Rbstr
2004.12.31, 2000
THANKS TO MATTxMOSH FOR TYPEING THIS UP
First things first:
1. DO NOT HOLD ME RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE DONE.
2. Not all CPUS/VPUs/Memory will Overclock the same, EG: You and a friend have the same cpu, his overclocks 400mhz your only gets an extra 250, You aren't necessarily doing anything wrong, some chips don't go as well as others.
3. I don't recommend overclocking Pre-Fab systems, ala Dell, gateway, Sony etc. They tend to have all bios options locked and have parts manufactured just for them and tend to be more limited cooling/airflow wise.
An Explaination:
Overclocking is pushing your Computers components faster than thier rated speed. This works because most parts, ala CPU dies are manufactured in large waffers, al are tested, and are found thier maximum stable speed, then clocked down a bit. So a 2.8 can come of the same run as a 3.2c, which can give you an idea of your head room. Steppings and manufacture dates can come into play as well, but I'll keep this basic. If you want more detailed information on that, just drop me a line.
To understand how this work, you need to understand how your System works. basically your motherboard has a "clock"(FSB), and your CPU has a "Multiplier". First We'll use an Intel System as an example, Using this Basic formula: (FSB) x (Multiplier) = CPU Effective Speed
INTEL
Now lets say you have an 800MHZ FSB Intel CPU. Since Intel uses a "Quad-Pumped" FSB, you're actual FSB speed is 200mhz. Quad Pumped basically means its sending 4 instructions per clock cycle. So if you have a a 2.0c Intel Pentium 4, the equation goes like this: 200mhz (FSB) x 10 (Multiplier) = 2000mhz = 2.0ghz.
Keep in mind, all Intels since 1998 have been multiplier locked, aside from engineering samples. And the likelyhood of you getting an M to work with a desktop Motherboard is pretty low.
Not too Complicated now is it?
AMD
Now for your AMD XPS/Durons. Its the same principle, with one variable. If you have an AMD CPU made before week 39 of 2003 or a "Mobile" or an 64-FX its multiplier is unlocked. if you have a regular AMD64, Its "Top-Down" Locked, meaning you can lower the Multiplier, but not raise it.
Im going to use an Older XP as an example, because I have one with the Multi-unlocked. For newer ones, just plug in the Numbers shown in your BIOS, or a Program like CPUZ (http://www.cpuid.com).
My XP1600 has a 10.5 multiplier, and a 133 FSB, so its equation is: 133 x 10.5 = 1400mhz or 1.4ghz.
But heres where it can get tricky, with the changing of the multiplier, but Ill save that for later on in the guide.
The Athlon 64s are a bit different, The FSB is actually an "HTT", which basically means that instead of teh motherboard generating the clock, its actually on the CPU die, allowing it to communicate faster than your traditional set-up. Basically it functions exatly the same as an Intel or XP FSB, so well just call it FSB from now on.
I have an AMD64 3000+ So theres our example. It runs on a 200mhz FSB and a 10 multiplier. So that would make it: 200mhz x 10 = 2000mhz, or 2.0ghz. Seen that before havent we?
That explains how the CPU works with the motherboard, Now on to your RAM an other components.
Ram runs on the same clock as your CPU, but with a slight difference. The RAM bus has its own speed, but it raises with the FSB, for example, PC3200 is arted at a speed of 200mhz, and in most newer systems runs along with the FSB. Ill explain how this changes later.
Not your other Buses, the AGP/PCI, and cause serious problems when overclocking. In a perfect world, your motherboard has a AGP/PCI lock, which locks that frequency in at its default, to keep it from going up when you raise your FSB.
LETS GET ON WITH IT.
First its off to your BIOS by pressing the designated key when you boot up. You shold have a listing for Advanced chipset option, or something similar, with settings such as FSB, Multiplier, Ram Divider, rtam Speed, and Ram timings, and CPU/RAM voltage controls. Not everyone will have all these options, so work with what you have.
The absolute easiest way to Overclock your CPU is raising the multiplier, but since most people dont have unlocked CPUs, we'll keep that to the end of this guide.
As you remember our Unlocked XP was running at 133 x 10.5 = 1400mhz right?
Now Raising the multiplier can increase the performance of JUST YOUR CPU. Great for Benches and Record runs and such. It helps overall performance, but not as much as we would all like. So first, We want to raise our FSB. We want to do this because raising teh FSB speeds up all the clocks on your motherboard, leading to greater bandwidth all around for better system performance.
First aquire these programs:
CPUZ: Http://www.cpuid.com - To check your clock speeds/FSB/Multi/RAM timings/Speeds
Prime95: http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm For stress testing your CPU.
Speedfan or any other Temperature monitoring Software. Google it.
(This motherboard doesnt have an AGP/PCI lock, but its self explainitory how to work it)
Now head into your BIOS and dig up the option to adjust your FSB.
Raise your FSB by 5-10 MHZ, save and exit, and head into Windows.
Now if you have trouble booting into windows/restart or freeze, Your are pretty much screwed already and will have to read down a few steps, but if you do follow along.
