Overclocking

punkster103 · Post by **punkster103** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 9:01 am

I want to get the most out of my crappy, old computer, so I was wondering if anyone here has the knowledge of overclocking. I'm using a Gateway, Intel P3 @ 450mhz, with 64mb RAM. So, if you couldn't tell, my computer is not up to standard. I'm pondering buying more RAM, which would help, but is there any way to overclock the processor? I usually go the forums here: http://www.hardocp.com , but most of the stuff there is really advanced, and I have no idea how to do something like this. Any ideas?

Anthony · Post by **Anthony** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 9:43 am

Can I suggest The BTVILLARIN forums? They have a entire forum dedicated to this, and are pretty good at making advanced stuff simple (or as simple as it can get).

jester22c · Post by **jester22c** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 10:32 am

There are alot of overclocking enthusiasts (myself included) over at CPU Planet Forums that would be more than glad to help out. Sharky Forums has even more members and is far more active than any other boards mentioned. You could be sure to get a reply there within an hour or two

fuuucckkers · Post by **fuuucckkers** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 12:52 pm

Why visit a forum though? It's really not that difficult to OC a cpu.

Press DEL to enter the BIOS. Goto the section with the Power voltages and such. Up the Bus Speed, (but then the whole computer is OC..not just the cpu.) Or if it's like my puter.. there's something called Frequency, and you can up that as well. (but I have no idea what that does)

jester22c · Post by **jester22c** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 1:58 pm

Unfortunately it can be alot more difficult than that Wasted.

Not all bios support "soft jumpers" where you can change the FSB speed, multiplier, memory timings, etc via keyboard. Most motherboards, and almost all OEM motherboards require you to adjust everything through actual physical jumpers on your motherboard.

You have to take into account that most all commercially sold chips are going to have a locked multiplier. This means that to overclock a chip you have to up the FSB frequency as opposed to the multiplier. For those of you that don't know, the frequency of your cpu (mhz) is achieved by multiplying the FSB (front side bus) frequency by the multiplier (a set number hardcoded onto the chip). For example, if I'm running my cpu at stock speeds 1400 mhz would be achieved by multiplying my FSB of 133 by the set multiplier of 10.5.

By upping my FSB to 150, I get an outcome of 1575 mhz (150 * 10.5) and so forth and so on.

You also have to take into account your memory timings and CAS ratings, but I don't have time to get into that right now.

Unfortunately alot of OEM motherboards do not have jumper settings for upping your FSB by increments, they normally just have 2 possibly 3 settings. My motherboard (Epox 8K5A) was made for overclocking, that's why I can adjust my FSB by 1 mhz increments until I get it just right.

One word of wisdom is to be careful. By upping your chips frequency you also increase the heat output. I would get a program to monitor your chips temperature (hoping that you have a heat diode on your motherboard). Motherboard Monitor is a good one to use. I have special cooling in my case and on my cpu so it can handle the heat changes. If you fry anything don't blame me

I've got to go, let me know if you have any questions.

fuuucckkers · Post by **fuuucckkers** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 3:30 pm

jester22c wrote:Unfortunately it can be alot more difficult than that Wasted.

Not all bios support "soft jumpers" where you can change the FSB speed, multiplier, memory timings, etc via keyboard. Most motherboards, and almost all OEM motherboards require you to adjust everything through actual physical jumpers on your motherboard.

You have to take into account that most all commercially sold chips are going to have a locked multiplier. This means that to overclock a chip you have to up the FSB frequency as opposed to the multiplier. For those of you that don't know, the frequency of your cpu (mhz) is achieved by multiplying the FSB (front side bus) frequency by the multiplier (a set number hardcoded onto the chip). For example, if I'm running my cpu at stock speeds 1400 mhz would be achieved by multiplying my FSB of 133 by the set multiplier of 10.5.

By upping my FSB to 150, I get an outcome of 1575 mhz (150 * 10.5) and so forth and so on.

You also have to take into account your memory timings and CAS ratings, but I don't have time to get into that right now.

Unfortunately alot of OEM motherboards do not have jumper settings for upping your FSB by increments, they normally just have 2 possibly 3 settings. My motherboard (Epox 8K5A) was made for overclocking, that's why I can adjust my FSB by 1 mhz increments until I get it just right.

One word of wisdom is to be careful. By upping your chips frequency you also increase the heat output. I would get a program to monitor your chips temperature (hoping that you have a heat diode on your motherboard). Motherboard Monitor is a good one to use. I have special cooling in my case and on my cpu so it can handle the heat changes. If you fry anything don't blame me

I've got to go, let me know if you have any questions.

Well blah!!

You make it sound so difficult (it actually is I suppose).. but whatver, I dont overclock anyways.

punkster103 · Post by **punkster103** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 9:47 pm

Yeah, I'm pretty sure my motherboard doesn't support "soft jumpers". I also don't have any heat diodes, so I'm pretty screwed,

.

Is it possible to update my BIOS?

jester22c · Post by **jester22c** » Sun Jan 19, 2003 12:43 am

punkster103 wrote:Yeah, I'm pretty sure my motherboard doesn't support "soft jumpers". I also don't have any heat diodes, so I'm pretty screwed, .

Is it possible to update my BIOS?

Yes you can update your bios, but if your board did not originally support soft jumpers there is no chance they will be added from an upgrade because your board lacks some actual hardware needed for that feature. Also, as a rule of thumb, it is generally not suggested to update your bios unless you are having compatibility or stability problems.

punkster103 · Post by **punkster103** » Sun Jan 19, 2003 9:19 am

So basically, I'm stuck with this or I buy a new computer, right? I've tweaked everything I can over and over again, but I usually end up partitioning my drive, moving all my music over to it, then formatting.

acidxburn · Post by **acidxburn** » Sun Jan 19, 2003 2:03 pm

xWastedMindx wrote:Why visit a forum though? It's really not that difficult to OC a cpu.

Press DEL to enter the BIOS. Goto the section with the Power voltages and such. Up the Bus Speed, (but then the whole computer is OC..not just the cpu.) Or if it's like my puter.. there's something called Frequency, and you can up that as well. (but I have no idea what that does)

Wow, that's great if that works, but that's never the way I'd go.

punkster103 · Post by **punkster103** » Mon Jan 20, 2003 10:43 am

It works, lol, but why wouldn't you do it?

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