# Should I bother OCing?



## pfk505 (Apr 24, 2010)

I've been looking to get a little more life out of my aging system, and have been thinking about OCing. I'm fairly comfortable with the BIOS procedures having read the guides and watched a few videos. What I'm hoping you can help me with is to advise me whether or not I should even bother given what I currently have:

- Coolermaster CM690 case
- Thermaltake 600w psu (emergency replacement for a dead 650w from the original build.. also powering a Radeon HD 6950 I got for cheap)
- Gigabyte EP43UD3L 775 mobo (latest bios)
- E8400 @ 3ghz, stock cooler
- 4x2gb Corsair DDR2-800 (5x5x5x18)
- 1x120mm front intake, 1x120mm rear exhaust, 2x120mm side intake fans

I have a Q9550 cpu and a coolermaster hyper evo sitting here that probably won't fit in my case (haven't tried).. 

I guess what I'm wondering is whether it would be safe to try OCing without changing anything. Under load my cpu runs about 50-55. Im very new at this but the lack of a better PSU and no aftermarket cooler is giving me pause, so I thought I would seek the advice of this board which has helped me in the past.

TiA!


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I wouldn't advise OC'ing with that PSU or with all the RAM slots filled.


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## pfk505 (Apr 24, 2010)

Hi, thanks for replying..

Just out of curiosity, why does having all the RAM slots filled make a difference? I'm seeking only a mild overclock (maybe 3.4ghz), perhaps even keeping the stock vcore voltage. The PSU isn't great but its brand new and decently reviewed. PSU calculator says I need about 490w at peak. If I were to replace the 6950 GPU with my old 5750 would that make a difference or should I abandon the idea altogether?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

did you add 30% to what the psu calculator said because if you didn't you should.

The cpu you have (if its the g0 stepping model) is great at overclocking I have one at 4GHz and have been running that way for 4/5years but as said above your psu is crap and wont handle the overlcock and you should not overclock with the stock cooler as they are not designed for it.

There is no point in overclocking to 3.4GHz you will not see an increase in performance. You either overclock as much as you can or you don't do it all.

Having all four ram slots filled can cause voltage issues especially when overclocking it is always best to run 2 sticks in dual channel for example 2x2GB.

Lastly you will need better temps than what you have if you want to overclock. Overclocking creates more heat and you do not want to go above 60 degrees c at full load which it looks like you will if you do overclock and that cooler should fit in that case.

remember you will need new thermal paste after removing the old paste if you install that cooler.


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## pfk505 (Apr 24, 2010)

Thank you greenbrucelee

I have read many other posts on this board since I made my original thread and your reply appears consistent with the prevailing opinions here. Following the advice provided I think I will just start on a new build instead of replacing the PSU and running with less RAM. If this cooler does indeed fit in my case, I may just keep the case and upgrade mobo/cpu/ram/psu only and see how far that takes me. Kind of wishing I had taken advantage of those holiday sales a few months back!

Thank you again kindly for the advice.

ETA: in your opinions, would swapping out the E8400 for the Q9550 provide me any significant performance boost, or is that a waste of time as well?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

good luck in whatever you do.

remember you can OC your cpu but it will require the psu to be upgraded and the new cooler installed.

If you decide to OC just post back on here and I will tell you how to go about it.

Overclocking is beneficial in older hardware aslong as its good older hardware but with the new CPUs out there these days overclocking is just for bragging rights as the CPUs are fast enough to cope with just about anything.


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