Newbie overclocking questions

[JonUK]

I have never even looked into overclocking so far but if the settings for the CPU and Memorys clock are changed (from the BIOS) to higher than what they normally run at what will happen, say running 133mhz fsb at 166mhz or running 166mhz mem at 200mhz, would this kill the cpu/mem? would the machine even boot??

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: JonUK
I have never even looked into overclocking so far but if the settings for the CPU and Memorys clock are changed (from the BIOS) to higher than what they normally run at what will happen, say running 133mhz fsb at 166mhz or running 166mhz mem at 200mhz, would this kill the cpu/mem? would the machine even boot??

Yes and no while it might shorten the life span of the CPU you never know how long it will last.

As for the system even booting when you overlclock a system too far no it will not boot, so thats where you have to start backing it down to see what settings will allow the system to boot. As in the FSB you try the memory timings etc etc.

Overclocking is all trial and error you try things see what happens try timings FSB settings volatge settings etc etc.

 

[FFactory0x]

here let me give ya give ya a little tut i made to help ya oc to max performance and stability. Here it goes.
You need to set AGP & PCI lock to on or AGP=66mhz and pci=33mhz before doing the following.

Put your multiplier on a low setting and up the fsb in increments of 5mhz. After each increase of the fsb run stress tests such as 3dmark, prime 95. When your computer does not complete these stress tests increase the ddr voltage by 0.1v. Re-test. If the tests complete keep going in 5mhz increasements. When you get to a unstable fsb again increase the ddr volts by o.1v. (I wouldnt recommend going over 2.7v) You will reach a point when the tests fail even at 2.7v this means you have overclocked the fsb too much so lower the fsb to the highest setting in which the test completed.

You now know the fsb limit of your setup.

Now increase the multiplier in increments of 0.5. After each increment run the stress tests mentioned above. Eventually you will get to a multiplier which is unstable. Try increasing the vcore voltage by 0.025v and re-test. If the pc is still unstable increase the vcore again by 0.025v. (Keep an eye on the temperatures). re-test. If the tests still fail i would not recommend incresing your vcore any higher although lots of people do (just my personal preference). So put your multiplier on the highest stable setting.

You know have the highest overclock possible for your setup.

Lots of people do not like to run there system right on the edge. I would advise to lower the fsb by 5mhz after finding the maximum stavle system overclock. Just to be on the safe side.

An example: (Completely made up!)

Athlon XP1800+
Stock = 1533mHz
FSB = 133mhz
Multiplier = 11.5

1. Lower multiplier to 10. CPU now at 1330mhz.
2. Increase the FSB by 5mhz. CPU now at 138*10=1380
3. Keep increasing by 5mhz and testing inbetween each increase.
4. FSB at 178mhz = unstable. (CPU= 178*10=1780mhz)
5.increase ddr voltage to 2.6v
6.can increase fsb to 184mhz before becoming unstable. (CPU= 184*10=1840mhz)
7.increase ddr voltage to 2.7v. This did not inmprove overclocka ability. Lower ddr back to 2.6v (to reduce heat) and reduce fsb by 5mhz. So max stable fsb for system is 179mhz.
8.increase multiplier to 10.5 (CPU = 179*10.5=1879.5mhz)
9.keep increaseing multiplier by 0.5v untill unstable. Pc unstable at a multiplier of 12.
10. increase vcore voltage by 0.025v. CPU stable with a multiplier of 12. (CPU= 12*179=2148Mhz)
11. Cannot increase multiplier without causing stability issues so increase the vcore by anither 0.025v.
12. can stabily run at 12.5 multiplier. (CPU= 12.5*179=2238Mhz)
13. Cannot increaes Multiplier any further. Temperatures are too high to increase vcore.

Max Stable Overclock = 12.5*179=2238mHz
Default = 1533mHz
An Overclock of 705Mhz