Before starting anything PLEASE read the WHOLE guide as everything is necessary!
Overclocking? what the hell does that mean
?
Overclocking is making system components run faster then they do normally. For example you could buy a 2.4GHz cpu and overclock it to 3Ghz.
How does it work?
To generate the rated speed of an intel cpu a couple factors come into play:
1FSB: (Front Side Bus) this is the speed the cpu comunicates with the rest of the system components, so the higher this is the better
2. Multiplier: The factor by which the bus speed is multiplied to get the CPU clock speed. (will talk more about this later)
In case of intel cpu's the FSB is quad pumped, meaning that in every clock cycle there are four instructions. On the newer P4s you will see 800FSB, this is actaully 200x4=800
The formula to reach the clock speed in case of the new 800FSB cpus is
200(FSB) x multiplier=speed
so, if you buy a 3GHz cpu the formula would be
200(FSB) x 15=3000MHz or 3GHz
OK, now how do i make it faster?
For most intel CPU's the way to increase speed is to increase the FSB
For example: Lets say you want to make the 3GHz cpu you just bought faster.
To do this you would raise the FSB to 210
So now: 210(FSB) x 15=3150 or 3.15GHz
Simple Right?
But you can just increase the FSB to 400 and magicly have a 6GHz CPU.
You need to know your limits, which is what ill explain in the next section. but before this ill explain how the RAM comes into play.
Ram and how it comes into play while overclocking
When you increase the FSB it also increases the speed of the RAM is at.
You can buy different speeds of memory.
DDR400 (PC3200) runs at a rated speed of 200MHz, which is generally fine when not overlocking because the FSB is also @ 200Mhz.
When you increase the FSB it also increases the speed of the memory.
so lets say you increase the FSB to 210mhz, the memory will also shift up to 210MHz.
Because this DDR (PC3200) is only rated to do 200MHz going above this could cause problems and cause system instability and therefore the RAM can be a limiting factor in your overclocking.
How to solve this problem:
There are two ways
1. You can use something called a Divider:
When your PC-3200 is running at 200MHz and your FSB is set to 200MHz your ram is running a ratio of 1:1, meaing it is going the same speed as you cpu.
If you find you RAM unable to go as fast as the CPU you can set a divider of 3:2 or 5:4.
When you do this, the CPU will run faster then the memory.
For Example, if you set a Divider at 5:4 and increase the FSB to 250FSB the memory will only be running at 200MHz (its rated speed).
Ofcourse setting a divider will not be as good as setting your RAM 1:1. The faster your ram can go the better so running both the ram and cpu at 250FSB is better then the cpu at 250 and the memory at 200.
2. Another way to get around this is buying ram rated higher than 3200.
Oficially the max memory speed a DDR1 system can take without overlocking is PC3200. Although memory manufactures have made memory that is rated higher, no matter what the speed it will still be PC3200 when it is put inside the Motherboard.
Memory rated at PC 4000 is rated to do 250MHz, this means that you can run your FSB and RAM speed 1:1 250FSB.
Here is a chart taht may be useful:
PC-2100 - DDR266
PC-2700 - DDR333
PC-3200 - DDR400
PC-3500 - DDR434
PC-3700 - DDR464
PC-4000 - DDR500
PC-4200 - DDR525
PC-4400 - DDR550
PC-4800 - DDR600
Just because PC3200 is rated to do 200Mhz and PC4000 is rated to do 250MHz this doesnt mean it cannot do higher. Ill explain how to find the limit of your RAM later on.
Another important Factor with RAM are timings.
This is a rather complex subject to explain and will add this to the guide later on. You can follow the steps i use for Timings on the next section for now.
Knowing Your Limits and actually overclocking
In this section I will explain the process of overclocking and how to do it safely also explain voltages in overlocking.
The best place to start overclocking is right in your Bios.
To enter the Bios you usually have to press "delete" before the windows loading screen. It could be another key, you can find this out by contacting the motherboard manufacturer.
