Noob Overclocking Question

[bladder23]

If I overclock a Celeron D 356 (3.46Ghz),

Do I just change the FSB in the bios

or

do i have to change the RAM timings (CAS etc)

Currently the FSB is at 145Mhz and the PC3200 RAM is 181Mhz (ratio of 5:4)

 

[JustaGeek]

Change the FSB, and then the Memory Divider in such a way that your FSB x RAM divider = 200MHz.

Example:

Change FSB to 160, RAM divider to 1.25 (or 10:8, or 5:4) which will give you the RAM bus speed of 200MHz.

160x5/4=200

If the computer doesn't post, reset the CMOS and start over with a different FSB frequency, and a new RAM divider.

Watch your temperatures!!!

Good luck!

 

[bladder23]

Thanks

another question

I am increasing the FSB by 2Mhz each time

Is there a 'quick' stability test?

I know about prime95's torture test, but that takes hours

 

[JustaGeek]

Run Prime95 (or Orthos for multi-core CPU's) for about 10 minutes.

If the system is unstable, the errors usually occur within a few minutes.

Once you are satisfied with the OC, run Prime95 for about 1 hour.

If there are no errors, you can be about 99% sure that the system is stable. Instability will otherwise manifest itself in heavy applications, like games. If that happens, try to adjust your CPU, RAM and perhaps NB voltages first, before changing frequencies.

Good luck!

 

[bladder23]

What temperatures would be considered dangerous?

I am getting about 40C after I run Prime95 and check in BIOS.

Is there a program that can instantly monitor this for me?

Thanks so much

 

[JustaGeek]

You can try the SpeedFan.

I use Everest by Lavalys, but it is not free. There is a 30-day trial, so try it - you might just like it.

Perfect informational program for overclockers, IMO.

BTW, 40C is not a bad temperature at all for any CPU.