Ok, so you want to over clock or are interested in over clocking but you just don’t know where to begin? I will give you some advice on the basics. First off, you need to find either forums or even youtube videos on people who have already over clocked the exact hardware you are trying to over clock yourself. For example, if you have a Q6600 (which runs at 2.4ghz by default) and you want to know how much higher you can clock it while keeping it stable, just google “overclock Q6600” skim through the results and read / watch what pertains to your situation. What you want to over clock is basically your CPU clock speed and your ram clock speed. Some people buy a slightly cheaper processor or motherboard knowing that they will over clock, and they pay less while getting about the same speeds afterwards. Today you can buy DDR2 ram for very cheap, and get it to run at 1333 after over clocking.
When looking for a guide, sometimes you might even find someone with the same motherboard and CPU combo you have, which is great otherwise you’ll need guide for which settings to change on your specific motherboard, and one or a few on how much to push your CPU and RAM. Record what people agree on is the highest stable speed and I suggest testing it a bit lower than that at first. Over clocking can damage your hardware if you push it too far, so get more than one result (this is why youtube videos are great for this). It is even a good idea to have another system that has internet access, so you can keep one online and keep the guides open while you work.
In case you didn’t know, the main place to change all these settings is in your bios. If you don’t know what the bios is, over clocking is not for you. I know this is for beginners, but that means new to over clocking, not new to A+ and computers in general. Get some knowledge under your belt and try again later. Remember, over clocking can seriously damage your hardware if you over do it and don’t know how to monitor it until you decide it is stable enough to run. That is why if you are new to this, you should only over clock following how someone already OC’d the same hardware. That will be your safest bet as a starter.
Once you’ve copied someone’s existing over clocked configurations, use tools like CoreTemp, and Speedfan to monitor the temperature of your CPU and cores. CoreTemp can record a log of your temps, and Speedfan has a nice graph that displays your temps over a period of time. You can also monitor your temps in the bios itself, but its best to test your hardware under full load (that is when all your cores are working 100% of their potential) while you monitor. If you’re not sure how to get all your cores working 100%, you can use a program called “SuperPI.” SuperPI is a tool that tests your CPU to its limits for benchmarking purposes. So, you now know that it is very important that you carefully monitor your temps after over clocking! Core 2 duos run about low 30s Celsius during idle, and you want to keep them at about 60 degrees Celsius under full load. This is arguable, but for safety sake and so you don’t melt your hardware on your first shot, try to keep it at or under 60 Celsius after OC’ing. Also after you OC a Core 2 duo, it will probably idle a little warmer unless you use a CPU cooler or Water cooling kit right away which is recommended (I’ll get into CPU coolers shortly). For Core 2 Quads, they tend to idle a little warmer at around high 30’s low 40s Celsius. Under max load again you probably want to stay at the 60 Celsius range. *If you are idling higher or reach a temp higher than 65 Celsius, you should instantly restart your computer and either lower your multiplier (you’ll learn about this in your OC guide or video) or reset your configuration to defaults and start fresh, changing your settings a bit lower than before.
Now, if you can’t seem to get a configuration to run at a good temperature, it’s ok. You can order a CPU cooler like a Zalman or a Tuniq and after installing it you will notice great temperature drops (as long as you install it right lol – read directions, or even use YouTube for a how to if needed). If you are going to over clock your system, I recommend doing something to increase the airflow in your case (more fans) and plan on ordering a CPU cooler to replace your stock heat sync. Intel heat syncs are great UNTIL you over clock.
I think that is about it for this one. Oh, yea.. When you are reading or watching a guide on someone else who OC’d, please take some time to understand what they are doing instead of just copying it. It shouldn’t take long for you to understand it if you’ve made it this far, and google.com is a powerful tool for this. If you have any questions you can leave them in a comment, and they will be answered as soon as possible. ENJOY!
I will be posting an article on over clocking graphics cards soon too! Keep checking back.
References:
Buy CPU cooler at Newegg.com – Zalman and Tuniq make good ones for serious overclocking
SuperPI download
Youtube example search: Link
CoreTemp download
Speedfan download
Image from: Here
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pyro24 - December 29th, 2008 at 12:57 am
hey dude this helped me out thanks
and thanks for the download links