CLOCK WORKS
Want to be a competitive overclocker? Here’s how to get started, by Scharon Harding
Want to become a competitive overclocker? We have all the information you need to get started
OVERCLOCKING boosts your performance, but what about your street cred? You can boast about your achievements to friends, but when you’re ready to show the world your skills, there’s competitive overclocking. Competitors enjoy a vast community online and at events worldwide. There are also prizes for winning competitions and breaking records. Competitive overclockers’ ultimate destination is HWBot, which hosts global overclocking competitions and maintains a database of world records. Place near the top of one of its ranking boards, and you’ve made it.
Sound exciting? For those new to overclocking or interested in competing, we’re here to help. Here are successful professional overclockers’ best tips for getting started.
Start with CPUs or RAM, not graphics cards. Premium graphics cards are usually more expensive than CPUs or RAM kits, so you’ll be more upset if you kill one by pushing it too hard. CPUs and RAM are also easier to overclock.
CPUs are the most popular starting point. Like other components, they also have built-in safety features, like thermal throttling, to help avoid damage from excessive voltage or inadequate cooling. In addition, keeping your CPU’s heat at bay is easier than cooling “most reference GPUs” according to Albrecht Mesotten, who’s been competing since 2009. “It’s also much easier to test stability for a CPU than for a GPU," he added.
You don’t need the most expensive components. When you check out the top scores on HWBot, you’ll see premium, expensive components listed. This makes the idea of buying your way to the top enticing, but overclockers we spoke to said you don’t need the priciest components—you can still gain points and move up the rankings with older parts. And competitive overclocking is about more than pushing GHz, so getting the most expensive components and binning them to find the highest possible clock speeds doesn’t guarantee you victory.
Mesotten points to the different requirements needed for the benchmarks, such as operating systems, even outdated platforms like Windows XP. One of the trickiest parts is that you need a multitude of operating systems available for your setup to get the best performance. If you spend a lot, you’ll be that much more in the hole if a product gets damaged.
BEYOND AIR COOLING
If you’re air cooling your CPU, you’ll probably hit a maximum of 4.8-5.2GHz on Intel’s 7th generation and later K-series processors, depending on your luck with the silicon lottery—variances in silicon that result in different performance among processors with the same model number. AMD’s 2nd-generation Ryzen processors will reach 3.8-4.2GHz with a beefy air cooler. If you want to go higher, you need to upgrade your cooling, a milestone for serious overclockers. To be highly competitive, you’ll want to get into liquid nitrogen (aka LN ).
2
But you don’t have to start with LN .
2 Cooling is one of the biggest challenges for newbie overclockers. So, consider working your way up from air or water cooling to single-stage cooling and cascade cooling, before graduating to liquid nitrogen. “Whether the new overclocker wants to do 2D processor benchmarking or 3D graphics card benchmarking, the most important aspect to overclocking is ambient cooling testing. The first step for beginners is to obtain a high-performance air cooler or some variety of liquid cooler,” David Miller, a competitor since 2010, told us. Also, consider building your own water-cooling loop. Mesotten said that, while all-in-one water coolers are nice, they don’t offer the same performance as a custom setup.
Single-stage cooling uses a compressor that can let you reach subzero temperatures—around -40C to -60C. When you move on to cascade cooling, you can hit around -80C. But liquid nitrogen will let you drop your CPU temps even further, to -197C.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Choose your equipment with care. Enthusiasts are very vocal about their preferred brands. Unfortunately, however, there’s no magic formula of brands and products that’ll guarantee a record-breaking rig, but we did get some advice from the experts for building your overclocking system.
“It’s always good to test each individual component and then build them up. The trick is really to find each particular component that is good, and then bring them in and build something out of it. Because if you have one weak component, obviously that’s going to be your weakest link,” Joe Stepongzi, a competitive overclocker since 2009, explained. “It is good to test each individual component separately in some way, so we use different benchmarks to do that. Once we’re happy with that, we bring them all together and put it to work.”
CHOOSING COMPONENTS
Which CPU is best to start your overclocking career? Experts we spoke to recommended Intel’s K series, such as the 8700K or 9900K, which are unlocked for overclocking. Mesotten advises against high-end, non-K Intel CPUs, since these are locked and not as overclockable. Almost all AMD CPUs have unlocked multipliers, which will help you bring out a few hundred MHz of extra power.
To work with a motherboard with the Z390 chipset, a popular platform for Intel overclocking, look for memory modules based on Samsung B-die integrated circuits (ICs). This type of memory has become synonymous with highfrequency, tight timings, and the most efficient benchmark results, and certain Intel Extreme Memory Profiles (XMPs) are nearly impossible to hit without Samsung B-die memory.
