Overclock - "Newbie Shock"

[gamezfreak]

Hi, I'm relativly new to the world of overclocking and I was wondering if you could offer a 'new person' to the scene some simple advice.

I've looked around on the internet but there doesn't seem to be any tutorials or bases for overclocking my machine. Yes I know I need efficient cooling and maybe a spot of arctic silver but still - can anyone give me advice?

My spec is in my sig, I own a Coolermaster Aero 7 Lite and 3 case fans (soon to be upped to 7). Next week i'll be getting a spot of RAM to up my amount to 512mb (dunno if this makes any differance)

Anyway. I own the stuff below and I want to overclock it a little or maybe a lot. Does anyone know anything about the motherboard that I own? Can the multiplier be unlocked on the processor?

Oh and I seriously am confused with the whole "Vcore" thing.

Sorry to be a pain but you guys seem to know your stuff

Thanks for any help that is received.

[evildoc614]

Ill give you some basic advice, iam not sure what you use your computer for but WIN XP need a LEAST 256megs of ram. If you up it to 512megs you will notice a boost. Vcore is the how much voltage you are putting therw your cpu iam not sure what it is for yours but its proably around 1.65 volts. seem like you have enough cooling so that should not hold you back and i would be a liar if i said i knew anything about your motherboard. Me personal i would try and overclock your video card and see what kind of boost you get from that. It would also be a good idea to run some benchmarks (3dmark01, 3dmark03, pcmark04 ) to get a idea how your computer performs now, so you can have a refrence of your performace gain.

[5cupa]

found this if any help

First you must have some basics on how a motherboard works . It has a clock generator that gives a certain frequency . This value is multiplied by certain numbers , and gives the FSB frequency , RAM bus frequency , PCI frequency , AGP frequency ... Notice that the FSB is not the same thing as RAM bus frequency , this is a common mistake . Also , the RAM and FSB frequencies are different from the actual speed , wich is twice as fast , because they are working at double data rate (DDR) . Example : 266FSB runs at 133mhz . In conclusion , all the speeds on the mobo depend on it's clock generator .

Now , the CPU has 3 important characteristics : it's FSB , multiplier and core voltage . The actual speed of the CPU is FSB freq times multiplier . Example : XP1600+ has a 10.5 multiplier and 133 bus , so it runs at 133 x 10.5 = 1400mhz .

For a good overclock , you will need a good motherboard , wich has settings for fsb increase mhz by mhz , CPU multiplier , CPU core voltage , RAM voltage and RAM latencies .

Most of the AMD chips come multiplier-locked , so you have to unlock them . There are many guides on the unlocking stuff out there , just search one for your particular type of CPU .

First , you must make sure that the CPU is set at the same bus as the RAM , otherwise one of the 2 will not use the other's extra bandwidth , and you don't want that . For example , if you have PC2700 memory and a 166mhz RAM capable motherboard (like the ones with the KT333 chipset) , you should set the CPU also to 166 mhz FSB , and lowering the multiplier below the default value , until the CPU frequency is around 20% under the default one . This is very important .

Now you start increasing the FSB (really you are increasing the mobo's clock , wich takes all the frequencies -AGP,PCI,RAM- higher) , keeping the same low multiplier . The purpose is to get the best FSB stable , no matter what speed the CPU is .To gain stability at high speeds , you must add more voltage to the CPU and to the RAM , sometimes even to the AGP slot , but usually you don't need that . This is a very tricky thing , because voltage brings stability , but also heat , and heat is bad for stability . With a good cooling setup you can take out all the extra heat , try to keep you CPU under 50 C if you can , and never let it go over 60C .

For good performance you can use the best timings on the memory :
CAS latency 2
4-way bank interleave
1T command
RAS & RAS to CAS delay & all the other stuff to minimal latency .
Using these settings help your performance at a certain speed , but they can bring instability , so it's a matter of trial and error . Without them , you'll be able to hit higher frequencies on the RAM , but the real performance may be lower (depends on the type of RAM).

When you hit the highest FSB stable , you can start tweaking on the CPU multiplier . Increase it in 0.5 increments , until you have the highest possible speed , stable . The CPU core voltage increase will help you again .

Remember , always an eye on the temps , 60C is the maximum you should go . The lower the temperature , the more stable at high speeds the CPU is .

[SilentDeath]

duno if scupa mentioned this, post was too long for me to read, but imo testing is the most important bit. there is no point in clocking if your not stable tbh.

prime95 = testing cpu
memtest86 = testing ram and mobo
3dm2k1 = benching whole pc
3dm2k3 = test gfx card (dx9)

[BUFF]

If it's a Thoroughbred B XP2400+ it is unlocked by default.

[gamezfreak]

Ah thanks guys!

I'll read into this tonight. Although i've heard things like memtest take over 16hours to complete.

[gamezfreak]

If I try and change the multiplier - will it damage my system or anything?

I want to be fully prepared ya see

[spazman]

No, all it could potencially do is damage your CPU (if your very silly). Changing the Front Side Bus could potencially have a more damaging effects (although potencially more speed).All upping the multiplyer will do is change the speed of the CPU, the multiplyer boosts the speed of the FSB by that amount to create the final cpu speed. (FSB x multiplyer = cpu clock speed).

Your CPU at the moment 166mhz FSB x 12 multiplyer = 1992mhz which is the speed of an athlonxp 2400+ however i am not sure if you will be able to change the multiplyer on an athlon 2600+ let alone the motherboard you might have. If you can change the multiplyer take it easy, small increments and if any instability it pushing it too far.