Well, now why do you overclock?

[kikicoco1334]

I have been wanting to write something like this for a long long time, I’ve became an OCA Gladiator since on the date of Jan 21st 2010; it has been a very different, exciting experience in my life. I have made a lot of friends here. I remembered when I joined the team it was only a few of us, we ware somewhere around the 40s in the US rank and I was somewhere around the 20 thousands rank. Within a few months we had grown tremendously quick now we are flooding between 7~8th in the global ranking.

One of the stars of this month OC Maximus and I was talking few nights ago, in the middle of the conversations he asked me “whats your long term oc goal?” with those exact words, I didn’t think much at the time, but then just as the more we talk the more it got me thinking about what do I really want as a goal for my overclocking life? Some people want to become the OverclocKing, and some want to make a career out of there overclocking, and some just want to relax after work and have something intense to do with their spare time; now what is your point of view on overclocking? For the past few days this question is being bothering me more than anything ever came up in my mind, I love overclocking too much, and I call myself a 24/7 Overclockaholic, but when someone ask me what my long term oc goal is and I was so shocked how empty minded and speechless I was, it made me unbelievably sad.

I still remember the night back when I hit the 7.13GHz score on CPU-Z, I tweaked more than half day, and just when I hit the surprising score I forgot where I was and what time it was (it was sometime around 2~3am) I started to jumping around and screaming like an idiot running around nonstop!
http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/1501580.png (http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1501580)
This may just be my personality but I have never really had any big long term goals I have fallowed all the way though, but keep on pushing it is one thing that I blindly tried and tried. For the one year I been in OCAlliance I have learned more than the years of experience I thought I have had, what I know right now is no more than a drop of water in the ocean, there is a long way to go for me.

Lastly I thank everyone for having me, and thank our superman Kal-El for letting me joining the team. Sorry English is not my first language and sometimes it may sounds kinda weird and twisted.

Not sure about you guys, but here is two man that I really look up to, and wish to become one day.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b102/ghostloveff/Splave.png
Splave, after all this work he is finally ranked number not 6 but 5! In the world of overclocking.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b102/ghostloveff/OCM.png
OCM, what can I say, went from 40 something up to number 4 in the team? Your works has been appreciated. In the short few month of learning you have raised to the top

And there are more people that have helped me though out the course of being an OCAlliance.
Rickss, though me how to run super pi with the RIGHT WAY.
The guys who though and give me ideas on how to run and tweak 3D stuff
And SPECIAL thanks to Hondacity, I am not sure if he is gonna be reading this anytime soon, but the man HOODED ME UP with so much different things, the F1EE, the 666 slim pot, and now the replacement Commando board, and bitches me out when I am not studying when I am should be.
And thanks to DOM for helping me and teaching me how to do Vmod, and kicking my ass 24/7 in COD

And now please share your story, what do you overclock for?

[GFDuke]

Kiki, These are the official member rankings.
http://www.hwbot.org/rankings/overclocker/team/ocalliance

I Overclock to beat my last score. I Overclock to beat the guy above me. Long term goals? Well since i've been overclocking for around 7 years i think my long term goals have been met. I've gotten to the most extreme i can. Like everyone else i've gone from air to LN2. I really can't bring bot rankings into it, since its constantly changing. So to be the best i can with what i have is all i ask.

[Kal-EL]

Nice write up Kiki, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. You've grown as many of our members have grown over the past two years. Splave went from general phase clocker to top five in the friggin world and yah, OCM went from "Hey Kal, does ln2 evaporate from the pot or do you have to empty it when your done?" to "GIVE ME MOAR HARDWARE NOW!!!!!".

Me, personally, at this moment in time, I'm a recreational clocker or just plain enthusiast grade and a Foster the Fever guy.


p.s. OCM and Splave are MOTM of March, I just need to get it switched out ;)

[Witchdoctor]

good stuff guys

Hope I don't piss on anyone's Corn Flakes

For me, Well I just do it for the fun of it, Period, nothing to read into it here.

