PC overclocking questions...
 

how do u do it? how much is too much? for instance my comp runs at 1.23GHZ right now so i assume overclockin to 1.4 would be a piece of cake??? ne info would be appreciated (links and such) thanks! also any other ways to boost PC performance?

also i am running an athlon xp processor at 1.23 right now just for informations sake.

overclocking is ussually achieved by raising the FBS, my dual tualatin runs at 1.4ghz at 133mhz FBS but in the bios I can raise it to 166Mhz(highest and unstable without proper cooling), which puts it at 1.75Ghz each, but hardcore overclockers require that they change the core voltage to keep it stable and to do that u need to have sufficient cooling. Check ur bios, some mobo's are made for overclocking but some don't have that option. Search for examples of your specific proc being overclocked to find out what is the safest amount u can overclock.

thanks silverphoenix. ill search around a little more.

For some athlon chipsets (via's and sis' mostly), you have to becareful about the pci bus frequency. Since they don't have locked pci bus, when you're overclocking the cpu, you're overclocking the pci bus as well. An overlocked pci bus (higher than 33mhz) can potentially damage hard drives or cards in your pc. The pci bus is 33mhz when fsb is 100/133/166/200, so try to stay close to these settings.

To overclock without serious damage to your hardware, make sure the cooling is done properly. I would try to keep the cpu below 55C under full load. Do some research before you overclock, you'll save yourself lots of trouble in the long run. Personally, I would just buy a faster chip since they're cheaper than proper heatsink/fans. Just got a new applebred duron 1.4ghz for cdn$50 few weeks ago. You can get a 1.6 or 1.8 for slightly more than that. I got it to replace my 1800+ so that I can keep the chip at 42-43C while running cpu fan at 2000rpm.

One final tip, if you're having problem booting up after overclocking, clear the CMOS (there should be a jumper beside the battery, read the manual for detail) to get back to default speed.

The processors are so cheap for now so it is a lot cheaper to buy a new faster one instead of overclocking the old one. :)

What if you montherboard doesn't support a new chip - Not so cheap then :wink:

i think a 1.23 ghz would be a 1400+?
although i've never seen one before

Heh i wasn't sure about that thanks for clearing that up. I assumed there was one because there was a p4 1.4.