Overclocking

Overclocking is the process in which we increase the speed of a processor. Many processors in today’s market will go significantly faster then they state simply by overclocking them. It is not unheard of to see as much as 100% performance increase, meaning a 2.5GHz processor will run at a massive 5GHz!!! Ok granted, these are processors cooled with liquid nitrogen but it is a good indication of what can be done.

Not everyone is going to want their nice new PC overclocked, but the extra performance at very little cost makes the overclocking option hard to resist. The art of overclocking is second nature at UK Gaming Computers, we make sure we get the best of that extra performance out of a processor without compromise to the PCs stability. Typical overclocks that leave our workshop vary from 5% right upto 60%. Each processor clocks differently, so we cannot guarantee a certain percentage increase, although if we end up with a poor overclock we will normally try another processor until we find an overclock we feel is suitable.

Overclocked processors get hot, so to get the best out of your overclock, upgrade the processor cooler as a minimum. Other factors such as thermal compound, fan upgrades, a bigger case, cable braiding and cable management play an important role too. Motherboards and RAM also play an important role, but since we already use motherboards and RAM that are built with overclocking in mind, you don’t need to worry. The better your supporting upgrades the better overclock achievable.

Overclocking increases build time but we still stay within our build time scales, we like to double check the stability of our overclocked machines so a 4 day build may end up being 5 days. We also honour the processor warranty with overclocked processors.

New for 2011 are the new Intel Socket 1155 Sandy Bridge CPUs. In the past every CPU from Intel and AMD is overclockable, these new chips are slightly different. All Sandy Bridge CPUs will overclock but only a little (5% at most) making an overclock on them almost pointless. However choose a Sandy Bridge CPU with a K at the end of its model number (notibly the i5 2500K and i7 2600K) and the story is completely different, as they are very very overclockable and well worth doing so. Sandy bridge CPUs will also only overclock on P67 chipset motherboards (H67 chipset motherboards are a no go). All AMD CPUs and all other Intel CPUs remain no different and still overclock very well.

A moderate overclock is a simple overclock that does not involve generating too much extra heat. It allows us to carry out an overclock even on the stock specification. Percentage increases are not guaranteed as every processor is different, but a typical moderate overclock will yield anywhere between a 5% and 40% perfomance increase.

An Extreme overclock is a complex method that will generate much more extra heat, but will yield a much higher increase in performance. When selecting an extreme overclock for your PC you must make sure your cooling options are sufficient. An upgraded processor cooler is a must, and the other factors such as the case, thermal compound, the case fans, cable management and cable braiding will all help towards turning that £100 processor into the same spec as a £600 one! A typical performance increase from an extreme overclock is anywhere between 5% and 60%.