Can I Over Clock My CPU?

[may19th]

My CPU usage tends to go pretty high. Was wondering if it is possible I can "safely" over-clock it without destroying my computer. Here is my mother board and cpu name:

CPU: Intel Core i5 760 Quad Core @ 2.8 GHZ per core.
MotherBoard: Gigabyte H55M-S2V [S Series MotherBoard]

[RicheemxX]

Almost any CPU can be overclocked but the fact that you say you want to because your "CPU usage tends to go pretty high" doesn't tell us much.

What are you doing that pushes that cpu that much?

Beyond that that we need full specs. Case and cooling

to put it this way: I'm a high end user and I push a dual core to the max. You have to be really pushing a quad to max it at 100% all the time. OC'ing only shaves load times, speeds up render times ect. It won't kill 100% usage...that is something else

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

Open your Task Manager (or appropriate similar monitor, depending on which OS you're running) and see what the CPU usage is being mostly used for - in M$ that would be in Task Manager --> Processes [tab] --> click the CPU column button to sort, you might need to click it a second time to reverse sort (again, depending on which OS you're running) to see the biggest CPU usage at the top...


You might want to take a screenie so we can see too..

[may19th]

@RicheemxX It's in regards to video-gaming. Otherwise I'd be fine. At my normal/usual usages without heavy duty gaming my CPU usage is usually under 5% with as high as maybe 10-15% if I am watching or streaming a
video. I have a program called "SpeedUpMyPC3" and I monitor my cpu
usage and memory usage with it. I noticed that during game play of GTA IV
I'd reach high levels of up to 50-70% CPU usage!

I used to get that same amount when I was running a 4GB DDR3 RAM but
I then quickly upgraded to a 8GB DDR3 RAM and now the highest my RAM
has every reached was about 20-30%. I just wanted to do a similar action
to the CPU, in this case overclocking it.

@Nude_Lewd_Man I didn't say I'm having high (100%) cpu all the time issues. I just said I wanted to overclock my cpu to lower my cpu usage when running GTA IV. So after when I finish my gaming I'd obviously turn
it back down to defaults so that I don't run the risk of over heating my
mother board or CPU. Oh, and I am running Windows XP Professional
Service Pack 2 X 64 Bit Edition.

*Sorry guys for not explaining myself properly.*

@Nude_Lewd_Man Forgot to mention that I have a stock Intel CPU cooling
unit and I have a Thermaltake V9 Black Edition Gaming Case. One more thing. I entered my BIOS awhile ago and attempted to overclock it. I set it
not too high about 3.15 GHZ and when my pc attempted to boot I got an
error message from Windows saying that an important boot file is missing and it will not start up until the file is recovered. I got scared, and un did all the changes that I made and Windows started working like normal again.

So now that I've properly explained my situation. What do you suggest?

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

Not too sure regarding the specifics of how you'd want to OC it, as I'm still a bit of a n00b at it......apart from getting my i7 920 up from 2.6 to 4.1 GiggleHertz...

One thing to bear in mind is that you can't just switch back and forth, so it is either OC'd to X or not....unless you happen to have the option (like I do with my "WKS02" rig's MoBo) to save multiple BIOS (OC) settings....... You'd still need to restart and got back into the BIOS to change things though....

Depending on your hardware, you could OC your GPU and make changes "on the fly" with something like EVGA Precision (for nVidia GPUs) to only while you're gaming...

At the end of the day, while you can see where Rich is coming from (CPU usage is unlikely to drop, per se by OC'ing the CPU) it would drop the time that the chip takes to calculate the queue...which would/could equate to a lower CPU usage - queue isn't allowed to queue as much, therefore there is less for the CPU to work on simultaneously....



I couldn't really answer about too much, as my CPUs hardly ever see what life is like at anything below 100% usage, but that's due to me Folding...
Speaking of which, the Team I mostly Fold for are competing in the Folding "Chimp Challenge", all comers are welcome... Overclock.net - Overclocking.net for more info...

[may19th]

Not too sure regarding the specifics of how you'd want to OC it, as I'm still a bit of a n00b at it......apart from getting my i7 920 up from 2.6 to 4.1 GiggleHertz...

One thing to bear in mind is that you can't just switch back and forth, so it is either OC'd to X or not....unless you happen to have the option (like I do with my "WKS02" rig's MoBo) to save multiple BIOS (OC) settings....... You'd still need to restart and got back into the BIOS to change things though....

Depending on your hardware, you could OC your GPU and make changes "on the fly" with something like EVGA Precision (for nVidia GPUs) to only while you're gaming...

