Hello,

I am curious why overclocking is such a popular past-time. I am a total nerd in other areas, but I am afraid that I do not see the big deal with overclocking.

What is the point?

Personally, I find it much easier to simply purchase a fast computer, and use it for what it is for ... work, surfing the net, and maybe a game or two.

The difference at the end of the day between a 2Ghz and a 1Ghz processor is probably 30 seconds at best in time saved.

Is overclocking and talking about it worth it? This is a serious question. I am not trying to dis anyone's hobby... I am only trying to understand so that I may determine if I would like to give it a try for myself.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks all.

Same argument applies for dropping a crazy engine in a small car. People do it for fun or to get a bit more juice out of their old CPU.

Why do people climb mountains?

Because they can!

Yea, thousand dollar car, three thousand
dollar wheels. I don't get it.

HEY! It's GEEK, not NERD! C'mon & join the club...LOL!

I agree with these guys...we do it because we can. You really don't get THAT much more out of it & you can run into some major problems if ya screw up or push too far, but that's 1/2 of the fun!

For the same reason that people tinker with their cars or climb mountains: It's a hobby, and we enjoy it. If you really enjoy playing with computers and want to join in the fun, you should take the advice of a good friend of mine:
1. Go to the bank and withdraw every penny you have.
2. Sell everything you own that has any value at all.
3. Take all the money and go to a computer store. Put the money on the counter, and tell them you want as much computer stuff as your money will buy. You are going to do this anyway, so you might as well get it over with all at once!

Kind of corny, but it is not far from the truth!

John the unbeliveing heretic, said "The difference at the end of the day between a 2Ghz and a 1Ghz processor is probably 30 seconds at best in time saved."

Actually if you do a lot of video editing, or 3D work in say Autocad, or code generation for CAD/CAM, or gaming, the savings are several hours. Maybe the difference between a 16 hour day and a 10 hour day. I don't live to work, I work to live.

Also if you overclock a new state of the art motherboard and the latest CPU, you will be about 8 months ahead of what is selling in the stores. In 8 months you upgrade and overclock again.

}:-)

But the big reason is because you can. Those that can't, just question the reason.

To Red Rider,

I think you may have misunderstood the intentions of my post. I am sincerely interested in finding out more information...otherwise I would not have visited such a web site. I am not unbelieving, just curious.

To Everyone Else,

I appreciate everyone's input. It must be fun, based on the level of dedication to the hobby that is evident in this forum.

I am going to do some more "homework" and see what I can do with my spare Celeron 1Ghz.

Thanks!