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Will Overclocking damage my hardware
I just bought a computer with overclocking. I'm reading that it can damage components, reduce life of components, and otherwise isn't good for the computer. My computer is coming with 30% overclocking. Am I making a mistake?? Or is it a common procedure that should be alright? Thanks in advance.
I self identify as a monkey.
Comments
Make sure your cooling is upto par.
As long as you have the proper cooling to keep the tempuratures at an acceptable level you should be fine.
I guess i'll call them on Monday and tell them to make sure I have enough cooling. Last thing I need is for this beast to break down on me.
I self identify as a monkey.
Overclocking just means pushing the limits of ur computer...yes, it can damage your computer ONLY if you do have the appropriate power supply and/or cooling.
Not much of a computer expert (yet) but i think you can set it back to default if youre still worried about your computer overheating or something.
I overclock and never had an overclocked part fail.. I usually back it down a little from max stable overclock, for stability reasons. Since I overclocked the parts, I have voided the warranty and am prepared to eat the cost if anything should go wrong. It's a risk I'm willing to assume. I personally try to keep temperatures and voltages reasonable and never had an issue with stabiliity or reliability. I consider the risk to be pretty minimal in my case.
In your case, I assume a vendor is selling you a pre built system, so that vendor should warrant it, if they sold it to you in an overclocked state. If you are doing the overclocking, research it and see if you are willing to assume the risk. There are factors to take into consideration; such as temperatures and voltages.
In my experience, you will generally experience loss of stability before any real damage occurs. In fact, that is often how max overclocks are determined, Running stress tests for extended periods making sure no errors or crashes occur.
If you overclock anything then you void the warranty on it. So yes, it's damaged.
Hey there,
Slightly more specific: you have to find out what the precise max. temperature allowances are of :
1) Mainboard
2) Graphics adapter(s) - (GPU)
3) Processor - (CPU)
4) Memory modules
That's the minimum you need to know. 30% overclocking is *a lot*. I have an Asus Striker Extreme and would never think of going over 15% because *even with water cooling* (large pump, external, on a Zalman Reserator 1+) I already blew up 1 graphics adapter (850 euro's - replaced by 2x faster model 1 quarter of the price
) and one out of 4 memory modules (Corsair so life time guarantee).
With 30% things will heat up - get enough airflow in, keep the cables clean so you don't produce unnecessaray heat buildup
.
Best I can do off the top of my head. Good luck!
Lucas
PS It really comes down to 'fast for a shorter time, vs slower for a longer time' and THAT really boils down to 'which apps/games am I considering to take too long rendering, or have too low a framerate (FPS), doesn't it?
* I say, there is no
* darkness but ignorance.
-
* Twelfth-night; or, What You Will
Its an itinially pre-built computer. I ordered from Cyberpowerpc.com. I've had good results from them in the past. But never ordered anything that was overclocked. The computer starts out pre-built, but then you go in an upgrade/downgrade/add/remove bits and pieces. I pretty much only went up in items, so the thing is costing me a fortune. Now, that you guys have mentioned proper cooling, I'm not sure if I upgrade the cooling to compensate for the other hardware upgrades. I do know that it has a 1000 watt power supply, so I'm hoping that is more than enough to handle the overcolocking (I hope). But cooling not so sure.
I self identify as a monkey.
It depends on what hardware you're overclocking, what other hardware you have, how far you're overclocking, and whether you adjust the voltage or only the clock speed.
Overclocking intrinsically makes hardware less reliable; it's only a question of how much so. A mild overclock that you've built around may be the difference between a 1% chance that the CPU dies within 5 years and a 2% chance. A more aggressive overclock or one done with improper other hardware could mean that the processor will probably fail soon enough for you to care, and it's just a question of when.
If you're overclocking the processor only, then make sure you've got a good power supply, motherboard, CPU cooler, and case to handle the overclock. The case is perhaps less important so long as it isn't terrible, but the others are critical. Temperature is not the only thing that matters, and if you don't build everything else around it, you can easily fry a processor at room temperature.
if it's overclocked by the manufacturer it just means that they added better cooling and made it run slightly faster. If you are buying it of some guy who OCd it, i would be more worried.
Is overclocking a software setting or a hardware setting. In otherwords can I go to some setting in control panel and turn it off??
I self identify as a monkey.
The nominal wattage doesn't tell you much. CyberPower PC offers five 1000 W power supplies, of which two are junk, and while the other three are decent, they're all more expensive than the superior NZXT Hale90 850 W. Two of the three decent 1000 W power supplies are also more expensive than the excellent Corsair AX750.
Unless, of course, you've got two high-end cards in CrossFire or SLI, and actually need a ton of wattage.
CPU's can be overcocked with either software or in BIOS, my guess your overclock will be set in BIOS. GPU is typically with a program that varies by card manufacturer, in my case, it's MSI Afterburner. They can all be shut off and set back to default settings. Some video cards are sold with a factory overclock. Plus, the manufacturer sold you an overclocked system and I'm pretty sure they will support it in the unlikely event of a hardware failure. 30% on a Sandy Bridge Intel CPU is fairly mild.
You can always run a stress test to see what kind of temperatures you pull under max loads, to see if your cooling is up to snuff.
BIOS, not control panel, but yes, you can turn it off. Depending on how they did the overclock, this might be as simple as changing the multiplier to stock speeds, or you might have to adjust a bunch of settings.
cool thanks. I'll keep an eye on things and if things start going south, I can go to the bios and turn it off. Be prepared for this topic to rise again, because I will need help in turning off the right things
Thanks again all
I self identify as a monkey.