In the bios you should see the following settings that are needed for overlocking or atleast most of them:
1. FSB (Front Side Bus)
2. Memory (RAM) divider
3. vcore (CPU voltage)
4. vdimm (Ram voltage)
5. vAGP
6. Ram Timings (Will explain)
7. PCI/AGP bus
The first thing you want to accomplish in overlocking is finding your MAX stable CPU speed.
Set your Memory Divider to 5:4 to make sure this is not holding you back
and set your ram timings to the highest numbers possible. Usually 3-4-4-8
Set your PCI/AGP bus to 33/66
then move the FSB up in small increments. I suggest 5-10MHz at a time.
Once this is done you must check if the overlock is stable. There are many programs that can test this but i find Prime 95 to be the best.
It can be found here:
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm
For Testing the CPU i reccomend using the first option out of the three torture tests, this one seems to pick up instability the fastest.
If you have an HT enabled CPU, i reccomend running 2 instances of Prime 95, to obtain 100% CPU load. You can do this by installing two different Prime 95s.
Run the test for aproximately 15 minutes. If Prime doesnt pick up any errors go back into the BIOS and increase the FSB another 5-10mhz.
Go back into windows and repeat the same process.
After 15 minutes you find an error, increase the Vcore (cpu voltage) as this can stabilize an overclock.
Keep on doing the process above until you reach your Highest FSB that is:
1. under 60c Full Load
2. Under 1.7 (vcore)= northwood
3. Under 1.53 (vcore)=presscot
NOT DONE, WILL ADD POLISH and FINISH UP LATER :O
i really dont know how in depth i should go.....tell me what you think and give me any suggestions
still need to add:
ram timings
ddr2
unlockable multi
tightening timings...
clearing CMOS
etc....
and finding what type of proc....and links to useful software O_O :S
ill eventually finish lol
Dangers of overlocking
Overlocking, or making things run faster then they are suppose to can potentially be dangerous. It stresses the components past there normal level which is why you have to be very careful in the process.
Heat is one thing to look out for. When you increase the speed of a component it is going to run hotter than it normaly does. Heat can damage you system if your not careful. Generally speaking you should stay under 60c at Full Load, or when your cpu is the most stressed.
The faster you run the system past its normal value the hotter it will get. So better cooling is usually reccomended.
Overclocking? what the hell does that mean
?Overclocking is making system components run faster then they do normally. For example you could buy a 2.4GHz cpu and overclock it to 3Ghz.
How does it work?
To generate the rated speed of an intel cpu a couple factors come into play:
1FSB: (Front Side Bus) this is the speed the cpu comunicates with the rest of the system components, so the higher this is the better
2. Multiplier: The factor by which the bus speed is multiplied to get the CPU clock speed. (will talk more about this later)
In case of intel cpu's the FSB is quad pumped, meaning that in every clock cycle there are four instructions. On the newer P4s you will see 800FSB, this is actaully 200x4=800
The formula to reach the clock speed in case of the new 800FSB cpus is
200(FSB) x multiplier=speed
so, if you buy a 3GHz cpu the formula would be
200(FSB) x 15=3000MHz or 3GHz
OK, now how do i make it faster?
For most intel CPU's the way to increase speed is to increase the FSB
For example: Lets say you want to make the 3GHz cpu you just bought faster.
To do this you would raise the FSB to 210
So now: 210(FSB) x 15=3150 or 3.15GHz
Simple Right?
But you can just increase the FSB to 400 and magicly have a 6GHz CPU.
You need to know your limits, which is what ill explain in the next section. but before this ill explain how the RAM comes into play.
Ram and how it comes into play while overclocking
When you increase the FSB it also increases the speed of the RAM is at.
You can buy different speeds of memory.
DDR400 (PC3200) runs at a rated speed of 200MHz, which is generally fine when not overlocking because the FSB is also @ 200Mhz.
When you increase the FSB it also increases the speed of the memory.
so lets say you increase the FSB to 210mhz, the memory will also shift up to 210MHz.
Because this DDR (PC3200) is only rated to do 200MHz going above this could cause problems and cause system instability and therefore the RAM can be a limiting factor in your overclocking.
How to solve this problem:
There are two ways
1. You can use something called a Divider:
When your PC-3200 is running at 200MHz and your FSB is set to 200MHz your ram is running a ratio of 1:1, meaing it is going the same speed as you cpu.
