OVerclocking my cpu and gpu, good idea or bad idea.

[chuiy]

Hey guys, my psu SAYS the input is 100-120v and the output is about 5v-6v, im pretty new to the scene and I'm not sure how to equate whether or not thats enough power to even think about over clocking, I wanted to overclock my intel pentium 4 processor and my nvida geforce 8400 gs graphics card. Their both about 5-6 years old and I was wondering if I should scrap them, or try and over clock it. (very short on money, only making about 400 dollars this summer and most is going into the car fund)

 

[toyota]

a P4 and 8400gs? you will accomplish almost nothing tangible by overclocking those.

 

[chuiy]

I know the 8400 gs is about as good as something on board, but should i try to overclock and just wait until they go bust and buy new ones? And if so? Everytime I try overclocking my gfx card it says test failed!

 

[chuiy]

Also sorry for a repost, I dont expect anyone to know a fix to WHY is says failed, but im just putting it out there.

 

[Seero]

Hey guys, my psu SAYS the input is 100-120v and the output is about 5v-6v, im pretty new to the scene and I'm not sure how to equate whether or not thats enough power to even think about over clocking, I wanted to overclock my intel pentium 4 processor and my nvida geforce 8400 gs graphics card. Their both about 5-6 years old and I was wondering if I should scrap them, or try and over clock it. (very short on money, only making about 400 dollars this summer and most is going into the car fund)

It is not a good idea to overclock aged computers as the computer will probably die while running stress programs on stock settings.

Second, the input of PSU is irrelevant as it matches the output of the wall outlet. The output should be in watt, something like 250watt, 650watt etc. The output voltage is associated to the types of connector, which can also be ignored as they are the same between PSU. What you may want to know is the amp on PCIE connector as it varies between PSUs.

To avoid killing the PC, you need a good PSU, especially with OC in mind. However, replacing a working PSU on a P4 is a waste of money IMO, so just leave it. You said you are low on funding, so don't risk frying your PC. Say your can get 20% more out of the PC, you will get 6 FPS from a game that runs at 5 FPS on stock, or 24 FPS over 20 FPS at most if everything goes right.

 

[chuiy]

k well say I was playing bfbc 2, im lucking to get.. 8? LUCKY. Im thinking of starting from scratch and I found a nice build for about 400. I know im asking alot, but does anyone know a good mobo/cpu combo? I dont know how to tell if a mobo and cpu are compatable, (preferrably no gigabyte mobo), ive only heard bad things from them :T Thanks for all the help guys!

EDIT: My psu is 305 watts. Could I salvage that to use on my new computer, or will it give about as much power as a windmill powered by cow flatulance?

 

[Seero]

k well say I was playing bfbc 2, im lucking to get.. 8? LUCKY. Im thinking of starting from scratch and I found a nice build for about 400. I know im asking alot, but does anyone know a good mobo/cpu combo? I dont know how to tell if a mobo and cpu are compatable, (preferrably no gigabyte mobo), ive only heard bad things from them :T Thanks for all the help guys!

EDIT: My psu is 305 watts. Could I salvage that to use on my new computer, or will it give about as much power as a windmill powered by cow flatulance?

Check out those z68 mobo as well as sandy bridge CPU like 2100. The CPU comes with GPU so you can ditch your old video card. It doesn't require a monster PSU, but then it also doesn't perform like a monster, more like bunny. When you are loaded with cash, ditch the CPU and go for a better one as well as a new PSU + a discrete GPU. Check anandtech bench for performance.

You may need to get 1-2 SATA to IDE converter (around 20 bucks) as new mobos no longer comes with IDE connectors.

Again, although the PSU stated 305watt, it really doesn't deliver 305watt after 6 years. With the above setup you should be able to pull through with a new PSU at under 50 bucks.

Wait until others have give their opinions and/or more options.

 

[chuiy]

Alright thanks man, youve been so much help. I'm surfing new egg as we speak
Will the sandybridge "gpu" perform better than mine, or will it just be an alternative to mine because its built in.

 

[Seero]

Alright thanks man, youve been so much help. I'm surfing new egg as we speak
Will the sandybridge "gpu" perform better than mine, or will it just be an alternative to mine because its built in.

I am not 100% sure, but their performance should be similar, with SB slightly better. Power consumption on the other hand, is night and day, in favor to SB.

Hold your horses on purchasing anything. There are gurus with knowledge far exceed mine and may have another opinion.

 

[sm625]

I'm pretty sure an AMD C-50 netbook would perform the same as a P4 with an 8400GS. Assuming the P4 has 800 MHz fsb and hyperthreading. If not, then it needs to go to goodwill asap. Leaving the "buy a 2500k" comments aside, I dont know what to tell ya except to search for a deal on an athlon II X2 240 (or up to 255) or even a sempron 140. You can find the cpu and motherboard for $30 each if you do some shopping. I would check out this combo: http://cgi.ebay.com/Gigabyte-GA-MA6...909?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf879f225 and make an offer of $47. With luck, you'd be able to combine the RAM you have to run in dual channel mode. If not then you'd have to buy some DDR2, but this would get you by with windows XP. You'd need to make sure your 8400gs was not an agp card, or you'd have to get a new one of those. I guess it would help to know what intel chipset you have. 845, 865, or 915 most likely. If it is 915 or any 9xx then you'd be able to harvest the ram and video card from it. Otherwise it is a dead end. (intel 8xx chipsets use DDR1 and AGP)

 

[chuiy]

I did some shopping, and I found these two, would this be a good combo?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130588
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...M-_-13-130-588
I am pretty sure their compatable, I just need to find a case and a psu (old psu will get thrown in the crapper most likely, the cpu its about 70w alone and my psu can only supply about 250~)

 

[Seero]

I did some shopping, and I found these two, would this be a good combo?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130588
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...M-_-13-130-588
I am pretty sure their compatable, I just need to find a case and a psu (old psu will get thrown in the crapper most likely, the cpu its about 70w alone and my psu can only supply about 250~)

You forgot about RAM.

You can probably recycle your case and all other accessories. Case are made to support ATX and micro ATX, unless you have some rare custom case. A new 350watt will do the trick.