How safe is overclocking a CPU ?

matshelane

matshelane

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I have a Gigabyte P55A-UD4P mobo and an Intel i5 -750 2.66GHz processor and running Windows7 64-bit.

I see the mobo comes with a facility to overclock the processor. Is this safe to do with this setup ? Are the benefits tangible in respect of performance ? My major apps are Adobe CS5 64-bit.
Can I damage anything ? Anyone done this before with this combo ?

Thx
 
Well i personally haven't done any overclocking, because I heard that if it's not done properly, it will do long term damage to your CPU (or whatever you're trying to overclock) due to overheating..

I guess software that they give you with the mobo.. it's the same, because after all you're still overclocking..

but anyway.. I may be wrong...
 
Ooh you can Overclock very good with that :)
  1. Do you have an after market cooler? or are you using the stock cooler?
    • Stock: about 3.6GHz is the max you'll get, assuming good airflow in case.
    • Aftermarket: well depends how good it is.. but 4GHz + is attainable :)
  2. Well it depends how perceptive you are. There will be an improvement, just depends if you notice it or not.
  3. Excessive Temperature and Voltage can and usually does cause damage!
  4. Personally I don't like Auto OC Features. Better and to get in and do it yourself. You'll definitely learn alot, and understand more.

For your set up (assuming stock cooler) you only need to change your BLCK
You can safely change it from 133 (default) to about 166 with no need to change anything else. That will give you about 3.3-3.4GHz and acceptable temperatures in mostly any case.

Have a good read here http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/

Instead of prime95 which takes forever, use intelBurnTest (Very fast and easy to use) for stability testing if you want to start pushing your CPU higher..
I would run it after any OC or change to settings, just to ensure stability.
I would also recommend that you download realtemp to monitor you temps during the stability testing. Doubt you'll go over 60 with 3.3 and stock cooler.
And of course CPU-Z to check your current settings and that your changes have been applied.
 
Last edited:
You should only overclock if you are fine with replacing the component in the event of damage.
 
Sheeez, whats with all the doom and gloom poeple? CPUs these days are difficult to break through overclocking. Onlt thing that can cause long term damage is raising the voltage to beyond the max for your chip. IIRC its 1.55V as listed by Intel. Absolute worst case you OC too high and your system wont post and you reset the bios manually. More likely, you do a bad OC and you find that programs randomly crash. Just be sure to use intelburntest/prime95 as mentioned above to test for stability and you'll be fine
 
a little OC wont harm the CPU.

Just be carefull not to OC too much as it can reduce the long term life span of the component.

Look at the peanut's post re cooling. Cooling is important when you OC.
 
Overclocking does stress some components and weak components are bound to fail sometime, with that said my previous CPU was a E6600 and was overclocked 24/7 at 3Ghz and been running 2.5 - 3 years.
2 most important things to remember when overclocking is to get it stable voltage wise and temperature wise, and like nakedpeanut said better to get a proper aftermarket heatsink.
And yes overclocking does make a huge difference, especially on the already fast intel i5/i7 series :D
 
matshelane said:
I have a Gigabyte P55A-UD4P mobo and an Intel i5 -750 2.66GHz processor and running Windows7 64-bit.

I see the mobo comes with a facility to overclock the processor. Is this safe to do with this setup ? Are the benefits tangible in respect of performance ? My major apps are Adobe CS5 64-bit.
Can I damage anything ? Anyone done this before with this combo ?

Thx
Click to expand...

I have the same cpu. At idle I have my cpu at 1.5ghz, and full load at 3.8ghz
 
Just to say, OC is dangeruous if you don't know what you're doing..

(But I guess that applies to everything you do.. )
 
Well I am a bit of a OC noob, I managed to OC my i5 750 to 3.2Ghz. This was done using the Asus software that came with my board. I couldn't get it over 3.2, pc would just reboot.

This is despite having a good case and after-market cooler. I think I might enlist Nakedpeanut for some lessons on OC considering he has the exact same rig as me :p
 
You need to up the voltage a bit to get over 3.2ghz. Do it in small steps, and keep checking temps.
 