At the end of the day, while you can see where Rich is coming from (CPU usage is unlikely to drop, per se by OC'ing the CPU) it would drop the time that the chip takes to calculate the queue...which would/could equate to a lower CPU usage - queue isn't allowed to queue as much, therefore there is less for the CPU to work on simultaneously....



I couldn't really answer about too much, as my CPUs hardly ever see what life is like at anything below 100% usage, but that's due to me Folding...
Speaking of which, the Team I mostly Fold for are competing in the Folding "Chimp Challenge", all comers are welcome... Overclock.net - Overclocking.net for more info...

So pretty much you are saying that even if I can successfully overclock my cpu I will not see my cpu usage be lower than how it is now?

I'm asking because I would thought that would be possible because attempting to stream movies on my p4 ibm pc at 3.0 ghz with hyper theading and 1 gb ram. My cpu usage is a sky rocketing 90-100% cpu usage. Do the same thing on my i5 and my cpu usage like I said before is
extremly low unless playing a game (in my case GTA IV).

Oh well, I guess I was wrong.

[Aaron_8015]

GTA IV is pretty much the most CPU demanding game around.... Unless you are unhappy with the performance then there is no need to overclock. Also, if you overclock it, GTA IV will still use the same amount of CPU, it will just run faster thanks to the extra clock cycles you have given it. (though GPU bottleneck may prevent this).

From your logic... 'Have more so I use less'....? Whats the point?

The jump to 8GB of RAM was pretty much useless (unless you work with images etc)...

There is nothing wrong with running things at 100%... They were designed to do that.

[may19th]

GTA IV is pretty much the most CPU demanding game around.... Unless you are unhappy with the performance then there is no need to overclock. Also, if you overclock it, GTA IV will still use the same amount of CPU, it will just run faster thanks to the extra clock cycles you have given it. (though GPU bottleneck may prevent this).

From your logic... 'Have more so I use less'....? Whats the point?

The jump to 8GB of RAM was pretty much useless (unless you work with images etc)...

There is nothing wrong with running things at 100%... They were designed to do that.

Oh the game performs just fine. No lag, and I see better graphics on my pc version than on my xbox 360 version (I own both). I'm able to run the game on everything highest settings flawlesly.

The reason why overclocking came into mind was I was experiencing a lot of game crashes both offline and online. Just thought cranking the CPU up a bit would have fixed that.

[Really] -> Is upgrading from 4GB to 8GB honestly pointless? I know I've never gotten to half (50%) of it's 7.96 usage limit amount but still. So then if that's the case (8GB only useful if working with images) how come when a company sells a custom gaming pc the default amount of ram that is sold with the pc is about 8 GB or higher... sometimes even 12 GB or 16GB?

The stats on those kinds of pc's are just crazy. They'd come with a 6 core CPU also, and have like a 700 watt power supply with an extreme gaming case not to mention cooling fans all over the place plus two 2 TB HDD's. It's pretty intense. If I honestly knew it was pointless then I wouldn't have wasted that $100 on memory. I just did it because I thought it would improve performance.

I hope you have gta iv so you could possably explain all the answers to my questions. Would greatly help so I don't toss money like that in the future.

[Aaron_8015]

I hope you have gta iv so you could possably explain all the answers to my questions. Would greatly help so I don't toss money like that in the future.

Don't worry I have GTA IV, though it does not run as well as yours...

Unfortunately, due to the game being a very poorly coded game. Many have had problems with crashes. I don't get them that often but it has happened. Only thing you can do is make sure your graphics drivers and game patches are up to date.

To your RAM question: You have pretty much just answered it yourself..

I know I've never gotten to half (50%) of it's 7.96 usage limit amount

I had 6GB in my system, but took out the two 1GB sticks as it was not needed.... For gaming 4GB is plenty.

how come when a company sells a custom gaming pc the default amount of ram that is sold with the pc is about 8 GB or higher... sometimes even 12 GB or 16GB?

Marketing ploy, to the general consumer.... putting big numbers will attract those who have no knowledge to think it is a fast system. They do the same with graphics cards.

The stats on those kinds of pc's are just crazy. They'd come with a 6 core CPU also, and have like a 700 watt power supply with an extreme gaming case not to mention cooling fans all over the place plus two 2 TB HDD's. It's pretty intense. If I honestly knew it was pointless then I wouldn't have wasted that $100 on memory. I just did it because I thought it would improve performance.

