Overclocking
What is Overclocking?
Overclocking simply means running the processor
at a higher speed than it is marked.
eg:- It is sometimes possible to run a Celeron
300a Processor at 450MHz, a Pentium II 266MHz
at 350MHz, an Athlon 700MHz at 800MHz, etc.
Many CPU's (Processors) can be overclocked by
simply altering motherboard jumpers or BIOS
Setup settings.
How fast can I clock my Processor?
Most chips will overclock by a few percent
though there are instances of chips running
twice as fast as the rated speed though this
is very unusal. It all depends on the chip and
on the motherboard and how far you are willing
to go.
GOING OVER THE TOP MAY
DAMAGE YOUR CHIP AND YOU MAY LOOSE YOUR PROCESSOR.
Overclocking my PC?
The two most important factors before attempting
to overclock your CPU is that you have an efficient
cooling system and a full set of specifications
for the processor, memory and motherboard and
a bit of common sense. The safest and easiest
way to overclock any CPU is to increase the
speed of the front side bus (FSB). Another option
but not suitable for all processors is to increase
the clock multiplication factor which will enable
the processor to run at a faster speed internally
while communicating with main memory and the
motherboard chipset at the standard speed of
the FSB (For the processors that cannot be clocked
in this way the alterations are simply ignored
by the processor which is "Locked"
to the correct multiplication factor).
Some systems will simply run
faster without any more alterations. For example,
if you have say a pentium III 650 (which normally
has an FSB of 100) and your motherboard allows
a bus speed of 112 (12% faster) then your processor
would run at 728MHz. Now provided the system
boots and runs without crashing and the processor
temperature doesn't rise too high (a common
warning temperature is at about 70 degrees Centigrade
though some go as low as 55C and others as high
as 95C) then that is all you need to do. Now
you can effectively keep on increasing the settings
until any of the start to give problems (or
indeed sometimes the system won't boot at all
!!).
At this point then you have a
number of alternatives. You can increase the
cooling to reduce temperature which may help.
Serious Overclockers have been known to go to
quite extreme lengths to cool processors even
using liquid nitrogen (more than 200 degrees
below zero) Another option is to vary the
core voltage
of the CPU (normally by increasing it but
sometimes decreasing it can work too but for
different reasons). When you are overclocking
it may be that the processor lacks sufficient
power to work at the higher speed and so increasing
the voltage will give it that necessary power.
But this also of course will increase the heat
output and therefore the processor temperature
which means you may need more cooling. Now it
may also be that your particular processor has
sufficient power to operate at the faster speed,
but running at this speed it generates too much
heat and this causes the processor to fail.
In these circumstances a reduction in voltage
may increase processor stability.
However be VERY CAREFUL whenever
you vary the voltage and only increase in small
percentages as too high a voltage may possibly
damage your processor.
Adjustments to voltage can be
made either by the jumpers or dipswitches on
the Motherboard (refer to your motherboard manual),
or by software core voltage control which is
a function certain Motherboards provide in the
Bios. Note that not ALL Motherboards allow you
to adjust the software core voltage as it can
be dangerous.
Memory Speed is also an issue. Older PC's will
probably have older memory based on the PC 66
standard, which only supports bus speeds up
to 66Mhz, which might make things unstable at
higher Bus Speeds. If you are considering overclocking
your PC then you should consider buying faster
Memory (RAM) based on the PC 100 and PC 133
Mhz which is designed to operate at a maximum
of 100 MHz & 133 MHz System Bus-Speed respectively.
Of course just like processors you will find
that some memory will overclock quite satisfactorily
where as others will not. As mentioned above,
by overclocking the processor at 112MHz which
would be overclocking PC100 ram its still well
within the capabilities of PC133.
How do I know if I can clock MY Processor?
The simple answer is that you don't without
trying. The only thing that I have found is
that the processors you buy Retail Boxed seem
to clock better than the ones you get unboxed
(OEM).
If you are looking for PC Hardware and Overclocking
tools or information, then try these links below.
OverclockersUK
Overclock.co.uk
Overclockers.com
Tweaktown.com
The
OC Shrinks FAQ
Caution
Overclocking may possibly cause serious harm
to your PC and may void any warranty available
with your manufacturer. It is possible it may
make your computer unstable leaving it prone
to crashing. Bear in mind that extreme caution
should be taken when proceeding to overclock
your PC. We take no responsibility for any damage
caused should you proceed to do so.
Click
Here for Core Voltage Settings for some
older Processors
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