Anyone here overclock? I have a new I7 3770K and want to encode video

[tankman1989]

I am thinking about over-clocking for the first time and was wondering if anyone here has experience with it. I'm running a quad core I7 3770K which is 3.5Ghz. I found that this CPU can overclock to above 5Ghz with some really expensive liquid cooling and some cooling for the RAM as well. I don't need to go that far.

What I want to do is get maybe 20-25% more out of the chip if possible using a large radiator with a fan. I've seen some Zalman units that are about $80-90 and wonder if that would be adequate.

Also, am I correct in my thinking that if I am going to be doing heavy video encoding (DV to H.264) and that this boost should make my encoding a little shorter time wise. Will it hurt quality at all?

Any suggestions here are appreciated. I looked at some over-clockers forums but they seem to be dedicated to gamers and such and full of kids that don't thikn much about frying their CPU and getting a new one. I don't have that luxury. I need to know a professionals point of view on this and what they would do.

On another note, the case has GREAT air flow with 8 140mm fans that keep air moving at almost server speed (server air-flow speed). This is why I think a radiator setup (with it's own fan) will be adequate for the cooling.

 

[jbartlett323]

Please list your complete specs.
Yes it will help your time, slightly. Will not help or hurt the quality. Every rig is different, but you should be able to hit 4.2+ easy, probably with stock cooling (although temps will be high). 4.2 for 24/7 on decent air cooling should be beautiful, 4.5 maybe even possible. Cheap Water Cooling system (Corsair H-2O series, Antec Kuhler, Swiftec systems) can sustain these temps much more better! 5.0+ is more for suicide runs, or those kiddies who aren't worried about toasting the CPU.
Rule #1 of overclocking though: DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! I like www.xtremesystems.org, professional overclockers, tons of awesome info, Yeah, most don't mind blowing a CPU or VRM module, but thats the guys you gotta learn from, because they know what not to do!

Now all that being said, the increase you will get will not be much for video encoding. Not sure it is even really worth from a power usage aspect. What graphics card you got? I ask because thats where you want your video encoding work done...

 

[compnet]

Pay 25 for the overclock warranty. Go wild.

http://click.intel.com/tuningplan/

 

[Nerm]

Please list your complete specs.
Yes it will help your time, slightly. Will not help or hurt the quality. Every rig is different, but you should be able to hit 4.2+ easy, probably with stock cooling (although temps will be high). 4.2 for 24/7 on decent air cooling should be beautiful, 4.5 maybe even possible. Cheap Water Cooling system (Corsair H-2O series, Antec Kuhler, Swiftec systems) can sustain these temps much more better! 5.0+ is more for suicide runs, or those kiddies who aren't worried about toasting the CPU.
Rule #1 of overclocking though: DO YOUR RESEARCH!!! I like www.xtremesystems.org, professional overclockers, tons of awesome info, Yeah, most don't mind blowing a CPU or VRM module, but thats the guys you gotta learn from, because they know what not to do!

Now all that being said, the increase you will get will not be much for video encoding. Not sure it is even really worth from a power usage aspect. What graphics card you got? I ask because thats where you want your video encoding work done...

www.xtremesystems.org is a good resource. Another good place is www.overclockersclub.com.

I wouldn't worry too much about frying that 3770k. If your cooling isn't up to par the system will power off long before you can damage the CPU.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I am thinking about over-clocking for the first time and was wondering if anyone here has experience with it. I'm running a quad core I7 3770K which is 3.5Ghz. I found that this CPU can overclock to above 5Ghz with some really expensive liquid cooling and some cooling for the RAM as well. I don't need to go that far.

What I want to do is get maybe 20-25% more out of the chip if possible using a large radiator with a fan. I've seen some Zalman units that are about $80-90 and wonder if that would be adequate.

Also, am I correct in my thinking that if I am going to be doing heavy video encoding (DV to H.264) and that this boost should make my encoding a little shorter time wise. Will it hurt quality at all?

Any suggestions here are appreciated. I looked at some over-clockers forums but they seem to be dedicated to gamers and such and full of kids that don't thikn much about frying their CPU and getting a new one. I don't have that luxury. I need to know a professionals point of view on this and what they would do.

On another note, the case has GREAT air flow with 8 140mm fans that keep air moving at almost server speed (server air-flow speed). This is why I think a radiator setup (with it's own fan) will be adequate for the cooling.

Dunno what motherboard you have always a good idea to list that. Yes most people overclocking do it for gaming or just do it just to see how far they can go. I wouldnt buy additional cooling or anything just give it a try just for the experience...not really sure how much of a benefit you would get for encoding.

Getting a decent OC takes time. Personally for me I don't consider an OC stable unless it can pass 16 hours of prime95. I know its a bit old school but in my experience its the most reliable.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I learned how to, and started overclocking...back in the original Pentium days. I'm talking about on a Pentium 75...yes...Pentium 75. I used to run it at 100MHz. Instead of 2.5x on 50 I changed the jumpers for the FSB to 66.

Been overclocking since then....although in recent years (about since Pentium D's came out)...I don't push much like I used to. I don't game anymore.

Back in the old days of doing it (via jumper cables and learning your math..multipliers on top of the front side bus)...it was fun. I never went nuts with water cooling setups....but I'd go get bigger heat sink fans.

I think the heyday of it was when the Celeron processors first came out...gaming computers were getting big (the Quake 2 days)...and the ultimate combo back when was the Celeron 300A on the Abit BH-6 motherboard. I had mine running at 454...and sometimes would push her over 500 MHz. That's not far from double the stock speed!!!

Back then....computers were more expensive....you'd have a reason to spend money on huge heat sink fans or even water cooling setups...because they'd pay for themselves by not having to get a new CPU and mobo. It was cost effective.

But these days...water coolers or higher end parts to let you OC into orbit...it ain't cost effective since a new CPU and mobo are so dang cheap these days.

For your purpose though....video work, IMO...having more RAM, and good fast HDDs (fast rpm...and multiple spindles with pagefiles across all of them) with huge amounts of cache would be much better.

 

[angry_geek]

I've done some machines for premiere. CPU is not near as important as some other factors. Lots of ram. Max out your board if you can. GPU should preferably be nvidia or ati professional cards. Not the cards designed for autocad. If you don't want to spend that kind of loot, get at least a 650 ti. 3 separate spindles. 1 for your OS and program files, 1 as your source drive, 1 as your render drive.