Fire up your temperature monitoring software, and CPUZ.
In theory you want to stay Under 50c at load, and never anymore than 60c, otherwise, kiss your CPU good bye.
Now if you idle temps are good, Somewhere under 35c hopefully (Idle as in nothing much running). Have a look at CPUZ.
Since we are using the XP as the example, lets say we raised teh FSB 10 mhz, which would give us 143 x 10.5 = 1501.5mhz or about 1.5ghz.
Now run prime95 to stress your CPU for a bit. If your temperatures are low enough, and nothing screwed up, crashed or froze after a few minutes, repeat those steps, until you start getting some issues.
Now my max with the cpu on FSB is 157, so that would give us: 157 x 10.5 = about 1650mhz.
So I backed it off a few MHZ just to be safe. a steady 150 or 150 x 10.5 = 1575mhz.
Now I repeat my testing as usual and its pretty stable.
If you can't raise teh multiplier, skip over the next few lines.
Now if you have the ability, raise your multiplier in .5 increments, and run your tests again.
Lucky for me I can only get another .5 out of it, so its 150 x 11 = 1650mhz.
Now if you look at that speed and my highest FSB, you notice the final speed is the same. And in our theory, we want a higer FSB for greater system performance. So something was stopping our FSB from going up, because our CPU can handle that speed.
First stop: RAM.
Now RAM speeds and ratings get tricky, you'll hear PC-Such and SUCH, DDRSomething or other, and Its actual speed in MHZ.
Well use the PC2100 in My test system to explain it the best I can.
PC2100 = DDR266 = 133mhz
Thanks to rbstr, PCXXXX is th Bandwidth rating (DDR # x 16bits = PCXXXX, MB/s I believe), DDR = Double Data Rate, so If the actual data rate is 133mhz, that x 2 = 266.
PC2100 sucks, but hey this is just how to explain it all.
Now the default RAM divider in My Bios is 1:1, the fastest and most effective ratio, which means your FSB and RAM are running on the same speed. You can choose from other dividers, usually 5:4, which means for every 5mhz on your FSB your RAM only runs 4mhz. I don't recommend doing this unless you are after clock speed only and aren't concerned too much with overall performance.
So basically since my RAM isn't rated for anything over 133, and is actually running at 150, and I dont want to change the divider, my only option is to buy higher rated ram OR increase the voltage. We'll get to that in a minute. If you change teh divider, up your fsb, a bit, and stress test again. If successful repeat, until you get your higest stable Overclock.
Congrats, You finished the Basics![/i][/u][/b]
First things first:
1. DO NOT HOLD ME RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE DONE.
2. Not all CPUS/VPUs/Memory will Overclock the same, EG: You and a friend have the same cpu, his overclocks 400mhz your only gets an extra 250, You aren't necessarily doing anything wrong, some chips don't go as well as others.
3. I don't recommend overclocking Pre-Fab systems, ala Dell, gateway, Sony etc. They tend to have all bios options locked and have parts manufactured just for them and tend to be more limited cooling/airflow wise.
An Explaination:
Overclocking is pushing your Computers components faster than thier rated speed. This works because most parts, ala CPU dies are manufactured in large waffers, al are tested, and are found thier maximum stable speed, then clocked down a bit. So a 2.8 can come of the same run as a 3.2c, which can give you an idea of your head room. Steppings and manufacture dates can come into play as well, but I'll keep this basic. If you want more detailed information on that, just drop me a line.
To understand how this work, you need to understand how your System works. basically your motherboard has a "clock"(FSB), and your CPU has a "Multiplier". First We'll use an Intel System as an example, Using this Basic formula: (FSB) x (Multiplier) = CPU Effective Speed
INTEL
Now lets say you have an 800MHZ FSB Intel CPU. Since Intel uses a "Quad-Pumped" FSB, you're actual FSB speed is 200mhz. Quad Pumped basically means its sending 4 instructions per clock cycle. So if you have a a 2.0c Intel Pentium 4, the equation goes like this: 200mhz (FSB) x 10 (Multiplier) = 2000mhz = 2.0ghz.
Keep in mind, all Intels since 1998 have been multiplier locked, aside from engineering samples. And the likelyhood of you getting an M to work with a desktop Motherboard is pretty low.
Not too Complicated now is it?
AMD
Now for your AMD XPS/Durons. Its the same principle, with one variable. If you have an AMD CPU made before week 39 of 2003 or a "Mobile" or an 64-FX its multiplier is unlocked. if you have a regular AMD64, Its "Top-Down" Locked, meaning you can lower the Multiplier, but not raise it.
Im going to use an Older XP as an example, because I have one with the Multi-unlocked. For newer ones, just plug in the Numbers shown in your BIOS, or a Program like CPUZ (http://www.cpuid.com).
My XP1600 has a 10.5 multiplier, and a 133 FSB, so its equation is: 133 x 10.5 = 1400mhz or 1.4ghz.
But heres where it can get tricky, with the changing of the multiplier, but Ill save that for later on in the guide.