Terumo said:
Overclocking does stress some components and weak components are bound to fail sometime, with that said my previous CPU was a E6600 and was overclocked 24/7 at 3Ghz and been running 2.5 - 3 years.
2 most important things to remember when overclocking is to get it stable voltage wise and temperature wise, and like nakedpeanut said better to get a proper aftermarket heatsink.
And yes overclocking does make a huge difference, especially on the already fast intel i5/i7 series :D
Click to expand...

he helped me :) and i'm stable at 3.8ghz
 
i don't think anyone can kill a cpu through overclocking unless they really wanted to do that intentionally... (or unless it's amd (lol))

sure it my only last 7 years as opposed to 14, but what the heck, by that time you would have upgraded anyway.

there are plenty of guides...

;)
 
best thing to up first is the fsb, multiplier then voltage if it wont boot. did it with my e8500 which has been stable at 4.2ghz for 9 months now. aftermarket cooler a def must.
 
main rule is just to watch your temp, I took my 2.8 celeron D up to 3.6 for quite a wike, but temps where getting to high (hot season) so I took it down to 3.2, no problem, I use my mombo, set it to 15% overclock
 
mister said:
I have the same cpu. At idle I have my cpu at 1.5ghz, and full load at 3.8ghz
Click to expand...

Same here, and at idle the temps are sitting at about 32 degrees and at load (stress test) it does not go over 59 degrees.
 
there is no porblem with over clocking, just dont tamper with the voltage too much. You can safely OC a stock cooled chip by just manipulating the frequency in bios without much temperate increase.

Look into the various options, especially for your chip, and maybe get some proper cooling if you want to OC heavily. Im running a 2.6 Quad at 3.1 on stock cooling, about 1 degree temp increase under load or not. Makes a hella difference for gaming.
 
nakedpeanut said:
Ooh you can Overclock very good with that :)
  1. Do you have an after market cooler? or are you using the stock cooler?
    • Stock: about 3.6GHz is the max you'll get, assuming good airflow in case.
    • Aftermarket: well depends how good it is.. but 4GHz + is attainable :)
  2. Well it depends how perceptive you are. There will be an improvement, just depends if you notice it or not.
  3. Excessive Temperature and Voltage can and usually does cause damage!
  4. Personally I don't like Auto OC Features. Better and to get in and do it yourself. You'll definitely learn alot, and understand more.

For your set up (assuming stock cooler) you only need to change your BLCK
You can safely change it from 133 (default) to about 166 with no need to change anything else. That will give you about 3.3-3.4GHz and acceptable temperatures in mostly any case.

Have a good read here http://www.overclockers.com/3-step-guide-overclock-core-i3-i5-i7/

Instead of prime95 which takes forever, use intelBurnTest (Very fast and easy to use) for stability testing if you want to start pushing your CPU higher..
I would run it after any OC or change to settings, just to ensure stability.
I would also recommend that you download realtemp to monitor you temps during the stability testing. Doubt you'll go over 60 with 3.3 and stock cooler.
And of course CPU-Z to check your current settings and that your changes have been applied.
Click to expand...

Thank you. You guys are really helpful.
I ran the IntelBurnTest and the thermal stability was still OK at 85 degrees ... I have a standard heatsink/fan that comes with the processor.
I then set the BCLK to 150MHz and am currently getting 3.150GHz with temp at 46 degrees ( via RealTemp).
I can see a marked performance in Photoshop CS5 64-bit already
 
I have overclocked my E7400 (stock is 2.6 Ghz) to 3.5Ghz without adding any extra voltage. Aftermarket cooler, good case with more than enough cooling.. Cooling is your most important factor! Been running like that for a year now. Stable as our politicians..
 
Kuga said:
I have overclocked my E7400 (stock is 2.6 Ghz) to 3.5Ghz without adding any extra voltage. Aftermarket cooler, good case with more than enough cooling.. Cooling is your most important factor! Been running like that for a year now. Stable as our politicians..
Click to expand...

So not stable at all then? Really should choose a better metaphor
 
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