8GB RAM modules with Samsung B-die are popular and typically sold in
kits of two. According to Miller, when buying RAM, the main factors to consider (besides memory size and physical features) are clock speed and timings. Depending on the operating frequency, Miller recommends looking for the following timings for a better chance of ensuring you get Samsung B-die silicon:
SELECTING A MOTHERBOARD Motherboard choice depends on the competition you’re entering—you can be tasked to work with older technologies, such as Slot A, the socket formerly used by AMD’s desktop Athlon CPUs. Mesotten recommends a motherboard that gives
you ample BIOS settings, and both he and Stepongzi pointed to Asus, whose ROG line is built for gaming and overclocking.
Remember, it’s not just about clock speed, so you’ll want the flexibility to do things like tune memory and dial other settings. “Many overclockers prefer Asus because all the BIOS settings are there, and that’s the most important thing. We don’t have enough options with the standard BIOS settings,” Mesotten said. For overclocking RAM, Miller suggests picking a motherboard with two DIMM slots for memory, which are “far superior” to four-DIMM motherboards, as there’s a shorter distance between the CPU and DIMM slots.
POWER AND COOLING
A decent power supply is a priority for any overclocking rig; you don’t want to be falling short on power delivery. As such, consider high-end brands, such as Cooler Master, Corsair, and Seasonic. Mesotten
recommends a PSU with a minimum of 1,000W for overclocking a single component. But if you’re overclocking multiple graphics cards or using an extreme cooling method (like LN ), he recommends going up to 1,200W.
Additionally, Stepongzi believes your PSU choice should, to a certain degree, depend on the benchmark. Depending on the benchmark, an 18-core CPU can pull 1,300-1,400 watts. You’ll need a solid power supply because many will trip the OCP (overcurrent protection) at a certain wattage and shut down. For example, overclocking an 18-core CPU with liquid nitrogen can even trip a circuit breaker in a U.S. home if you have other electronics connected to the same circuit. (Pro tip: Stepongzi usually finds a separate circuit in his house to run the PSU for overclocking, and connects any other electronics to a different circuit.)
Make sure that you have a good temperature meter and temperature probes. Stepongzi recommends the Fluke 52 II dual-probe digital thermometer. If you plan on working with liquid nitrogen, you’ll need a dewar, which is a type of vacuum flask for storing cryogens. Stepongzi usually opts for 30-liter dewars. A dewar can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars when new, but you can find them for a couple of hundred bucks on eBay. (Warning: you may sometimes come across listings that discuss storing cow semen, another use for dewars). Stepongzi noted that in the U.S. you can also rent dewars from welding supply companies, such as Airgas.
While you’re at it, you should consider grabbing yourself a dewar flask for distributing liquid nitrogen, which usually occurs by pouring it from a large dewar into a flask, and then to the “pot” that holds the LN and mates with the component. Also, consider buying a blow torch to heat the pot when needed. For any sub-zero cooling, Miller favors Kingpin
products, including the T-Rex line of CPU containers ($325-$399) and KPx thermal paste ($11.99).
THE OTHER BITS
Miller recommends that you get at least three SSDs. You probably won’t need more than 60GB per drive, but it’s good to get a few for storing different operating systems. “When I use liquid nitrogen to overclock for world rankings, I often use three or more different operating systems in one afternoon. For this reason, it is not only convenient but also necessary, to pre—load SSDs with various operating systems in order to quickly change tasks,” Miller explained.
If you do eventually go down the GPU route, Stepongzi said that “Nvidia GPUs are the fastest,” (which we second) and points to the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti as the best option.
MORE THAN SPEEDS
The best overclockers aren’t just focused on boosting clock speeds but are also interested in demonstrating the ability to drive better performance from a system—perhaps without adjusting any voltages. We’re planning ahead here, but to further your ranking after breaking
the top 10 in a particular category, you’ll have to do tweaking that takes you beyond growing GHz. More advanced tactics (such as playing with driver settings, trying an older version of a driver, or another operating system) are what it takes to cross the threshold into true competitiveness and eventually improve your ranking.
For example, Superpi 32M is a singlethreaded benchmark that’s very sensitive to memory usage and speed. Mesotten said that benching it on Windows XP leads to better overclocks than on Windows 7. He also pointed to legacy 3DMarks, where you’ll get better scores with Windows XP and Windows 7 than Windows 10. By using the newer systerms you can expect a drop in efficiency and, therefore, your competitive score. Today’s competitive overclockers often need 32-bit and/or 64bit versions of Windows XP, 7, 8.1 and 10, depending on the benchmark.
An example with drivers can be seen in older AMD GPUs, where overclocking with an older driver can make a “huge” difference, depending on the benchmark, according to Mesotten. He noted that you would likely see better performance on the GPUPi benchmark with an older SDK AMD driver.
