Overclocking is the process of forcing a computer component to run at a higher clock rate than it was designed for or was designated by the manufacturer.
Overclocking is usually practiced by PC enthusiasts in order to increase the performance of their computers. Some hardware enthusiasts purchase low-end computer components which they then overclock to higher speeds, while others overclock high-end components to attain levels of performance beyond original specifications.

Users who overclock their components mainly focus their efforts on processors, video cards, motherboard chipsets, and Random Access Memory (RAM).

Considerations

There are several considerations when overclocking. Overclocking boosts the performance of a computer system by increasing clock frequencies, which requires certain precautions. The first consideration is to ensure that it is supplied with adequate power to operate at the new speed. However, supplying the power with improper settings or applying excessive voltage can permanently damage a component. Since tight tolerances are required for overclocking, only more expensive motherboards—with advanced settings that computer enthusiasts are likely to use—have built-in overclocking capabilities. Motherboards with fewer settings, such as those found in OEM systems, lack such features in order to eliminate the possibility of misconfiguration on behalf of an inept user and cut down on the support costs and warranty claims to the manufacturer.

  Cooling

Because most stock cooling systems are designed for the amount of heat produced during non-overclocked use, overclockers typically turn to more effective cooling solutions, such as powerful fans or heavy duty heatsinks. Size, shape, and material all influence the ability of a heatsink to dissipate heat. Efficient heatsinks are often made entirely of thermally conductive copper, but these are often expensive.^[1] Aluminum is more widely used material for heatsinks. Cast iron is the least expensive, but it should be avoided for its poor thermal conductivity. Many good-quality heatsink coolers combine two or more materials to maximize thermal conductivity while minimizing cost.

Water cooling and passive liquid coolant carrying waste heat to a radiator which is similar to an automobile engine’s cooling system provide more effective cooling than heatsink and fan combinations when properly implemented, because liquid is denser than air and therefore offers greater thermal transference.

Thermoelectric cooling devices are becoming more and more popular these days with the onset of high TDP processors from both Intel and AMD. TEC devices create temperature differences between two plates by running an electric current through said plates. This method of cooling is extremely effective, but is very inefficient, which leads to a lot of excess heat. Because of this, it is necessary to supplement TEC devices with a beefy convection-based heatsink or a water cooling system. Companies like Vigor Gaming offer all-in-one units that combine the advantages of TEC cooling with easy installation. One major drawback of TEC is that they have a large power overhead, sometimes drawing more than 60 W.

Other cooling methods are forced convection and phase change cooling which is used in refrigerators. Submersion, liquid nitrogen and dry ice are used as a cooling method in extreme measures, such as record-setting attempts or one-off experiments rather than cooling an everyday system. Submersion method involves sinking a part of computer system directly into a chilled liquid substance that is thermally conductive but sufficiently low in electrical conductivity. The advantage of this technique is that no condensation can form on sensitive electronic components. A good submersion liquid is Fluorinert™ made by 3M, which is expensive and requires a permit to purchase it. Another option is mineral oil, but if it has impurities like water or scenting agents it will conduct electricity.
These extreme methods are generally intolerable in the long term, as they require refilling reservoirs of coolant or are noisy. Moreover, silicon-based MOSFETs will cease to function ("freeze out") below temperatures of roughly 100 K, so using extremely cold coolants may cause devices to cease functioning.

Stability and functional correctness

An overclocked component operates outside of the manufacturer’s recommended operating conditions, and as such may operate incorrectly, leading to system instability. An unstable overclocked system, while it may work fast, can be frustrating to use. Another risk is silent data corruption—errors that are initially undetected. In general, overclockers claim that testing can ensure that an overclocked system is stable and functioning correctly. Although software tools are available for testing hardware stability, it is generally impossible for anyone but the processor manufacturer to thoroughly test the functionality of a processor. A particular "stress test" can verify only the functionality of the specific instruction sequence used in combination with the data and may not detect faults in those operations. For example, an arithmetic operation may produce the correct result but incorrect flags; if the flags are not checked, the error will go undetected. Achieving good fault coverage requires immense engineering effort, and despite all the resources dedicated to validation by manufacturers, mistakes can still be made. To further complicate matters, in process technologies such as silicon on insulator, devices display hysteresis—a circuit’s performance is affected by the events of the past, so without carefully targeted tests it is possible for a particular sequence of state changes to work at overclocked speeds in one situation but not another even if the voltage and temperature are the same. Often, an overclocked system which passes stress tests experiences "inexplicable" instabilities in other programs.^[2]

