SOME OVERCLOCKING BASICS

[RiftRunner]

For starters let me introduce myself, My name is JODY, I got into, computers and data processing back in 1986, Back when there where still punch cards and Fortran , MSDOS, floppy disc and the like, but i got out of it over the years to come, So i have had to learn this stuff all over again and am kinda new to Overclocking but I am Geekin out on it. Overclocking is not Rocket Science, Sure you can change some settings, WOW your Overclocked to 4.0ghz , But is your boot time slower ( time how long it takes to start up at different stettings ), are you overheating, got bluescreen shutdowns, if so something is not right.

 

I have the AMD Phenom II x4 955be, and i have a stable overclock of 4.0ghz with stock cooling, with one exception my TIM, (Thermal Interface Material, or thermal paste, the goo between your cpu and heatsink ), I just put on Arctic Silver 5 ( following the websites instructions ), it will do Great as a replacement, don't go any lower quality than that, And i suggest replacing your factory TIM before overclocking.

 

For those that are building a system LOOK at what you can afford, start with your PROCESSOR, find what you want and need ( a little overkill is not bad IMO ) , look at all of its specs, then match i to a quality MOBO, or you might hinder yourself somewhere. Then look at your RAM, and make sure it fits into the specs of you MOBO and CPU. A quality aftermarket cpu cooler is allways a good adition , Now your hard drives, You realy want 2 SSD's (IMO) , one for OS and at least one for the rest, games and such ,( but get what you can afford ), But MATCH them to your MOBO specs ( Sata 2, sata 3, 3gbs or 6gbs ) . Your computer is only as FAST as your SLOWEST hardware, ( the bottleneck effect ).

Next is your CASE, make sure it fits the size of your MOBO ( ATX, Micro ATX, ect... ) , get what you like the looks of, ( as long as your can afford to mod it ), GOOD Case cooling is a MUST , You need one good front fan, One good rear fan, One good top fan, and one good side fan, the more airflow the better, A side vent is a plus (IMO), and i prefer a bottom mount PSU. If you liked a case and the fans suck, get it, and upgrade the fans ( They are fairly cheap ).

GET a GOOD PSU ( At least Bronze to Gold certified ) , a few hundred watts over your needs are best. Get The best GPU that fits in your budget ( i reccomend at least a 256bit card, with 1gb memory or better ), Get the best you can afford on the rest of your hardware and upgrade later if you need to. Good Hardware is an essential part of Overclocking.

Now Your OS, whatever your FAV. is is fine, ( 64 bit OS is best ).

 

Now To Basic Overclocking, The BEST and most STABLE overclocking is done in the BIOS, and NOT with software , I reccomend downloading Core Temp, ( Gotta keep a close eye on your cpu temps ) and CPU-Z ( it gives you allmost all of your system info ), Next look up the specs of your CPU, MOBO, And RAM , write down all all the specs you can find, you will need that info, once you have that, Go into your BIOS Set your CPU fan controls ( Smart Target at 40c , i have an MSI board ) to keep your CPU as cool as possibe, ( write down what you do, keep a log. ) Go into your BIOS , Cell Menu settings and enter the factory specs for your RAM, (Dram freq modifier to get your ram frequency, 1333, 1600 ect.., Cas Lat., trcd, trp , Tras ) , and leave the rest to your computer. Save and exit, if that worked and it booted up your good to go, if it didn't, set it back to optimized defaults and check your info and try again, this time adjust ram voltage to match specs and try again.

 

Now if your processor has an unlocked core multiplier , all you should have do is increase the cpu multiplyer a step at a time, if its not a cpu with an unlocked multiplier then its your FSB speed or a combo of the two, but try raising your cpu multiplier as high as you can first, ( a step at a time ) you might even try raising your CPU-NB multipier a bit, rebooting after each change and run some test.

Now if it ever totaly locks up trying to overclock, dont completely freek out, refer to your MOBO manual on how to clear your CMOS and do so ( if ya don't have it and dont know how, shut it down , turn off all power, open her up , and pop out the little battery for a few seconds and that should do it ) .

Start over with what worked ( might have to play around with it for a while to find what works best ), and run some more test, Passmark"s preformance test and burn test are a good start. If you pass those try running Prime95 for at least 20 minutes, If your temps get to high with that you NEED better cooling, if not try an hour, If your good there, just see how long you can go. My OC was fairly simple ( i did overcomplicate it in my mind since i have never done it before ), I do suggest doing a good bit of research about your system before attempting a high overclock.

 

 

 

I hope this helps someone, and thanks to all those that helped me get a succesful Overclock. There are Other ways to acheive a succesful OC, this worked the best for me, and i still have room for improvement, If this doesn't work for you there are plenty of people on here with more experience that can help you out. HOPEFULLY all the OC GURU'S will add some good info to this.

