Is overclocking a net "+" or "-" in C7.5.10?

Looking at a new build, and would be interested in people’s opinions, I think it may help me to choose a CPU.

Thanks!

Overclocking, when done correctly, is definitely a plus. Learn how to do it the right way, select the right components, and overclocking can give you that extra CPU headroom that you need. Having said that, my last Windows machine – a 6-core – was more than powerful enough at stock speeds for extremely heavy projects. I overclocked it when I first built it, then realized I didn’t need the extra headroom, and returned it to stock speed… but the good thing is that I knew I could overclock it in an emergency. I ended up selling that machine as I’ve been transitioning over to Macs in my studio, but I still have Windows machines as well, all of which can be overclocked if needed. Just buy the right parts, and learn how to overclock safely. No need to push it all the way to the bleeding edge, which can affect stability. But a decent overclock is not a problem at all and can definitely help you. Good luck!

I own a i7 3770k + ASRock Z77 Extreme6 wich runs at 4x3,5 ghz normally. In Bios I can overclock with few mouseclicks to maximum 4x4,6 ghz !! but unfortunately not stable anymore. Normally I overclock to stable 4x4,2 ghz when I play the guitar realtime with Native Instruments Guitar Rig and C7. My ASIO interface (Focusrite Saffire 24) has a minimum latency buffer of 32 samples, and I can play and record without dropouts easily also with more instances of guitar rig. thats an in+out latency of total 1,636ms. With normal 4x3,5ghz and minimum latency of 32samples I have dropouts from time to time.
So carefuly overclocking for me, definitely is a good option

best, Bert

Make sure you do adequate cpu cooling in your pc when overclocking !

I overclocked my last PC (i7 920, overclocked from 2.6GHz to 3.9GHz) and without a doubt, performance was improved. Can’t give you exact stats but I was able to run a significant amount more plugins and with perfect stability. It was quite easy to do as well, considering it was my first over clocking experience.

sorry to be a kill joy but have all the sections of forums just suddenly become one ??? im sure a computer setup part exists some where if you care to look ?

Sorry, G-string, mea culpa if I picked the wrong one … had to choose between C7.5.10 forum (as I wasn’t asking about overclocking in C6.5, or C5, etc.) or Hardware forum, figured it could go either way, and there’d be more C7.5.10 traffic here.

An over clock is an over clock it’s not anything to do with the program . So the same applies for all your programs

OK, another knowledge byte - thanks!

Overclocking is generally a + indeed, as long as your system remains stable. There are some things to consider: Overclocking involves increasing the voltage over components, which means they will produce more heat which means your cooling has to be adequate. Your fans will speed up more to compensate for the extra heat so they will produce more noise than they would without an overclock. If you have good quality fans and a soundproof case (like you do in your new build) this shouldn’t be an issue.

When overclocking, what I always do is go up in very small increments and do extensive testing for stability each time. This is very time consuming but I’d rather stay on the safe side and not go too far. You won’t easily break your hardware in my experience, but I prefer to be careful. I have no experience with your chipset and motherboard so how easy it is to overclock I can’t tell, but there should be plenty of overclocking guides on the internet. Make sure your CPU can overclock though, I’m not sure but you may have selected a CPU with a locked multiplier which means you can’t do much in terms of overclocking. Intel 4xxxK CPU models have unlocked multipliers (it’s the K at the end that tells you this), these are much better suited for overclocking.

What I personally do for stress-testing a new clock is the following. I use a free small utility called Speedfan which can read your hardware temperatures and plot them in a graph in real time. I use that for temperature monitoring, if your temperatures go too high you know your cooling isn’t adequate for your current clock and you should return to a lower clockspeed. (Or get better cooling obviously :slight_smile:). To test the system I use another free utility called Prime95. This is a piece of software that will compute very complex mathematical problems (problems that take your PC a good few minutes to solve) and then checks if the outcome is correct. Pick ‘torture test’ from the menu and select as many ‘workers’ as you have cores on your CPU, so each core will have its own problem to solve. Leave that running for a good while (an hour or so) and check if none of the workers reported any wrong answers. If all is fine (and your temperatures are acceptable during this test) then your clock is stable and you can try increasing it some more. Note that while running prime95 your CPU will be taxed to 100% so your PC may be a bit unresponsive as it’s kinda busy, but that’s the idea :wink:. Also note that this type of testing is an extreme case. When using Cubase you will never run your CPU at 100% load all the time so some people don’t even mind if Prime95 gives the odd error every now and then at a certain clockspeed.

In short: Watch your temperatures under load to avoid damage, and check if the CPU you picked is actually capable of overclocking. The Z87 chipset you have should be fine for ‘casual’ overclocking, more than what your selected cooling can handle I imagine.

I think it would be engineeringly prudent to design your computer to be powerful enough to run most projects without overclocking, so that you have some cooling system reserve to modestly overclock for those few projects that push your rig.

i would advice it is best to avoid using it for a computer.
Overclocking is as stated before a rescue measure and not advisable on the long term.
Only when you know exactly what you are doing and have the correct components that can handle it, and only under that sort of conditions, overclocking can indeed give temporarily some extra power. In fact, intel’s turbo boost is in a way an overclocking feature that is build in to any of those newer i-processors.
But you will allways have people who need to have the fastest on the planet, just like it is with cars. And indeed they can drive with a speed that they probably never will be able to run with.
If you want a stable situation for a daw, in my opinion it is better to divide the extra needed resources over multiple systems, rather then to push a single system (over/to) it 's limits.
Overclocking can also (but not must) have unpredicted consequences on the overall performance if not implemented wisely.

kind regards,
R.
In most other scenario’s, and if you do not need the extra headroom, try to avoid it. You’re system will be gracefull to you by working longer.

I’ve overclocked my I7 970 to 3.84 gig for 3 years, no problems whatsoever and a 30% cpu increase.

qualifier:
selling/supporting/warranting overclocked systems for 17 yrs

  1. when done right there is absolutely NO negative to it period end of story.

  2. not done right can be a major issue.

  3. when done right you get a huge performance gain from standard speed.

EG: 4930K stock is 3.4GHz turbo to 3.9GHz
the flagship processor $4960X is 3.6GHz turbo to 4GHz and its nearly double the price for so little more.
this pretty much shoots the “build what you need” in the foot unless you want to drop $2k for a 10-12core Xeon Single.

the 4930K will run perfectly @ 4.5GHz. we have hit over 5GHz but will NOT ship something like that…

the processor will not die an early death
the processor can not be “fried”