Many overclockers, however, are satisfied with perceived stability; while their system may operate incorrectly, the errors may not be overtly apparent to the user. In overclocking circles, "stress tests" or "torture tests" are used to check for correct operation of a component. These workloads are selected as they put a very high load on the component of interest (e.g. a graphically-intensive application for testing video cards, or a processor-intensive application for testing processors). Popular stress tests include Prime95, Super PI, SiSoftware Sandra, BOINC and Memtest86. The hope is that any functional-correctness issues with the overclocked component will show up during these tests, and if no errors are detected during the test, the component is then deemed "stable". Since fault coverage is important in stability testing, the tests are often run for long periods of time, hours or even days.

Factors allowing overclocking

Overclockability arises in part due to the economics of the manufacturing processes of CPUs. In most cases, CPUs with different rated clock speeds are manufactured via exactly the same process. The clock speed that the CPU is rated for is the speed at which the CPU has passed the manufacturer’s functionality tests when operating in worst-case conditions (for example, the highest allowed temperature and lowest allowed supply voltage). Manufacturers must also leave additional margin for reasons discussed below.

When a manufacturer rates a chip for a certain speed, it must ensure that the chip functions properly at that speed over the entire range of allowed operating conditions. When overclocking a system, the operating conditions are usually tightly controlled, making the manufacturer’s margin available as free headroom. Other system components are generally designed with margins for similar reasons; overclocked systems absorb this designed headroom and operate at lower tolerances. Pentium architect Bob Colwell calls overclocking an "uncontrolled experiment in better-than-worst-case system operation".^[3]

Some of what appears to be spare margin is actually required for proper operation of a processor throughout its lifetime. As semiconductor devices age, various effects such as hot carrier injection, negative bias thermal instability and electromigration reduce circuit performance. When overclocking a new chip it is possible to take advantage of this margin, but as the chip ages this can result in situations where a processor that has operated correctly at overclocked speeds for years spontaneously fails to operate at those same speeds later. If the overclocker is not actively testing for system stability when these effects become significant, errors encountered are likely to be blamed on sources other than the overclocking.

Measuring effects of overclocking

Many de facto benchmarks are used to evaluate performance. The benchmarks can themselves become a kind of ‘sport’, in which users compete for the highest scores. As discussed above, stability and functional correctness may be compromised when overclocking, and meaningful benchmark results depend on correct execution of the benchmark. Because of this, benchmark scores may be qualified with stability and correctness notes (e.g. an overclocker may report a score, noting that the benchmark only runs to completion 1 in 5 times, or that signs of incorrect execution such as display corruption are visible while running the benchmark).

Given only benchmark scores it may be difficult to judge the difference overclocking makes to the computing experience. For example, some benchmarks test only one aspect of the system, such as memory bandwidth, without taking into consideration how higher speeds in this aspect will improve the system performance as a whole. Apart from demanding applications such as video encoding, high-demand databases and scientific computing, memory bandwidth is typically not a bottleneck, so a great increase in memory bandwidth may be unnoticeable to a user depending on the applications they prefer to use. Other benchmarks, such as 3DMark attempt to replicate game conditions, but because some tests involve non-deterministic physics, such as ragdoll motion, the scene is slightly different each time and small differences in test score are overcome by the noise floor.

Variance

The extent to which a particular part will overclock is highly variable. Processors from different vendors, production batches, steppings, and individual units will all overclock to varying degrees.

