Processor and Overclocking

[blindhamster]

Computer arrived today, seems to be pretty awesome, though already i've decided i need a larger SSD for my C drive, beyond that my only issue currently is that the Processor was supposed to be Overclocked to 4.6Ghz, but I can only see it showing as standard 3.5 everywhere, anything I'm missing? should i look in a specific place?

Thanks for the help, and kudos to PC Specialist on an awesome job of the build. I'll make a proper thread for it tomorrow with pics

 

[keynes]

Computer arrived today, seems to be pretty awesome, though already i've decided i need a larger SSD for my C drive, beyond that my only issue currently is that the Processor was supposed to be Overclocked to 4.6Ghz, but I can only see it showing as standard 3.5 everywhere, anything I'm missing? should i look in a specific place?

Thanks for the help, and kudos to PC Specialist on an awesome job of the build. I'll make a proper thread for it tomorrow with pics

Have you try running CPU-Z?

 

[Buzz]

What are your comp specs. Lots of overclocks now work so that they are not always 100% overclocked. They fluctuate to save it from being on silly high volts when playing the likes of solitaire.

Core Temp tells you what the frequency is of your CPU. Install that and keep eye on it. Run a benchmark to see the true OC %

 

[blindhamster]

checked the bios more carefully, the CPU is indeed overclocked, it just doesn't get shown in most places actually in the system (CPUZ did show it once, but usually it goes aaaaaaaaall the way down to 1800ish Mhz when idle).

I did notice however that the ram was showing as 1600mhz, despite paying for the 1866mhz, i upped it to the speed I paid for, but we'll see what happens I suppose.

 

[mantadog]

This is a kind of 'complaint' i see quite a few people making.

The latest processors that dynamically underclock themselves to save power, so even if you CPU was set to run at 5.0Ghz it would often show a much lower clock speed, what the speed is depends on the type of processor, but 1800Mhz seems about right. The only way you will get it to reach it's peak is to run something that needs every bit of CPU power you can give it. Without that you wont 'activate' the overclock and it will run at a lower clock speed until you give it somethng that requires the extra power.

The RAM is also a common complaint, PCS set your RAM to run at default speed, for your RAM that might have been 1600Mhz, what is advertised is the maximum rated speed for the RAM your buying, not the speed it will be set to. If you have a look through the forums you will often see people see this has been posted a couple of times recently. Maybe it could be made clearer somehow to stop people thinking they have been ripped off, but in reality the performance drop off between 1866Mhz and 1600Mhz is non existant.

 

[blindhamster]

yeah, i tried to make it clear it wasn't a complaint, rather just inexperience/unsurety on my part, as I said in the first post, the build quality is very impressive, tidy and the machine is running like a charm

 

[captcha]

yeah, i tried to make it clear it wasn't a complaint, rather just inexperience/unsurety on my part, as I said in the first post, the build quality is very impressive, tidy and the machine is running like a charm

Had a similar problem,paid extra for 1600 over 1333mhx, but they don't test your memory at what you pay for , but test it at the default speed.
Think PCS should make it clear that when they say that they test your computer they don't actually mean it.

 

[blindhamster]

They do test it, some of the others have explained it, here and other threads, the rams just defaulted to lower, the actual sticks say their frequency too, so just check that if you're worried

 

[captcha]

memory testing

I was told that there would be hardly any real world difference between 1333mhz and 1600mhz.
Now apparently hardly anything between 1600mhz and 1866mhz.
So perhaps it would be helpful on the configuration page,as they do with the power unit,where you're advised that you are spending more than you need to if your power supply is to high.
If you select 1600mhz or 1866mhz, some advice that:

a) You are spending more than you need to,because you won't notice the difference.

b) Your memory will be installed and tested at it's default speed,not at the speed you're paying for.

Plus a small card of instructions included with the computer explaining where to adjust the BIOS settings.
In my ignorance I didn't realise the increased speed was an overclocking issue.

Just a suggestion.

If, as mantadog says, RAM is a common complaint,a little tweaking (AI Tweaker pun intended) would remove the problem.

 

[mantadog]

Many of us on the forums are constantly telling people not to bother with the faster RAM, but i don't think you can expect PCS to have a warning about every single component in your system

"you have selected an i5 2500, why not drop to an i5 2400, it's hardly any slower really is it?"
"you have slelected a bog standard HDD, why not upgrade to a caviar black HDD it's much faster!"
"You have selected a wireless card, why not go for homeplugs"
"you have selected a GTX 680, why not consider a GTX 670, it's cheaper and nearly as fast"

You can make the argument for pretty much any component you choose, and without PCS knowing your exact plans for the system it's impossible to advise on a component by component basis. On the forums it's a bit easier because you can tell us what you want, and we can make educated guesses for what's best for you - or ask more questions to get a better idea.

Some people obviously go for the faster RAM because they think it will mean a much faster system, and i expect they expect it to come set to 1600Mhz or higher depending what they're buying. The price is hardly that different at the end of the day and PCS can't add a disclaimer for every single product they sell so it comes down to the customer to take some of the responsability for their choices. You can get in touch with PCS, or ask forum users if your unshure of any component, i can't see a better solution than that.

 

[Buzz]

On most computers the RAM is clocked at 1333MHz because as far as I know XMP is mainly for Intel CPUs and maybe a handful others support it but some would have issues, and as everyone has different computers, the base RAM setting would be 1333. To change the XMP profile you need to change the BIOS settings. Testing RAM on 1333mhz would be the normal, and again as far as I know would be the setting most places would test the RAM at.

There is no real visual or noticeable difference between 1333 and 1600 unless overclocking and/or the likes of 3D processing or heavy photo/video manipulation.

The difference would be only about 1% increase in performance. I myself got the higher, as If I want to use it in the future its there, rather then a later upgrade, but by the time I need it Ill prob be getting a new comp anyway.

Ram is set to what ever profile settings you have in your BIOS, so if you do not ask for your comp to be overclocked by PCS, or if you get a CPU that cant be overclocked then your ram regardless of the MHZ will be defaulted at 1333. If you have an Intel CPU just go into BIOS enable XMP and set your RAM to the higher MHZ and it will be sorted.

This is nothing to do with PCS this is pretty much across the board, Also if a user updates their BIOS then it will divert back t default settings anyway, which will enable 1333 once again.

 

[blindhamster]

I can testify for updating bios causing frustration, as it will indeed wipe any custom settings (including any overclock work done by PCS).

Mine had defaulted to 1600Mhz rather than 1333, for what it's worth, but actually it's all pretty simple to check and update yourself as I've found. The one exception, was overclocking the CPU, which took a me an age to realise setting the AI Overclock Tuner to X.M.P and profile 1 is basically what PCS had done - will wait and see if they made other changes that I need to remake.