Help with Overclocking

[Da11en47]

Ok Im new to this overclocking stuff. My motherboard has a overclocking feature built into it. For instance, it will let me overclock 10 %, 20%, and 30%. Well I choose 20%, (2.8 Ggz---> 3.36 Ghz). Now whenever I try 30% it wont boot.

My question is how do I make it reach 30%, I've heard I have to increase the voltage? How do I begin doing that? Also do you guys think I should do this and go even higher or should I quit while im ahead? My CPU temperature is at 38-43 celcius, idle, and never goes above 50 c under load, also I still have stock cooling on the CPU. Thanks for any help.

 

[AMDSCOrPiO]

seems like a good temp, raise the voltage a bit and turn the speed of the ram down abit aswell

 

[Da11en47]

....I dont know how, thats why Im asking. How do you raise the voltage? or even turn the speed of the ram down?

 

[Max2559]

Its only my humble opinion as someone who is new to all this o/c lark myself... but the aproach - get told something... then try it... is a pretty dangerous one.

The reason for this is...

a: all motherboards have different setups... meaning different Bios.
b: Changing one setting in Bios may result in an automatic change in another setting... which you may or may not be damaging to your system (RE: FSB and RAM settings spring to mind)... using a windows program like you mentioned often has this effect.
c: You may misinterpret what others say... or they may be just talking rubbish to start with.

I really dont mean to lecture you... its your machine... do what ever you like to it! ... but i simply advise caution when setting out on the overclocking mission. (A good friend said the same to me and im so glad he did... as since learning more ive seen many areas where i would have made SERIOUS mistakes before).

You mentioned you were using a program in windows to overclock...
this is an example of the easy option... and the bad news is that there are no shortcuts to a good overclock...

The place to start is the Bios. . . (press del when prompted as comp is booting up)

you mentioned upping the voltage.... Bios is the place to do that. But as i said before... dont just go and do it.... Read up on overclocking articles... there are LOADS on the net and they dont take long to read. - perhaps a while to understand tho!

Id forget about upping the voltage for now... and just give me some more info to help u find a solution... i will try and find some good overclocking articles on the internet and then link them here....

Give me exact system spec including Motherboard model/make, CPU make/model, RAMmake/model PSU - Graphics card etc etc.... then you may recieve more specific and specifically better advice!

Good luck with it
Max

 

[CrazeD]

Max2559: I agree with most of what you said, except:

Id forget about upping the voltage for now...

You can usually only go a very short bit before you need to up the voltage. You might get a 200MHz boost before you need to up the voltage, but this depends on your chip of course. Opertons can go a very long way before they need a voltage increasement, but the cheaper cores need more voltage sooner.

But, I do agree strongly that there is no shortcut to a good OC. Use the BIOS! Not programs. Programs are not hardware specific where-as BIOS is, so you have a more thorough and more stable overclock with the BIOS. The BIOS also uses different parts of the motherboard to OC than programs do.

 

[Max2559]

Only forget about it for now.... perhaps in the near future.... when the correct instructions have been implemented in the bios... and he can go no further... then up the voltage... but i just didnt want him to go gung ho at it... and was suggesting a more measured approach.

Totally agree though that he may need to up voltage at some point to get the best over clock. . .

 

[Da11en47]

Sorry I didnt explain well enough, but I did overclock through the BIOS. The option is called "Jumperfree configuration".

Heres my specs.

MOBO: ASUS P4P800 SE
CPU: Pentium 4 HT, 2.8 Ghz
RAM: PC 3200 Samsung DDR SDRAM(1 x GB) (2 x 512) = 2 GB
POWERSUPPLY: Nspire 450W
GCARD: 256 mb BFG Geforce 7800 GT OC

 

[pullyalater]

jumperfree lol

yea change setting on the top to manual and the % bs will go away. dont use that do it all manual and it will give you vcore, vDDR, cpu freq., etc etc, as all others said read up more about OC'ing you will get it.

i would help you more but you have a pentium

 

[Max2559]

Right... sorry for the delayed relpy.

Your CPU is a 2.8 Northwood HT with a stock Front side bus of 800Mhz.

Ive done some reading around and it seems that is a good chip to o/c with.

Here is my plan for you:
1) Read this: http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Unofficial_Overclocking_How_To-t11177.html

- It is imperitive to understand... before trying things out.

2) Lets start... Get into the Bios:
a) Find the FSB (sometimes called CPU host frequency)
b) This is what you will be upping. . . steadily.
c) Fin the FSB multiplier. (A single number
d) Now find your RAM ratios... (should understand now after reading above)
e) Find your CPU voltage.

f) dont change anything... but instead just post what you see on here. . .
g) if you are confused at anything in the bios get your manual out. If you are still confused try using a digital cam to take photos of the screen in bios and then posting them for us to see. (its a pain i know... but all Bios are different... and sometimes the generic names for certain things are not what youd expect. eg on my Gigabyte 965PDS4 board the ram ratios section is called RAM multiplier. . .

Just as an example of how i almost went wrong in a common/easy to make error:

Set RAm multiplier to 3 with FSB at 266 (stock as multiplier is at 9 and 266 x 9 = 2.4Ghz)
So Ram was now at the requested 800Mhz - Thats fine
Then thought... i know... i will start o/c the FSB. Of course... as i started pushing my FSB (even in v.small increments) my Ram was geting pushed higher too!... as the two things are connected.

However... i realised and brought the RAM setting back to "auto" (where RAM runs at 667... and then started to up the FSB again.

As i typed in the new FSB (eg 314) my RAM changed without me touching it to 785Mhz. - -

You see how upping the FSB drags up the RAM speed? - - -> Its tricky stuff.

This E6600 of mine will go up to 3.6Ghz and beyond... but im waiting till i get a sonic tower on it before i go any further. . .

Hope i can help more when you get the Bios readings.

Max

 

[Da11en47]

Ok

AI Overclock Timer Manual
CPU External Freq. Mhz {247}
DRAM Freq. Auto
AGP/PCI Freq. Auto

CPU VCORE Volt. 1.5250 V
DDR Reference Voltage Auto
AGP/PCI Voltage 1.5 V

Performance Mode Turbo



Heres what I've done already, the CPU External Freq. was at 200, now its at 247 (wont go any higher, not stable). I also raised the VCORE voltage from 1.5 V to 1.5250 V. My computer is stable at 3.47 ghz, do you think I should do anything else. Did I alter the RAM at all when I did this, im not completly sure what I've changed. Should I mess with anything else? Thanks.