Manufacturer and vendor overclocking

Commercial system builders or component resellers sometimes overclock to sell items at higher profit margins. The retailer makes more money by buying lower-value components, overclocking them, and selling them at prices appropriate to a non-overclocked system at the new speed. In some cases an overclocked component is functionally identical to a non-overclocked one of the new speed, however, if an overclocked system is marketed as a non-overclocked system (it is generally assumed that unless a system is specifically marked as overclocked, it is not overclocked), it is considered fraudulent.

Overclocking is sometimes offered as a legitimate service or feature for consumers, in which a manufacturer or retailer tests the overclocking capability of processors, memory, video cards, and other hardware products. Several video card manufactures now offer factory overclocked versions of their graphics accelerators, complete with a warranty, which offers an attractive solution for enthusiasts seeking an improved performance without sacrificing common warranty protections. Such factory overclocked products often demand a marginal price premium over reference-clocked components, but the performance increase and cost savings can sometimes outweigh the price increases associated with similar, albeit higher-performance offerings from the next product tier.

Naturally, manufacturers would prefer enthusiasts pay additional money for profitable high-end products, in addition to concerns of less reliable components and shortened product life spans impacting brand image. It is speculated that such concerns are often motivating factors for manufacturers to implement overclocking prevention mechanisms such as CPU locking. These measures are sometimes marketed as a consumer protection benefit, which typically generates a mixed reception from overclocking enthusiasts.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Many of the disadvantages of overclocking can be mitigated or reduced in severity by skilled overclockers. However, novice overclockers may make mistakes while overclocking which can introduce avoidable drawbacks, and potentially result in damage to the overclocked components.

General disadvantages

These disadvantages are unavoidable by both novices and veterans.

The utility of overclocking is limited for a few reasons:

  Overclocking graphics cards

Graphics cards can also be overclocked, with utilities such as NVIDIA’s Coolbits, or the PEG Link Mode on ASUS motherboards. Overclocking a video card usually shows a much better result in gaming than overclocking a processor or memory. Just like overclocking a processor, sufficient cooling is a must.

Along with the higher clock frequencies come higher temperatures, coupled with the fact that most video cards are sold with coolers designed only to support standard stock temperatures many graphics cards overheat and burn out when overclocked too much.

Sometimes, it is possible to see that a graphics card is pushed beyond its limits before any permanent damage is done by observing on-screen distortions known as artifacts. Two such discriminated "warning bells" are widely understood: green-flashing, random triangles appearing on the screen usually correspond to overheating problems on the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) itself, while white, flashing dots appearing randomly (usually in groups) on the screen often mean that the card’s RAM (memory) is overheating. It is common to run into one of those problems when overclocking graphics cards. Showing both symptoms at the same time usually means that the card is severly pushed beyond its heat/speed/voltage limits. If seen at normal speed, voltage and temperature, they may indicate faults with the card itself.

Some overclockers use a hardware voltage modification where a potentiometer is applied to the video card to manually adjust the voltage. This results in much greater flexibility, as overclocking software for graphics cards is rarely able to freely adjust the voltage. Voltage mods are very risky and may result in a dead video card, especially if the voltage modification ("voltmod") is applied by an inexperienced individual. It is also worth mentioning that adding physical elements to the video card immediately voids the warranty (even if the component has been designed and manufactured with overclocking in mind, and has the appropriate section in its warranty).

The difference between "Flashing" and "Unlocking" a video card

Flashing and Unlocking are ways to gain performance out of a video card, without technically overclocking.

Flashing refers to using the BIOS of another card, based on the same core and design specs, to "override" the original BIOS, thus effectively making it a higher model card; however, ‘flashing’ can be difficult, and sometimes a bad flash can be irreversible. Sometimes stand-alone software to modify the BIOS files can be found (GeForce 6/7 series are well regarded in this aspect). It is not necessary to acquire a BIOS file from a better model video card (although it should be said that the card which BIOS is to be used should be compatible, i.e. the same model base, design and/or manufacture process, revisions etc.). For example, video cards with 3D accelerators (the vast majority of today’s market) have two voltage and speed settings – one for 2D and one for 3D – but were designed to operate with three voltage stages, the third being somewhere in the middle of the aforementioned two, serving as a fallback when the card overheats or as a middle-stage when going from 2D to 3D operation mode. Therefore, it could be wise to set this middle-stage prior to "serious" overclocking, specifically because of this fallback ability – the card can drop down to this speed, reducing by a few (or sometimes a few dozen, depending on the setting) percent of its efficiency and cool down, without dropping out of 3D mode (and afterwards return to the desired full-speed clock and voltage settings).

