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When to overclock versus when to upgrade is basically a question of economics. Mostly gamers would be faced with this question. Gamers can generally be classified as single players or multiplayers. The recent trend in the electronic gaming industry, however, is that online gaming has become increasingly popular. Together with this change in trend is the advancement of technology with regards to internet communications.

For gamers used to single player modes, there are new releases that require a higher performing system. For example, games of today would require graphics card that has a minimum of pixel shader 3 (PS3). However, there are still new releases that still require pixel shader 2 (PS2) as a minimum. In this case, in order for gamers to compensate for their current system performance, they would tend to overclock in order to surpass the minimum requirement games are demanding today.

One benefit of overclocking is that you can achieve a certain optimum performance of your computer that can maintain certain playability in games. By overclocking, you are also saving yourself money until you can finally decide when to upgrade. The disadvantage of resorting to overclocking, however, is that you can't appreciate the full feature of the game or games you are playing. Sometimes, resorting to overclocking for the games of today would result in lagging game play.

The question of when to upgrade would depend greatly on whether you can afford it. The process of upgrading covers a broad area. There are games that would only require you to upgrade your graphics card, your memory, your processor, or all. The recent release of games today usually requires a complete upgrade of the system.

Most games today would work greatly with dual or quad core. Some games would also require dual graphics card for a maximum performance. The recent trend in games today even supports high-definition and cinema-like quality. In order to fully appreciate these features, you have no choice but to upgrade.

When you've chosen to upgrade, the benefits are evident in the change of game play. First, there is an improvement in frame rate. With an upgraded system, your frame rate would exceed the acceptable standards of twenty-nine to thirty frames per second (such as in movies or videos). Another benefit is an improvement in graphical quality which is almost comparable to computer-generated movies. The newer games also support Dolby digital surround sounds or THX quality. These sounds would help you determine the sounds of steps emanating from different environments, the rustle of the leaves, and so on. Such advantage would help you increase your situational awareness as to where your enemies might be lurking and such depending on the game you're playing. An upgraded system would make your computer compatible for online gaming. Online games would usually demand an upgraded system so that you have lesser lag in game play or none at all.

The greatest disadvantage in upgrading is the costs that come with it. Though upgrades now are comparatively cheaper than they were before, it still is expensive compared to overclocking. Another disadvantage when it comes to upgrading is that it can evolve very fast. You might find yourself buying a certain upgraded hardware, only to find that other new games might require the latest and more advanced version. When this time comes, you would again resort to overclocking. When it comes to overclocking and upgrading, it is basically an unending cycle. However, software developers in this modern day tend to write programs or codes that are compatible only to the new and upcoming systems like Windows Vista. The final decision, therefore, of when to overclock and when to upgrade basically relies on whether you can increase the lifespan of your computer while playing the majority of the games.

Billy Zype is an overclocking expert. You can check out his website at http://www.hotoverclocking.com