Will over-clocking kill my comp?

[Rockin Robbins]

Professor Lexandro speaks the truth! If you have outdated components, buying memory and CPUs is too expensive. Make the leap to present generation and save some cash while making a much better system. If you're upgrading a previous generation system, as I said earlier, make sure the components you buy can migrate to the new. With CPUs and memory that isn't possible and you end up overpaying for an inferior product.

And Professor Lexandro is correct about overclocking. It is a question of temperature and the money you are prepared to invest to keep that temperature in a range that will make your components last longer than you would use them anyway. Some shortening of life is tolerable, like making your CPU last five years instead of seven. What CPU would you want to use seven years from now? None! So you haven't lost anything by a modest shortening of its life.

If you by beefing up your cooling system achieve the same or nearly the same operating temperatures for that component as you had before overclocking, it will last a similar length of time. Your casual overclocker often fails to take these factors into account and that spawns a lot of horror stories. But that is good, because it scares away people who shouldn't really be attempting to overclock their systems anyway.

Originally Posted by Lexandro

Wow you guys are way off the mark. Its a myth that oc'ing results in a lower life span and destroyed components. Ive a PC here I OC'ed 4 years ago and it still running strong with no problems. The PC im use now is OC'ed and has been for a year with no issues. In fact the first problem I had with this rig was a failing PSU when I started playing Monsun.

Listen folks, no offence but unless you actually have experience of doing a hardware based overclock please dont confuse the subject.

well i'll respond this way,

how many parts, components, and things have you burned up, burned out, or had fail in your overclocking endevors that gained you the knowledge you have now to say you know how to safely overclock things today? :hmm:

can you say it is something an unskilled novice should attempt? :hmm:

are you aware two identical pieces of hardware can have very different limits it can handle and the results you get from them? (in other words it is impossable to know the limit)

and lastly, dont assume that we dont know anything about overclocking just because we give very valid warnings about what can happen when you overclock.

while i dont overclock myself i take great joy in watching my friends set off smoke detectors and spend insane amounts of time and money doing it. :rotfl: more than one could have bought a car with that $

i always tell them if they like seeing things smoke so much its cheaper to buy fireworks instead.

[Lexandro]

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

well i'll respond this way,

how many parts, components, and things have you burned up, burned out, or had fail in your overclocking endevors that gained you the knowledge you have now to say you know how to safely overclock things today? :hmm:

Absolutely none. The only hardware failures Ive had in the last 8 years have been from 2 PSU's (if you dont count broken keyboard/mice). One of which was only a week or so ago. I am using an HDD in this current rig that I bought several years ago (4+) and is still in perfect working order and I use it as a back-up operating system drive with windows XP on it. My other older systems have been sold on to people looking for a cheap computer or given away in parts. I have had zero complaints or problems with them.

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

can you say it is something an unskilled novice should attempt? :hmm:

Everyone is unskilled at some point, but learning from experts in the field who have done that sort of thing already is the safest way to learn what not to do. Also asking advice about what your intending to do is another great way to ensure that your doing something in the correct manner. Thats why I advised him to read up first in the site I mentioned. Its a forum where people discuss all manners of electronics and the overclocking of them.

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

are you aware two identical pieces of hardware can have very different limits it can handle and the results you get from them? (in other words it is impossable to know the limit)

Yes, its one of the first things you learn when Oc'ing "no two computers are alike" but only to a certain degree is this applicable. For instance buying two indentical CPU's can result in a variation between them on what settings they are stable on. One may heat up more than the other, one may attain a higher performance than the other. But they will share similar features and settings that can be used as a comparison to improve both the systems. And you can know some aspects of the limits due to what tools your going to use or parts you have. For example if I were to use liquid nitrogen I could easily attain an overclock way beyond anything normal users would get to as temperature would not be a factor. But using standard air cooling I know that at around 55 degrees celcius is the limit you should stop and back down your settings as problems will arise beyond that point.

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

and lastly, dont assume that we dont know anything about overclocking just because we give very valid warnings about what can happen when you overclock.

while i dont overclock myself i take great joy in watching my friends set off smoke detectors and spend insane amounts of time and money doing it. :rotfl: more than one could have bought a car with that $

i always tell them if they like seeing things smoke so much its cheaper to buy fireworks instead.

Those kinds of overclockers are simply there to try for glory. The more sensible crowd do it to improve a systems overall performance for day to day usage. As such they have setups that could and do run 24/7 without issues of any kind. I applaud people making sure someone doesnt do something stupid by giving sound advice.
However I do also feel its necessary to point out where people are mistaken on a subject when I have first hand knowledge of the matter. As I said a lot of the objections and horror stories are from those who are using sub standard or outdated tech with no knowledge of how to proceed properly. Modern system are designed to be overclocked to some extent. Some parts are solely designed to appeal to the overclockers.

Its not such a horror strewn path as some would beleive, honestly.

*EDIT/SIDE NOTE* The 4 year old rig is the one in the living room that is used as a Home Theatre PC. Its small and quiet and does everything I need it to so no need to replace it just yet.

[Diopos]

Most people have problems understanding/finding-out/monitoring voltage and temperature on key components or even why they should open the box and "blow out" the dust to keep it clean and the fans running properly. With overclocking you must really know what you're doing. If you are, you gain, if not you could be merrily dancing in a minefield!

[tomoose]

Not to derail this thread but.....
Holy cow Lexandro, do they still make Mechano? That takes me back (when Mechano was actually metal and nuts and bolts, and you could built whatever your imagination could come up with, LOL).

Originally Posted by Lexandro

Absolutely none. The only hardware failures Ive had in the last 8 years have been from 2 PSU's (if you dont count broken keyboard/mice). One of which was only a week or so ago. I am using an HDD in this current rig that I bought several years ago (4+) and is still in perfect working order and I use it as a back-up operating system drive with windows XP on it. My other older systems have been sold on to people looking for a cheap computer or given away in parts. I have had zero complaints or problems with them.

well you must understand that you are the exception to the average person, you get good information on the known limits that work well and dont push your system more than that. the OP would do well with someone like you to help him but the reason i feel the way i do is that the vast majority of people dont have someone like you around to help them.

i live by the golden rule that given half a chance the average person will manage to screw something up most of the time and i give advice based on that premis.

as Diopos said most people dont even clean the dust out of their systems much less have the due diligence to monitor their systems properly.

with all due respect i still feel that overclocking and water cooling are two things that should only be done by experienced to advanced skill level persons.

i understand you have to learn at some point but unless you have one of those experienced to advanced skill level persons there to help you do it, then you are working without a net so to speak and if something goes wrong you wont know it until its too late.

im sure with proper precautions it could be done with little chance of something going wrong but i would feel very bad if someone ruined their computer trying to overclock it because i said they should give it a try.

[Rockin Robbins]

Also understand that water cooling is an expensive proposition--more expensive than just buying faster equipment. Overclocking is a hobby like racing cars. You don't do it to save money, you do it because you love testing the limits of your hardware.

Since overclocking is an irrational thing, there is no way to talk about it rationally. You either love it and commit resources to doing it or you don't. If you fry something once in awhile or spend $300 making an upgrade that you could have bettered the speed for half of that, it is for the love of the hobby. No risk, no glory. Insane speed ahead!