Some cards also have certain abilities not directly connected with overclocking. For example, NVIDIA’s GeForce 6600GT (AGP flavor) features a temperature monitor (used internally by the card), which is invisible to the user in the ‘vanilla’ version of the card’s BIOS. Modifying the BIOS (taking it out, reprogramming the values and flashing it back in) can allow a ‘Temperature’ tab to become visible in the card driver’s advanced menu.

Unlocking refers to enabling extra pipelines and/or pixel shaders. The 6800LE, the 6800GS and 6800 (AGP models only) were some of the first cards to benefit from unlocking. While these models have either 8 or 12 pipes enabled, they share the same 16×6 GPU core as a 6800GT or Ultra, but may not have passed inspection when all their pipelines and shaders were unlocked. Currently cards from both ATI and NVIDIA are being unlocked and there is no reason to believe that this technique will disappear.

Generally, cards in the same ‘family’ share the same basic design, even though they run at different speeds and may have different features, effectively varying their performance (as observed with GeForce 6 series of cards, ranging from LE to ‘vanilla’ to GT to Ultra). This is because creating a completely new design costs more than producing the same card and disabling some features, underclocking it, and offering it as a ‘budget’ model. Besides that, the manufacturing process is not perfect; some cards come off the bench performing worse than others of the same design (or sometimes with defects), and can be designated as ‘lower cost, slower’ versions (i.e. the defective processing pipelines are disabled, the card’s speed is reduced, and from an otherwise incapable GeForce 6800 we can get a 6800LE).

It is important to remember that while pipeline unlocking sounds very promising, there is absolutely no way of determining if these ‘unlocked’ pipelines will operate without errors, or at all (this information is solely at the manufacturer’s discretion). In a worst-case scenario, the card may not start up ever again, resulting in a ‘dead’ piece of equipment. It is possible to revert to the card’s previous settings, but it involves manual BIOS flashing using special tools and an identical but original BIOS chip.

This is a detailed introduction to the overclocking concept. We suggest you fill out the form at the end of this page if you would like us to add more to this text.

When “fast is not enough” gamers and hobbyists find and devise new and intriguing ways of taking their hardware to the max. Even with these fastest chips available, most users still demand more and say that the speed from even the fastest chips aren’t fast enough, or they just blatantly just want more. This is where overclocking comes into the equation; by which users make their processor run faster than the default recommended speed setting. Overclocking has become common with all of the newest hardware devices having the ability to reach overclocked speeds of over 50%.

Q. If a processor can achieve higher speeds why don’t manufactures increase them?

A. To regulate the market, making one processor that can range from 1.6 to 2.4 and just regulate speed is easier than making a different one for each speed.

The following you should know before and to successfully overclock a your AMD or Pentium: an overclockable processor, an overclocking friendly motherboard, and a plan for a great thermal solutions including heat sink and extra system cooling fans. Check your system for extra fan locations, later in this text will be detailed info on how to configure them.

The clock speed of a processor is the main factor that determines the computing power of a computer, measured in MHz or GHz. To better understand the concept, imagine your car drives at fixed speed of 1 to 60 mph, although the optimal speed is 50, nothing prevents it from going faster or slower. You want to run at higher speeds only at favorable conditions.

The manufacturer decides on what speed to stamp on the processor based on the following factors:

From the above it is clear that given the right conditions, a processor can be either underclocked or overclocked. An 900MHz processor can be overclocked to run at 800 or 500MHz as long as the motherboard allows, or overclocking to 1200MHz.

