Overclocking?

[pcp]

Just noticed a little tool on my PC the other night for overclocking, any of you PC gurus have any tips like what's best to increase and what's best to keep stable?

My gfx card app has an overclocking utility too but makes my gfx unstable during games, got a bit geen lines shooting through the screen, totally disappears when i put the speed back to default

[un1eash]

Overclocking is an art, theres many things to take into account. The simplest clocking is upping the CPU and GPU speeds but on the whole it wont make much difference on the average pc.

Graphic card software usually has auto software that will test your system and pick the best settings. You can also get similar software for your CPU.

What spec is your computer? Have a look online and you should find details on what increases you can gain.

[pcp]

Overclocking is an art, theres many things to take into account. The simplest clocking is upping the CPU and GPU speeds but on the whole it wont make much difference on the average pc.

Graphic card software usually has auto software that will test your system and pick the best settings. You can also get similar software for your CPU.

What spec is your computer? Have a look online and you should find details on what increases you can gain.

it's a pretty decent spec, can't remember the exact mobo and CPU off top of my head but i'll check tonight, the mobo is an asus rep of gamers one and it's quad core proccessor with 2x 4850s cards in it.

The graphics does have it's own built in auto overclocking thingy where it gradually increases the core speed and measures the highest stable setting, thing is tho when i ran COD4 after that i got some errors, reduced the settings and it ran fine

[Steve-O 2007]

but remember Overclocking voids any warranty

Are your games already running smooth? If so I would just leave it, sometimes you only gain an extra 3 - 5 fps so not much point putting extra strain on your parts

[pcp]

but remember Overclocking voids any warranty

Are your games already running smooth? If so I would just leave it, sometimes you only gain an extra 3 - 5 fps so not much point putting extra strain on your parts

not sure on the warranty thing, the box of the mobo said something like 'perfect for overclocking'

I don't think what i'm doing is proper overclocking, ie i'm doing it in windows with a asus app for the mobo and an ATI app for the graphics card, maybe soft overclocking?

haven't really started gaming on it but just started fallout 3, it automatically set the graphics to ultra high and 90% of the time the pic is great, sometimes in the big exoansive scenery you can notice the frame rate dropping.

just downloading sandra at the min, i'll post the stats up later

[RobCrezz]

To overclock, you also need to increase cooling. Some big case fans are usefull, and a better fan for the GPU(s) will aid in overclocking them. Same for the CPU.

Alternatively you can get water cooling and it will be alot quieter too, but more expensive.

[nitric4k]

overclocking is a great way improve a system

ive got a quad core q6600 running at 3.6ghz stock is 2.6ghz

grafix card which is a 4870 is overclocked to 835mhz

you need find out what mobo u have and what cpu and memory then start tinkering with settings

also what your ram is as to get a decent oc you need good ram

[pcp]

Didn't see the last 2 replies til just now

Was thinking about getting it watercooled, wouldn't attempt it myself tho but i know the guy who runs the local PC shop, my case is already suitable and has holes for watercooling, think my PC already has 8 fans in it at the minute

here's the case, pics don't do it justice, lovely brushed aluminium finish

http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/pr ... dex=61&g=q

Right, Sandra says this is the specs of the PC

SiSoftware Sandra

System
Host Name : MAINPC
User : Paul
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Speed : 2.40GHz
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Internal Data Cache : 4x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 4MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

System
System : System manufacturer Maximus Formula
Mainboard : ASUSTeK Computer INC. Maximus Formula
Bus(es) : ISA PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
System BIOS : American Megatrends Inc. 0802
Total Memory : 3GB DIMM DDR2

Chipset
Model : ASUS X38 Processor to I/O Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 267MHz (1.07GHz)
Total Memory : 4GB DIMM DDR2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 401MHz (802MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4DHX 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5.0-5-5-18 3-22-6-3)
Memory Module : Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4DHX 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5.0-5-5-18 3-22-6-3)
Memory Module : Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4DHX 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5.0-5-5-18 3-22-6-3)
Memory Module : Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4DHX 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5.0-5-5-18 3-22-6-3)

Video System
Adapter : 2x ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series (512MB, PCIe 2.00 x16, SM5.0)

Storage Devices
ST3500320AS 500GB (SATA150, 3.5", NCQ) : 466GB (C:)
HP Photosmart D5100 (USB) : N/A (E:)
HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW GGC-H20L (SATA150, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)
LEJ 7GD6F4LEBS (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R) : N/A (G:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ ST3500320AS 500GB (SATA150, 3.5", NCQ)
CD-ROM/DVD (D:) : N/A @ HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW GGC-H20L (SATA150, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
3.5" 1.44MB (A:) : N/A
CD-ROM/DVD (G:) : N/A @ LEJ 7GD6F4LEBS (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R)
Removable Drive (E:) : N/A @ HP Photosmart D5100 (USB)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : ASUS (ICH9) LPC Interface Controller
Audio Device : ASUS (ICH9) HD Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Analog Devices AD1988B Sound Chip
Audio Device : AMD (ATI) HD48x0 audio
Audio Codec : AMD (ATI) AA01h
Disk Controller : ASUS (ICH9) 4 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 1
Disk Controller : ASUS (ICH9) 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 2
Disk Controller : ASUS JMB368 IDE Controller
USB Controller 1 : ASUS (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : ASUS (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 3 : ASUS (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 4 : ASUS (ICH9) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller 5 : ASUS (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 6 : ASUS (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 7 : ASUS (ICH9) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 8 : ASUS (ICH9) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : ASUS VT6306 VIA Fire II IEEE-1394 OHCI Link Layer Controller
System SMBus Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : pdfFactory 3 (1440x1440, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Printer : HP Photosmart D5100 series (1200x1200, USB, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Scanners and Cameras
Digital Camera : Photosmart D5100 (USB)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Marvell Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Network Adapter : Marvell Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller #2
Wireless Adapter 1 : RT73 USB Wireless LAN Card #3 (802.11g (ERP), TKIP, 54Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 6.00.6001 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x86

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 5.6

Performance Tips
Tip 2546 : Large memory modules should be ECC/Parity.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

the GPUs are 2 x 4850s, bought it just as the 4870s were released

My overclocking app has a lot of settings that i don't understand and some of the numbers are crazy, infact the CPU Level UP bit has the options, Original, Q6700, Q6800, Q6850 and the final one is called Crazy

Then there's the CPU memory frequency, which is set at 266, but can be increased by 1 all the way up to 800, ratio is 9 but can be set upto 30, these are the things that i don't understand

Then there's the DRAM voltage and Frequency which are set to auto, what are they? and the PCI-E which can be set between 100 and 150

Any of you guys shed some light and offer some settings?

[RobCrezz]

I would suggest going to a forum where there is a wealth of knowledge about this stuff.

http://www.hardocp.com/

Try the above site, you will no doubt find everything you need to know without even having to ask, should have everything there.

This is the overclocking forum:

http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.p ... f032b9&f=2

[pcp]

I would suggest going to a forum where there is a wealth of knowledge about this stuff.

http://www.hardocp.com/

Try the above site, you will no doubt find everything you need to know without even having to ask, should have everything there.

This is the overclocking forum:

http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.p ... f032b9&f=2

Cheers Rob, i'll check it out