A disappointing score may make you want to push voltage sliders to their maximum or trash your current setup and start from scratch. However, it’s better to do one tweak at a time and then test those results, rather than make multiple changes at once. Mesotten points to a triangle of sorts—speed, temperature and voltages—that you have to push, yet also keep in a “safe zone” without straying too far. “A lot of times if you change too much when you’re going through a system it ends up causing more issues, and you just bang your head everywhere,” Stepongzi explained.
When you start competing, first develop some good testing practices and methods that you’ll use all the time. You can listen to others’ advice, but Stepongzi advised that you need to work on this yourself a bit to “find yourself and your own setup.” And know when to stop. If your motherboard shuts down erratically or you’re getting blue screens, it’s time to pause to avoid breakage. These things are usually a sign that condensation is forming somewhere, according to Mesotten. For GPUs, Mesotten recommends increasing clock speeds 25MHz at a time. Test your favorite game, and if things are stable, you can push some more.
When benchmarking, Miller said that it’s best to focus on one test at a time and learn to perfect your score by running it repeatedly before going for more aggressive overclocks. The goal is to keep the processor, memory, and motherboard settings constant while you compare the scores on different operating systems and different settings within the operating system. There are many factors besides processor speed that can affect the score in Cinebench R15, for example.
“Simply comparing… Windows 10 and Windows 7, for instance, one will find that the score on Windows 7 is substantially better. One might even see a score variance of up to one percent between each benchmark result without changing anything. Committing your time and energy to one benchmark and learning everything you can about it is the best way to succeed,” Miller said.
WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY
Overclocking communities can really help you boost your competitive edge and achieve better efficiency and scores. You can use them to find other overclockers willing to critique and advise on your setup, testing, and scores. Check out forums like Tom’sHardware. www.overclock.net
is also friendly for noobs and has a large and successful USA overclocking team.
There are also communities to tap on HWbot and even Facebook. Look for people you can relate to who aren’t against sharing information. You can also check out YouTube, including channels like Stepongzi’s Bearded Hardware. Finally, get free tips from scores posted on HWBot. Look at the screenshot for things you may not have considered, such as driver versions, operating systems, or tweaking tools used.
Start off with team competitions. When you’re ready to compete for the first time, it’s better to enter as a team instead of solo. You get the backing and knowledge of an entire team to help improve your best overclocks. Additionally, you’ll get access to honest feedback on whether you have a potentially winning score or not. You may think you have an idea of how you’ll rank by looking at scores already posted, but overclockers often sandbag and withhold their best scores until the competition’s about to close.
PICKING A TEAM
You can join a team on HWBot, but our experts recommend starting off on an Overclock.net team for your first time because of the site’s novice-friendly nature. Stepongzi also recently launched a team on HWBot (called Bearded Hardware) specifically for people looking to learn. When submitting scores, be thorough and share pictures. You can find HWBot’s general rules and guidelines on the website. Each individual competition has its own regulations and requirements, so be sure to read those thoroughly too. If you fail to meet a requirement and there’s not enough time to remedy it, you may end up being disqualified.
But it’s not just about being eligible. HWbot is a database, so your results will be stored for a while. Producing detailed, informative submissions is a good way to make a name for yourself, especially if you’re new to the world of competitive overclocking. So be sure to share screenshots and, if possible, pictures of your system and components. “Try to take pictures; don’t just put up a score. Most people want to see how you did it and what you’re about,” Stepongzi suggested.
SPONSOR UP
Getting sponsored helps but comes with challenges. Many of the best overclockers, including Miller and Stepongzi, are sponsored, which means that a component company supplies them with products, making it cheaper for them to compete. But those free components come with a lot of pressure attached. Those vendors expect you not just to win competitions, but to break world records. Meeting expectations is not easy. For example, a CPU that a company expects to run at 5.8 Hz may end up running slower thanks to the silicon lottery. Some sponsored overclockers find themselves forced to test almost nightly, because if a product from another vendor is posted with a higher score, they get a call from their sponsor, who always wants to hold that number-one spot.
Still, Stepongzi, who found his first sponsor a year after competing, feels that to be really competitive, you need a sponsor. Sponsors reach out to overclockers, or you can reach out to them. But in either scenario, you’ll need proof that you have what it takes to overclock their product to the top of the record books. Being in the top 20 or top 10 in the world is a good way to get attention.
“You just need to get your name out for name recognition. it kind of works from there. The trick is to almost take anything off the bat, and work for it and show people what you can do. Because if you want to get into this world, you need to show them first,” Stepongzi said. “An opportunity can come out of nowhere: You’d be surprised.”