The actual clock speed of a processor is set by the motherboard. There are two ways to do this.

Hardware jumpers. You can change the jumpers to get different combinations of basic BUS speeds and multipliers. This method is used for most brands of motherboards. It is however inconvenient since you need to actually open the case to access the motherboard and to know what your doing. So if your looking for a motherboard that overclocks easily, look for “jumper free” overclockable motherboards.

With software "jumpers" or “jumper free” motherboards, you change the clock speeds (and the core voltage) of a processor using software embedded in the motherboard BIOS. Most overclockers like this option.

This is the process of running the device faster than it is specified to do. Overclocking is an old process that just recently has gone mainstream. Overclocks can range in the 30-50% range with some creative cooling, if not air cooled then liquid (Water or Nitrogen). Overclocking achieved by increasing the frequency at which the processor is multiplied or bus speed.

With a successful overclock, the system will run stable and exactly the same as it did at the default factory set frequency, just faster. This often requires more cooling than stock and increasing voltage on processors improving the speed of devices, internal and external, and performance improves in accordance to how much the device is overclocked. If not properly overclocked, usually from overclocking too much, performance can actually degrade, as the processor or is over stressed beyond optimal frequency settings.

Overclocking generally refers to running your CPU, and these days your video card too, at higher internal CPU clock and bus speeds than the manufacturer’s specs for achieving better system performance at little or no cost. In the past, overclocking was simply changing your motherboard’s settings for the next higher CPU Multiplier. It’s not as simple anymore, since both Intel and AMD have locked the multipliers in their CPU’s. As a result, in today’s world the bus speed is usually the only easy way to overclock and achieve CPU speeds that don’t officially exist. Bus speed, as opposed to CPU overclocking changes your whole motherboard’s BUS, affecting PCI, AGP (with all the components attached to them) as well as Memory speed, so in effect you are overclocking everything! Because of the fact you are overclocking your whole system and every component connected to it, one of the necessary requirements is to have good quality components. You have a better chance of reaching higher speeds and still running a stable system with good quality brand name components instead of cheap hardware. Some brands/models of hardware overclock better then others, some don’t overclock very well at all, so it’s a good idea to already have a rock stable system with good quality hardware before you attempt overclocking, since overclocking essentially pushes your system beyond the manufacturer’s specs, adding heat to the equation.

Overclocking is accomplished by adjusting the frequency of either the CPU multiplier or FSB (front side bus) speed in the Bios of the motherboard. All common day processors have a multiplier locked, meaning that the rate at which the speed is multiplied by the front side bus is not adjustable. Therefore to overclock these processors one must adjust the bus speed.

FSB speeds are an important aspect of Overclocking because it influences the speed at which all devices connected to the motherboard operate. There are usually three default front side bus settings, 66MHz, 100MHz, and 133MHz. The slowest of the three, 66MHz, and 133MHz the highest, was used by Pentium II processors slower than 350MHz and all previous processors starting with the original Pentium line. Today’s Celerons run at this 100MHz FSB, which is one reason why the Celeron lags so much behind its older Pentium III brother. 133MHz FSB is which PIII processors run today, P4 processors depending on the level you have, can range from 400MHz to even 533MHz and up operate at this frequency.

Pentium IV processors can be overclocked with 103MHz and 112MHz front side bus speeds easily. Of course, anyone can overclock this easily, but most often than not, something else will be required to get an overclock to be successful. More often than not, voltage adjustment will be required. Increasing the amount of power that the processor receives will give it the little extra power to get the processor to be successfully overclocked. Remember that when overclocking, always move up in the smallest increments allowable. Doing otherwise could be harmful for the system

  Steps to Overclocking (AMD X1 and X2 Coming)

Step 1: On a blank sheet of paper draw various vertical lines spacing them approximately 1 inch apart, and about 4 horizontal lines spaced 2 inches apart. This is the grid you’ll be using to test for optimal configuration. Label the chart from left to right, FSB or Front Side Bus, Crashed, Voltage, leaving the far right box for whatever you wish.