No goals what so ever, stricktly recreational.

Do I like to compete? absolutly, that is what makes it fun, but to be honest I have as much or more fun simply compteing in threads such as Crysis FPS and X3 and so on.

Did you ever get the feeling if you see that ugly ass pick up truck one more time you are going to throw up ???? :laughing:

Would love to get a Crysis 2 competetive thread going, I thnk that may be a site competition that our Romulan friend could sink his teeth into, back in the day he pwnd Crysis benching on another site. and for X3 well simply put the LORD will set you free

I am soon to take the next logical step in this hobby I love, by going cold. I am sure their will be many fail sessions and some success, but reguardless it is still the thrill of the hunt that makes it fun for me.
The out pouring of help an assitance has been simply put overwhelming and appreciated

More than any of this stuff above though, The peolple here are top notch and have come to think of many of you as great friends.

Long term goal for this overclocker is to meet all you face to face one day and shake your hands and if time of course, some benching and knock the heads off a few froths ......

My biggest turn offs to our hobby/sport or what ever it is called:

1. Handpicked, binned factory support to top clockers to mislead consumers on hardware preformance
2. Completly money driven
3. Cheaters (Sacraficing one's moral standing for this stuff is utterly rediculous IMO)
4. Chew ...... LOL j/k

There you have it Kiki

[Splave]

I bench because it gets my heart racing! I dont drink, I dont smoke anything, Im just a boring muscle head optician and OCing gives me one hell of a rush. I mean whats not to love? You push yourself, your wallet and your hardware to the edge of explosion for 2 FPS and or .5ms :D The highs and the lows, failing heaven at tests 26 of 26 to grabbing the world record. Just thinking that noone has ever run this test with the numbers I was just seeing makes you feel pretty good.

On the HWbot front, Its a sense of pride that pushes me. To see an OCAlliance flag next to guys that go through trays of chips and have full on manufacturer support really speaks volumes about what we do here. We are a private club, this is not XS and it very easily could be a clone and kal could have the hookups just like fucger....But none of us want that and kal is one of the most giving bastards Ive ever met.

More so then scores, when I see kiki benching all night long for 10 scores that get .1 boints but he still submits them and rocks it out I respect the hell out of that. Im just a monkey with a good source of ln2 close by and time to pour said ln2 all over my hardware ;)

The more I think about ES chips the more I think they should be done for. Talking to Kal the other day on the phone, he had just bought a 990x the day before Hwbot allowed them for submission and it just made you not even want to bench it when you were seeing these scores guys were doing 2 months ago on this hardware. Binning $330 sandy bridge chips is hard enough....now lets talk about $1000 chips :X

Back on topic. Ive met a ton of great people being apart of this community. Having Rev come down from canada for a little cascade action, future northeast contingent get together thats bound to happen and hell I talk to romdom on the phone everyday and dent quite a bit as well.

Ocing is a blast and when its not fun anymore I will quit :D ROFL So probably never!

[ReverendMaynard]

^^^ win post, in a win thread.

I overclock because it's fun, I also have always loved being part of a team and being part of OCA keeps me striving to be better at it.

[Jor-El]

For fame, money & girls?

[kikicoco1334]

those are really nice toughs guys
thank you splave for those kind words

now i am just saving up and buying more hardware and hopping one days in the near future i can buy some real hardware :D
i got the 970 with a luck of a draw + million hook ups my 1366 is my only real setup that's passable to hit global other than the Commando which it's not bad at all waiting for getting the 8800 modded and ready to go (it's a boint monster ;) 8800GT 512)
i still have a long way to go far as learning wise
my biggest turn off is cash... money is everything in benchin, i just sold some of my laptop's ram to get some DDR3 STTs for my main rig.. and also need a new screen too... i monna see if i can bench on my overhead

i have been the master of the .1 pointer on the team for too long, and i need to get my head out of my own ass and start some real bench!

[Witchdoctor]

Just a damm minute bro ....

