Official Overclocking Thread- ALL questions go HERE

[RTFMish]

Ok, just wondering, was talking to my dad about overclocking and he talked about old school days when he had to mess with jumpers, and every once in awhile he blew the motherboard and stinky smoke came up.. Scared me because this will be my first OC ;/

 

[Daegon]

what are you wondering about? but yeah, jumpers (k6, P1 era) actually changing the crystal that generates the clock (286 era) and burning silicon (everlasting) have been around for a while.)

Maxi: OCFORUMS UNITE!!!

 

[CaT^_^]

1 question, how do you change the RAM timings in BIOS cause i don't have any RAM timing option in BIOS. My ram is at 385 now and I'm afraid that it would blow on me

 

[Asus]

In the old days, the bios was rather simple. All of the CPU options were on the board in the form of jumpers. Usually a small patch of jumpers on the board for Multiplyer etc. My old Asus board is like that.
You always had to refer to the manual to see which jumper you needed to change.

1 question, how do you change the RAM timings in BIOS cause i don't have any RAM timing option in BIOS. My ram is at 385 now and I'm afraid that it would blow on me

You mean 192.
Sometimes they list the timings as RAs to Cas and labels like that. Quite often you have to set memory options to manual before you notice where they are. Look for a string of numbers. E.G. 2.5-3-3-6

If you go to high or lower the timings too low, it will simply not boot and you will have to reset the cmos jumper. There is only a slight chance the memory will quite working on you unless you increase the RAM(DDR) Voltage too much.

 

[Gajdycz]

if i over clock my cpu, will that damage my mobo if it burns out?

 

[Asus]

if i over clock my cpu, will that damage my mobo if it burns out?

There is a chance...although that mainly happens when you increase the Voltage too much.
Which is why I only OC as much as I can on stock voltage.

 

[blackeye]

increasing voltages can have a huge effect on the temperature of the case.

 

[crownest]

Theres one thing i find that its kinda unfair, i have a FX 5700 Ultra, i put it on Auto Overclocking it sets to the best safest clock speed. However i dont see any improvement but sometimes worse performance (but GPU temp doesnt increase), same when i download new drivers.

WTF is this happening?

 

[smsKONG]

My system:-

AMD XP2000+
MS-6382 rev 2.0 FSB 266MHz (2x133) AGPx4 USB 1.1
768MB samsung pc2100 DDR RAM (2x133)
128MB XFX5900XT
450W PSU

Anyway my mobo is rubbish and doesn't support OCing, hell I've read the manual and apparently it doesn't even support my CPU. It supposedly only supports upto 1.5GHz!! Sandra tells me it goes upto 2.0GHz?? can anyone help on this one please?
So I can't OC but if it does support 2.0GHz is there any real point in upgrading to a 2400+ (and obviously I know there is a point cos it'll run faster! But how much really? much or not much?) (by the way I already know the answer-buy a new mobo, right, but I,m broke and cant afford a new system but might be able to convince someone to buy me a new processor!)

I know, I know- this is an OCing thread and they're upgrading questions but what I really wanna know is how overclockable is my GPU? Has anyone already overclocked an FX5900XT so I can save myself a week or two of fidddling and benchmarking over and over again.....?

 

[Fletch]

I think the current weakness in your system would be your processor, even though im sure you'd be able to play HL2 without any problems at (or close) to the high settings.

I wouldn't recomend overclocking your graphics card as the risks involved don't really justify the small performance increase possible from overclocking a 5900. I read in an issue of CustomPC that some of the cards having been overclocked by 25% produced a 2% increase in performance. However this may have been down to inefficient drivers at the time (october 2003). Im sorry i can't be much help because im more used to ATi hardware.

Also if your CPU is bottlenecking your graphics, then an overclock would give no improvement in performance.

 

[smsKONG]

Cheers dude, been doing some research on the subject myself, and from what I've seen I should be able to pump my GPU upto the perfomance level of a fx5950- sounds good, but in reality it's naff all, so...

Also found out my mobo can take a 2GHz CPU (job and a half tracking down the info I needed :flame:!! ). So I might pop an XP2400+ in to get me upto that recommended processor level for HL2, can pick one up for £50 so its not too much (especially if I can blag someone else into paying for it )

 

[Fletch]

No problem :cheers:

 

[AzzMan]

Hey just a quick Q, how well do the Mobile A64 2800+ (1.6ghz) and 3000+(1.8ghz) overclock? I'm just wondering if it is feasible to get one up to 3400+ speeds on air.

edit: with a good h/s of course

 

[Asus]

You would have to check if the board is actually compatible first.
Most desktop A64 boards do not support A64 mobile CPUs. Only a few have the bios support.

