Is it OK to Overclock my pc? Scared to damage the CPU

J

johnno

Active member
Hi there,

I am a musician. I write music that requires a considerable amount of power.

This is the PC I got from PC Specialists:

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i9 18 Core Processor i9-10980XE (3.0GHz) 24.75MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® PRIME X299-A II: ATX, USB 3.2, SATA 6 GB/s, ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM) 64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 710 - DVI, HDMI, VGA

I am using 3 SSD hard drives.

The PC is shockingly fast, a huge improvement from my old PC.

However, exporting the projects into audio files, as much as it's faster than the older PC I used to have,
I was wondering if I could improve on that front.

I was thinking of overclocking the CPU to achieve faster-exporting speeds.

Can anyone let me know if this is a safe thing to do?
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
@johnno - whilst it is typically fairly safe to do some mild overclocking, I'd probably first consider if increasing the clock speed of your processor will actually help?

I have no idea on what program(s) you're using for audio processing (and wouldn't know the answer to this myself even if I did) but have you checked to see if the CPU is the bottleneck when doing an export?

If you post your full specs from the order page folk here may be better placed to advise on more specifics.

I'd urge you to read up on overclocking (there's many a guide out there, probably even one for your processor/motherboard combination) so you get a better understanding of it overall before diving in. But before that, I'd check to see if the CPU is the bottleneck for you just now.
 
J

johnno

Active member
Thanks so much for your reply!

Yeah, I was too thinking of starting with a mild overclocking and seeing how this went.

I am working with a Cubase Pro 11 which runs extremely fast. The exports are good, don't get me wrong, a huge improvement from my old PC. But I am getting to work on huge projects, and a faster-exporting speed would be incredible!

I was wondering, what older page are you referring to?

Also, sure, I was thinking the same thing, is it the PC or the program...??

Advice first would be good, I don't want to fry my computer ;)

Many thanks!
 
J

johnno

Active member
Sorry about the mistake,

Sure, here they are:

Case BE QUIET! DARK BASE PRO 900 REV. 2 FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)Intel® Core™ i9 18 Core Processor i9-10980XE (3.0GHz) 24.75MB Cache
MotherboardASUS® PRIME X299-A II: ATX, USB 3.2, SATA 6 GB/s, ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 710 - DVI, HDMI, VGA
1st Storage Drive1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2nd Storage Drive1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
down_right_arrow.gif
Change to: 2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
3rd Storage Drive1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY DriveNOT REQUIRED
Power SupplyCORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor CoolingPCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal PasteSTANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound CardONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network CardWIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt OptionsMIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery MediaWindows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office SoftwareFREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-VirusBullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
BrowserMicrosoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Audio InterfaceNONE
Studio HeadphonesNONE
Warranty3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
DeliverySTANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build TimeStandard Build - Approximately 18 to 21 working days
Welcome BookPCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I'm not sure if the speed of the SSDs is slowing down exporting or not, but that's a lot of 'slow' SATA SSDs in there - doesn't that MB have any space for a super fast OS (or scratch) m.2 drive?

I'd also suggest (if you haven't already) removing/uninstalling Bullguard as it's known to be a resource hog and cause more issues than it solves.
 
J

johnno

Active member
TonyCarter said:
I'm not sure if the speed of the SSDs is slowing down exporting or not, but that's a lot of 'slow' SATA SSDs in there - doesn't that MB have any space for a super fast OS (or scratch) m.2 drive?

I'd also suggest (if you haven't already) removing/uninstalling Bullguard as it's known to be a resource hog and cause more issues than it solves.
Click to expand...


I am a fairly basic user and not hugely knowledgeable on faster hard drives. I know that SSDs are best for what I do, so I added these drives to my computer.

Do you reckon an M2 drive will speed things up? I didn't know about them or how one connects them to the motherboard.

Yeah, Bullguard is off. I am using Macafee though as I have to be on the net for activation of licenses etc.

Don't get me wrong, loading speeds on Cubase have increased dramatically. Some instruments are loading shockingly fast.

It's just the exporting part of things that could be improved.

