing, i made the uneducated mistake of buying the FIC AZ11 for my system. there's a whole lot of oc-ing i can do here...no. bleh.

there you have it, folks.

 

[bevancoleman]

I don't overclock my pc because

1 - I like it to be stable, I really don't like to have to reboot or have apps crash on me.

2 - Noise, I like my pc to be nice and quiet, having lots of fans dosn't help.