Overclocking

[GregHess]

www.overclockers.com

I do not recommend overclocking a workstation machine.

If its a secondary, or non essential box, then by all means fiddle the hell out of it.

[Emberghost]

Overclocking is not something you can blindly jump in at and do. And know you do not have to do anything to the chip physically to the chip to oc it. You will need a good heatsink and fan, as well as a program that monitors temps. Try to keep them below 55*c if you can. But the general way to oc your processor is by upping the processor's fsb. You have to lock your pci and agp though in the bios as well. Agp should be set at 66, and pci should be set at 33.

Basically the way you get your MHz is from the multiplier and your fsb. I don't know what the 3200 is set at so I will use my 2700 for example. I went in the bios and left my multiplier at 13 and my fsb at 166 (this is stock settings for my 2700) So 13x166= 2158 MHz. So you need to bump up that large number (your fsb) as high as you can go while still being stable. I can successfully raise my fsb to 175 and I left my multiplier at 13, 13x175= 2275 MHz. I cannot go any higher because my memory holds me back. I have 512 mb of "2100" ram which I think runs at like 166 MHz. So in order to overclock you have to:

1) know what you are doing
2) proper cooling
3) lock your agp and pci bus
4)have good memory
5)raise your fsb in small increments
6)try to match your memory speed with your fsb
7)check for stability with a program called Prime95 after each time you change something (do a google search to easily find it)

I hope this helped some.

[Emberghost]

Originally posted by Nem
i ran sisoft sandra on my XP3200 and it said that its capable of running up to 3ghz stabily

Nope, maybe with some hardcore cooling and modding....but I still don't think it could attain those speeds.

Also post the specs of your comp. Ram and cooling has alot do do with OCing.

[Nem]

i wasnt thinking of overclocking the computer per se, just to tweak it so it runs as fast as it can

why is overclocking not a good idea if you can run it at a stable temperature?

both my FSB and mem run at 400mhz, so instead of tweaking that can i change the multiplier settings?

[GregHess]

Because overclocking introduces variables beyond your control.

There are many components in a computer. Just because one is still running within specifications doesn't mean another is.

The last thing you want on hour 22:59.59 of 23:00.00 is an instability variable.

[Emberghost]

Originally posted by Nem
i wasnt thinking of overclocking the computer per se, just to tweak it so it runs as fast as it can

why is overclocking not a good idea if you can run it at a stable temperature?

both my FSB and mem run at 400mhz, so instead of tweaking that can i change the multiplier settings?

Um tweaking it to making it faster basically would be overclocking. I dunno any other way to tweak it besides that. What are your temperatures at when you run them on load and when nothing is running at all? Yes you can OC by upping the multiplier, but the point is to get your fsb as high as you can.

10x200 > 15x133 - Even though both technically are the same 2 GHz. But really you need to reasearch some more and I suggest overclockers.com as well. And fyi you have 3200 ram, where as I have 2100 :annoyed: ....trade ya:D

[Nem]

haha u wish :p it isnt as great as its hyped up to be, dnt worry...the ram that is :p

wouldnt upping the FSB defeat the purpose of running the ram and fsb at the same rate?

and i can find where i need to go to lock the AGP to 66hz, but how do i do it with pci?

[Emberghost]

"wouldnt upping the FSB defeat the purpose of running the ram and fsb at the same rate?"

How do you figure? You are then overclocking your memory to get more out of that as well as making your processor run faster, and they are both running in sync.

"and i can find where i need to go to lock the AGP to 66hz, but how do i do it with pci?"

Your motherboard probbably has a utility that tells you if you can not find the setting in the bios. You still have not said your other hardware.....

[Nem]

sorry, specs:

asus a7n8x deluxe revision 2
athlon xp3200
quadrofx 1000
1.5gb DDR400 corsair low latency RAM (3 sticks of 512gb)
maxtor diamondmax plus9 SATA 8mb cache 120gb hard drive
antec trueblue 480watt PSU
audigy 2 platinum eX
creative 6.1 6700 speakers
windows 2000 SP4

the thing is i really dont want to overclock the memory at all, just the cpu if at all possible which means only upping the mutiplier, is there anything wrong or disadvantagous to that?
why is the point to just up the FSB?

