overclocking step by step

JayDubya · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2004 3:50 pm Post subject: overclocking step by step

i have noticed a great demand lately on people asking for step by step instructions on how to overclock. i would like to make a step by step tutorial on overclocking. never use software to overclock. always do it from the bios.

1. first and foremost, make sure you have sufficient cooling. this is a must. good cpu, northbridge, ram, case, video, and even southbridge may be required
2. make sure all of your components can handle the stress of overclocking. pc3200 is a must for any platform. a good name brand psu of 400watts+ is recommended also.
3. now for overclocking . . .lock your agp/pci buses to 66/33mhz respectively. this is the first actual step for overclocking. the agp and pci run in a 2:1 ratio - if you can't find where to set the pci bus speed, just set the agp to 66mhz and the pci will set to 33mhz.
4. give your ram at least 2.8v so that it will be able to handle higher speeds. raising the fsb will also raise the speed that the ram runs at. it is a good idea to relax your memory timings so that it will be able to run with greater stability. timings of 3-4-4-8 are advised.
5. you may now raise your fsb in 5-10 mhz increments. after each increase, run a benchmark or stress test to test for stability. if the system is unstable, up the vcore .025-.05v or until stability is gained back. note that raising the voltage will result in more heat. watch your temps.
6. always monitor your temperatures, making sure they do not exceed recommended limits. i like to use this rule = p4's keep under 47c and amd's keep under 55c. although different series of these processors like to run at different temps, they are good estimates. these temps will ensure the processor's longevity.
7. if it appears that you hit a wall, (no matter what vcore you use, the system will not be stable) you should now use a divider. a divider allows the fsb and the memory to run at different speeds. (i.e. - a 5:4 divider will make the fsb run at 250mhz while the memory runs at 200mhz) this will give you more headroom so that you may max out the processor.
8. if the system does not post or fails to boot correctly, you will need to clear the cmos. this can be done 3 ways: by using a jumper and moving it from pins 1-2 to 2-3 and then back to pins 1-2 (see bios manual for more detailed instructiuons). you can also take out the motherboard's battery and unplug the power supply unit. leave these out for about 5min to fully clear the cmos. lastlly, some motherboards support holding the 'insert' key during the boot sequence. this will allow you to enter the bios during a no post to change the settings.
9. the fsb is not the only way to overclock a processor. some processors (namely amd processors) are unlocked - they will allow you to change the multiplier. it would be better to run a processor at 10*216mhz fsb than to run it at 13*166mhz fsb. they result in the same overall speed, however, with the raised fsb, your ram, cpu, and agp will communicate faster with one another.
10. remember that every component has a limit. each individual processor and memory stick has their own limit. some people get lucky and can acheive a higher overclock than others. don't be dissapointed if you hit a ceiling before others do. remember, you probably just turned a $100 cpu into a $300+ cpu.

tips:
become very familiar with your motherboard manual and your bios setup/layout. know what each setting means and where certain things are on your mobo (i.e.- cmos jumper used for clearing bios, bios chip, cmos battery, etc.

some of your questions (assuming you have any) may be answered here:
http://www.cybercpu.net/howto/basic/oc/

benchmark programs: prime95 @ www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm
3dmark programs @ www.futuremark.com
http://www.realstorm.com/ (thanks to [KoG]^WeaZel)
i hope this helps. good luck and

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[KoG]^weaZel · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2004 4:13 pm Post subject:

becareful on raising the vcore. dont go wild on this voltage. small steps is good. This is one area that IS NOT "a little is good alot is better".

well done my friend.
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JayDubya · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2004 8:10 pm Post subject:

thanks for the input. i changed it accordingly.
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meobius · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2004 8:16 pm Post subject:

memory and CPU aren't the only limiting factor,
Northbridge, powersupply, and power regulators can play a role as well

churilagorilla4 · TweakNOOB Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 26

ok um What programs do u use to stress test and benchmarks
and whare can i down load them
ALSO NATHAT I LUUV THE NEW SECTIONS
BUT ADD A DOWNLOAD SECTION
im not tellin u what to do just a suggestion
thanks guys
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JayDubya · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:50 pm Post subject:

thank you all for the help and the great input!
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Josh · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2004 5:46 am Post subject:

thanks JayDubya, that has really helped me, thanks for the posts in my thread as well, ill let you know when the OC is done.
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JayDubya · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:45 am Post subject:

no problem, glad to help.

on another note, w00t! sticky - just like me.

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meobius · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2004 7:38 am Post subject:

hmm is that doeable, a section with links to various overclocking tools (such as sisoft, 3dmark, etc...

toMmyfiZo · TweakNOOB Joined: 07 Mar 2004 Posts: 2 Location: USA

I am new to this for forgive me if this is a stupid question. I am running an AMD Athlon XP 2800 on an ASUS A7N8X-LA mother board. I have searched my BIOS and can not find anything that would allow me to change any settings ie: multiplier/vcore/etc... Can you help me? Hopefully I am just looking in the wrong place.