My regular A64 3000+ 2GHz (10x200) CPU clocks to 2.4GHz easy on air with stock cooling. Default voltage too. It's the new CG stepping though. If I had got the older C0 stepping then I wouldn't have got this far at all. hehe

 

[AzzMan]

Oops my bad, I thought I heard somewhere that the mobile athlons would work on desktop mobos. Thing that I like about those was that 1mb cache, which I heard adds a good amount of performance. Oh well I guess I could just get the clawhammer 3200 and OC that...

edit: nevermind i found what i was looking for...

 

[Asus]

Yeah, there were some boards that will work like the some of the desktop Asus boards etc.
The chaintech board I believe will work but there is some effort in getting it to work right.

 

[Asus]

i got an amd athlon/xp 2600+ at 2ghz help me get it higher!! also an asus a7n8x deluxe motherboard at 333 mhz fsb, and a 9800 pro

Do you know if your board is a version 1 or 2?
It will say in white letters inbetween the white PCI expansion slots.
Probably "rev. 1.01" or "rev. 2", something like that.

 

[Fletch]

I take it that your processor's multiplier is 12/12.5, and so i'd reccomend lowering it and increasing you'r FSB. You'r clock speed could be the same - eg 10 multiplier and 200Mhz (10*200 = 2000 = 2Ghz) Fsb but it would provide bigger bandwidth and increased performance.

Increase the FSB in moderate steps though, and use stress testing tools to check stability prime95 is reccomended. Make sure your ram is capable as well, that is it's rated PC3200 (200Mhz)

 

[Dynasty]

hey guys. to completely change the subject: is the connect3D 9800 pro 128mb worth O/Cing? is it a good O/C? im a noob at O/Cing so any help would be great. ive just downloaded rage3d tweak v3.9, and know to increase core and memory seperately in 5-10 each time. ill run 3dmark03 each time untill artifacts appear etc.

thanks again.

 

[Asus]

hey guys. to completely change the subject: is the connect3D 9800 pro 128mb worth O/Cing? is it a good O/C? im a noob at O/Cing so any help would be great. ive just downloaded rage3d tweak v3.9, and know to increase core and memory seperately in 5-10 each time. ill run 3dmark03 each time untill artifacts appear etc.

thanks again.

No one knows for sure if it's a stock card and doesn't have special memory.
They are all chips from ATI and how good they are is random.
GL

If you have any thermal compound laying around you could take off the heatsink and check out what core it is (R350 or R360). Then take the time to put on some grease. R350 are more hit and miss but the R360 is a 9800XT core which should be a very good OCer.

 

[Dynasty]

kk ill check that before i turn my card into a slightly burnt paper weight...and one thing to ask regarding the O/C question above for the cpu: where the hell do you alter the fsb on the a7n8x-e deluxe mobo??!! i can only change multiplier and voltage...im getting so pissed off as i know i can change my 2600+ to a 3200+, as the mobo i got is great for gaming and o/cing (or so im told by many people...)

 

[Asus]

kk ill check that before i turn my card into a slightly burnt paper weight...and one thing to ask regarding the O/C question above for the cpu: where the hell do you alter the fsb on the a7n8x-e deluxe mobo??!! i can only change multiplier and voltage...im getting so pissed off as i know i can change my 2600+ to a 3200+, as the mobo i got is great for gaming and o/cing (or so im told by many people...)

If the jumper on the board is set right, then you should be able to change the settings to manual from Auto and increase the FSB.

 

[Dynasty]

yeah but my point is: there literally is NO fsb in the bios, and i cant even find it greyed out as it would be if the settings were on auto, thus being able to be changed when switch into manual mode.

 

[Asus]

yeah but my point is: there literally is NO fsb in the bios, and i cant even find it greyed out as it would be if the settings were on auto, thus being able to be changed when switch into manual mode.

Link
Review
Isn't that it?

 

[Dynasty]

that's the one but u can only change it to 133, 166 and 200. unlike my other mobo where i could change it by 1 each time.

haha even the review says the board is a bitch to OC

 

[Asus]

What happens when you just hit enter? Doesn't it allow you to increase in steps of 1MHz?
I think on my old A7N8X DX board if you just hit up or down it choose between the selections but I could hit enter and a pop-up menu allowed me to select the exact speed.
Maybe it's different with these new boards.

If you wanted to OC to 3200+ speeds than it would be 11x200 anyway.
Multiplyer locked on your CPU?