[Emberghost]

your multiplier&FSB is set to 11x200 correct? And you can up the multi and get alot more of a performance boost, but im just saying not much as if you upped the fsb instead. Ill run some tests and see what the differance between high fsb to low multi vs. high multi to low fsb. You can up the processors fsb without upping the memory, ....pretty sure...hehe. I think that your computer is so kick ass already that it is really not worth it to up it another 100 or 200 MHz. I mean those are all top notch parts, people usually buy amd 2500 bartons and such and oc them to 3200 lvls. Or the Intel 2.4c's and up those to like 3.4 GHz :eek:

Do some research....know all there is to know. Evaluate all the risks of OCing that beast you call a comp, and then decide whether you want to take the plunge. For now be happy with that killer setup you got.

My offer still stands, if you would like to trade I would be glad to. I will also throw in a complementary G4 440 mx :eek:

O.T. Ill run some of those tests...and delay doin my fun homework for a little haha.

[Brim]

My old system - Celeron 366 PPGA (on MSI PPGA-Slot1 Adapter) running @ 557mhz.

I used to overlcock but now I'm just too damy lazy. Besides with current CPU trends why overlclock? Overclocking voids your warranties, as Greg said it introduces uncontrollable variables, you gotta buy extra components, have to monitor temps constantly. I think it's more trouble than it's worth - BUT - it is fun! I also wouldn't overclock a workstation - just a box youwanna crank games or test systems on.

[Nem]

aww thanks man, let me know of the results :D and if they work in my favour, i might just think about giving you the boxes my pc components came in, then u can show em off to ur friends and pretend that you too have a "kick ass" system :p heh

[CgFX]

The dirty secret of overclocking is that it will reduce the lifespan of the processor you are overclocking. A hard, cold, simple fact.

The IC design process also allows engineers to know what the switching lifecycle is on a transistor for the process type and materials they are using. This is related to the recommended clock rate for the device these transistors are a part of. If the CPU or GPU vendor is trying to ensure that the product will live for at least 3 years they are able to determine what clocks it should be running (also factoring in heat and power and a bunch of other things).

You could easily create a situation where the target lifespan of the processor is reduced to fall well within its useful lifecycle. Everything could be going great and then one year down the road (instead of three) dead CPU or dead GPU. Or maybe just flakey.

...not worth it in my book.

[Emberghost]

Originally posted by Nem
aww thanks man, let me know of the results :D and if they work in my favour, i might just think about giving you the boxes my pc components came in, then u can show em off to ur friends and pretend that you too have a "kick ass" system :p heh

Haha, good man good man.

Well I ran the tests on a program called SiSoft Sandra, you can get it at http://download.guru3d.com/sandra/. here is what I came up with:

15x144 - 7931 points and 3243 points.
13x166 - 7974 points and 3287 points.
13x170 - 8277 points and 3346 points.
13x175 - 8594 points and 3441 points.
Im not sure if that means anything to you or not but take it as you will. Once again hope I have helped.

[M.Rogne]

I wouldn't recommend overclocking unless you're used to it... Also, you'll have to consider the increased heat from the CPU.

[Nem]

thx for the info guys
emberghost, thanks for running the tests for me, which processor got hotter? (high mutilplier, low FSB, or low multiplier, high fsb?)

[Emberghost]

Originally posted by Nem
thx for the info guys
emberghost, thanks for running the tests for me, which processor got hotter? (high mutilplier, low FSB, or low multiplier, high fsb?)

I wish I could tell ya which one got hotter but I didn't check :hmm:

But if I had to guess there would only be a 1*c change at most.

:thumbsup:

[Nem]

ok thanks
i think ill go read up on it a bit more before doing it, ill prolly end up leaving it alone actually, but its always good to learn stuff :D

thanks guys

[neble]

I guess I'm just one of those people that has had good luck at overclocking. I just figure as long as the system runs stable at a over-clock speed then all's good. I've over-clocked everyone of my systems, except this one, I figured at 2.6Gs, it was fast enough. If it does go out, so what, I've probably had it long enough, that it was time for a new processor. If I had to upgrade the motherboard for that new processor, then well a processor that was compatible with my motherboard etc would most likely be old enough to be super cheap. Over-clocking isn't for everyone, but if you can do it right and it works perfectly, you have a faster system at a cheaper price.

Of course, I can say this only because it's worked for me. Of course it doesn't always work for everyone.

[Emberghost]

Originally posted by neble
Of course, I can say this only because it's worked for me. Of course it doesn't always work for everyone.

Same goes for me I guess, it was surprisingly easier than I had thought. I did not want to do it cause I was so afraid I was going to mess something up but everything is fine and running higher over spec which I am happy with. And processors last like 5 years or so....and I know I will upgrade in a year or so so if it craps out then oh well. More of an excuse to get a new one lol :D

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