would overclocking my i7 3770k get me a performance boost?

neil pettitt · 29 Dec 2020 at 20:00

hi my current system is about 6 years old and is starting to show its age. I was hoping to get a new system next year but its now looking like it could be towards the backend ofthe year.
My thoughs are if overclock my cpu and either overclock my gpu or get a short term upgrade this would last untill i can get a new system.
My current system is i7 3770k.....980ti 16 gig ram .
like i said regarding the gpu i was looking at a second hand 1080ti or 2070 or could i get a decent boost if i overclockmy 980ti?.....

Cyber-Mav · 29 Dec 2020 at 20:03

If you got a decent enough cooler then clock it up. Be a sin to never overclock a k series cpu

Dandle · 29 Dec 2020 at 22:32

Mine ran for years at 4,5ghz at 1.195v. Only just sold it and was still working perfectly. Paired quite well with the RTX 2060.

robinbanks · 29 Dec 2020 at 23:09

If it's that told you may aswell overclock it as you got nothing to lose.

I would think a overclock would give a nice boost as long as the Psu isn't to low.

And a quick YouTube seems to back that up.

neil pettitt · 30 Dec 2020 at 16:49

Thanks for the replys...I have had the same PSU since this system was built ..think it's a xfx silver or bronze 750 watt semi modular...and unfortunately I have no idea how to overclock yet...

sgoaty · 30 Dec 2020 at 17:50

It's a bad time to buy a GPU TBH. The 980ti is still a decent card I managed to clock my old one to above 1070TI performance ( on 3dmark)

philo-sofa · 31 Dec 2020 at 01:07

Was in a similar situation to you, 6600K and a 1070. Upgraded to a 3070 and realised (for cyberpunk at least) that the underlying system was showing its age; the CPU definitely bottlenecked the GPU.

Anyway, if you can pick up a cheap 2070 it’d match quite well with an overclocked 3770K. But eventually a CPU upgrade will be in order too. A surprising amount of progress has been made, a single Zen 3 core would be about 60% faster than an overclocked 3770 core.

Rroff · 31 Dec 2020 at 01:22

Getting it from a 3.9GHz max single core turbo to something like 4.4GHz all core boost will net around 10-15% increase in games - whether that is worth it is another matter. If you are lucky it will clock more than that but you are into diminishing returns for the amount of voltage and work required to get it stable, etc.

Rroff · 31 Dec 2020 at 01:28

philo-sofa said:
Anyway, if you can pick up a cheap 2070 it’d match quite well with an overclocked 3770K. But eventually a CPU upgrade will be in order too. A surprising amount of progress has been made, a single Zen 3 core would be about 60% faster than an overclocked 3770 core.

3770K has a little slower IPC (~6%) than the v2 IIRC but overclocked it really isn't as much difference as you'd think:

https://valid.x86.fr/bench/u28wd2/1

Obviously can overclock the newer CPUs as well.

philo-sofa · 31 Dec 2020 at 01:52

Rroff said:
3770K has a little slower IPC (~6%) than the v2 IIRC but overclocked it really isn't as much difference as you'd think:

https://valid.x86.fr/bench/u28wd2/1

Obviously can overclock the newer CPUs as well.

Arguable depending on the benchmark, but my mental calculus when I upgraded was:

~25% IPC between a 3770k and a 10700k
~20% IPC between a 10700k and Zen 3
~7% higher clocks on a stock 5800X vs an overclocked 3770k

Multiply that together and it’s about 60%. The numbers are based on comparison reviews between generations of CPUs, like Techspot’s 4GHz shootout.

Definitely arguable what the real performance increase is, but I’d argue about 60% on average.

Coincidentally (it’s not the be all and end all) that’s also the boost I got in CP2077.

Rroff · 31 Dec 2020 at 01:57

philo-sofa said:
but that’s also the boost I got in CP2077.

CP2077 seems to like RAM bandwidth a LOT as well - my X79 setup seems to hold up there quite well due to having quad channel which the 3770K won't have.

philo-sofa · 31 Dec 2020 at 02:00

Rroff said:
CP2077 seems to like RAM bandwidth a LOT as well - my X79 setup seems to hold up there quite well due to having quad channel which the 3770K won't have.

