Hey all 🙂

I have run my server at base clock since I built it.

Intel i9 12900K @ 3200MHz

Temps are very stable and RARELY even hit 60c. I am running a 360mm AIO with Noctua industrial PWM 3k RPM fans.

My question is, is there any real benefit to raising the clock speeds? Even conservatively at 4500MHz is fairly tame for this processor.

I just am not sure what actual benefit it would provide. Would it speed up VM's or help Dockers run more responsively, or just be hot and waste power for no gain?

I know the benefits on my main rig because I do occasionally do some gaming on it, but I am clueless when it comes to my server on this.

Any info or comments are welcomed.

Don't overclock your server unless your data isn't important to you.

Ok. Could you elaborate on that? I don't understand they why or why not, or what the issues or benefits may be. Kind of what I was asking. 😉

Also, is it even technically overclocking? My other machine will run at 4.9GHz with nothing overclocked, that just happens to be the high side of the "safe" zone for the processor. Though in fairness that is with the intel turbo thing enabled.

Would under-volting be more useful since it would drop temps a bit?

Edited May 19May 19 by LordShad0w

If I posted in the wrong section, could someone move it to the correct one please? 🙂

It’s really just common sense.

If your CPU is “slower” (it’s still pretty darn fast, though), you’ll use less power and generate less heat. Heat would always be the sticking point for me in a server.

As for your question about whether overclocking is worth it:

For VMs, it depends... If you’re playing games on the VM (streaming them via Sunshine, for example), then maybe or you do software encoding (or i dont know). Otherwise, fast RAM would be more important here to make things run “snappier.”

For Docker, it doesn’t help at all. The vast majority of Docker containers run absolutely smoothly and respond quickly even on a small Raspberry Pi.

An NVMe drive would be absolutely essential, for example if the VM and Docker are running on that, you will be fine.

I would NOT overclock and I'm would even considering under-volting the CPU. :)

Technically speaking, what you're describing isn't actually overclocking. What Intel achieves with Turbo Boost and similar technologies is already listed in the specs.

You're only overclocking if you set the clock speed in the BIOS higher than what's specified in the specs.

Edited May 20May 20 by Elyeu

22 hours ago, Elyeu said:

It’s really just common sense.

If your CPU is “slower” (it’s still pretty darn fast, though), you’ll use less power and generate less heat. Heat would always be the sticking point for me in a server.

As for your question about whether overclocking is worth it:

For VMs, it depends... If you’re playing games on the VM (streaming them via Sunshine, for example), then maybe or you do software encoding (or i dont know). Otherwise, fast RAM would be more important here to make things run “snappier.”

For Docker, it doesn’t help at all. The vast majority of Docker containers run absolutely smoothly and respond quickly even on a small Raspberry Pi.

An NVMe drive would be absolutely essential, for example if the VM and Docker are running on that, you will be fine.

I would NOT overclock and I'm would even considering under-volting the CPU. :)

Technically speaking, what you're describing isn't actually overclocking. What Intel achieves with Turbo Boost and similar technologies is already listed in the specs.

You're only overclocking if you set the clock speed in the BIOS higher than what's specified in the specs.

Ah ok! I just wondered as my setup never goes above the base clock from what I see. Thank you so much for explaining. 🙂

I am running all my dockers on an SSD as per the docs recommendations. My board does not support NVME drives, sadly.

(I mean, it does currently but the motherboard that is going in this summer does not as it is a bit older and will also drop me to DDR4)

What I had in mind was raising the clock in BIOS to something a bit higher, but I won't go that route now.

Unfortunately with the RamPocalypse upon us, attaining faster RAM than what I have on hand is just not in the cards.

Anyway, thank you again so much for the breakdown, I appreciate it immensely!

We all get to that point eventually, my friend.

And if you like, you can always see if overclocking makes you “happier.”

By the way, depending on your CPU quality, you can also undervolt and overclock at the same time.

As for what trurl meant about data integrity/data loss, I can put your mind at ease. Theoretically, it’s possible that your CPU might fail sooner due to overclocking. But “sooner” is a variable that no one can give you a reliable answer for. However, it’s a fact that higher voltage and heat affect the lifespan.

An SSD is fast, of course... On paper, an NVMe is significantly faster, but I can’t tell you if you’ll actually “notice” the difference.

My Unraid has an NVMe and my old NAS “just” an SSD. I can’t tell if the NVMe is faster for my workload.

And yeah, it’s really bad when it comes to RAM prices or flash storage in general (or even hard drives). :(

But you still have a damn fast machine that a lot of people would definitely love to have.