Depends how you look at, AMD's hex core is not all that great for gaming (it will shine with multi threaded apps, like video encoding). Most gaming rigs these days will have a 'good quality' 750W unit in. With hard drive space getting so cheap these days why not get lots of space.

Im not exactly running a high end system anymore... My CPU is a good 4 years old (brought new). Still its a quad core, I have a 950W PSU, 2 Graphics cards, combined 2.5+ TB of hard drive space.... Even then it would just be considered a mid range gaming rig....

I really need an upgrade...

[stroyal]

Barton 2500+


And, I agree with everything Aaron said.

[Aaron_8015]

[RicheemxX]

To be honest you are getting too tied into "cpu usage" and misunderstanding what it means.

Think of it this way, your computer is trying to achieve it's goals as fast as possible with the best possible results. So when needed it pushes the the chip to its highest potential. When you are running intensive operations it doesn't matter what your clock speed is its going to push it to the max it needs to get the job done as quickly as possible with the best possible results. So in gaming if you are running everything on high its trying to render the screens the best it can. So it pushes as hard as it can. If you are emailing it will do the same, just for a split second. Thus the "speed" you see.

Overclocking is just going to give you that extra little boost of a faster chip. Your frame rates and load times might be slightly faster but the game, or applications, are still going to try to load (perform) as best they can. So they are still going to push the chip as fast as they can to get it their job done. So you'd still see 100% usage but you'd be getting a little more done in less time.

Now if you were saying its at 100% usage when doing nothing then you'd have another issue altogether. Thus the reason I asked for an explanation of what you are actually doing.

For the RAM scenario, most companies now sell an over inflated amount of ram as a marketing thing. Just like CPUs. The avg consumer doesn't even fully use a dual core let alone need a quad core. Most never use anywhere near 2gbs of ram let alone 4, 6 or 8. The numbers just look better to those that don't really know their actual usage.

Its like selling a 1000hp minivan to a soccer mom. She'll never actually drive as fast as the car goes but the power looks awesome, sounds awesome and is there if ever needed

[RicheemxX]

And don't misunderstand I'm not saying overclocking doesn't help performance. It just won't alleviate high cpu usage when a chip is being pushed. It just adds to the performance on the upper end.

Now as to safety, OC'ing is pretty safe. So long as you have good cooling at don't start going crazy adjusting voltages or anything. I've run several of my systems overclocked, running 100% cpu usage for distributed computing projects forever and never had issues. You can run them longer than their actual effective life cycle. Meaning you get more out of a new system than you would the old before you actually kill it.

[may19th]

@RicheemxX What your saying does make sense. I believe I understand now. Even if I overclock my cpu usage when playing GTA IV will still be the same but I may or may not get an extra speed boost. Huh, I guess it would not make any sense for me to overclock my cpu then (in the situation that I am in).

It just really sucks that if someone goes to purchase something (it doesn't even have to be a computer) and they don't have that much knowledge about the item that they are contemplating on purchasing then the store seller will try to lure you to purchase more than what you need or even require. Like the case of the minivan that you exclaimed. And in the sellers defense they would say "You go hard now, yes you go all out. So you wont have to come by again in a few months because you decided to upgrade." So pretty much you purchase higher than what you actually need so that you wont have to upgrade for awhile.

I remember in February when I was buying my computer. The seller tricked me into spending more money. He told me to purchase a 1TB HDD which is like $70-$80 when all I wanted was a cheap/small hard drive. 500GB or lower. Then he defended himself by saying the one I wanted to purchase has lower RPM which equals slower data response. He said running a game like GTA IV requires high HDD RPM. I don't know if it was true but he definitely tricked me into buying it. I haven't even used 100GB out of the 1TB yet. What the hall am I going to download that can possably fill up that much hard drive space? And on top of that I already have a 1.5 TB external hard drive so now that I think about all that I believe I was fooled.

@Aaron_8015 That pc is pretty beast still. I've always stayed on the cheap side. Before now a p4 would always meet my needs. Pity their video cards are like 96 MB by Intel. I'm surprised you say it doesn't run well on that. I guess it's a good thing I didn't purchase a dual core ibm pc. The computer guy who was trying to sell it to me said GTA IV would work perfect on it.

Oh by the way guys. I wanted to share my GTA IV bench marks with you guys. Let me know what you think. This is at everything highest settings.