For some reason higher cache, such as a 1.8a 512K 400MHz FBS Pentium 4’s are more successfully overclocked than a 1.8 256K 400MHz FSB Pentium 4’s. So if you have not yet purchased your processor, the “a” higher 512K 400MHz FSB processor should be on your list. If you’re building a system from scratch, use EPOX or ASUS brands, all their boards are very versatile in respect to overclocking.

Step 2: Starting up your system holding down the “DEL” delete key will bring the system into the BIOS. Once in the BIOS browse around using the left/right arrows to change categories, and up/down arrows to browse the current selection… take a few minutes doing this, familiarize yourself.

At the frequency screen set the frequency adjustment to manual, this unlocking the FBS multiplier usually on the far top of the screen. The frequency adjustment also usually has the clock speed reading as hundreds or thousands. Example, 1.8, would read 1800, and 2.0 would read 2000. Some manufacturers have preset settings to automatically overclock the system, ASUS is one. I would recommend this but know how to reset the CMOS of the motherboard first, usually by a jumper or holding contacts together to reset it. If you purchased the motherboard new, then it should come with a semantic, or locate the model and type it into any search engine in a hunt for more info.

Step 3: Using you handy chart write on the next available block the number of the next frequency level. So if the first frequency level is 133, if you using a Pentium 4 it is, then the next frequency level would be 134, then 135, and so on. For every upgrade to the frequency setting restart the computer noting if the startup was successful. If yes, then follow the same instruction to raise the level again. If not then raise the voltage of the processor in the smallest increments available. Restart again and note if it was successful or not. Ideally you should not raise the voltage of the processor more than .2, if you do then you MUST invest in better cooling such as liquid filled heat sinks. Once you have raised the frequency till it crashes and voltage no more than .2 then retain the previous successful frequency, and raise the voltage another .05 to add stability. Restart and run an application such as Si-Sandra to monitor the temperature of the processor, running the application for several hours at full stress. If the temperature rises more than 20% then enter the BIOS and drop the voltage and frequency. Repeat the process until your processor temperature is within the 20% threshold.

Recommended Settings

There are no unique best settings for every system; however I’ll try to give you a basic guideline for a successful overclocking. If your Motherboard doesn’t support the higher bus speeds than 133, you can still try the rest, get a calculator and figure out the possible combinations yourself remember its Multiplier x FSB = Internal CPU speed.

Bus and Processor speed

The internal clock speed refers to the actual speed that the CPU is operating at. When you go to the store or look up system specs you will see, for example, Pentium 4 2.4Ghz. The 2.4Ghz part refers to the internal operating frequency of the CPU in question. To make this easy just know that is the speed of the processor, 2.4 Giga Hertz in this case. The higher internal clock of the processor is the faster it processes information and the more you can do with your computer.

The bus speed refers to the actual motherboard and its components. They too run in GigaHertz (Mhz) and run together at different dividers, or fractions of the CPU speed. Your motherboard has traces on it, if you look down at a motherboard and you see all those long lines running all through it to different components that are the bus of the motherboard, data paths to all the components. The Front Side Bus (FSB) by definition is the bus that connects the processor (CPU) and the main Memory (RAM). The PCI bus is the bus that connects all the PCI devices (connected to the PCI expansion slots), as well as the Controller for your Hard Drive and CD-ROM. These are the main buses you have to worry about when overclocking. How this all fits together: It takes the FSB speed (which is also the RAM speed don’t forget) multiplied by the CPU Multiplier to create the Internal Clock speed. For example a FSB speed of 100 MHz times a multiplier of 24 will equal 2400Mhz or 2.4 GHz. In order to get other bus speeds and try to get different Internal CPU speeds, your motherboard needs to have more FSB option settings. Keep in mind when you do overclock the FSB you are overclocking your memory (RAM) so if you have some modules of some slow cheap pieces of memory they may not like to be overclocked at all. If you buy good brand name memory like Kingston, Micron, you will have a much better chance at overclocking your FSB.

