Do you OC everything?

[Gig-O-Ram]

...or do you only OC one thing, as I do?

I only have my cpu OC'd, but not my memory (which is actually underclocked a little bit due to my settings) or my video card.

For some reason, I not big on the idea of OC'd RAM. It might have something to do with the fact of not being sure of the best way to do it. My RAM is currently running at 197.2 Mhz, where stock is 200Mhz.

I am scared to death to overclock my video card, because I tried it a few times with my 6800GT, and I'm pretty sure the attempts to do so contributed, at least in part, to it's early demise. I think overheating may have also been a factor, but I hadn't looked into aftermarket solutions at the time. My first trys at OC'ing the GPU went like you'd expect, at least in tests. But soon, even tests would not work, and doing the slightest OC would result in errors. So I gave up entirely on trying, and then one day, out of nowhere, it died on me while playing a game. It might be okay to try now on my 7800GT, with an aftermarket cooler on it, but I'm playing it safe.

My 3700+ has been a great success though. I was nervous to do it at first, given what happened to my video card, but I wanted to try it and see what it was all about. I took small steps at first, and even though my nerves were telling me not to do it, I continued to see how far I could get. I think I got to 2.6ghz or something before I had to increase the voltage. I now keep it at 2.76ghz (38% OC - stock is 2.2ghz) with 1.45v on the CPU (1.53 vcore), and it's been like that for nearly a year, and I really don't have any problems. I do get a blue screen occasionally with a lot of text that goes by too fast to read, but the system reboots and it's fine again. I tried 2.8ghz once, but the system didn't like that, so I keep it at 2.76 and it's all good. I have wondered if choppy DVD playback is a result of the overclock, or maybe just a bad drive. My temps are in the low 30's idle, and not more than 38 on a load. It will get to low 40s on stress tests. I attribute these temps to my beloved Big Typhoon - and a whole boat load of fans, LOL!

[Capper]

Honestly, I never overclock my video card, the actual gains are not worth it, and most of todays cards are pushed pretty hard to begin with (Thats how card makers differentiate themselves from the competition, it used to be games and bundles, now its the OC). Also, you typically don't see much if any real benefit from it....oh you might see a few FPS when benchmarking, but when you are watching video or playing a game it really doesn't matter.

That G.Skill memory should be a good OCer, with a CAS latency of 2, looosening up to 3-3-3-7/8 with your CPU 1:1 should take you into the 240-255 range, which should yeild some pretty impressive gains. Also, remember that as long as you stay around 2.75-2.8V you will be fine.....just try not to take it much higher than that and you'll have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Lastly, if you are happy with where your system currently OCs, leave it be. Its fun to tinker and tweak your system, if nothing more than for a sense of accomplishment, but for most of us, overclocking is more about squeezing some extra performance out of your system to save some money, not go for broke suicide OCs that kill your system after 30 days (Trust me, there are a lot of those people out there). If you are happy with the performance, don't push it....the last thing you want/need is a dead system on your hands

[Dread]

I’m relatively new to the OC scene, so my thoughts and opinions on the matter are somewhat less than an enthusiast’s would be. For having only over clocked three separate systems to date, I’m getting pretty comfortable with the process, and look forward to expanding my knowledge by way of other components on at least one system.

The system in question (AMD 64X2 3800+) has all mid-range parts, and it would not break my heart if I needed to replace everything in it with a C2D, so am studying up on how to OC the CPU, RAM and Video card. Not looking for a huge increase in performance, rather looking for the learning process since AMD’s differ greatly in the OC realm than their Intel counterparts (step and terminology wise).

For my important systems, I have no intention of oc’ing anything but the CPU, and even then only marginally for performance gains (folding@home systems).

[halutzparilla]

like Rich, i'm totally not impress with OC'ing the Video Card... and like what happened to your 6800GT, death to your Video Card is very emminent with OC... unlike the CPU, with proper cooling system, you can push it to a lucky 80%-100% OC... if your lucky, i only got 40% when i OC'ed but his was with CNPS9700...

but what should i know... :D

[simple_inhibition]

i overclock everything personally. but i always return the video card to stock setting because the gains arent worth the risks. the thing i focus on the most is the CPU followed by ram.

Gig-O-Ram, if you have the G-Skill HZ DDR500 you should be able to do 250-270mhz @ 2.7-2.8v 3-3-3-8 1T timings. mine does 270mhz, with 3-3-3-8 1T and 2.7v but since my divider is so low on my opteron i have to run it at 261mhz

[Quakindude]

I won't overclock my video card for long term use. The memory on a video card is too susceptible to damage.

[Lead Head]

I keep my CPU at 2.7GHz 24/7, and I only over clock my GPU if I am getting low performance in a certain game. The x1800GTO clocks are pretty relaxed at 500/500, so there is quite a bit of headroom for performance increasing

[Tyreal]

I've always try to overclock a videocard to see what kind of performance I get but I usually return it back to stock. Right now I'm running my processor at 3 ghz 24/7 and the ram is at 200 mhz with a divider.

[screwballl]

I have never wanted or needed to overclock. Until now.
Once I get my E6300, I will be kicking it up to around 2.3-2.5GHz using 667 memory... before I have always had standard 1:1 setups and never needed to OC

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by Capper

That G.Skill memory should be a good OCer, with a CAS latency of 2, looosening up to 3-3-3-7/8 with your CPU 1:1 should take you into the 240-255 range, which should yeild some pretty impressive gains. Also, remember that as long as you stay around 2.75-2.8V you will be fine.....just try not to take it much higher than that and you'll have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Yeah, others have told me that loosening up the timings would be of benefit, but I was reluctant to try it because I didn't know if doing so would mess things up. I suppose it shouldn't - I altered the last number (can't think of the function) of the RAM in my previous setup from 8 to 7, and I saw a noticeable performance increase just in that. Right now, my RAM is on 2.7v with the 3/04 divider.

Originally Posted by Dread

I’m relatively new to the OC scene, so my thoughts and opinions on the matter are somewhat less than an enthusiast’s would be. For having only over clocked three separate systems to date, I’m getting pretty comfortable with the process, and look forward to expanding my knowledge by way of other components on at least one system.

I am also relatively new to the OC thing, but this is the first system I've attempted to overclock. I had two systems before this one (one of which needed to be rebuilt), but neither one had OC capability. The mobo I used in my wife's setup can be OC'd, (can't alter the multiplier, though) but she would never want that, so I leave it alone.

Originally Posted by halutzparilla

and like what happened to your 6800GT, death to your Video Card is very emminent with OC...

So would you say that buying a video card with a factory set overclock is not necessarily a good idea? I see more and more cards that offer a factory oc, and I think "Is that really safe?" Just because the maker says so, I've wondered if it's worth it, because what did they do?, but do something I myself could do with it and they add a warranty to it, but the risk remains.

Originally Posted by simple inhibition

Gig-O-Ram, if you have the G-Skill HZ DDR500 you should be able to do 250-270mhz @ 2.7-2.8v 3-3-3-8 1T timings. mine does 270mhz, with 3-3-3-8 1T and 2.7v but since my divider is so low on my opteron i have to run it at 261mhz

I actually have the Extreme DDR400, and so far have left the timings on stock settings. When you brought up the DDR500, it occured to me that I did not list the RAM speed on my spec list, so I added it into the sig.