It is all about the hunt .... .1 or 100 makes no difference ...

It is the effort and the hunt of the best possible result with said hardware IMO

air, water, dice or cold

[GeorgeStorm]

I do it because I enjoy it primarily
It's nice to push stuff, really like the competitive side of it, met a great bunch of people doing it, both at BTUK and here.
Also love getting stuff cold, and am in the process of making it a little easier/more plausible to get DI/LN2 more regularly.
So hopefully will be getting some proper globals atlast :D

[DrNip]

My goals now is way different than what they use to be. I use to shoot for being sponsored but that all changed when I had a kid. Now I am the overclock when I can type of guy. At 1st it was hard sitting back watching guys do what I use to do but after awhile I got use to it. Last month was the 1st month I truly got to overclock since September 2009! When the results were all in I was finally back to the same point status I was at in 2009. Felt great and hopefully I will get to do more of it in the future.

[OC Maximus]

Wow, where do I start.

Before overclocking I was pretty deep into drag racing. Pushing transmissions, engines and rear ends to total annihilation. Religiously modding my death trap drag rig to get any extra tenth of I second I could at the track. From suspension tweaking to weight distribution to EMU/PCM tuning I was into it all. Anything for that extra tenth and a better 60'. Drag racing consumed my life although I always put family first.

My daughter being born completely changed things for me. Less time in the garage and more time changing diapers. Eventually we moved out here to Hawaii where there no longer is a drag strip. Found myself twiddling my thumb with nothing to turn wrenches on. Having nothing to mod or race was driving me crazy. Idle hands suck and boy did I miss the smell of 110 octane burning in the wee hours of the morning.

Little less than a year ago a new Overclocker was born. With absolutely no knowledge of how a pc even worked I dove in head first. Met Kal during a Chroll live stream and the rest is history. Like drag racing, overclocking has now consumed most of my mind and time. Pushing HW to its limits with what tools I have on hand (air, water, dice) has grown into a great passion. Constantly studying specs, procedures, and tweaks from the best out there has helped me move forward considerably.

Joining OCA and meeting all of you has only multiplied my love for pushing hw. Couldn't ask for a better community to be a part of. An "Overclocking Brotherhood" of sorts :good:

BTW, awesome thread Tu :clapping:

[Kal-EL]

Hahahaha, I forgot that we met at the Chroll's livestream :scared::taunt::rofl:rofl

[Splave]

This thread is front page material!

[kikicoco1334]

lol thanks, i am glad you guys think this way

[Neuromancer]

Excellent Thread Fu!!!!

+1 front page.

Can't disagree with anyone here on any of their ideas on OCing. Benching is so much fun, I wish I had more time for it. A lot of the guys here, just make time for it. Those are the men of the group, the ones in charge of their own life LOL.

OCM is awesome, and took to benching like a flea to a dog, sucking the blood out of it and jumping to the next dog. Went from novice to experienced SOOO fast.

Benching is for fun for sport and little e-peen. I don't have a ton of submissions, as I am always trying to get the Hardware up to do something great and end up having to sell shit off. ARGH.

Need to learn to set my sights a little lower. With Sandy Bridge I think I can do that.

But the underlying question is "Why Do I overclock?"

1) Because I have to. Not as cool as it sounds. I am a multiPC kind of guy and just can't afford to have the best stuff laying around. OCed my Ath 240 x2 to 3.5GHz (on less than VID) as my main system to make black ops play smoothly

2) Overclocking is also about learning the architecture. Overclockers are some of the greatest sources of information available for learning new architectures. Voltage adjustments etc, shows you where a portion of the device might fail early or be capable of much more than it is at stock. Research is key.

