Is 'Overclocking' a pc thing?

Or is it used mainly by thoes interested in 'tweakin' the pc for gaming fun.
I would think that for image editing just your system RAM is sufficient. Unless on is working under lightening-fast deadlines or with huge files.........Is it analogous to...er, say pushin' th ASA?

Well I'm very new to Macs myself so I don't know much info on the IBM G5, let alone how to go about getting another one or installing one if it gets destroyed. So just in that respect yes, I'd say it's a PC thing.

witeshark said:

Overclocking is as I understand it is done by re wiring jumpers on a CPU. With added cooling it can be ok, but I don't like the idea

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Either adjusting the clock multiplier or FSB speed. Now a days it's not via jumpers but within the BIOS.

Desolate One said:

Either adjusting the clock multiplier or FSB speed. Now a days it's not via jumpers but within the BIOS.

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Nice to know, thanks!

But WHAT IS the purpose?-better resoulution,faster scene chaange? WHAT?!??!!?

ajresovsky said:

But WHAT IS the purpose?-better resoulution,faster scene chaange? WHAT?!??!!?

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Faster processing. Overclocking is just running a processor faster than the speed it was designed to run at. I used to have an Athlon XP 2500+ which runs at 1.83 ghz, but I could run it at 2.2ghz just fine with the same stock cooling.

I would assume there wouldn't be much possibility for overclocking in the Mac world since the ability to overclock is a controlled by the hardware. I wouldn't think Apple would allow that to be an option, same way Intel boards don't allow for overclocking.

No Intel mobos can OC. This of course means nothing unless you buy a Dell, Alienware, etc. But those who even have the slightest clue what they are doing would never:
1. Buy a Dell or Alienware.. LOL.
2. Put an Intel mobo in a machine they were building. They are generally more expensive than most third-party mobos, and are extremely limited as far as customization is concerned.

There are plenty of third-party mobo manufacturers (Abit, Asus, DFI, etc.) that incorporate Intel chipsets whose sole purpose is to cater to the needs of PC enthusiasts - these mobos do allow OC'ing and are built to accommodate the additional heat and voltage.

Mac hardware will never be overclockable. Macs are great because of the excellence of stability and support that accompanies the fact it is a proprietary platform. If Apple allowed OC'ing of their hardware, they'd lose a lot of what makes their machines so appealing.

This is why PC's will always have the advantage in the performance department. It is simply impossible for a single company to compete with an open-source platform.

Advantages PC's (Custom of course) have over Macs:
1. Overclockability
2. Faster Memory - Apple still uses the dreadful PC-3200 in their top-end systems DESPITE the increase of the dual 2.5's FSB, which was obviously only a marketing move, since an increase in FSB yields additional performance if the memory is incapable of accommodating it.
3. Hardware RAID (Software RAID is and has always been a joke)
4. Native SATA w/ NCQ (Macs only support bridged SATA, which is absolutely no different than PATA, except for the thinner cables)
5. Video Card Flashing and OC'ing
6. PCI-Express
7. SLI
8. Superior Video Card Driver Support and Updates
9. Much faster Optical Drives

A few Macs can be overclocked, but it's not really common...why? Quite simple, it doesn't give you much more speed...
Your CPU will run faster and hotter, and your benchmarks might get better results, but the increase is not significant in everyday use.

It doesn't really matter if you gain a couple of seconds in a CPU intensive task.

In the PC world it's a different story. You can gain more performance, because a PC is an unbalanced mix of hardware, not optimised from one piece of hardware to another...
A Mac is entirely devlopped by Apple, which is way more effective, but also proprietary and more expensive.