Is Overclocking CPU Truly Worth It for Games?

Hardware Overclocking
1

Hey guys, I bought a gaming pc recently and here are the specs: 

AMD 8350 4.5ghz

asus m5a99fx

noctua nh-d14

gigabyte 7970 oc edition

samsung 830 128gb ssd

WD caviar blue 1tb hdd

nzxt phantom 810 case

antec 850w gold certified psu

 

The thing is, I've overclocked my 8350 to 4.5 ghz stable with temps reaching 57 degrees in prime 95 (only ran for 40 mins). I've realized that while gaming, I'm no where close to maxing out my cpu load. I was wondering whether or not overclocking my CPU is worth the added stress on my cpu if im only using it for gaming. Games I play are Bioshock infinite, BF3, Crysis 3, CS:GO, Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, etc. 

2

the heat load is safe what are the voltages you needed to get to 4.5 ?

3

1.425v

4

Keep the overclock, you will probably need it. Especially with a HD 7970.

Crysis 3 needs a fast CPU, especially when there is a lot of AI activity going on.

My poor little i5 2400 was struggling in Crysis 3. As long as your temperatures stay within the safe range (under about 65c I believe) when running Prime 95 then in real world situations it's never going to get as hot.

People do say that overclocking decreases the life span of the CPU, but honestly by the time your CPU would die you will have long gone and sold it because it became so outdated.

5

If it's a moderate OC without a large voltage bump, then yes. With the FX, I'd wager 4.5GHz is pretty moderate, especially if you're still able to have the power saving features enabled while still being stable. The temps are good.

Well, CPU load indicators aren't the best indicator in my experience, especially if it has Turbo enabled. When playing Fallout 3 on my C-60 netbook, neither CPU core was fully loaded (~60%), and the GPU wasn't fully loaded either, but I still never got 60 FPS, and switching from medium @ 1366x768 to lowest settings and lowering resolution to 800x600 didn't help performance, which is an obvious CPU bottleneck.

Also, that OC will help in games that don't scale well beyond 4 cores, and the titles that do scale well aren't particularly common yet.

6

your voltages are safe too Rock On

7

Thanks for the feedback guys! I'm going into college and I need that pc to last anywhere between 6-8 years so I might look into lowering the temps to around <55 degrees peak in prime 95. Any recommendations?

8

don't struggle to much over 2c the noctua is a great cooler

and it's in package thermal paste is very good too

 a trick i use is to apply the paste then pick up the heatsink 

and wipe the heatsink clean . then mount it with whats

left on the cpu. trying for the the thinnest possible amount

which worked well with my zalmon 9700  but the Noctua

 NT-H1 thermal paste is thicker than the  zalman liquid .

all this is contingent on the thinnest posible application theory

if you think it has merrit  and have enough NT-H1 left try a reaplication

and see . but i would be happy with the 57c seems pretty good for

40 min  of Prime 95

 

9

High static pressure fans on your heatsink or radiator, and high quality TIM. I'd recommend CoolLaboratory Liquid Ultra if you want the best thermal interface out there (take this with a grain of salt - I mean thermal interface for heatsinks, not in all of Physics).

 

10

with overclocking you're maximizing the value of your build, the cpu you choose + the cooling option. so i dont think it's necessary for gaming but it also doesnt hurt (other than cpu longevity)