3) I can so I do. Generally my latest and greatest HW acquisitions do not become 24/7 PCs until I have something better to bench. When they do become desktop units, overclocking generally becomes about tweaking a system for best performance. Usually I undervolt and still push it :)

Benching is addictive. I do not compete at the high end, but enjoy striving to beat whoever is above me on the first bench. Or knowing the arch like I do, and how to tweak, maybe a few guys :)

Guys like Allen and them strive to make me make sure I do my best when I submit, Kal makes sure to apply the urging when he is online :)

I would like to thank everybody at OCA though. I was on a benching team before and it was not fun at all. OCA made benching fun and the community developed here is AWESOME!

[kikicoco1334]

that's awesome man!
i have just a little over 500 subs already but i am not even half of what you guys have hahaha

this is my first and my last overclocking team ;)

btw Neuromancer what's your steam name?
we'll do some BO sometime :taunt:

[Neuromancer]

I dont remember my steam name TBH. it rarely gets installed

When I have nothing to do I install it, that hasn't happened in a long time. I still dont MP though.

[kikicoco1334]

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b102/ghostloveff/firstmonthonHWbot.png

i was just looking around in my computer.. and then found this...
this is the first month me joined OCA

[Kal-EL]

They grow up sooooooOOooo fast!

[Cyberjackal]

Wow... talk about an inspiring post/thread :thumbsup:
especially so for me being a type of n00b yet when it comes to overclocking hardware

For me, overclocking IN THE PAST has mainly been to increase the performance I get while playing PC games. First processor I ever put in a system was the AMD Athlon 650 (which was my first custom-built system) & the first proc I ever overclocked was the AMD Athlon T-Bird 1.2GHz (around 2001 with the T-Bird). Things have sure come a long way since then. I have been an AMD Athlon fanatic up until my Athlon 64FX-55, then I started looking at Intel - as I am first & foremost a power user.

I've never done any REAL benchmarking & the only overclocking I've done has been on aftermarket air cooling... I've also done some substantial case modding - so that's also helped me out a bit as far as cooling & computer knowledge goes. Being a part of this group - even though I'm not considered part of a team here yet - has helped me out quite a bit. Even just going through forum threads has given me a basic understanding of certain stuff... like what NOT to do with LN2 ;)

As most of you know I am currently in the process of building my first watercooled system. This rig is currently on hold tho atm because this coming May I am & will be in the process of moving out of state - on count of that all my extra money is being put towards the move. Anyway, when I've gotten the time I've been asking & expanding my knowledge of what's available in the world of watercooling. I'm really hoping that rig will take off soon after the move & I also hope that I can even get into benchmarking beforehand on my current system(s) so I can get the hang of it to know what I'm gonna do with my next one. Gonna have even more questions coming up so beware. :D I am also thinking of eventually getting into LN2/dice - will experiment on my older rigs first that way I know I won't screw anything up that I really care about right off the bat. Already have lots of Q's concerning that - as I know next to nothing about LN2 other than the type of liquid required...

I am VERY MUCH looking forward to benchmarking & overclocking with you guys IN THE PRESENT & FUTURE. Whether it be on a current air-cooled rig, or a future H2O or LN2 setup - I am greatly looking forward to becoming a part of you guys & learning all I can. I am shifting from the "let's see if I can get a few extra frames-per-second in games" phase to the "a few extra fps lol... let's get all the power I can & push everything through the stratosphere!" phase. I guess if someone were to ask me what my goals were I'd have to say: "to take my existing PC building & modding hobby (background/experience) and really form it into becoming what you guys are all about - a team-based extreme overclocker." I love how you guys have been & are very supportive of each other... it shows (especially in forum threads/posts like this). And I don't think I could've ever found a better group of people to be a part of.

Thanks for the post kiki! :thumbsup:

[Kal-EL]

:thumbsup::good::clapping::Hi:

[Patch]

I do it because it's fun and I like you guys.

[kikicoco1334]

Wow... talk about an inspiring post/thread :thumbsup:
especially so for me being a type of n00b yet when it comes to overclocking hardware

For me, overclocking IN THE PAST has mainly been to increase the performance I get while playing PC games. First processor I ever put in a system was the AMD Athlon 650 (which was my first custom-built system) & the first proc I ever overclocked was the AMD Athlon T-Bird 1.2GHz (around 2001 with the T-Bird). Things have sure come a long way since then. I have been an AMD Athlon fanatic up until my Athlon 64FX-55, then I started looking at Intel - as I am first & foremost a power user.