The Athlon 64s are a bit different, The FSB is actually an "HTT", which basically means that instead of teh motherboard generating the clock, its actually on the CPU die, allowing it to communicate faster than your traditional set-up. Basically it functions exatly the same as an Intel or XP FSB, so well just call it FSB from now on.
I have an AMD64 3000+ So theres our example. It runs on a 200mhz FSB and a 10 multiplier. So that would make it: 200mhz x 10 = 2000mhz, or 2.0ghz. Seen that before havent we?
That explains how the CPU works with the motherboard, Now on to your RAM an other components.
Ram runs on the same clock as your CPU, but with a slight difference. The RAM bus has its own speed, but it raises with the FSB, for example, PC3200 is arted at a speed of 200mhz, and in most newer systems runs along with the FSB. Ill explain how this changes later.
Not your other Buses, the AGP/PCI, and cause serious problems when overclocking. In a perfect world, your motherboard has a AGP/PCI lock, which locks that frequency in at its default, to keep it from going up when you raise your FSB.
LETS GET ON WITH IT.
First its off to your BIOS by pressing the designated key when you boot up. You shold have a listing for Advanced chipset option, or something similar, with settings such as FSB, Multiplier, Ram Divider, rtam Speed, and Ram timings, and CPU/RAM voltage controls. Not everyone will have all these options, so work with what you have.
The absolute easiest way to Overclock your CPU is raising the multiplier, but since most people dont have unlocked CPUs, we'll keep that to the end of this guide.
As you remember our Unlocked XP was running at 133 x 10.5 = 1400mhz right?
Now Raising the multiplier can increase the performance of JUST YOUR CPU. Great for Benches and Record runs and such. It helps overall performance, but not as much as we would all like. So first, We want to raise our FSB. We want to do this because raising teh FSB speeds up all the clocks on your motherboard, leading to greater bandwidth all around for better system performance.
First aquire these programs:
CPUZ: Http://www.cpuid.com - To check your clock speeds/FSB/Multi/RAM timings/Speeds
Prime95: http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm For stress testing your CPU.
Speedfan or any other Temperature monitoring Software. Google it.
(This motherboard doesnt have an AGP/PCI lock, but its self explainitory how to work it)
Now head into your BIOS and dig up the option to adjust your FSB.
Raise your FSB by 5-10 MHZ, save and exit, and head into Windows.
Now if you have trouble booting into windows/restart or freeze, Your are pretty much screwed already and will have to read down a few steps, but if you do follow along.
Fire up your temperature monitoring software, and CPUZ.
In theory you want to stay Under 50c at load, and never anymore than 60c, otherwise, kiss your CPU good bye.
Now if you idle temps are good, Somewhere under 35c hopefully (Idle as in nothing much running). Have a look at CPUZ.
Since we are using the XP as the example, lets say we raised teh FSB 10 mhz, which would give us 143 x 10.5 = 1501.5mhz or about 1.5ghz.
Now run prime95 to stress your CPU for a bit. If your temperatures are low enough, and nothing screwed up, crashed or froze after a few minutes, repeat those steps, until you start getting some issues.
Now my max with the cpu on FSB is 157, so that would give us: 157 x 10.5 = about 1650mhz.
So I backed it off a few MHZ just to be safe. a steady 150 or 150 x 10.5 = 1575mhz.
Now I repeat my testing as usual and its pretty stable.
If you can't raise teh multiplier, skip over the next few lines.
Now if you have the ability, raise your multiplier in .5 increments, and run your tests again.
Lucky for me I can only get another .5 out of it, so its 150 x 11 = 1650mhz.
Now if you look at that speed and my highest FSB, you notice the final speed is the same. And in our theory, we want a higer FSB for greater system performance. So something was stopping our FSB from going up, because our CPU can handle that speed.
First stop: RAM.
Now RAM speeds and ratings get tricky, you'll hear PC-Such and SUCH, DDRSomething or other, and Its actual speed in MHZ.
Well use the PC2100 in My test system to explain it the best I can.
PC2100 = DDR266 = 133mhz
Thanks to rbstr, PCXXXX is th Bandwidth rating (DDR # x 16bits = PCXXXX, MB/s I believe), DDR = Double Data Rate, so If the actual data rate is 133mhz, that x 2 = 266.
PC2100 sucks, but hey this is just how to explain it all.
Now the default RAM divider in My Bios is 1:1, the fastest and most effective ratio, which means your FSB and RAM are running on the same speed. You can choose from other dividers, usually 5:4, which means for every 5mhz on your FSB your RAM only runs 4mhz. I don't recommend doing this unless you are after clock speed only and aren't concerned too much with overall performance.
So basically since my RAM isn't rated for anything over 133, and is actually running at 150, and I dont want to change the divider, my only option is to buy higher rated ram OR increase the voltage. We'll get to that in a minute. If you change teh divider, up your fsb, a bit, and stress test again. If successful repeat, until you get your higest stable Overclock.
Congrats, You finished the Basics![/i][/u][/b]