Thank you!

AMD Athlon XP 2800
ASUS A7N8X-LA
1GIG P2700 MEM

JayDubya · Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2004 7:30 pm Post subject:

sorry i've been gone from ths site for a while. i've been on vacation in colorado.
toMmyfiZo, all the settings are in there. read your mobo manual and try to get yourself familiar with that and the bios itself. it may take a bit of exploring but you'll find it.
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-=Pyro-Psycho=- · Tweakafile Joined: 26 Dec 2003 Posts: 935 Location: TN

Go over how to reset the BIOS. I was kinda confused when I did it the first time.
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Demp · TweakNOOB Joined: 15 Mar 2004 Posts: 2

Hello Guys !
this is my first post here so I have a lot to ask !
looking to best OCing setting to my MSI A7N2 ILSR mobo & Barton 2500+, i found a review saying that 10,5 x 210 is the most stable setting. so i have some questions:
1 - which Dual DDR RAM is better to run at 210 mhz & 1:1, a PC3500 cas 2 @ 2733 or PC3200 cas 2 @ 3844 ?
2 - Will my 2 SATA HDs on RAID work fine even OClocked?
3 - which VGA card should i buy (considering cost x beneffit), a Ati9800PRO @210u$ or ATI9600XT @163u$ (new Dx9 games showing not too far PFS rates) ?
Thx guys !
i hope be showing my Benchmarks Scores soon here.
:)
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JayDubya · Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 3:50 pm Post subject:

welcome Demp! i will answer your questions to the best of my ability, but in the future, it is suggested that you make your own thread in the appropriate section.
if i were you, i would get pc3500 or better and run it at tight timings. amd setups love tight timings.
your sata hdd's will work fine as long as you lock your agp/pci bus speeds.
a 9800pro will give you the greatest performance, while the 9600xt will have a lot of ati's new bells and whistles.

first post updated once again.
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JayDubya · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 12:15 am Post subject:

http://www.cybercpu.net/howto/basic/oc/

i found this nice little link that explains overclocking pretty well. it should answer some of the questions lingering around.
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lead4yourhead · TweakNOOB Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Posts: 14

Hey JayDubya,

Could you define what "memory timings" are? @ the top of this forum you typed " 3-4-4-8 timings". How are they named in the bois

thanks
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JayDubya · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:48 am Post subject:

check out this link that i just provided.
http://www.cybercpu.net/howto/basic/oc/
it will answer your memory timing question and many others.
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Trimcz · TweakNOOB Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 6

I new in overclocking and I am really trying to follow all what you have wrote before here on this forum. Still I would ask you my noobish Qs.

What would you suggest me to overclock MS 6728 MOBO with 2x256MB 3200 P4 2,8GHz 800 H ?

I have also 2nd PC:
ASUS P4C800
P4 2.4 HT CPU
2 x 512MB 3200 RAM Adata

Same Qs, although I will go and experiment by following your general suggestions...

Thanks a lot for any help and thanks for sharing info with us - noobs here..

Trimcz

JayDubya · Posted: Fri May 21, 2004 12:16 pm Post subject:

i think you would have alot of fun trying to overclock the 2.4C. that processor overclocks like a dream.

glad i could be of some help.
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iceking · TweakNOOB Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Posts: 1

I am new to overclocking. I have read a lot of posts here and have read up on OCing on other websites. I am still very new and I would like to learn more and eventually OC my PC. Are there any other websites about OCing that would teach me more? I have gone to a few others that were referred to in this forum. And I was wondering how do you guys think that my machine will overclock?

I have a:

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHz
ASUS P4P800
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 Ultra
2 sticks of 512MB DDR333 (not too sure of the manufaturor or any other specs)

JayDubya · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 10:36 pm Post subject:

First off, read all the little tutorials in the beginning of this thread. There is a pretty good basic how to overclock. Never mess with anything you don't know about. If you have questions ask, but we can't spoon feed you. Research is key. Google will really help.
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Josh · Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:56 am Post subject:

nut you will find out all you need to know about OCing here on TN, so just read around, then ask questions if you have any...we will answer them!

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dugrant153 · Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2004 9:57 pm Post subject:

well, just got my new power supply, so I'm ready to overclock my AMD Athlon XP 2200.
Reviews I've read says it doesn't overclock very well, though. Last time, when I had my generic PSU, when I raised my FSB bit by bit, I suddenly hit a point where the video card overclock could no longer run properly (artifacts like crazy!).

Anyways, the highest I got was about 1900 mhz (13.5 multiplier), stock is 1790mhz.

will my new 420W Thermaltake PSU help with the whole CPU overclock?
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ToggleHead · TWEAKGURU Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 4360 Location: Jersey

well it certainly cant hurt..........but its hard to say if it will affect your specific performance.......although it will probably help with stablility quite a bit...=]
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Xal · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:48 am Post subject:

^^ words of wisdom =P

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