Future PC Upgrade (overclocking)

[Rockstaru]

I'm looking to upgrade my PC in a few years (got it two years ago as a graduation present.) It's a Dell (not my choice, graduation present) XPS 710, so I'm locked out of adjusting voltage, clock speed, and other settings in BIOS (specifically the processor, a Q6600 2.4 GHz Quad.)

What I'm wondering is, if in a few years I'm looking to upgrade, and I keep some of the components (primarily the processor), will I be able to overclock it with a different motherboard (and BIOS)?

Thanks.

[Shuemue]

In a few years that Dell will be obsolete and you'll build a new machine from scratch.

[Minions]

Was gonna say what Shue said earlier, however I don't really see stuff using the full potential of a quad core now, let alone in a couple years, so I didn't say anything. I'm sure there will be huge advances in the future, just that will make marginal differences overall. Also currently you could probably OC that processor to 3.5~ghz at a minimum if you have watercooling. I havn't really looked at that one specifically, but the one i'm getting is the i7 920 2.66ghz and I know it can be oc'd pretty easily to around 4+ghz with watercooling. Some people have done it on air, but that's really pushing your luck (and making your room hot as a raging inferno)

[Isiolia]

In a few years, a sub-$100 CPU will probably spank the crap out of an OC'ed Q6600, and have better memory bandwidth, and so on...so like said, just plan to get a new box at that point (if not before).

With a different mobo (which may also require getting a different case/PSU at least), then sure, you could overclock. It's still going to be in the general performance range of today's processors though.

[Rockstaru]

I sort of figured as much--it was more a curiosity than anything. Thanks guys.

Also, I can't overclock currently--the BIOS on dell motherboards locks out the user from editing those settings, and I don't really trust software overclocks.

[Ragnell]

I sort of figured as much--it was more a curiosity than anything. Thanks guys.

Also, I can't overclock currently--the BIOS on dell motherboards locks out the user from editing those settings, and I don't really trust software overclocks.

I'm sure there is some kinda software out there to break that lock.


Also, How about a Q9300? Will that be outdated anytime soon as well? It can overclock to probably 3.2-3.4ghz safely

[Rockstaru]

I'm sure there is some kinda software out there to break that lock.


Also, How about a Q9300? Will that be outdated anytime soon as well? It can overclock to probably 3.2-3.4ghz safely

The only thing I found was programs like nTune, which only allows me to OC to 2.65 GHz, but will not allow me to adjust voltage, so I can't go any higher than that without the system freezing. Also, that 2.65 GHz is fairly unstable, and tends to freeze during heavy load.

[guartz]

what are you guys playing that needs OC'd quad cores?

[Minions]

what are you guys playing that needs OC'd quad cores?

He did say "in the future in like 2 years" so I assume nothing atm, also bragging rights!

[Cjskater]

what are you guys playing that needs OC'd quad cores?

If you overclock it to 3.6Ghz and the game you are playing only uses 1 core, you'll still see an improvement. Correct question would be: What are you guys playing that needs OC'd processors? My answer would be anything you need higher FPS in (not what you was looking for I know), GTA4 is the best example I can give here. If he's got a GTX260 (I doubt it looking at his post) or something that quad @2.4 is going to be the bottleneck. It needs it because most game aren't multithreaded enough to make use of a quad. Even when games are made that can make use of all 4 cores, the difference between a 2.4 quad and a 3.6 will probably still be pretty large.

To the OP:
If you are still using the dual 7950GX2s that come with the XPS 710, then I would upgrade that first. I'd get a GTX260/HD4870 or a GTX280/HD4890 before I upgraded the mobo, you'll see larger improvements with that in newer games. You won't see much improvement overclocking your quad with those graphics cards, since they would be the bottleneck in this situation.

If you aren't using those, you can still just upgrade the mobo and you would be able to overclock. The mobo is what prevents you from overclocking, the rest of the components are regular computer parts without limitations (outside of probably being cheap).

[Rockstaru]

My graphics card is actually an Nvidia 8800 GTX, and from what I've heard, the processor would be a bottleneck long before the card would. Also, I'd considered upgrading the motherboard, but a friend of mine who works in IT said that Dell uses a line of motherboards that mounts reversed (orientation-wise) from the normal standard. I did some checking online and saw that Dell uses BTX form factor and most other motherboards use ATX. Would that make a motherboard upgrade a hassle? (i.e. would it force me to replace certain components and get a new case?)

[Cjskater]

My graphics card is actually an Nvidia 8800 GTX, and from what I've heard, the processor would be a bottleneck long before the card would. Also, I'd considered upgrading the motherboard, but a friend of mine who works in IT said that Dell uses a line of motherboards that mounts reversed (orientation-wise) from the normal standard. I did some checking online and saw that Dell uses BTX form factor and most other motherboards use ATX. Would that make a motherboard upgrade a hassle? (i.e. would it force me to replace certain components and get a new case?)

I see, all reports online said 1-2 7950GX2s. You're extremely lucky, the GX2s are pretty terrible in quad SLI and these days couldn't keep up much at all. You're fine in that department then... but yeah I spaced on the case part. Either you mod your case to fit ATX mobos (afaik, you just drill holes) or you buy a case and a mobo. Do you by chance know what size your power supply is? As in dimensions?

[Kinesis]

quads are a waste of money unless u get octo (i7) then its on and cache / mhz is very important. i opted for a dual 3.16GHZ Intel Core2duo E8500 with 6mb of cache. i never lag much...