How do you overclock?

[bX510]

I want to learn overclocking, but I see all these guides out there and it's very confusing. They often pop up with new terms that i have no clue what it is and I don't know what they are talking about. Is there a guide for idiots like my self?

 

[lyssword]

Click on cpu/processors above. Type in "overclocking guide".

 

[daveybrat]

If you want to start out overclocking with the cheapest parts that will yield the greatest results, try looking into the new AMD X2 3600+ brisbane cpu. Dirt cheap and very overclockable. Dual core goodness on a super budget.

Maybe someone here can recommend a good overclocking motherboard to go with it. I've heard the Biostar Tforce550 board is supposed to be decent.

 

[Canai]

Not to be an ass or anything, but you should really take some time and learn about all the terms you are unfamiliar with before you even think of overclocking anything. If you aren't sure what some value is or means, and you accidentally change it or change it to an unsafe value you can fry your motherboard or CPU, or both.

My advice: read the guides, look up all the terms you don't know, and go from there. Don't do any O/C until you know what effects it could have on your system.

 

[daveybrat]

Originally posted by: Canai
Not to be an ass or anything, but you should really take some time and learn about all the terms you are unfamiliar with before you even think of overclocking anything. If you aren't sure what some value is or means, and you accidentally change it or change it to an unsafe value you can fry your motherboard or CPU, or both.

My advice: read the guides, look up all the terms you don't know, and go from there. Don't do any O/C until you know what effects it could have on your system.

Great point!

 

[AnotherGuy]

for the cheapest overclockable parts from both amd or intel i just finished a small guide....
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=2034389&enterthread=y

 

[bX510]

How do you tell the FSB and the MULTIPLIER on a cpu?

And

So, if I raised the FSB, how would i find the "FSB:RAM ratio"? Is it calculated by a program? or is there like a law to overclocking?

Reading this guide, if you were wondering:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1441072&enterthread=y

 

[lyssword]

Use a calculator
FSB to ram ratio is ratio of your fsb to ram speed. . If you went from 800 fsb to 1333fsb 1:1 ratio of cpu would be for intel processor memory would have to increase from 200mhz to 333 mhz (which is ddr667) it's a quad pumped fsb (x4 of memory)
800 fsb = ddr400(200mhz). Since Intel's fsb is quad pumped, usually you see for 800fsb is a 200mhz number. 200mhz to 200mhz on memory that's 1:1 ratio. If you raise fsb to 1066 (core 2 duo stock fsb), that would be 266x4. That means you would need 266 mhz ddr memory (called pc533 (get it?, 266x2 = ~533 because of doubling) so that means minimum memory you'll need for 1:1 ratio is pc 533.
pc667 will allow for 333fsb and 1:1.
There are multipliers for different cpu's. 7 is e6300, 8 e6400, 9 e6600. If I were to use ddr 667 memory at 1:1 ratio on e6600 max I can get is 333x9 which is 2997 mhz max speed (up from 2400 stock). DDR800 would allow for 400x9 = 3600mhz max on e6600 @1:1 ratio. That's 1600 quad pumped fsb
Note that a lot of DDR667 can push more than 333mhz in reality

a lot of new core2 mobos only go 1:1 or higher memory than cpu (5cpu 6 memory) ratio.
On newer and older AMD mobos you can get higher cpu ratio than 1:1, lets say 4:3.
If you want to keep memory lets say DDR400 (200mhz) and increase fsb from 200 to 250 (amd has a little bit stranger fsb than intel) then, if you set 4:3 ratio 250fsb will give you (250/4)x3 = 187.5 mhz memory. If you want to max out memory, you can raise fsb to 260 that'll give you 195mhz. You get the idea

Basically fsb and cpu frequency are related, because fsb x multiplier = final cpu speed. (different processors have different ones, unless it's unlocked chip like extreme series of fx series, but same rule still applies). So 200fsb x 10 multiplier (athlon 64 3200+ has that)= 2000mhz

 

[bX510]

Ok, so ratios are found through calculators. How do you find out multipliers for CPUs? Is it assigned or just based on user preference?

 

[lyssword]

Originally posted by: bX510
Ok, so ratios are found through calculators. How do you find out multipliers for CPUs? Is it assigned or just based on user preference?

They are assigned most of the time, only the top of the line processors have unlocked (user preference, even tho they are still standard set at a certain number) multiplier. Multipliers are well-known, can be found out on the internet if you know your processor model. If you really wanted to know what the (max) multiplier for your specific cpu is, you could have just asked
Intel e4300 = 9 (9x200 =1800)
e6300 = 7 multi (7x266=1866) e6400 =8 (8x266 = 2100) e6600 = 9 (9x266= 2400) e6700 = 10 (266x10 = 2660)

Amd modern cpu's start x3600= 9.5 (9.5x200 = 1900) x3800 = 10x200 and so on. You can calculate multiplier because standard frequency for amd is 200. If cpu is 2400 mhz 2400/200 = 12 multiplier.