If you just placed the order, you may still be able to change it.
It might also be good to post the exact hardware you got, in case there are obvious changes that ought to be made.
Some MB's have an OC button on them too and associated software to OC.
If Quizz is here and reading I'd suggest you tell him the spec's ... he spends *WAY* too much time on these forums and will be able to tell you if its a good buy and what your OC options will be.
As far as cooling goes, I much prefer the good ol' heatsink/fan combo as opposed to water cooling. Also, for cooling on VGA, becareful when buying aftermarket heatsinks/fans. Reading the reviews will tell you what problems commonly occur when installing. Some CPU heatsink/fans may require you to remove the stock back plating on the mobo (behind the processor) since they need extra support (for being so huge) and if the heatsink is too huge and runs too hot, it may warp your mobo.
A good brand that I always rely on for cooling is Scythe.
And stress tests, artifacts, 60 minutes, 5-10mhz bumps, blah blah blah.
BLUETOOTH: None
CARE1: Professional Wiring for All WIRING Inside The System Chassis - Minimize Cable Exposure, Maximize Airflow in Your System [+19]
CAS: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D Full Tower Gaming Case
CASUPGRADE: None
CD: LG 12X Internal Super Multi Blu-Ray Rewriter (Black Color)
CD2: None
COOLANT: High-Performance Non Conductive Coolant powered by Koolance [+19] (Blue Color [+10])
CPU: Intel(R) Core™ i7-3960X Extreme Edition 3.30 GHz 15MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011 (All Venom OC Certified)
CS_FAN: Maximum Enermax 120MM Case Cooling Fans for selected case (Maximum Silent Operation) [+29] (1,000 RPM Black Color with No LED Enlobal Magnetic Barometric Bearing 17 dBA)
ENGRAVING: NONE
FA_HDD: Vigor iSURF II Hard Disk Drive Cooling System [+21] (1 x System)
FAN: CyberPower Xtreme Hydro Liquid Cooling Kit 360MM w/ Triple Fan(CPU & GPU Liquid Cool Capable, Extreme Overclocking Performance + Extreme Silent at 18dBA)
FLASHMEDIA: PPA External Combo USB 2.0 Hub & Card Reader/Writer [+10]
FREEBIE_HD: None
GLASSES: None
HDD: * 60 GB OCZ Agility 3 SATA III 6.0Gb/s SSD - 525MB/s Read & 475MB/s Write (60GB x 2 (120GB Capacity) Raid 0 Extreme Performance)
HDD2: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Drive)
IEEE_CARD: None
IUSB: Internal USB 3.0 4-Port Hub [+29]
KEYBOARD: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard [-55]
MEMORY: 16GB (4GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Quad Channel Memory (Corsair Vengeance)
MONITOR: None
MONITOR2: None
MONITOR3: None
MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI Support) Asus P9X79 Deluxe Intel X79 Chipset Quad Channel DDR3 ATX w/ UEFI Bios, BT GO, SSD Caching, 7.1 HD Audio, Dual GbLAN, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 4 Gen3 PCIe X16 & 2 PCIe X1 [+73]
MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse [-57]
NCSW: None
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
NOISEREDUCE1: Sound Absorbing Foam on Side, Top And Bottom panels [+29]
NOISEREDUCE2: Power Supply Gasket [+5]
NOISEREDUCE3: Anti-Vibration Fan Mounts [+9]
OS: Microsoft(R) Windows 7 Professional [+31] (64-bit Edition)
OVERCLOCK: Ultimate OC (Ultimate Overclock 30% or more)
POWERSUPPLY: * 1,000 Watts - CoolerMaster Silent Pro Gold 80 Plus Power Supply ( 80 Plus Gold)
RUSH: RUSH!!! READY TO SHIP IN 5 BUSINESS DAYS [+49]
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SOFT1: Microsoft(R) Office(R) 2010 Professional (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher + Access) [+299]
SOUND: Creative Labs SB X-FI Titanium PCI Express Sound Card [+103]
SPEAKERS: None
TEMP: None
TVRC: None
UPS1: OPTI-UPS VS575B 575VA/345W Uninterruptible Power Supply [+46]
USB: None
USBFLASH: None
USBHD: None
USBX: NZXT Internal USB 6-PORT Expansion Module [+19]
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 Dual GPU SLI 3GB 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO2: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 Dual GPU SLI 3GB 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO3: None
WNC: None
Here are my settings, I could do with some advice.
I self identify as a monkey.
I DREAD to think what they are charging you for that
Would you believe "..........................................................................................." believe that much. Its crazy. I couldn't help myself Everytime it had a option to upgrade something I tended to go to the top of the list. Its put me way back, but I won't have to buy a computer for a while (knock on wood). But does it have enough power/cooling for those overclocked bits.??
I self identify as a monkey.
Looking at the inside, why not put another 120mm fan by the hard drive bay? But then again, it depends on the placement of the cooling tank. Airflow is key here... hrmm.
@above post, 1000 watts IS enough for all that, overkill even
Edit: Also, since you're SLIing or just have two cards because you can, remember, the top vid card is blowing hot air onto the card below it.
do u think it needs another fan??
I self identify as a monkey.
Not sure why today people are oveclocking. Even on modestly priced gaming machines you are going to be able to run anything released today.
I am gussing 30% is just some kind of marketing ploy. If it is ture then I would think about throttling it back down.