Should i overclock?
Should i overclock?
You need patience to achieve a stable and high-performance overclock. You must spend hours checking stability, avoiding gaming during testing. This might mean testing at night while resting. Even if it passes, further trials are necessary until you reach the limit. Alternatively, a gentle overclock could suffice for most systems, allowing you to stop once results are satisfactory. If issues persist, you've missed a crucial opportunity. Unfortunately, this outcome is disappointing. However, 3.8GHz on the CPU and 1.9GHz on the GPU could be viable options. Searching for MSI Afterburner should help you understand how to adjust your GPU settings. Try increasing the GPU core by +100 and run some games to verify. If no anomalies appear, you're likely within acceptable limits.
Thanks everyone for all the details and advice. I'm just deciding to keep everything stocked for now. If I run into a game that can't be played because of slow CPU or GPU, I'll look it up and move forward. For now, I feel it's completely okay for my current needs.
Laceyn explains that he doesn't feel offended by her words and appreciates his current setup, which works well for his requirements. He acknowledges the need to boost the overclock to 4ghz compared to the i5-7500 but notes he managed to get a stable 3.8ghz overclock a while ago. He mentions wanting to confirm if this effort is worthwhile since he mainly plays games, and his Cinebench and UserBenchmark scores have improved noticeably. However, he remains cautious about pushing his PSU due to its current limitations, despite it functioning properly. He also shares that he previously achieved a 3.2ghz overclock and is still concerned about stability.
He suggests considering a more affordable i5-7500 or even an i3 if budget allows, especially since the previous motherboard might not support the latest Ryzen models. For the price of a Ryzen 5 and motherboard, he believes you could get an i7. But he emphasizes that this isn't his main focus right now.
Regarding performance gains, he notes that FPS improvements after overclocking depend on the game and that some applications may see little to no change. Memory overclocking can boost FPS by 10-20%, but low CPU usage alone doesn't guarantee better results. He points out that even with only one threaded app running, it can use up to 8% of the CPU if fully utilized.
He clarifies that modern games typically handle 4 threads well, and some may benefit from 8. However, for gaming purposes, having 8 threads over 12 is more beneficial than having 12 underperforming ones. He concludes that this Ryzen generation isn't ideal for gamers and recommends prioritizing RAM overclocking and CPU overclocking only if necessary.
He also advises upgrading the PSU if possible, as he's sensitive to power quality and has experienced system issues when using low-quality units.
Sure, I understand your point. Right now your CPU is already overclocked to 3.8ghz and it's working fine. Your RAM is at 2400 and you're using it as intended since boosting further isn't likely. You might want a better PSU and a more efficient cooler. With those upgrades, reaching 4ghz or higher seems achievable.
that's great.
BTW, i was a bit mistaken about your specific MB. It's actually decent for overclocking - my apologies
If you want to understand why -
https://youtu.be/ZGrxhf_xZWI
it's almost 30 minutes crash course about power delivery on B350. you MB is mentioned somewhere at around 20:00 minutes mark. bottom line, it can handle 6 core even at 1.42v just fine.
coolers question is complicated. Cryorig H5, Noctua NH-D14/15, Be Quet and any other CPU cooler at 50-70USD should be good to keep it both cool and quiet.
PSU, really hard to say what will be the most rational buy. link your favorite online store and a budget in mind, i'll have a look what worth the money there.
And now to the complicated part - RAM overclocking. As a practical example, my RAM is rated for 1866Mhz and happily runs at 2800MHz.
here are few tips how to do that in a simple way:
1. go to corsair's site and write down the timings (those 4 numbers like 14-15-15-35) of all LPX modules rated at 2666, 2800, 3000 and 3200 MHZ.
2. in BIOS, just set those values you wrote in previous step with corresponding frequency. do not jump to highest, start with lowest and advance by one step. ryzen likes "ram training". when your system becomes unstable with curtain settings:
2.1. increase the RAM voltage - you can set it to 1.5v straight ahead without worries.
2.2 if the voltage didn't help, try to add 1 to all timings (don't bother with more than 2). if it helps proceed to next MHz. once you've reached the max value, you can try to tighten the timings by subtracting 1 from them. do it in small steps - every time manipulate a single timing.
your goal is to reach 3000-3200MHz, but anything above 2400 will be an improvement.
to validate stability, just boot into windows, launch a game and play. stress tests like prime95 - Blend torture test puts enough load on RAM and CPU to validate their basic stability. As long as it can run for 30-60 minutes without errors and there are no BSODs the overclock is stable.
and of course start with verifying that your MB has the latest BIOS.
The good news are, that the results you achieve today are not final. this is a new platform and BIOSes are very actively developed to support more RAM compatibility, improve stability and performance etc. so for the next 6-8 months, it's worth to check out for new BIOS updates every month or so.
Once there is a new BIOS, you can try to get to 3200MHz RAM speed if you are not there yet. Just remember, BIOS updates usually resets the settings to defaults, so you might want to keep a record of what changes you maid for the last successful overclock.
n0ns3ns3 :
that's great.
BTW, i was a bit mistaken about your specific MB. It's actually decent for overclocking - my apologies
If you want to understand why -
https://youtu.be/ZGrxhf_xZWI
it's almost 30 minutes crash course about power delivery on B350. you MB is mentioned somewhere at around 20:00 minutes mark. bottom line, it can handle 6 core even at 1.42v just fine.
coolers question is complicated. Cryorig H5, Noctua NH-D14/15, Be Quet and any other CPU cooler at 50-70USD should be good to keep it both cool and quiet.
PSU, really hard to say what will be the most rational buy. link your favorite online store and a budget in mind, i'll have a look what worth the money there.
And now to the complicated part - RAM overclocking. As a practical example, my RAM is rated for 1866Mhz and happily runs at 2800MHz.
here are few tips how to do that in a simple way:
1. go to corsair's site and write down the timings (those 4 numbers like 14-15-15-35) of all LPX modules rated at 2666, 2800, 3000 and 3200 MHZ.
2. in BIOS, just set those values you wrote in previous step with corresponding frequency. do not jump to highest, start with lowest and advance by one step. ryzen likes "ram training". when your system becomes unstable with curtain settings:
2.1. increase the RAM voltage - you can set it to 1.5v straight ahead without worries.
2.2 if the voltage didn't help, try to add 1 to all timings (don't bother with more than 2). if it helps proceed to next MHz. once you've reached the max value, you can try to tighten the timings by subtracting 1 from them. do it in small steps - every time manipulate a single timing.
your goal is to reach 3000-3200MHz, but anything above 2400 will be an improvement.
to validate stability, just boot into windows, launch a game and play. stress tests like prime95 - Blend torture test puts enough load on RAM and CPU to validate their basic stability. As long as it can run for 30-60 minutes without errors and there are no BSODs the overclock is stable.
and of course start with verifying that your MB has the latest BIOS.
The good news are, that the results you achieve today are not final. this is a new platform and BIOSes are very actively developed to support more RAM compatibility, improve stability and performance etc. so for the next 6-8 months, it's worth to check out for new BIOS updates every month or so.
Once there is a new BIOS, you can try to get to 3200MHz RAM speed if you are not there yet. Just remember, BIOS updates usually resets the settings to defaults, so you might want to keep a record of what changes you maid for the last successful overclock.
Awesome! Thank you for the help. I usually use Amazon and i dont want to spend more then $60 on a PSU. I did just recently buy my Rosewill Glacier 500 so dont want to replace it unless its required due to mine being unsafe. If that is the case then i will happily buy a new one. As for the ram i have the lpx 2400 so ill look it up and see if i can overclock it.