Ummmm..... how do you overclock?

[Xernex]

LOL ok I?m a newb, I don?t deny it, I have never O/Ced a CPU before, and was just wondering what?s involved?

I'm soon to be buying a P4 system (2.66GHz) and was wondering how far it can overclock but most of all, how? If anyone knows a good site that gives a detailed rundown of overclocking, or if any of you would like to explain it in detail, it would be very very much appreciated.

I've looked around the net but can't find much specific information. Such as WTF does RAM have to do with O/Cing. Will dual 2100 on granite bay make for a good overclocking solution?

I?m a total newb at it, please treat me as such 🙂

Thanks.

 

[JaRb0y]

this may help link

 

[Xernex]

Thanks, that gave me some more info, but i was hoping for something a little more recent and with more detailed instructions such as where to go in the BIOS etc.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Xernex
Thanks, that gave me some more info, but i was hoping for something a little more recent and with more detailed instructions such as where to go in the BIOS etc.

This sort of info is Motherboard specific, but in most cases the menu's and settings are common. It breaks down like this:

- You CPU has a frequency
- Your Memory has a frequency
- Your PCI bus and all other sundry busses have a frequency

They are all related as (usually) one single clock genrator is used to get the original clock speed. The relationship is often like this, although there are ALWAYS exceptions:

CPU speed = Memory speed(before DDR or QDR) x Multiplier value.
PCI speed = Memory speed(before DDR or QDR) / 3 (or 4 or even 5, the goal speed is 33Mhz as PCI devices often hate high PCI bus speeds, such as hard discs=data coruption!!!)
AGP Speed = PCI speed x data rate(2x, 4x, 8x), so 2x = 66Mhz if the PCI is 33Mhz and so on

Multipliers are locked on P4 and can be changed on Athlons. Some motherboards allow the PCI clock to be locked into 33Mhz, this is good.

So, original speed of memory on a 400Mhz P4 is 100Mhz(400Mhz QDR) and the multiplier is 20, giving 2Ghz. To overclock, set the fsb to 110 and the CPU speed upon next boot will be 2.2Ghz (110x20).

Et Viola, your first overclock. Now I have simplified the process by a great margin and to answer your question about BIOS menu's, this will be clear if you get an Overclocking friendly Motherboard( ASUS, Abit, Epox), by way of the manual. They usually have a menu with the main overclocking features in one place.

Hope that helps!

 

[Xernex]

Thanks DivideBYZero, thats given me a better idea.

 

[ThumpR777]

Good specific info on overclocking...awesome. I wanted to contribute some general information:

To pull off some good overclocking, you are taking the first key steps...questions and research. You should find a ton of great things on the net if you look hard enough... this site has some great info, but also check out tomshardware.com sharkeyexteme.com as both have good overclocking guides.

use Google like you never have before. Type into google: BRAND MODEL# REVIEW for any item and it will give you a good jump start. I never depend on just one review, I look for a wider approval from sites that actually test for overclocking.

don't have any weak links. As stated above very well, each of the components must be optimized for optimal overclocking. You must have a very good heatsink, very good Ram a step faster than what you really need (cas 2, not 2.5, Crucial, Corsair, Mushkin, Geil, XMS, OCZ are a few of the performance DDR modules out there) and look for modules that have been hand picked or screeened, and the most important thing, very good M/B. Recent Epox boards have some great O/C numbers, and Abit has been the king for a while, Soyo has regained its lost aura, Asus always has good boards, but they also sell some slugs. Wear out their websites, and the good boards always have links to hardware reviews, usually on the same page. You will need to research some chipsets to master this. An out of the Box system just will not have components you can use to get great results, you will have to DIY Build.

The good stuff will cost some extra coin though, but for the best prices, check out pricegrabber.com or pricewatch.com. A little extra work will save you some bank. To protect yourself, there is great service called resellerratings.com that will tell you the quality of online merchants. To start with newegg.com and essencompu.com are two that offer both great prices and great service. These are all O/C tools that people never mention.

don't set your expectations too high. There are factors involving pure chance that you cannot control, like the internal quality of the CPU you get. Some clock faster, some don't. Do your best, but don't feel bad if you don't get a 50% improvement. I overclocked my PIII 700 and only got up to like 775 and was crushed. But I found later on the net, no one could overclock this chip, and it was not my fault.
Take a look at some of the Benchmarks and you will see some of them are using some exotic cooling systems, dry ice, peltiers, and other stuff that comes right out of a physics lab. Its just not practical to run a system with Dry Ice everyday, so you may not achieve the same results they did.

Take a close look at the test systems reviewers use. If you read a M/B review, the RAM they use for the system will say a lot even if it is not the focus. If you start seeing 20 review sites using the same RAM, there may be a reason for it. This should give you a place to start looking, but one site's use of an item should not a sale make, look for a wider concensous.

Have fun. The most overlooked part is that it can be great fun, you make a lot new friends, and learn more about computers than you ever really wanted to know. In the end though not only do you have a faster machine, you have conquered the mountain and raised your flag in victory.

Enjoy and good luck.

 

[JamesM3M5]

Originally posted by: ThumpR777
Have fun. The most overlooked part is that it can be great fun, you make a lot new friends, and learn more about computers than you ever really wanted to know. In the end though not only do you have a faster machine, you have conquered the mountain and raised your flag in victory.

Enjoy and good luck.

I read this and pictured you riding a horse with blue and white paint on your face, especially with your sig quote. 😀

You're right, though. OCing a PC is one of the quickest ways to learn more of the detailed workings of PC hardware and software. I knew nothing about it last June, and since then I've built 4 PCs, all OCed Athlons running ~1.7GHz (XP2100 and higher) with 1600s.

 

[Xernex]

Thanks for the extra info guys. Think I'll defiantly have to wait for the granite bay reviews, see if it?s a good o/cer, and if it is then ill decide my Mobo/P4 combo and give overclocking a go.

Hey if everyone adds their little bit to this post maybe a mod could sticky it and leave it for newbies like myself or even pros who just want to double check their info. 🙂

Just a suggestion.