Can you overclock a Dell Dimension system?
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RallyMaster
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- Dec 28, 2004
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never. Dell doesn't allow OCing and neither does any company that manufactures computers (except those in China like TCL).
So no soft mod for dell system? I read on clockgen and it doesn't seems to persist after reboot, is this true?
It wouldn't hurt to try clockgen. It doesnt stay after a reboot, but if you put a file in the right place with a certain command line, it will automaticly overclock again after getting in to windows(I forget exactly how to set it up for that, haven't used it in a little while).
mindless1
Diamond Member
- Aug 11, 2001
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Why would you need it to persist? If you have a Dell wouldn't you want it to NOT persist just in case you fry it?
Anything is overclockable. Anyone remember swapping crystals on 80286? Question is whether you really "need" to o'c it.
Did you buy a better 'sink? Do you know how to up the vcore? Did you know there's a fair chance you could simply swap in a different bios and not have Dell's limitations? Not having your board I can't tell you the details, but if you have the will it is hackable.
I totally forgot about this topic. Anyways, if it is stable at a higher clock setting, why not have the setting persists? I didn't know that I can swap a differenct bios on a Dell's mb. Any link is very much appreciated.
mindless1
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Why would they let you overclock? It's no possible gain for them, since they sell higher performing systems for more $, since it's higher tech support costs if someone has an o'c related problem then tries to get a tech to troubleshoot crashing or other issues, and in the hands of an inexperienced overclocker, it can damage hardware.
It's not guaranteed stable at some random vague notion of higher clock either, in general the statement simply can't be made. It MUST be a specific scenario, a specific attempt, and specfic parts. Then it must be proven stable as well.
These are not the typical skill sets of the avg. joe OEM system buyer. It might even be true that if one can't overclock a given piece of equipment, if they lack the ability to figure out how, they then might also lack the appreciation for the issues inherant in doing so. To a certain extent, overclocking has gotten TOO easy. Flip your vDimm up past 3.0V?
Not always a good idea, and likewise with other parts. Simply rasing CPU vcore enough can put double the current through a motherboard's power regulation stage which might be fine given good motherboard (not just CPU) cooling, and a board engineered to accomodate this, but to engineer far beyond stock settings inherantly increases board costs too- something an OEM is not looking to do for overclocking or many other scenarios the system was not marketed to support loosely or have built in with the purchased hardware.
OEMs know price sells systems and cutting 20% of cost everywhere, being able to deliver a system for $400 instead of $500 for what looks the same on paper will sell a few, maybe a lot of systems against fierce competition.
It's only later the user slowly notices place after place that corners were cut.
Anyone can swap a different bios, you just have to use a flasher that'll do it, perhaps Uniflash, and find another bios that is compatible with the board (for example the retail equivalent board bios, from the real board manufacturer, or even a bios for another board with all the feature support you need that is common between the two. I don't feel it's a good idea to try to give a shortcut answer to how to flash another bios because only you have the system and all details necessary to research, try, and recover from a possible dead-board-bios-problem scenario. Some boards even have the EEPROM soldered on, making it a lot more of a PITA to desolder the old chip and replace if things go awry.
So ultimately you have two options- spend the time to gain the background knowledge necesssary to DIY, or buy a different motherboard that compliments your goal.
I think I've confused you mindless1. I know the pros and cons of overclocking a system, and I'm not asking "why Dell didn't configure my system to run faster when it can". It just happens that I got a dell because it was on sale for very very cheap. I was looking for ways to overclock it because over at overclockers.com, you can have 3.5 ghz (from a 3.0) running on stock cooling. So one of an easier/safer choice was clockgen, but clockgen does not retain the setting across reboot.
http://www.cpufsb.de/
Right now I'm on a dell 4600 2.66 at 2.9 ghz. Get cpufsb. You can have it as a start up program over reboot, and it's free. You'll have to poke around google for the pll of a dell 9100, though. You can't really overclock it much. Dell's motherboard, cooling, and psu sucks. Dell figures out exactly how much power the thing needs, and provides the bare minimum. Remember, if you save just $5 per computer because of a slightly cheaper psu, and build 10 million, you've saved $50 million dollars. I wouldn't even try to bump up the vcore with a flash or by u-wiring.
Right now I'm on a dell 4600 2.66 at 2.9 ghz. Get cpufsb. You can have it as a start up program over reboot, and it's free. You'll have to poke around google for the pll of a dell 9100, though. You can't really overclock it much. Dell's motherboard, cooling, and psu sucks. Dell figures out exactly how much power the thing needs, and provides the bare minimum. Remember, if you save just $5 per computer because of a slightly cheaper psu, and build 10 million, you've saved $50 million dollars. I wouldn't even try to bump up the vcore with a flash or by u-wiring.
mindless1
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- Aug 11, 2001
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I'm not confused, I meant the pros and cons of doing "what is necessary" to overclock a system that doesn't just have a bios setting to click on.
I don't understand what your issue is now- you seem to think overclocking it is a discussion, when it's just doing it, or not. So you found a way to o'c with the clockgen, great. Use that to figure out how high it'll go and then you know if further steps are worthwhile. That is, after you do the other things necessary for greatest gain like increasing vcore or vdim, chipset, whatever the weaker links are.
Very cool - I was actually researching on how I can get more out of my 2.5 years old Dimension 4600. Bought it for a net of $300 then, after selling the 9800 Pro that came with it.
Can someone give me some suggestions? I am using my PC for mainly BeyondTV (media center), and occassionally some office work, downloading stuff, etc. It's feeling very sluggish when BTV is running. I have a cheapo 64MB AGP card, as I'm not gaming. It's got 1GB RAM on it. P4 2.4 GHz, either 400 or 533mhz FSB. Windows XP Pro SP2.
Memory does not seem to be the problem when system is sluggish, as task manager shows 50% left. CPU does clock pretty high sometimes, with Explorer and BTV the culprits. I'm rebooting daily now when before I had it on for weeks.
Options are:
- Overclock the CPU using one of the software mentioned, like cpufsb.de.
- Flash the bios - how do I do that??
- More RAM
- buy new processor - 478 pin, maybe a P4 3GHz HT - is this worth it?
- Buy new PC altogether, something like the Dimension 9150.
I just don't have time like I used to, to tinker with stuff... so no hardware mod for me. CPU upgrade I can do over a Sunday afternoon (hopefully). Buying new PC costs the most $$$.
Well... just looking for your opinion on what you would do, that's all. I'll be trying CPUFSB tonight.
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