Edited November 12, 2011 by RiftRunner

[Stonerboy779]

Ummm.... paragraphs?

[droomagon]

some nice info, but my eyes!!!

 

ouch, i need to look away from the monitor for half an hour.......

 

but, nicely written.

[RiftRunner]

Sorry, I guess breaking it down into paragraphs would have been a good idea, I deffinately was not an english major.

[RiftRunner]

I hope the edditing made it easier to read, again sorry for that, LOL

[malmsteenisgod]

Thanks for writing this up. I'm sure many people will find some information in here useful to them.

[Waco]

All i did was set my cpu fan smart target to 40c, Set my Advance Ram Configuration to match my factory specs of 9, 9, 9, 24 @ 1333 , ( i did try 8, 8, 8, 22, and it worked but with slower boot times ), Raised my CPU Multiplier to x20, Raised my CPU-NB to x12 (2400) , and Bingo. I did overheat running Prime95 at first with Overclock and at Default configurations, ( 3.2ghz ). Which is what helped me to discover my factory TIM was bad ( the reason i relpaced it with Arctic Silver 5 ) now i have a stable OC of 4.0ghz...

Maybe I'm in the minority here but this isn't the right way to go about overclocking at all. Shotgunning the settings in the BIOS is almost never going to get you an optimal overclock...

[Psywar]

This write up does have some decent information. There are some things that are not correct in it though.

You do not need SSD's for a good overclock. The two should not even be related. Then again with your OS comment. You don't even need an OS to overclock your computer.

So any OS is fine. There is no best. The best of any hardware or software is the Hardware and Software you can afford or own.

That IMO is the whole point of overclocking. You work with what you have to make it better. If the idea was to spend money or get the best. Then you would not bother with overclocking. You would just go out and buy the best of everything and be done with it.

 

I do not mean to come off sounding like an a-hole. That was not my intention. It is more or less just saying take anything you read with a grain of salt.

Some of what the post says is good information and some of it will help and work. Other parts are irrelevant and or something that is not needed.

[RiftRunner]

Maybe I'm in the minority here but this isn't the right way to go about overclocking at all. Shotgunning the settings in the BIOS is almost never going to get you an optimal overclock...

 

I Did Say this was Basic Infomation On Overclocking

That is my OC for my phenom which has an unlocked core multiplier ( the Black Edition ) , and from my research thats the stable way to OC, I have tried all of the suggested OC settings i could find that fit my system, this one works best.

The reason I Wrote this is, and Just before writing this I went to a Proffesional Looking Guide To Overclocking The 955BE and decided to give their suggested settings for a 3.8ghz OC a try, i am still looking for a better way . I got a total Black Screen Freezen, nothing brought it out of it , But Powering It Down and and Using the jumper to clear CMOS, So i thought it would be a good idea to give some basic info to those looking , cover topics i wish i was informed on.

[RiftRunner]

In Writing this I was HOPING those of you with the Overclocking Experience would ADD useful Info On Overclocking, There Realy Does Not seem to be , A vast And Correct Guide On Overclocking out there that i have found, So Please Feel Free to ADD your Overclocking GENUIS to this post, We can use the Info, THANK YOU ALL.

[SpeedCrazy]

I Did Say this was Basic Infomation On Overclocking

That is my OC for my phenom which has an unlocked core multiplier ( the Black Edition ) , and from my research thats the stable way to OC, I have tried all of the suggested OC settings i could find that fit my system, this one works best.

The reason I Wrote this is, and Just before writing this I went to a Proffesional Looking Guide To Overclocking The 955BE and decided to give their suggested settings for a 3.8ghz OC a try, i am still looking for a better way . I got a total Black Screen Freezen, nothing brought it out of it , But Powering It Down and and Using the jumper to clear CMOS, So i thought it would be a good idea to give some basic info to those looking , cover topics i wish i was informed on.

Some advice, what the fellas are commenting on is the fact that you don't really show how to overclock, you just tell us the settings you changed and advise to set ram to stock and the push the multi and fsb. There is a lot more to it than that, stable ocs dont just appear, they have to be tweaked and gradually improved you dont jump right to 4.0(or whatever). You followed a guide for your cpu and it worked, a guide to ocing should be relevant for any cpu on any boards(unlocked bios).

A good ocing guide would show the different important settings, multis, fsb, core voltage, nb voltage, ram settings, etc. and how to tweak them for a stable oc. By telling people just to push their fsb and or multi you are setting them up for very possible hardware damage.(not that ocing is ever risk free)

I aprecitate the fact that you want to help people learn how to oc but if you don't know how to do it yourself i suggest leaving it to some one more knowledgeable and experienced(not meaning myself).

[HarryTaco]

Why doesnt someone not me, take all this and put it into a guide form in the Kings English and Pin it. If peop[le read this they can get started and then ask questions on top.