Overclocked processors

[stanatou]

One of my boys is shopping for an Alienware gaming system from Dell. I know what overclocking is but I really don't know what issues it may create so I had originally suggested that he not consider any of the systems that are listed as 'overclocked' . That seems to be eliminating a lot of the choices in the Dell outlet. Is there any real downside to buying one of these overclocked systems?

Stan

[Chris B]

Overclocking runs a component beyond it's "guaranteed" limits. As such it may not be as stable as a component at stock voltages and clocks. However many modern parts are simply the same part "binned" into different performance grades. Also the clocks on modern processors seem to be very conservative and the cooling solutions provided by default very low performing. For most purposes an overclock has to be "good enough" to run most cases. Most games - which is the only high performance piece of computing that most modern machines do - do not stress a processor anywhere near as hard as video editing does so something that is not stable when running a 10 hour encode may be fine for all other uses. Personally my processor is overclocked from 2.8 to 3.3GHz, my ram is overclocked and my graphics card is overclocked - none of them have a problem doing anything that I throw at my machine.

So in conclusion - the chances are these will be fine but if you do get problems the first thing to do is reduce your system to stock clocks and voltages and see if the issue goes away.

[Bob]

The Alienware gaming systems are known for their high performance and overclocking. Since Alienware systems are overclocked at the factory, I would expect that the components and cooling are adequate and stable -- at least for gaming purposes.

Overclocking draws more power and produces more heat. Overclocked systems typically require larger capacity power supplies and more efficient heatsinks and cooling. Increasing the clock frequencies also makes it more difficult for the components to process the signals -- marginal components may interpret the bits incorrectly. Aging is also a factor. As the computer components age, they may fall out of spec and problems may occur. But, most gamers don't keep their systems that long.

Summary: You're probably fine with Alienware systems from the factory. Don't tweak them yourself unless you know what you are doing.

[stanatou]

Thanks, guys...much appreciated.

Stan

[stanatou]

Well, my son's Alienware PC has been delivered and he's got it set up. It is a serious piece of hardware. I'm looking at options for connecting it to our home network and, of course, it needs to be able to deliver 'gaming' speeds. Has anyone tried the powerline network adapters? Do they work?

Stan

[Chris B]

Has anyone tried the powerline network adapters? Do they work?

Yes - and Yes - although (like wifi) expect 25% of the advertised network speeds. My 500mbs adapters give 150-175mbs throughput over a very short distance. Many adapters only have 100mbs network ports on them because they'll never reach advertised speeds.

[Bob]

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance AV specification says up to 200 Mbps. Expect less. The speeds Chris is getting sounds right. The speed will go down significantly if the noise on the line is excessive. You can also have degradation due to the age and construction of the wiring, the length of the wiring between devices, and whether the devices are on the same circuit or not. Generally, they are recommend to be used for devices on the same circuit and are not guaranteed to work across circuit breakers although they may. The HomePlug Powerline Alliance came out with a new V2 spec last year that provides much higher speed, but requires that your home wiring be 3-wire which isn't available in all areas and will revert to the lower AV spec if you don't have 3-wire. I haven't been following the market and don't know if V2 adaptors are available yet.

Wouldn't hurt to get a couple and try it. Make sure returns are allowed in case it isn't satisfactory.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

I use these for streaming video to network enabled TVs around the house and also for audio to Squeezebox devices. For that type of application they are fine.

Mine are a mix of Belkin and TP-Link, both rated as AV200. I haven't actually measured the real world performance but I anticipate that I'm getting somewhere in the region of 25 - 30 Mbps (which is a lot faster than my internet connection speed!!!!).

[stanatou]

We bought the Linksys PLSK400 kit and it's working just fine.
Thanks for all the input.

Stan