CPU Boosting / Overclocking?

frustrated and stuck!! hopefully i wont become to much of a regular with problems on here!! Im waiting for reciept of my laptop and i will have the i7 3820QM at standard i think its 2.7GHz which i guess is good for gaming? but it says it can turbo boost to 3.7GHz (or something like that) how do you do that and what purpose would it serve? im assuming i will be able to play all games on ultra with good fps on my system and that i will be able to do so for a few years to come! but how/why do you overclock (that goes for the 7970M to why and how, if you can play games with it running standard) i mean if you overclock both do u get like 5fps more or is it a considerable amount more?? also any advice on drivers, where to get and how to install etc? any help (in depth if any one has the time) would be very helpful!! need someone to take me under there wing lol

 

You OC the CPU in order for the computer to do more 'computing tasks' efficiently and quicker.

You can do so by getting Intel XTU - it's pretty straightforward to use.

Higher CPU also means your physics scores are higher.

Etc etc. I'm sure more competent dudes than myself can elaborate further though.

 

Where do i get the Intel XTU from? Is this like a control panel to easily overclock? Is it simple stuff? And is there any point in that i mean will the gpu and cpu max out games if i dont overclock?

 

in all overclocks only you say when to overclock no longer and that point comes when you feel unsafe to overclock further by knowing what safe temperatures are.

For your 7970 a safe temparature limit is about 79c and your cpu should be around 82c under stress (this is what I consider safe) if you want to go further its on you - but you have a big chance of frying your computer and your house

 

Read this thread for 3720/3820 overclocking via the bios in the R4

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/667399-3720qm-oc-7970m-drivers-plague.html

 

You sound very new to over-clocking. Please be very cautious and do as much research as possible before attempting it. You can destory your processor and video card doing this.

 

Ok guys thankyou very much! so the i7 3820 that i will have says it can turbo boost to 3.7GHz is that not overclocking if it does that? and does it go up to 3.7GHz automatically if the game requires it (so i wudnt have to do anything??) can the same be said for the GPU?

Can you give me a rough answer to the question above this post if u can please im abit stuck ^^^^^^^^^^

 

Turboboost is the feature of the Ivy Bridge CPU's that increases (overclocks) the operating frequency to increase computing speed and capacity. The basic design of the 3820QM results in increases up to 3.7GHz when only one core is utilized or to 3.5GHz when all four cores are used, subject to power, load and temperature limitations. All of this happens automatically and continuously without need for adjustment or intervention by you. You have a very powerful notebook enroute, and it is very unlikely that you will need to overclock either the 3820QM or the 7970M beyond their respective design parameters. After you become familiar with your R4 and learn more about its capabilities you can consider overclocking if you feel that you need more power or simply want to find out what it's like. In the meantime, quit worrying about it and enjoy your computer as designed. It's more than enough in stock trim.

 

Ok cheers for that im just worrying because ive read in alot of forums metro 2033, arma2, max payne 3 and witcher 2 just break all systems bringing them to there knees and seeing as how there the games i wanna play im trying to anticipate what im gunna do when i finally recieve my laptop!! Cause i wanna play on high settigs with high fps :/ will be disapointed if i cant

Also out of interest how 'futureproof' is this system il have will i still be playing new release games on it in 3 years do u reckon??

 

There's no real answer to that. You have one of the most powerful single-GPU notebook systems in the world. It should handle the great majority of games for the foreseeable future, even if not always at max-ultra settings, but given the advance of technology there is no telling what tomorrow may bring to gameplay or gaming graphics and the equipment advances that could be needed. Odds are that you will be well-equipped for the next year, maybe even two, but beyond that it is anyone's guess.

 

Ok thankyou very much

Windows 8 is out later this year if i want to install that would it format my drive (i wouldnt want to lose all my games i will have) any way to stop me losing my games? And any need to upgrade to windows 8? Will windows 7 still play all games?

 

I don't want to upgrade to Windows 8. I think Windows 8 is too much of a tablet/mobile phone OS.

And no you won't have to upgrade to Windows 8 for any reason, anything that works with Windows 8 will pretty much work on Windows 7, especially games.

 

Sweet cant wait to get my laptop!! Hope it gets here before the estimated delivery date!

 

You can install Windows 8 on a separate partition on your boot/OS drive and then choose whether to use your existing Win 7 system or Win 8 for the session at startup. Major programs like MS Office installed under Win 7 have to be separately installed under Win 8 to work there, but standalone utilities or other programs can be used under either OS by linking to the same location.

 

Me and you both! I'm waiting for mine to be delivered as well.

 

First I've heard of this and I've multi-booted many times before.

How would this work? Would you setup a third partition (or a third disk) and run programs and documents on there so you could essentially share almost everything?

That's actually an idea I like, would give me a nice way of testing Windows 8 and all Windows 7 programs will be compatible so shouldn't be very hard to set up.

To clarify when you say some applications need to be installed separately do you mean any applications which have to run through an installer? And then any applications which are just a single .exe (like cpu-z/gpu-z) can just be linked from a central location?

 

When I was running Win 8 Consumer Preview version, I set up a separate 64GB partition on the c: drive (a 256GB SSD). The dual boot option is automatically installed during the Win 8 installation when it recognizes an existing OS on the drive. You set a default OS (can be changed); if no selection is made at the dual boot screen within the time allowed (adjustable), it boots into the default OS. Very smooth, noob-proof process. You will of course have to install the same drivers used for Win 7 in Win 8. Yep, if an installer is required, the program has to be separately installed under Win 8. Standalone utilities/programs (like GPU-Z, HWINFO64, etc.) can be run just by setting up a new shortcut to the executable. The dual boot method is a great way to try out Win 8. Unfortunately, it's not too exciting, at least during the time I was using it. Hopefully, there are a lot more Win 8 apps available now.