Yeah definitely man. I read a CP2077 review which compared 2666, 3200, 3600 and 4000 at dual channel and there was a huge difference, so I’d imagine quad channel would show big dividends. Interestingly 32GB also made a difference (my next upgrade I guess).

ninjag · 31 Dec 2020 at 02:44

I've got the i7-3770k and I've got it o/c to 4.3GHz. I have the MSI Z77a G45 motherboard and it's fairly easy to o/c in BIOS. What motherboard do you have?

Rather than overclock using the global CPU ratio (which I think the MSI O/C genie uses?) I do each core individually so that the CPU will still idle at 1.6GHz and keeps the fan speeds low.

Temperatures are good with my CPU staying under 60°C under load. x4 120mm Noctua fans in the case and a Noctua NH-U9S CPU heat sink and fan. I got a GTX 1660 Super which seemed like a lot for the money and MSI Afterburner automatically and safely overclocks it for me. I've dabbled a bit with overclocking it manually but I find the gains over the auto clocking not very much, when taking into account my cooling setup.

Here's me doing a CPU stress test:

chaosophy · 31 Dec 2020 at 11:44

I had a 3770k that I ran o/c'd to 4.4GHz for about 8 years. Never had an issue with it and a decent bump in perf over stock.

neil pettitt · 31 Dec 2020 at 22:29

wow so many replys...thanks to everyone . im not looking to go mad but if i could just get a bit more performance that would keep me happy. will check my mobo...know its a gigabyte z77 something....

neil pettitt · 31 Dec 2020 at 22:30

looked at 2070s and the prices are crazy second hand....same as 1080ti for my budget cant see anything else taht would be worth getting

Cyber-Mav · 31 Dec 2020 at 23:48

ninjag said:
I've got the i7-3770k and I've got it o/c to 4.3GHz. I have the MSI Z77a G45 motherboard and it's fairly easy to o/c in BIOS. What motherboard do you have?

Rather than overclock using the global CPU ratio (which I think the MSI O/C genie uses?) I do each core individually so that the CPU will still idle at 1.6GHz and keeps the fan speeds low.

Temperatures are good with my CPU staying under 60°C under load. x4 120mm Noctua fans in the case and a Noctua NH-U9S CPU heat sink and fan. I got a GTX 1660 Super which seemed like a lot for the money and MSI Afterburner automatically and safely overclocks it for me. I've dabbled a bit with overclocking it manually but I find the gains over the auto clocking not very much, when taking into account my cooling setup.

Here's me doing a CPU stress test:

package power seems a bit sus for that sort of oc. would have thought it be over 150w. my 4 core haswell xeon goes over 90w in linpack

V F · 31 Dec 2020 at 23:56

ninjag said:
I've got the i7-3770k and I've got it o/c to 4.3GHz. I have the MSI Z77a G45 motherboard and it's fairly easy to o/c in BIOS. What motherboard do you have?

Rather than overclock using the global CPU ratio (which I think the MSI O/C genie uses?) I do each core individually so that the CPU will still idle at 1.6GHz and keeps the fan speeds low.

Temperatures are good with my CPU staying under 60°C under load. x4 120mm Noctua fans in the case and a Noctua NH-U9S CPU heat sink and fan. I got a GTX 1660 Super which seemed like a lot for the money and MSI Afterburner automatically and safely overclocks it for me. I've dabbled a bit with overclocking it manually but I find the gains over the auto clocking not very much, when taking into account my cooling setup.

Here's me doing a CPU stress test:

Which ram and speed could you get it to run... Mine fell over after 1866? It wouldn't boot. It may have been the Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 holding it back. I have my i7 3770K at 4.4 with 1.3vcore. Gaming was about 65C, all cores 75c with a 10 year old Corsair H70.

ninjag · 1 Jan 2021 at 02:59

Cyber-Mav said:
package power seems a bit sus for that sort of oc. would have thought it be over 150w. my 4 core haswell xeon goes over 90w in linpack

Not sure what you mean by sus? All I've done is change the individual core ratio limits. I can get to 4.4 but when I try 4.5 I can't get into Windows. I suspect voltage is the issue?

Dandle · 1 Jan 2021 at 02:59

neil pettitt said:
looked at 2070s and the prices are crazy second hand....same as 1080ti for my budget cant see anything else taht would be worth getting

Not worth matching a 2070 to the 3770K. I had a 2060 OC with my [email protected] and then moved to a 5900x and also tried it with a 3800x and the 3770k held it back. It was a pretty good match but a 2070 which is what I have now while i wait for new GPUs to become available would be a waste.