I've never done any REAL benchmarking & the only overclocking I've done has been on aftermarket air cooling... I've also done some substantial case modding - so that's also helped me out a bit as far as cooling & computer knowledge goes. Being a part of this group - even though I'm not considered part of a team here yet - has helped me out quite a bit. Even just going through forum threads has given me a basic understanding of certain stuff... like what NOT to do with LN2 ;)

As most of you know I am currently in the process of building my first watercooled system. This rig is currently on hold tho atm because this coming May I am & will be in the process of moving out of state - on count of that all my extra money is being put towards the move. Anyway, when I've gotten the time I've been asking & expanding my knowledge of what's available in the world of watercooling. I'm really hoping that rig will take off soon after the move & I also hope that I can even get into benchmarking beforehand on my current system(s) so I can get the hang of it to know what I'm gonna do with my next one. Gonna have even more questions coming up so beware. :D I am also thinking of eventually getting into LN2/dice - will experiment on my older rigs first that way I know I won't screw anything up that I really care about right off the bat. Already have lots of Q's concerning that - as I know next to nothing about LN2 other than the type of liquid required...

I am VERY MUCH looking forward to benchmarking & overclocking with you guys IN THE PRESENT & FUTURE. Whether it be on a current air-cooled rig, or a future H2O or LN2 setup - I am greatly looking forward to becoming a part of you guys & learning all I can. I am shifting from the "let's see if I can get a few extra frames-per-second in games" phase to the "a few extra fps lol... let's get all the power I can & push everything through the stratosphere!" phase. I guess if someone were to ask me what my goals were I'd have to say: "to take my existing PC building & modding hobby (background/experience) and really form it into becoming what you guys are all about - a team-based extreme overclocker." I love how you guys have been & are very supportive of each other... it shows (especially in forum threads/posts like this). And I don't think I could've ever found a better group of people to be a part of.

Thanks for the post kiki! :thumbsup:


naw man thank you guys for the post!
you guys are makng this more meaningful :good:


I do it because it's fun and I like you guys.
that's very ncie of you pat! we like you too :Hi:

[HybridChiller]

i like OC because i have fun in it, and i'm very competetive, meaning, i was 1st of belgium and whant and will be again the first of belgium. (hwbot) :shock:

also like to look for the edge of the system, even if that means to make a score that's uber and then the hardware dies, so be it then. :blush:

When you overclock, is my opinion : don't complain when you kill something :ohcrap:

[kikicoco1334]

well... i been reading most of the guys' post here it seems to be a very successful post to me, really tho you guys have alotta great ideas, goals of why you overclock, it really set my mind where i want it to go..
here is what i have so far, and it may swing a little in the future but here i go..

Why I Overclock?

it has been a extremely fun experience to hung out with you guys, i love being a part of the the Team OCAlliance.

secondly i have always been competitive even when i was little, and i remember when i very first started i wanna become the best overclocker in the world! well that's not gonna happen anytime too soon if ever so sometimes we just have to shuttle to the next best thing, being the best i can be and make my self matter to the team.

then i love to find out if i am doing better then what i was before, beating my own score over and over, sometimes i'd just sat there and bench for hrs just to go up 100mhz lol, and i am really glad i am on the team with the best overclocker around, and gettin feedbacks from you guys, and giving me tips of how to tweak, how to make my score go higher ect...

i don't have alotta Benjamin, so can't really buy alotta hardware 24/7, i work part time and in school everyday, but all the extra money i have normally gos in aether my computer or my new car jar (yeah thinking about gettin a project corvette :D) so no sandy for me anytime too soon... but i would like do as much damage as passable with my 970 as passable...

