New to Forum: Is it still worth overclocking Athlon II X3 445 and A880G+ Mobo

[pnuttbutt]

I own 4 of these self built systems, they run fine still. I play some online mmo's and plan to multibox using these systems.

Atm they can't run more than 3 accounts at same time with decent FPS, so I think a video card up grade and perhaps overclocking the processor and mobo with add'l 2GB RAM should do it.

Do you think it's worth investing in these machines and overclocking them or just biting the bullet and buying an i7 or i9 and tossing them all out?

[Doctor_Death]

Welcome to Pure OC ! First you need to give us all the information on each system, motherboards, CPU's, memory, GPU's, and power supplys
Once we have this information we can start to help you.

Thanks

[Doctor_Death]

Also use the " User CP " located top left hand side of this page, and add your location, and your main system's specs.

[JamesLT3]

Hey Pnuttbutt,Welcome to PureOC!

[pnuttbutt]

I added my system specs and phys location. My psu doesn't have any info on it, I think it's 400 watt no name, nothing special. Checked bios menu nothing there either to tell me.

[killjoyjim]

WELCOME TO PURE OC

[realneil]

Welcome to PureOC.

More Ram would help performance a little if you have the 64Bit version of XP. Changing to faster RAM would help a little too.
Do they all have the GTX550Ti card in them? Seems to me that you're rockin' a decent card already.
Overclocking your CPU will most likely mean investing in a better CPU cooler for all of them.
It will use more power too. (no-name PSU's don't always work for an overclock)
You're dealing with diminishing returns here.

An i7 system would be a lot faster and if you get the right motherboard, you can SLI a few of those GTX-550Ti cards for some great performance.
I usually recommend upgrades to people, but this time I have to go with getting something newer and reusing the Video cards you have already.
Make sure that you buy a 64bit OS too. (Win-7)

You can get a good tax break if you donate the old systems still working to a school or a shelter for the homeless or a battered women's shelter.

[Doctor_Death]

You mentioned 4 systems, what's the specs on the other 3 ?

[JamesLT3]

You mentioned 4 systems, what's the specs on the other 3 ?

Im not positive but i think there all the same, thats how i took it

[alan1476]

Im not positive but i think there all the same, thats how i took it

Na, nobody in their right mind would build 4 AMD builds. LOL.

[SamCR3]

Na, nobody in their right mind would build 4 AMD builds. LOL.

Guess I'm crazy then. I built three AMD rigs and I have an AMD laptop. They are all good systems and weren't very expensive to build. They work very well and my FX rig in particular is fun to overclock. About to get more fun once I install a full custom water loop.

[xelosia]

Welcome to PURE OC

[Whatmorals]

I believe majority of recommended specs of games right now are built around the Athlon x3 but if you really want to push it you can overclock it and get like crossfire 6870's or a 580
That should be a really nice budget machine that can handle most of anything.
I recommend no less than 4gb ram, 8 for no issues and 32gb if you want to save programs to your ram
GL

[pnuttbutt]

Na, nobody in their right mind would build 4 AMD builds. LOL.

that "LOL" kinda went over my head. Yes I have 4 x3's 3.1GHz AMD's and a quad core Q6600 - funny cause the tri cores are killing the 2.4 GHz intel quad on performance even when running multiple instances of various gaming accounts.

I did update a few things, increased RAM to 4 GB even tho I'm using XP (very noticeable performance increase), updated graphics drivers and installed separate paging drives. They're all running a lot faster now. I haven't oc'd any of them yet, but plan on it.

The best advice I've gotten from anybody so far is "RealNeil" thank you all for the time you put into helping me out. I agree with you 100% that I need to buy an i7, but until I can afford $800 I went with $60 solution and if I get the cpu's oc'd I think I should be fine for another year or two.

A quick cost-benefit analysis shows I'm spending a lot on multiple psu's as running 4-5 comps daily is a real cost in power, but the difference is I'm not paying it all up front. I'll probably break down at some point, when I can find a buyer for my 5 rigs.

Again, thanks for the help - look forward to being part of your community

[Drdeath]

Welcome to PureOC.

More Ram would help performance a little if you have the 64Bit version of XP. Changing to faster RAM would help a little too.
Do they all have the GTX550Ti card in them? Seems to me that you're rockin' a decent card already.
Overclocking your CPU will most likely mean investing in a better CPU cooler for all of them.
It will use more power too. (no-name PSU's don't always work for an overclock)
You're dealing with diminishing returns here.

An i7 system would be a lot faster and if you get the right motherboard, you can SLI a few of those GTX-550Ti cards for some great performance.
I usually recommend upgrades to people, but this time I have to go with getting something newer and reusing the Video cards you have already.
Make sure that you buy a 64bit OS too. (Win-7)

You can get a good tax break if you donate the old systems still working to a school or a shelter for the homeless or a battered women's shelter.

More ram does not help performance NEIL and faster Ram does not do much in gaming. If he is running out of memory resources, more ram is needed of course.

[realneil]

that "LOL" kinda went over my head.

Just being silly most likely. We tend to tease one another sometimes, but it's not serious.

More ram does not help performance NEIL and faster Ram does not do much in gaming

When I went from 2GB to 4GB, I saw a ~big~ change in performance Jim.

From 4GB to 8GB, I saw a ~little~ more.

From 8GB to 16GB I saw a jack-nada da-yam tiny-assed bit, but I ~felt~ better because it was there.
Faster RAM does give you a little,......As I said above, "LITTLE" bit more that can be verified if you benchmark your system.
But IMHO it's not usually worth it to do.