well in theory yes, but that instability depends on several factors. if the cpu is already in effect overclocking its bus, such as the AMDs do, then ur gona run into problems (this was always the problem with those fonkenhausen Cyrix chips) Also cooling, obviously, if u cool the chip sufficiently u can increase ur o'c ratio quite dramatically. U can make an o'cd chip more stable by ever so slightly increasing the voltage to it in the BIOS, and providing u don't go mad and try to increase the clock ratio by too much, they're as stable as any factory setup. The Intel P4s and Celerons o'c beautifully if u have a Gigabyte, Asus or Abit board, mine runs from 2.4--->2.8 with no problems at all, but as soon as I take it over that it dies very quickly!

So what procedures are necessary to overclock? I'm not much of a hardware tamperer.

Sir Spectre

Mustang - $600 IS a good price. How come I never find bargains (grumble).

SS - Overclocking is usally achieved throught the BIOS. Standard procedure is to set the CPU to "Manual" mode, and slowly increase the FSB speed by small increments, and then test stablility. For example, I increased my P4 2.4B to 2.649 by increasing the FSB fom 133/33 to 147/36. Unfortunately, games kept crashing on me due to various reasons which are outside the scope of this post.

Once you have increased the FSB, go into Windows, and use a program such as "AquaMark", "3DMark", or "Folding at Home" to put a load on the CPU and check to see if there are any lockups of crashes. If there aren't any after extensive testing, it is usually a safe bet that it is stable. Remember not to radically increase FSB speeds immediately, as you can fry your CPU. Furthermore, keep any eye on your CPU temperature, which should be available through the BIOS. Anything below about 50C should be acceptable when OC'ing. However, a high ambient temperature can influence this so be careful. Finally, in order to increase the FSB, you will need to increase the speed of your RAM, so you will only be able to go so far with generic RAM chips.

Hope this helps you.

Esquilax

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The above post is true, and by true I mean "false". It's comprised of lies, but they are entertaining lies and in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is "no".

SS - I probably should mention that if you change the wrong setting or increase the FSB too far, your computer may not boot. In order to fix this, you will have to reset the BIOS using the jumper on your motherboard. The manual should tell you which one it is. It is usually labelled "Clear RTC". I would strongly recommend that you read up on OC'ing on sites such as www.overclockercafe.com, or www.overclockers.com.au. Finally, don't blame me if you trash your computer. Overclocking CAN be risky.

If you decide to take the plunge, good luck.

Esquilax

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The above post is true, and by true I mean "false". It's comprised of lies, but they are entertaining lies and in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is "no".

@Esq

---

If you decide to take the plunge, good luck.

---

Not plunging, just upgrading. I'm buying a new system 8 times faster than my current one. I am not going to risk anything, nor would I notice a difference as I am already going to see a profound difference just between my computer from 5 years ago and a new one.

Sir Spectre

@Taw - I overclocked it to 3GHz but got CTDs all the time. I can overclock it to 3.6GHz if I wanted to (200 x 18), but cooling the bloody thing would be a major factor. Ive seen in a PCZONE magazine that you can but an ATX case called a VapoChill and they cool your PC down to about 45 degrees. In my BIOS I have a PC Health Status option (dodgy name I know) and can check the temperature of my CPU, and even with a massive cooling fan and in heatsink in one, it still reads at 65 degrees! 75 degrees is supposedly unsafe for it, as you can imagine. Do you think you could fry eggs on a processor? lol j/k.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Estupidud Rex



http://www.cardamine.net/ - should be up and running after Christmas!

it has been known! I have seen pictures of egg being fried on a processor.

Those Vapo-Chill cases are good but they're big. My wife won't let me have one so I use heatsink/fan assembly, Akasa King Copper 901 with oodles of Arctic Silver. seems to do the trick ok.

pretty much all cpu's can be o'cd if ur m'board will let u, but as with anything else it's a trade off and after a while the instability outweighs the perfrmance increase. that's why I generally o'c cpu, ram and agp to about 20% and no more. that's stable enough for me and my m'board has a a dual BIOS, and i run a software oc utility that keeps everything within set parameters. O'clocking is nothing to be afraid of IF u have a good idea of what ur doing and approach it sensibly, but if it worries u or u want something unrealistic like doubling ur cpu speed, then forget it, if u go too far no amount of cooling will save u!

I don't o'c my P3 server at all - isn't necessary
my work machine I'v o'cd from a 2.0ghz Celeron to 2.66ghz and it's very stable
my home machine I'v o'cd from a 2.4ghz P4 to 2.8ghz and it's very stable too
my monkey's machine I'v o'cd from a 1.8ghz celeron to 2.2ghz.

SS it's good that you are upgrading. I'd do it myself, but I can't justify it. Damn. Oh well, at the end of next year I'm going for it. Corsair RAM, proper aluminium case, quality power supply, etc, etc. It's going to be great.

A VapoChill would be nice, but a little too excessive for me. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Esquilax

============================================================
The above post is true, and by true I mean "false". It's comprised of lies, but they are entertaining lies and in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is "no".

Edited by - esquilax on 11-12-2003 04:50:25

@Esq, I can't justify not to. My computer is really slowing down.

@Everyone, I just want to confirm that is a good system I am about to shell out $1100 for:

Alluminum Case with 420w Power Supply
800 FSB Pentium 4 2.6 Ghz 512k cache
Asus P4P800 I865PE AGP8x Dual DDR w/Audio, USB2.0, LAN
512MB PC3200 400Mhz DDR Kingston Memory
Intel Certified Fan & Heatsink + 3 additional case fans
Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM ATA100 8MB Cache Special Edition
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB DDR AGP8x w/TV-Out & DVI
Plextor CD-RW 52x-24x-52x EIDE
On-board sound (To be replaced with my current SB Live!)
Teac Floppy (Just in case)
XP Professional Edition

$1058 add $60 for s&h

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I will also be raiding my current computer of its Creative 16x DVD-Rom that I bought recently.

Sir Spectre

Edited by - Sir Spectre on 11-12-2003 21:15:19

at last we've got u off W98! hooray!

I'm not off it yet. Any more recommendations or is that a good system as is?

Sir Spectre

don't forget a decent firewall and antivirus and no Kazaa-ing.

@SnS

What Taw said. Nice little setup though and great price! *looks enviously*

SS - If you want a critique, you've got one! I would advise going for am 875 chipset, as the 865 doesn't have PAT (Performance Acceleration Technology). The benefits are small, but there is evidence to suggest that you can acquire a ten percent increase in FPS with PAT. Still, it might not be worth the intial outlay.

Mmm, what do you mean by "Intel certified fan and heatsink"? Do you mean stock cooling? If so, I would consider picking up a better package. I can tell you that my P4 stock cooling is appalling! The thermal pad has simply vanished! It is summer here in Melbourne, and when the temperature hits 36C, my CPU runs at just under 50C. A cheap "Volcano" CPU cooler may be the way to go. If you would like any further recommendations in regard to cooling, let me know.

Mmm, a Radeon 9600 Pro. It is not a bad card, however is does not have the power necessary to play modern games in high res. I would suggest a 9500 Pro (if you can find one), or even a 9700 Pro. The 9500 Pro can be modified to act as a 9700 with little effort, as a different BIOS will unlock the four pixel pipelines that are present on the card (it only uses four out of eight). They are hard to get though, but may be worth the effort.

Well, I think that's it for my recommendations. One question remains; what are the brands of the case and power supply?


Esquilax

============================================================
The above post is true, and by true I mean "false". It's comprised of lies, but they are entertaining lies and in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is "no".