Again, when increasing your FSB speed, you’ll also have to consider all the other devices in your system. Just because the CPU runs stable at the higher speed settings doesn’t mean you have overclocked successfully. Any of the other devices can stop functioning or start causing problems. You might need to edit your CMOS and lower some of the settings for the RAM and/or Hard Drives to get your system functioning without problems.

It is a fact that by overclocking you increase the chances of system faults, crashes and overall instability, so if avoiding a crash is crucial, consider buying faster Processor or components, rather than overclocking.

Remember for reference:

PCI Bus = 33Mhz
AGP Bus = 66Mhz
FSB x Multiplier = CPU Internal Clock Speed
FSB x Divider = PCI or AGP Bus Speed

More on overclocking?

Some processors are tricky, because versions were released with both 66 and 100 MHz versions. This shouldn’t be a problem though, because most resellers/stores will let you know what the bus speed the CPU is.

Dangers

In order to overclock your system successfully, you need the understand the most important issue involved – Cooling.

Proper Cooling is the MOST important factor in successful overclocking, running a stable system and keeping your CPU in good shape. If your overclocked CPU operates at a higher than specs temperature, it will shorten its life. Other side effects of overheating can be random crashes and unstable system. Generally, today’s processors are designed to work between 85 and 200 degrees Fahrenheit and anything outside the temperature range would result in more unstable system and possible damaging of the CPU. Keep this in mind, cooler is better, try to cool your CPU as much as you can, put a big fat heatsink on it with a big fan to help. Just remember the better cooling solution you choose, the better chances for successful overclocking you have.

Things to remember:

Note: Don’t put the panel back onto your PC until your done testing the stability of your system.

Turn off and unplug the computer, take off the case, get your motherboard manual. Check the current clock speed and multiplier jumper settings on your motherboard, compare them with your manual, and write them down in the motherboard manual. Most manuals have an area for notes so use it. Check the supply voltage jumper settings on your motherboard, compare them with manual and your CPU marking, and write it down. Change the jumper settings for clock speed and/or multiplier according to your manual for the next CPU speed up from the settings currently used. Double check to make sure everything is ok, and that no jumpers have been forgotten about or bumped off.

Start computer.

Does it reach BIOS setup?

If yes, test the system further and work your PC hard as possible.

No, Turn off computer and change jumper to higher supply voltage according to manual, if possible.

If you still shouldn’t reach BIOS setup, forget about overclocking to this speed.

Does it reach full working operation system?

If yes, start your test run by running it for at least a hour. A PC reaches its maximum temp within about 30 min. It’s better to occur crashes or lock ups now, than coming across them when it counts!

If no, try another setting or check your cooling, you also can try some more conservative memory timings in the BIOS setup. This means increasing the wait states or the read/write cycles; but don’t forget to check later if you gained speed by trying some benchmarks, cause there’s no point in overclocking if your memory access is getting slower.

If everything works well – congrats, if not, try another setting, check cooling.

Don’t change supply voltage unless you have to. It only makes the chip hotter.

Don’t ever forget: cooling is most important key to Overclocking!

HOW TO IMPROVE CHANCES FOR A SUCCESSFUL OVERCLOCKING

Additional Cooling

The number one problem with most Overclocks is that the processor is generating too much heat and that is what is causing the processor to be unstable. It is VERY important that you monitor temperature levels, mainly the processor. That is why extra cooling with larger heatsinks, more fans, and better airflow is always imperative. Since increasing the voltage of processors greatly increases chances in overclocking, and increasing voltage creates more heat, therefore cooling the processor creates higher chances for overclocking. The best way to start is by getting a larger heatsink for the processor. Adding more fans inside the case will help keep everything cool and will greatly improve chances of overclocking.

Processor Life and Market

As newer products come out, more heat will be generated because of the higher speed that these products achieve. And to counteract the heat, manufacturers shift manufacturing processes to a smaller micron size. The smaller sizes of dies create much less heat, in conversely, faster and more advanced designs. As processors get older, so do their ability to be Overclocked and withstand higher clock speeds. After several processor revisions, processors tend to get more stable, produce less heat, and have higher clockspeeds. Customarily once a newer processor is released that processor takes the highest price than its predecessor. When the newest processor is released, the new stepping is given to the slower processors; therefore the processor will have a better theoretical speed it can reach.

