Yet another OC question and purchase suggestion

[Airin]

Well after getting many responses to my other thread and looking over information I found that I am quite content with my i3-530 for now.
I will upgrade when Ivy bridge comes out depending on the performance upgrade and bulldozer, but right now I don't really play any mmo's and most games I do play will be fine with a duel core if I upgrade my card.

So looking into some information I found that people have been able to overclock their i3-530's to 4 ghz + on after market air coolers. But unfortunately I purchased the Intel board which doesn't allow voltage and multiplier changes. So the max I can get my i3 (according to toms hardware) is around 3.5 ghz.

Looking on newegg, the best board to fit my case is the gigabye GA-H55N-USB3 $104. This was a board to get 4GHZ+ stable.

My question is will the extra 500 mhz be worth the $100, or should I just settle with a 3.5 OC and save the $100 for the new GPU I will be buying mid summer.

I am new to overclocking so general tips would be useful as well

[Majesticii]

Well after getting many responses to my other thread and looking over information I found that I am quite content with my i3-530 for now.
I will upgrade when Ivy bridge comes out depending on the performance upgrade and bulldozer, but right now I don't really play any mmo's and most games I do play will be fine with a duel core if I upgrade my card.

So why bother spending $100 to overclock the CPU, when you have no obvious reason to OC your CPU any further then you already are.

[Airin]

So why bother spending $100 to overclock the CPU, when you have no obvious reason to OC your CPU any further then you already are.

I was mostly asking how much of a performance increase I will see if I overclock the CPU and if going to 4+ will be that much of a difference from 3.5. What I meant in that sentence is that the games I currently play are fine without a quad core, but a high clock might improve gameplay.

[Majesticii]

I was mostly asking how much of a performance increase I will see if I overclock the CPU and if going to 4+ will be that much of a difference from 3.5. What I meant in that sentence is that the games I currently play are fine without a quad core, but a high clock might improve gameplay.

That's still a silly reason, and it depends on what other hardware is in your system. If the game is CPU or GPU reliant...or if the CPU is the bottleneck. If you want to OC for the fun of it, then go as far as to find things out for yourself, instead of asking for babystepping you all the way. There are literally thousands of OC guides..

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Overclocking+guides

[User has received an infraction for this post. LMGTFY links are not permitted. - Cilraaz]

[Airin]

I'm not asking for "babystepping" along the way, while I wait for my aftermarket heatsink to arrive I figured I would ask to see if anyone has done this with a similar processor and what kind of performance increases they saw.

Also overclocking my processor to get the most out of what's left of its life doesn't seem like a silly reason to me.

I could give u a hug if it makes you happier?

[Majesticii]

I'm not asking for "babystepping" along the way, while I wait for my aftermarket heatsink to arrive I figured I would ask to see if anyone has done this with a similar processor and what kind of performance increases they saw.

Also overclocking my processor to get the most out of what's left of its life doesn't seem like a silly reason to me.

I could give u a hug if it makes you happier?

But on what data do you judge wether your CPU is being a bottleneck. I just don't get it. I mean, what graphics card are you currently using?

[Airin]

I figured the Gpu wouldn't be a problem since i will be getting a GTX 560 or the 6950 2gb soon.

I also do some video editing and other cpu intensive tasks where the gpu doesn't really matter.

[OhpUldum]

If you purchase the GTX560 or HD6950 your bottleneck will be the CPU. But since the question is "Should I spend $100 for a 500Mhz OC?" it depends on your finances. If you have $100 extra to throw around without regretting it then for sure $100 for a 500Mhz OC is worth it. If you have to budget for that extra $100 then no don't bother, the money is better spent paying the hydro bill.

[Airin]

If you purchase the GTX560 or HD6950 your bottleneck will be the CPU. But since the question is "Should I spend $100 for a 500Mhz OC?" it depends on your finances. If you have $100 extra to throw around without regretting it then for sure $100 for a 500Mhz OC is worth it. If you have to budget for that extra $100 then no don't bother, the money is better spent paying the hydro bill.

Yea thats what I'm debating, there has been people who have gotten it to 4.1 on air under minimal voltage increases. My issue is with the Intel board they don't let you edit the voltage, so I can only take the bus speed till it wont let me which is usually 3.5 is seems.

[Ai]

I would stick with your current board right now and put the $100 aside for your next build. There is no guarantee that your specific chip will be able to hit the 4ghz or higher mark also. If you said you were going to hold off on building a new computer till Ivy Bridge E launched I would say go for it since that is roughly two years away as Ivy Bridge is only about one year away.

[Airin]

I would stick with your current board right now and put the $100 aside for your next build. There is no guarantee that your specific chip will be able to hit the 4ghz or higher mark also. If you said you were going to hold off on building a new computer till Ivy Bridge E launched I would say go for it since that is roughly two years away as Ivy Bridge is only about one year away.

Its really just a waiting game at this point to see what they release in Mini ITX form, Ive been holding off on sandy bridge because they haven't put out a p67 mini itx and idk if they ever will.

[Ai]

With the recent release of the Z68 chipsets out it might not be too long for a mini ITX board hopefully.