X-bit labs

Newbie Overclocking Guide

Category: CPU

by Doors4ever

[ 08/01/2007 | 06:47 PM ]

We often get a lot of questions about CPU overclocking techniques and tools. So, how do we overclock processors? Hopefully our new article will answer most of your questions.

Table of contents:

• Theoretical Issues
  
• Collecting your system info
  
• List of useful software
  
• Overclocking related materials
  
• Problem of Choice
  
• CPU Overclocking Basics
  
• Getting Ready to Overclock
  
• Overclocking the CPU
  
• Do you have to increase the voltage?
  
• What temperature is normal?
  
• Do you have to decrease the multiplier?
  
• Overclocking Specifics for Intel Core CPUs
  
• Overclocking Specifics of AMD CPUs
  
• Life after Overclocking
  

Everyone can feel confused in a strange situation. When you find yourself in an organization for the first time, you don’t know where to go and whom to talk to. When you sit down at the steering wheel for the first time, you can’t make out what to do next with the vehicle. You don’t know what to do when you first turn on your PC or enter the Internet. You’ll get the experience over time and go right to the elevator or turn on the ignition or perform the habitual sequence of actions on your PC almost subconsciously. But you need a guide at first and this role is going to be played by this article.

Why do you want to overclock, anyway? I guess there are four types of overclockers.

There are beginner overclockers. The beginner has already got a PC and has no choice of the configuration. He has to deal with what he’s got already.

There are thrifty overclockers. They want to have as much performance as they can yet spend as little money as possible. The PC is assembled out of simple, cheap and outdated hardware parts the person can afford. The default performance of such a PC is below necessary level, but it can be usually overclocked to a more or less acceptable level. A thrifty overclocker is not necessarily a poor person. There are just a lot of other values in our lives besides computers. You may want to invest your money into your education, family or recreation instead of your PC.

Experienced overclockers have somewhat different objectives. Their goal is to get maximum performance and fun without overpaying for that. It’s silly to waste your money purchasing senior (i.e. expensive) components, yet it is also silly to limit your own opportunities by saving on trifles. This overclocker considers numerous factors as he picks up every component. He wants an overclocker-friendly mainboard, a highly overclockable CPU, and a quiet yet efficient cooler. The resulting performance of his PC will be very high, comparable to or better than the default performance of a system assembled out of top-end components. Although such an extremely high performance may not be vitally important, the overclocker finds his pleasure in the feeling of satisfaction from a job well done.

And finally, there are PC enthusiasts whose goal is to get the highest possible performance at any price. They use everything – top models of components and extremely low temperatures – to find themselves on a breathtakingly high peak, unattainable by the crowd. It’s a kind of sport where you can enter the top ten, five or three and that’s the only reward a PC enthusiasts needs.

Of course, these categories are not sharply outlined. There are no definite landmarks between them. Beginners become experienced overclockers over time while experienced overclockers may go in for extreme experiments. You can meet such an exotic combination as a thrifty enthusiast even!

Anyway, you have to begin with something, and I will begin with the first and most important point.