Statistics
Average FPS: 30.06
Duration: 37.53 sec
CPU Usage: 45%
System memory usage: 30%
Video memory usage: 100%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1600 x 1200 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Shadow Quality: Very High
Reflection Resolution: Very High
Water Quality: Very High
Texture Filter Quality: Anisotropic x4
Night Shadows: Very High
View Distance: 41
Detail Distance: 100

Hardware
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional x64 Edition
Service Pack 2
Video Adapter: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Video Driver version: 6.14.10.7082
Audio Adapter: Realtek HD Audio output
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz

File ID: Benchmark.cli
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is everything at the lowest possible settings. This is what I play the game at.

Statistics
Average FPS: 65.95
Duration: 37.12 sec
CPU Usage: 51%
System memory usage: 26%
Video memory usage: 32%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 800 x 600 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: Low
Shadow Quality: Off
Reflection Resolution: Off
Water Quality: Low
Texture Filter Quality: Anisotropic x2
Night Shadows: Off
View Distance: 1
Detail Distance: 1

Hardware
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional x64 Edition
Service Pack 2
Video Adapter: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Video Driver version: 6.14.10.7082
Audio Adapter: Realtek HD Audio output
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz
Pø0ƒÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ0÷
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz

File ID: Benchmark.cli
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm kind of curious as to why the cpu usage is higher on my lowest possible settings than on my highest possible settings. I would have thought that it would have been reversed. My only guess is because I maxed out my video card memory and I guess the game juices your video card before proceeding to your cpu. So what do you guys think/suggest after viewing the two?

[Aaron_8015]

At low resolutions, the CPU can work harder as you eliminate any GPU bottleneck as the graphics card does not have to work that hard to render much less pixels.

I'm a bit of a graphics nut, so I tend to not be happy until I can turn the settings way up...

I will run a bench at what settings I play at.

[Aaron_8015]

Statistics
Average FPS: 44.84
Duration: 37.19 sec
CPU Usage: 79%
System memory usage: 65%
Video memory usage: 94%

Graphics Settings
Video Mode: 1920 x 1080 (60 Hz)
Texture Quality: High
Shadow Quality: High
Reflection Resolution: High
Water Quality: Very High
Texture Filter Quality: Anisotropic x4
Night Shadows: Off
View Distance: 25
Detail Distance: 31

Hardware
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Video Driver version: 266.58
Audio Adapter: Speakers (Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz

File ID: Benchmark.cli

I play at a much higher screen res and need the settings up...

I have a huge CPU bottleneck as both GPU's are at ~33% when playing...

To be fair the benchmark for this is not great, it does not reflect the actual gameplay performance well. The benchmark tool from the expansion is much better.

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

OC = WINNING..!!


YouTube - Songify This - Winning - a Song by Charlie Sheen

[may19th]

@Nude_Lewd_Man Ha ha, why you say overclocking=winning?

@Aaron_8015 Dang, those % is pretty high. I always thought Intels
Quad Cores started no lower than 3.0?

Also what did you mean when you said "The benchmark tool from the expansion is much better. "?

One more question. I was always curious about this because when I would
have problems with the game my friends would always ask me about my FPS.
What is that anyway? Yeah, I know it means "Frames Per Second". But I don't really understand what it is for/about. Is it the lower it is the better or the higher it is the better?

[Aaron_8015]

The Q6600 was pretty much the first quad core desktop chip intended for the general consumer (IE not a server CPU)... Base clock is 2.4Ghz... Though It will happily run at 3.GHz.

Even your quad is under 3.0Ghz (2.8Ghz)...

The GTA IV expansion.. 'Episodes from Liberty City' has a benchmark that actualy reflects realistic/actual FPS you will see in the game.

Right FPS....

Put it this way, everything you see in a game or a film is made up of lots of still images, the number before (eg 25 FPS) indicates that there are 25 images displayed in a second. The higher this number the smoother the game/film will look. Pretty much every film/TV program is shown between 23-25FPS, though some are being made to adopt 60FPS (IE avatar sequels).

Higher is always better, you will notice when the frames start to drop below 25FPS as the video/game becomes choppy.

Hope that explains it...

[may19th]

I original wanted a quad core @ 3.0 ghz but I'd be going into i7 cpu's and couldn't afford it at the time. I believe I've got the highest Intel i5 cpu. I get what you are saying about fps. Also I don't have the GTA expantion pack so I guess I wouldn't know the in game bench mark thing you are talking about. I just bought the original GTA IV game from EB Games. Thanks for explaining.

Based on all that was said by all of you. I guess it's just better to keep my cpu as it is. Thank you all for the advice.

One more thing... this is so off topic and not important and may be stupid but... How come depending on what program you are using some programs
call my operating system:

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
&
Windows Server 2003

Stupid question, just kind of curious. Also just incase someone asks me
what os I got. I am clueless which one to tell them.