Never OC'ed before

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kpbradley

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OK, so I built a few desktops but still do not know allot about it. I just purchased a new MB, Mem and few more things and not paying any attention I bought memory that requires to be OC'ed and I am not sure how to do so. I mean I do know how to access the bios.
MSI 770-C45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
and
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail
and the processor is
AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor Model HDZ550WFGIBOX - Retail

I see that the processor is really nice is oc'ed but was not planning on it.

Can someone give me some advise?

Thanks
 
As far as I know, no current piece of hardware NEEDS to be overclocked. Some of them come that way straight from the factory. But for the most part, if you overclock anything you risk damaging your hardware and even destroying it. What's more is that usually overclocking the hardware from the factory settings voids the warranty.

I know you've never done it before, but I just wanted to make it absolutely clear that you don't need to overclock your memory. I'm looking at newegg where you found it RIGHT NOW and absolutely NOWHERE does it say you need to overclock these.

Anyway. Now that we have that out of the way, I'll explain to you how to overclock. BUT! Under no circumstances do I advise this for you. Do this at your own risk.

There are a couple of ways to overclock a piece of hardware. One of the ways to overclock is by using a piece of software that comes with your motherboard. For example, my MSI P-35 Neo Combo motherboard offers a piece of software that lets me manually adjust the Gigahertz or Megahertz level of my CPU and my GPU. It also has an option for me to increase the memory speeds on the graphics card. Different manufacturers have different software though. These are either preinstalled things you can access, or you can find them on the motherboard manufacturer's website.

The only other way to overclock a piece of hardware is through the BIOS. Some motherboard models don't offer you a way to overclock though. So your motherboard has to support the option of overclocking in order for you to do it at all.

In the BIOS, there is usually a section called Voltages and Frequencies. That's where you'll find all your various Hertz levels and voltage settings. With memory, you can adjust the voltages and hertz levels to make them operate at a faster speed. The same can be done for a graphics processor, and CPU.

It is VERY important that if you DO want to adjust things, you only do it by increments of 10hertz or so. So if you see a speed like 333mhz, only adjust it up to 343. You have to do things slowly because if you go too high, the system can become unstable or your parts just won't be able to handle the speeds and voltages you've given them.

ONCE AGAIN! ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL! DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU INTENTIONALLY PLAN ON SLOWLY DAMAGING YOUR HARDWARE!

Hope I've been informative.
 
I thought the memory speed for that mainboard was in need for overclocking. Good thing I was wrong because I do not want to overclock anything.

Thanks allot.
 
What sometimes can happen is the motherboard will adjust it down for reasons I don't understand. Some boards are finnicky that way. So if it does this, you can adjust it back up to what it's supposed to be at. But raising past what the manufacturer says is safe is usually asking for trouble unless you have a good cooling system. Even then, it can be a hassle.
 
Your 1600MHz memory kit will simply run at 1333MHz if not overclocked. You will find no noticeable difference.

However, overclocking is not really risky or dangerous, unless you're planning to use your rig for probably more than 10 years. As long as you can keep temperatures in control, there is negligible wear on your components and no significant damage can occur over quite a long period of time. I say this because that processor you have can OC brilliantly. :)
 
Your 1600MHz memory kit will simply run at 1333MHz if not overclocked. You will find no noticeable difference.

However, overclocking is not really risky or dangerous, unless you're planning to use your rig for probably more than 10 years. As long as you can keep temperatures in control, there is negligible wear on your components and no significant damage can occur over quite a long period of time. I say this because that processor you have can OC brilliantly. :)

That strongly depends on your build, how much you overclock, and if you have the cooling necessary. And I don't think voiding a warranty is a good idea unless the warranty has run out. Overclock it, void warranty, part dies, you're out another 50 to 300 bucks depending on what you broke.
 
I did mention that keeping temperatures under control was most important. I think that people who would like to squeeze out the best possible performance out of their PCs and enthusiasts should go ahead and OC. Unless you've been shipped a defective component, safe OCing will not easily damage it. That saying, I agree, it's more about statistics than real life performance gains. :)

But I guess I like to see those numbers. :D LOL!
 
See if everything in your PC runs according to your expectations. If you're happy with the performance then there's no real point in OCing.
 
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