time is also another limitation to me, as some of you guys know i go to school all week days, and during the weekends i work, so the only time i have are studying and sleeping, most of my bench is ran during my study time, there is always waiting time for the bench so for the most part i run my benches when i am doing my homework so one shot 2 kills :good:.. it was funny last night i was going to bed but remembered that my 9500GT was not done modded cuz the vram didn't measure right.. it was 2:30 in the morning and i jumped out of the bed pulled up the vmod point pix and fired up the hot glue gun and the soldering iron and modded the vram read then went to bed around 3:00 then slaped like a baby had to get up 8am i mean that was not fun at all but it was worth it

i think this is what i have for now i may come up with somethiing new some other time but i'll keep on thinking and working and hopping go become better
thanks OCA :thumbsup:

[kikicoco1334]

i was wondering how much cash have most of you guys dropped on your bench with in the last year or two?
here is my list of hardwares that i have used
CPU
i7 920 - Sold
i7 940 - Sold
i7 970

Motherboard
GA-EX58-UD4P - Sold
Rampage II Extreme - Sold
GA-EX58-UD4P - Sold
GA-EX58-Extreme - Sold
P6T V2 - Sold
XFX X58 - Sold
Rampage II Extreme - Sold
E762 Classified

RAM
can't remember what my first set was anymore it was some 3x1GB stuff - Sold
Patriot Viper - Sold those ware the Hypers
Dominator - Sold

i don't know/remember all the video cards came around my hands didn't get to bench much of them tho cuz don't know much about 3d stuff yet :laughing:

so...
what did you guys get?

[Splave]

approx $15k but most is a small loss with resale

[GeorgeStorm]

There's a thread somewhere here if I remember correctly which people told their newegg total bill kinda thing.
I think someone's was 50k usd or so????

[kikicoco1334]

approx $15k but most is a small loss with resale
:eek2: <= i think i just broke my jaw!

[Splave]

# Gunslinger $41,219
# Splave $28,343
# GFDuke $25,399.90
# Kal-EL $23,673.13
# 2chesapeakes $19,000.00
# Witchdoctor $17,842.30
# Buckeye $17,351.24
# Jor-El $16,000.00
# RomDominance $14,713.00
# DrNip $12,459.14
# ocgmj $11,712.23
# Patch $9,514.57
# Neuromancer $6,755.03
# DOM $4,629.98
# FACE $2,400
# Archer $2,008.99
# 69_Goat $1,649.65
# punx223 $1,260.39

[GeorgeStorm]

There it is, pretty mental if you ask me.

[kikicoco1334]

# Gunslinger $41,219
# Splave $28,343
# GFDuke $25,399.90
# Kal-EL $23,673.13
# 2chesapeakes $19,000.00
# Witchdoctor $17,842.30
# Buckeye $17,351.24
# Jor-El $16,000.00
# RomDominance $14,713.00
# DrNip $12,459.14
# ocgmj $11,712.23
# Patch $9,514.57
# Neuromancer $6,755.03
# DOM $4,629.98
# FACE $2,400
# Archer $2,008.99
# 69_Goat $1,649.65
# punx223 $1,260.39

thank you big splave!

[Kal-EL]

oh man, that was just newegg too!

[kikicoco1334]

oh man, that was just newegg too!
so... there is more?
thanks alot kal i can't find my jaw anymore...
man! i though i had alotta hardware in the house but good god! you guys are loaded! i know splave is got a lotta hardware and kal you like toys but didn't everyone on the team is hardware-burning-aholics :D
well... i monna be buying alotta hardware soon then!

i just saw the GTX590 is coming out you guys gonna jump on that too then?

[ocgmj]

Just added up the 12 pages from newegg and my total is now $22,424.60

[Witchdoctor]

:scared:

Hey Al I was trying to forget that POS thread............ WTF

No sleep for me tonight .... again :laughing:

[OC Maximus]

I'm not participating in this one :P

[kikicoco1334]

yeah dude.. i am prob a G in to my setup here...
if even that!