overclocking

[94_AcCoRd_EX]

Originally posted by highlander
simple question: what is overclocking, how can you tell if your computer is doing it, what harm does it do, and how do you correct it?

Whoa, deep subject. check out www.overclockers.com for a site/forum dedicated to it.

Overclocking is pushing the clock speed of your system above stock specs. You can tell that your computer is doing it because you set it that was. You can also use programs such as WINCPUID to give you info about your overclock.

The harm can be fatal if you're not careful. OC'ing results in higher temps (can kill things if you don't cool well) and higher front side bus speeds (FSB). If you raise the FSB too far out of spec, you can kill your harddrives, etc.

You'll need a good power supply, good stepping CPU, good motherboard with OC options, good RAM, and GREAT cooling. This cooling will result in a louder computer sometimes.

There are two ways to overclock, and I'm really only familiar with AMD systems, though pentiums can get killer OC's. Ask Maxvla if you want to know about Pentium OC'ing. You can raise the FSB, or you can raise the CPU multiplier. The clock speed of your CPU is determined by multiplying the multiplier and FSB together. Say if you have a multiplier of 10 and FSB of 133, you have a 1330MHz CPU. Most chips do not allow you to adjust the multiplier without doing some sort of physical mod to the chip itself. Most boards (not boards from Dells, Gateways, etc.) will allow you to raise your FSB. Default for a Pally AMD athlon is 133MHz.

Say you have an AMD athlon XP1600+ chip. Stock specs are multi of 10.5 and FSB of 133. For every 1 MHz you raise the FSB, you gain 10.5MHz on your system.

There is much, much, much more to this, but just ask if you think you want to try it. DON'T just go in and jack the FSB or you can say goodbye to some components if you don't change the dividers, etc.