If you find you RAM unable to go as fast as the CPU you can set a divider of 3:2 or 5:4.
When you do this, the CPU will run faster then the memory.
For Example, if you set a Divider at 5:4 and increase the FSB to 250FSB the memory will only be running at 200MHz (its rated speed).
Ofcourse setting a divider will not be as good as setting your RAM 1:1. The faster your ram can go the better so running both the ram and cpu at 250FSB is better then the cpu at 250 and the memory at 200.
2. Another way to get around this is buying ram rated higher than 3200.
Oficially the max memory speed a DDR1 system can take without overlocking is PC3200. Although memory manufactures have made memory that is rated higher, no matter what the speed it will still be PC3200 when it is put inside the Motherboard.
Memory rated at PC 4000 is rated to do 250MHz, this means that you can run your FSB and RAM speed 1:1 250FSB.
Here is a chart taht may be useful:
PC-2100 - DDR266
PC-2700 - DDR333
PC-3200 - DDR400
PC-3500 - DDR434
PC-3700 - DDR464
PC-4000 - DDR500
PC-4200 - DDR525
PC-4400 - DDR550
PC-4800 - DDR600
Just because PC3200 is rated to do 200Mhz and PC4000 is rated to do 250MHz this doesnt mean it cannot do higher. Ill explain how to find the limit of your RAM later on.
Another important Factor with RAM are timings.
This is a rather complex subject to explain and will add this to the guide later on. You can follow the steps i use for Timings on the next section for now.
Knowing Your Limits and actually overclocking
In this section I will explain the process of overclocking and how to do it safely also explain voltages in overlocking.
The best place to start overclocking is right in your Bios.
To enter the Bios you usually have to press "delete" before the windows loading screen. It could be another key, you can find this out by contacting the motherboard manufacturer.
In the bios you should see the following settings that are needed for overlocking or atleast most of them:
1. FSB (Front Side Bus)
2. Memory (RAM) divider
3. vcore (CPU voltage)
4. vdimm (Ram voltage)
5. vAGP
6. Ram Timings (Will explain)
7. PCI/AGP bus
The first thing you want to accomplish in overlocking is finding your MAX stable CPU speed.
Set your Memory Divider to 5:4 to make sure this is not holding you back
and set your ram timings to the highest numbers possible. Usually 3-4-4-8
Set your PCI/AGP bus to 33/66
then move the FSB up in small increments. I suggest 5-10MHz at a time.
Once this is done you must check if the overlock is stable. There are many programs that can test this but i find Prime 95 to be the best.
It can be found here:
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm
For Testing the CPU i reccomend using the first option out of the three torture tests, this one seems to pick up instability the fastest.
If you have an HT enabled CPU, i reccomend running 2 instances of Prime 95, to obtain 100% CPU load. You can do this by installing two different Prime 95s.
Run the test for aproximately 15 minutes. If Prime doesnt pick up any errors go back into the BIOS and increase the FSB another 5-10mhz.
Go back into windows and repeat the same process.
After 15 minutes you find an error, increase the Vcore (cpu voltage) as this can stabilize an overclock.
Keep on doing the process above until you reach your Highest FSB that is:
1. under 60c Full Load
2. Under 1.7 (vcore)= northwood
3. Under 1.53 (vcore)=presscot
NOT DONE, WILL ADD POLISH and FINISH UP LATER :O
i really dont know how in depth i should go.....tell me what you think and give me any suggestions
still need to add:
ram timings
ddr2
unlockable multi
tightening timings...
clearing CMOS
etc....
and finding what type of proc....and links to useful software O_O :S
ill eventually finish lol
Dangers of overlocking
Overlocking, or making things run faster then they are suppose to can potentially be dangerous. It stresses the components past there normal level which is why you have to be very careful in the process.
Heat is one thing to look out for. When you increase the speed of a component it is going to run hotter than it normaly does. Heat can damage you system if your not careful. Generally speaking you should stay under 60c at Full Load, or when your cpu is the most stressed.
The faster you run the system past its normal value the hotter it will get. So better cooling is usually reccomended.