 

[Dynasty]

i get options for 100, 133, 166 and 200mhz. each one i select has an affect on the ram cas latnecy etc, either increasing or decreasing each accordingly, but thats about it. the multiplyer isnt locked, so that can be changed along with the cpu voltage.

 

[Dynasty]

a walk through on exactly how to go about any useful changes would be appreciated as i am a complete noob when it comes to O/C in bios

 

[Gajdycz]

i overclocked my 9800 at 10 mhz intervals and benchmarked with 3dmark 03

default(378mhz): 3443

390mhz: 3486

400mhz: 3526

my max overclock is 415mhz, should i continue? also, what about overclocking the memory?

 

[CaT^_^]

did anyone manage 465/370 on a 9800 pro

 

[kingthebadger]

mwhah i usually piss about and do anything on my gfx card, gone up to 600mhz clock 400 memory? sometimes crashes

i think i should stop doing that =)

 

[gegam]

AIW 9000 pro roflam just tried ocing it

stock is 274 270, i did 300 and 310 it could not handle it it was fine playing then it starts artifacting,

no case fans, 1 hsf 1 psu and a small gpu fan stock.

my card blows, but i love it cuss i can watch tv from my bed.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

 

[The Terminator]

I got a huge OC on my 9600 SE. Read below...

My Benchies with these settings.

AMD Athlon XP 2100+ (1.7 GHz)
1024 mb PC2100 no name RAM
Radeon 9600 SE 128 mb
AOpen AK-77 motherboard
20 gig Harddrive

Default 9600 SE : 324 Core/196 Memory
OCed 9600 SE: 450 Core/255 Memory

______________________________ ______________________________ ____________

1024x768 Highest Settings 9600 SE - Counter Strike
Frames: 12098 - Time: 197554ms - Avg: 61.238 - Min: 6 - Max: 101

Default Settings 9600 SE - Splinter Cell 2
Frames: 2063 - Time: 73936ms - Avg: 27.902 - Min: 8 - Max: 87

800x600 Highest settings 9600 SE - Call of Duty
Frames: 10006 - Time: 235869ms - Avg: 42.421 - Min: 2 - Max: 61

800x600 Highest settings 9600 SE 4xAA 8XAF - Call of Duty
Frames: 4255 - Time: 171547ms - Avg: 24.803 - Min: 4 - Max: 61

800x600 GFX high 9600 SE - Knights of the Old Republic
Frames: 1946 - Time: 107805ms - Avg: 18.051 - Min: 5 - Max: 32

800x600 GFX high 9600 SE OCed - Knights of the Old Republic
Frames: 1708 - Time: 65685ms - Avg: 26.002 - Min: 2 - Max: 43

800x600 medium 9600 SE - Doom 3
Frames: 2316 - Time: 109598ms - Avg: 21.131 - Min: 10 - Max: 63

800x600 medium 9600 SE OCed - Doom 3
Frames: 2275 - Time: 87176ms - Avg: 26.096 - Min: 13 - Max: 74

800x600 medium 9600 SE OCed 2xAA - Doom 3
Frames: 2332 - Time: 123788ms - Avg: 18.838 - Min: 2 - Max: 63

Hope someone likes this.

 

[blackeye]

I was just wondering. The motherboard Mentions agp voltage and gives me an option to increase it. If I plan on overclocking a video card would this allow me to reach higher clock speeds and what temperature would I expect. I dont have a 6800GT but im just wondering if increasing AGP voltage would allow me to clock higher.

 

[The Terminator]

increasin the AGP voltage? You mean bus speed? or actually increasin the gpus voltage?

 

[blackeye]

Nope you can increase it to 1.85 volts from 1.55 or you can keep it on auto.

 

[Asus]

You wouldn't want to increase the AGP bus, that would make it less stable.
The only time I could see you wanting to increase that option is if you were OCing your system bus without a PCI/AGP lock. So you could have to increase it to remain stable.

That won't make a difference OCing your video card at all. Infact I wouldn't increase voltages at all if you can't help it or don't know what they do exactly. hehe

 

[Dead-Inside]

If you're going to overclock a Sapphire Radeon, don't worry it can handle it. You can get at least 10% without worrying if you have a chassiefan.

 

[muka3d]

I overclocked my P4 2.80C to 3.0GHz, and she's running fine, and cool!

 

[Illegal Amigo]

I want to overclock my 9800PRO to xt speeds, but I'm nervous of doing so. If I get artifacts, are they forever? Or can I bump the core/mem down and they go away? I'm scared of burning out my card. (I have a Vantec pci fan card that also cools my video card).