Final Thoughts

Some important factors for successful overclocking

CPU Cooling – Your CPU Heatsink/Fan might do the trick, but it’s very likely you’ll need a top quality combo. Another, often overlooked fact is that a simple Thermal Compound (from Radio Shack) applied between the heatsink and the CPU can provide for much better heat transfer and cooler Processor.

Case Cooling – The temperature inside the case will also increase, as a result of overclocking, heating all of the devices and possibly increasing the chance of a crash. For ATX cases, I’d recommend an additional intake fan and exhaust fan. The size of the case as well as the placement of the cables inside will also affect its cooling, get rounded cables if you can for best air flow in the case and use air filters in front of the intake fans and vents, keep your case cover on for correct airflow and to reduce dust buildup (dust is an important enemy, it acts as an insulator keeping your hardware even warmer). For proper airflow, a simple rule might help reduce heat in your case even further, just install one more exhaust fan than your intake fans – it’s more important to remove warm air from the case, than to blow cold air in.

Quality Components – RAM, Hard Disks, Video Cards all can stop functioning at higher bus speeds, quality components are of course less susceptible to failure under stress. Also, well built, brand name motherboards can definitely make the difference between success and failure. Asus and Epox are two well known very overclockable, easy and friendly motherboards.

Monitoring Software

There are certain software packages out there that help you monitor CPU & motherboard temperature, as well as fan speed. These software utilities can either show readings on demand, or they can be left running in your system tray, displaying temperatures and warnings… These utilities rely on new motherboards with Temperature sensors built into the motherboard. Most high-end motherboards manufactured in the last few years have this capability, some even have the temperature and fan speed readings in the BIOS as well.

Motherboard Monitor -Motherboard Monitor (MBM) is a tool that will display information from the sensor chip on your motherboard in your Windows system tray. MBM supports a wide range of Chipsets & Sensor Chip combinations.

WCPUID - WCPUID is a program that displays detailed information about the CPU in your system.

This overview guide is just that, an overview guide to introduce you to the concept of overclocking. Nowadays overclocking is almost a science, there is so much to it, I could get very detailed on all these topics I’ve brought up, and there are even some others I haven’t mentioned. Good Luck!

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There’s an unfortunate article entitled Has AMD Castrated Overclocking? out there.

In one sense, it is unfortunate because the author doesn’t seem to know many of the core principles of overclocking.

It is more unfortunate because the underlying attitudes and beliefs behind the statements are so common these days. I’m not out to pick on the person because of what he said, but I’m using this as an example to show how to approach overclocking better.

Overclocking: A Thinking Man’s Game

A large (and I think growing) percentage of overclockers react to theory and thinking like a rabid dog reacts to water. They don’t want to hear it; they want to do it.

To them, trial and error is the only way to learn. Sorry, but that’s the only way dumb people learn.

Sometimes, trial-and-error is unavoidable (fine-tuning a particular machine is an example of this), but it is always better to learn from the experiences of others first pretty much for the same reason it is better to learn from the experiences of bridge-jumpers to learn about the effects of gravity.

There are two reasons why people of otherwise normal intelligence are dumb about this. There is ignorance (people just don’t know) and there is stupidity (people just don’t want to know; stupidity is just ignorance with attitude).

The reality is overclocking is governed by certain general principles. It’s much like gravity; it works on you whether you know about them or not.

The key to intelligent overclocking is to see how the general principles apply to a particular situation. This requires somebody doing some thinking about it to establish very general parameters, then somebody doing some testing to verify the thinking and see more precisely how the general principles apply.

But you can’t apply principles to a situation unless you know them. If you don’t know them, everything is a surprise, including many things that ought not to be.

Principles of Overclocking

Here are the basic core principles behind overclocking: