Overclocking CPU/GPU

[Flaks]

These forums have been super helpful in fixing my computer issues/making it run better before so here we go:

I'm thinking about overclocking for a couple of games. The basic gist: SHOULD I overclock my computer and if so, any guides/helpful hints to ensure I don't melt my computer. Gist of PC specs in sig but ask if I need to add anything.

If I overclock my CPU/GPU (CPU is DATED) which both run at about 30c idle and go up to 50-60c for the CPU and 60-70c for the GPU under 100% usage (for the GPU when playing Skyrim and Witcher 2), could I OC both/either to get better results on Witcher 2?

As it is, Witcher 2 plays HORRIBLY on my computer. While I'm playing Skyrim 1920x1200 on ultra with FXAA and texture packs at 50-60 fps I can hardly run Witcher 2 at medium/high with SSAO, AA, AF, motion blur and a bunch of other things turned off at 30-40 fps. I just want the game looking as beautiful as possible before I give in and get it on a console instead so I can play it on a big screen.

I'm also having trouble running Skyrim ENB smoothly even with texture packs and FXAA turned off and shadows at medium.

[Mifuyne]

snippidy snip snip

I am not a hero with overclocking (the contrary) but your temps give you a lot of room to do so.
60c at load for a CPU is very nice, same with the 70c for the GPU.

What you can try is to google your CPU and motherboard (i7 860 [insert motherboard] overclocking guide) and hope someone has used the same setup.
If this is not the case, no fear. almost every option is universal so you can always google a guide on just your processor alone.

Regarding the Witch2r - It's quite a heavy game in terms of required GPU power. Theres also a option (Which I currently forgot) that can bring some badass machines to their knees or atleast let them work for their cost. Check/Uncheck some options you are not familiar with and see if that effects your FPS.

The same goes to the enB series for Skyrim (I use them as well, soooo gorgeous /drool).
Most enB creators have different packages depending on how heavy they are - try to download a medium enB package and play around with it's settings.

Settings that are heavy are usually "sampling" such as ubersampling and shadow ones.

[chazus]

What CPU and GPU do you have? You may or may not be able to overclock in the first place depending on that.

[Mifuyne]

What CPU and GPU do you have? You may or may not be able to overclock in the first place depending on that.

i7-860 @2.8GHz | Radeon HD 7770 | 8GB DDR3-1333MHz | Corsair CX 430W

10charactsz

[chazus]

Oh, oops. Didn't even see that >.< I usually ignore peoples sigs >.>

[Aurimas]

What CPU and GPU do you have? You may or may not be able to overclock in the first place depending on that.

True. Many are locked. Specificly if you bought an "off the shelf" type computer. They usually use locked chips.

The other person is also right, you have lots of room with your temps. While I wouldn't want to see 90c, some chips have 90c as a max operating temp.

Finally, people do overclock to get the most out of their hardware. That said, I'd be surprised if you could push much more then 5fps out of a game from overclocking. If you were able to double your mhz (never happen in a million years), you wouldn't double your fps. The other architecture has as much if not more to do with performance as clock speed. I doubt you would be able to increase your settings from medium to high based on an overclock.

[chazus]

The i7-860 could be overclocked, with a good aftermarket cooler (EVO 212 is a common go-to for $30). It would help, though I'm not sure -how much- in Witcher, since I'm not familiar with it.

Your GPU on the other hand is sort of a budget deal, and even overclocking that won't really push it very far. If that's the biggest bottleneck (and for stuff like Skyrim, it often is), you'd be better looking at simply upgrading to a better one. You CAN overclock it, but it won't make any leaps and bounds like an actual upgrade would. OC'ing a video card doesn't produce nearly as much gains as OC'ing a CPU.

[Aurimas]

To answer your question though, crank it up slowly until something gets out of spec (or you crash) then turn it down a couple notches.

Every time you crank it up a bit, "burn it in" with a cpu / gpu benchmarking software for 10 min or so. Make sure everything stays in spec.

Once your as high as you feel safe, "burn in" again for 30 min or so. Make sure you stay in spec and nothing crashes. Some people "burn in" overnight to make sure they are stable, but that seems like overkill for me.

If your temps and voltage are still good, and you didn't crash, you've successfully overclocked, and are probably stable.

[Mifuyne]

While I wouldn't want to see 90c, some chips have 90c as a max operating temp.

Here, have some nightmare fuel (just screenshotted it)

[chazus]

Yeah those temps are... ew. I wouldn't want to go that high. That isn't to say it's 'omfg dangerous', but running at 101 degrees for 4 hours on a proper burn in is not my way of spending Memorial Day >.<

It might be a thermal contact thing, or it could also be an unlucky chip. However at that OC, and that Voltage... your temps should not be -that- high.

[Flaks]

I JUST upgrade my video card so I'm loathe to do it again. It's served me well for the games I play so far but Witcher 2 really has me working for squeezing out the most FPS. I've found the correct settings to make sure the game looks pretty dang good while the frame rates are playable (35-50 fps) but I wouldn't mind...just a little bit more. I have bloom, AA, AF all turned off but I HAVE to stick to native resolution; can't stand going below it for any game.

I don't know what my motherboard is. Looked up my Dell XPS 8000 online and didn't find any specifications on it but I did on the rest of the components. I'll try it out after a bit more research and any other feedback up in here.

Thanks for all the help.