Obviously if your doing video encoding or things that require having a fast CPU, overclocking would help in those areas but I need someone to clarify this to me.
I'm building a new gaming rig soon and am going to a have a very beefy cooler on it (NZXT Havik 140), which would be better for gaming? The i5-4670k or the i7-4770k WHILE USING A GTX 780 FOR GRAPHICS!!!
Also, does overclocking the CPU cause frameramtes to go up in certain games? Or is the overclocking hype just about how high you can get your CPU's Voltage and Frequency without your system crashing?
SOMEONE PLEASE ENLIGHTEN THIS NOOB!!!
That's like asking why use a faster CPU, compared to a slower one. It's faster... Which does mean a few more FPS.
So if I overclock my CPU to let's say 4.4GHz, will I expect to see framerates jump in games? Do games rely off CPU power as well as GPU power?
Also is the $100 price difference between the i5-4670k and the i7-4770k worth getting the i7 over the i5? I mean, the only difference I can see is a slightly bigger L3 Cache (8mb from 6mb) and 0.1GHz higher clock rate.
No, the i7 holds no real advantage over the i5 in gaming. Nothing worth an additional 100$.
The CPU is often the bottleneck in the CPU/GPU gaming relationship. It may not be necessary, but overclocking the CPU can improve your minimum and maximum values. Allowing the GPU to flex its muscles.
If the CPU and GPU are balanced, it is still advisable to overclock because some games are CPU bound, like Skyrim.
If you have sufficient cooling, overclocking is free performance. No reason not to do it.
Thank you, that is what I was looking for.