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Thread ID: 86448 2008-01-17 05:23:00 Overclocking? Good/Bad? Thebananamonkey (7741) Press F1
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631182 2008-01-17 05:23:00 My computers getting quite long in the tooth now, and I'm thinking of ways to get the last of what I can out of it. I'm going to upgrade to 1Gig of Ram, and am thinking of overclocking to speed things up a bit. Is this a good idea? What are the benefits/dangers of overclocking? And what will I need to do?
I'm not looking to turn it into some sort of deep blue, just want to put a bit more power in it's punch.

MoBo= SL-85DRV5 and it's running a Pentium 4 2.53Ghz. I looked in BIOS, and it looks like everythings unlocked, but I don't really want to charge in there and start mucking about. Is there a good manual out there for it? Or is it just not a very good idea in the first place.

I'm quite n00bish when it comes to hardware, and I just thought I'd be cautious and ask you guys first.
Thebananamonkey (7741)
631183 2008-01-17 05:31:00 Just leave it alone. Unless you overclock the CPU to 2.9GHz or more you won't notice too much of a speed difference.

If you still want to overclock, do it little by little by increasing the FSB by 1 or 2MHz each time.
qazwsxokmijn (102)
631184 2008-01-17 05:33:00 So just FSB speed? Not screwing with voltage or anything? And if I do overclock it slightly then will I need to actively do anything to cool it? Thebananamonkey (7741)
631185 2008-01-17 05:50:00 You probably have the Northwood core, which runs nice and cool and is an excellent overclocker from what I've seen.

You don't need to raise the voltage unless your CPU needs more power, but don't raise the voltage unless you have a better aftermarket cooler, as more voltage = much more heat. Just keep everything on stock and see if you can get it to 2.6GHz stable.

You probably will see an increase in temperature by 2-4 degrees, but it's nothing to fret about.
qazwsxokmijn (102)
631186 2008-01-17 06:14:00 What's a good program for monitoring CPU temp? And how do I know if it's stable? Or to put that another way, does unstable mean that it won't boot? I just want to know when to stop I guess. Thanks. Thebananamonkey (7741)
631187 2008-01-17 06:14:00 currently i'm running a 2.8ghz p4 @ 3.2ghz northwood core on standard cooling it's at 35deg right now and never ever exceeds 50 when under full load......you'll need decent ram however cause some will o/c some wont....I run twinmos which seems to like it fine drcspy (146)
631188 2008-01-17 11:22:00 Upgrade the cpu cooler also to cool the heater i mean cpu more and get a better overclock out of it. im running my Intel 2.26mhz at 2.91mhz at moment have had it going at 3.10mhz but havent set it back up to that yet as i have installed new stick ran and xp bluezone (12434)
631189 2008-01-17 19:50:00 Northwood core will easily reach 3Ghz without breaking a sweat. However as said, 200-500Mhz isnt that much!
You said you will upgrad the RAM to 1Gb, I would say that would provide the best performance increase, especially if it is in dual channel....Also defrag your drive.
SolMiester (139)
631190 2008-01-17 20:54:00 Drives all defragged nicely, will my MoBo support dual channel RAM? I stole my dads old computer last night with intentions to cannibalise it for parts, but I'm wondering if there will be any compatibility issues. Is all RAM just plug and play? So no conflict issues? Or should I just buy some new dual channel RAM? Thebananamonkey (7741)
631191 2008-01-17 21:10:00 That depends on whether the manual says it supports dual channel.

It may not since it looks like its got 3 ram slots.

And it looks like this mobo supports PC 1600/2100.

So, if you decide to buy more ram, dont buy 3200 / DDR 400 ram, it probably wont work
Speedy Gonzales (78)
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