Thanks so much
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
johnno said:
I am a fairly basic user and not hugely knowledgeable on faster hard drives. I know that SSDs are best for what I do, so I added these drives to my computer.

Do you reckon an M2 drive will speed things up? I didn't know about them or how one connects them to the motherboard.

Yeah, Bullguard is off. I am using Macafee though as I have to be on the net for activation of licenses etc.

Don't get me wrong, loading speeds on Cubase have increased dramatically. Some instruments are loading shockingly fast.

It's just the exporting part of things that could be improved.

Thanks so much
Click to expand...
Which version of Cubase are you on?

Have you checked your RAM usage during export sessions?
 
J

johnno

Active member
SpyderTracks said:
Which version of Cubase are you on?

Have you checked your RAM usage during export sessions?
Click to expand...
Hi there, thanks so much for your help!

I am on Cubase pro 11

I am not sure how to check RAM usage during the export sessions. Is it from the task manager during the export?

many thanks!
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
johnno said:
Hi there, thanks so much for your help!

I am on Cubase pro 11

I am not sure how to check RAM usage during the export sessions. Is it from the task manager during the export?

many thanks!
Click to expand...
If you open up performance monitor, then expand the RAM, disk and CPU, sort the RAM by "Working", sort Disk by "Hard Faults", sort CPU by "CPU".

1636051076905.png


What you're looking for is if hard faults ramp up during exports, if they do then it suggests it's running out of RAM and you either need more, or you need a scratch drive. If you've got your cache set to the default on the C drive then that's not good either, that will definitely slow it down. At the same time you want to monitor how many cores it's using on the CPU to see if it's operating properly and windows is configured ok.

I take it you've organised your library drives and cache drives?

SATA SSD's are very slow by todays standards, you definitely want an M2 drive as your primary windows and program drive. Personally I would want an M2 as my other drives as well and relegate those SATA drives purely for storage, maybe keep one as a cache drive.
 
J

johnno

Active member
SpyderTracks said:
If you open up performance monitor, then expand the RAM, disk and CPU, sort the RAM by "Working", sort Disk by "Hard Faults", sort CPU by "CPU".

View attachment 30325

What you're looking for is if hard faults ramp up during exports, if they do then it suggests it's running out of RAM and you either need more, or you need a scratch drive. If you've got your cache set to the default on the C drive then that's not good either, that will definitely slow it down. At the same time you want to monitor how many cores it's using on the CPU to see if it's operating properly and windows is configured ok.

I take it you've organised your library drives and cache drives?

SATA SSD's are very slow by todays standards, you definitely want an M2 drive as your primary windows and program drive. Personally I would want an M2 as my other drives as well and relegate those SATA drives purely for storage, maybe keep one as a cache drive.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all this info, much appreciated!!

I will run these settings to see how the computer performs.

I had no idea about the M2 drives, great to know! I will definitely look into it.

About my drives, one is running Windows and programs including Cubase and the other two drives are running my libraries.

So sorry, I don't know what the cache drives are. As I said, I am a pretty basic user and I have basic knowledge about such things. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, I will have a good look and see what it is and get it best configured.

EDIT: I exported some music and it was mostly 0 hard faults. It momentarily went to 47 for a split second but went down to zero again for the rest of the duration of the export. Recorded 16% of physical memory.
 
Last edited:
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Martinr36 said:
you don't need to download anything just uninstall McAfee using their uninstall tool and windows defender will kick in after a reboot, it's part of the OS
Click to expand...
I’d suggest you never download anything from softenic…it tends to be riddled with malware (or at best, bundled with unwanted software within the installer for the app you think you’re getting). Only ever download or install software from the maker’s/distributor’s website.
 
J

johnno

Active member
TonyCarter said:
I’d suggest you never download anything from softenic…it tends to be riddled with malware (or at best, bundled with unwanted software within the installer for the app you think you’re getting). Only ever download or install software from the maker’s/distributor’s website.
Click to expand...
Cheers for the heads up, appreciated!
 
J

johnno

Active member
OK, so, a message came up on the BIOS page when I looked into overclocking, that PC Specialists void the warranty if a PC gets overclocked, so I better leave this idea.

But I appreciate all the information given here!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top