With the recent purchase of a Winchester core AMD64 3200+, I was impatient to learn the patient art of OverClocking your PC to the limit. After desperate brute force attacks on the various clock-related options via an utility, I was able to push the clock speed past the default clock to 2220MHz. This I acheieved by just increasing the core clock from 200 to 220MHz (with x10 multiplier). Other combinations didn't work, which, as I later found out, was because of the in-windows overclocking utility (Asus AI Booster) that kept crashing windows with clocks anything above 220MHz.
But later, after I got over the initial laziness to go through a few overclocking guides in a few forums, I finally acheived a much more respectable OC. Here'a a screen shot I made juat after a 2Million digits in SuperPI. For some reason, the SuperPI font is illegible, but the messagebox says that it went alright.
Before I plough on, here's the basics of OC'ing for the uninitialized:
- First, you need to get a motherboard and processor that allows you to OC. For example, in processors, an AMD Venice core OCs better than a winchester core, and in motherboards, an Asus A8NE OCs better than other motherboards while a DFI Lan Party motherboard is the holy grail of overclockers.
- Next, as I found out, get ram modules that has tight (low) timings and, possibly, with heat spreaders. For example, my cheapo Hynix ram running at 3-8-4-4 @ 200MHz can't stand a lot in the way of fsb clock whereas a Corsair/OCZ running at 2-5-2-2 has a lot of leeway.
- Having a clean and stable power supply unit also helps. Having a smps that has little in terms of fluctuations will help keep a stable processor at marginal voltages.
- A good, well ventillated cabinet can help keep the cool in ur processor. This is because, as u increase the clock speed of the components, they will require extra power for the signal to have the same impact when it was at a lower frequency. But cramming more power means more stray power that gets converted into unwanted heat. Most processors will operate without inexplicable auto-restarts and bewildering BSODs below 65degrees. The cooler you can keep it, the better.
After you have taken care of the preparatory phase, just increase the htt/core clock in steps of 5MHz and keep going till u hit a spot where the computer just plain refuses to POST. Now, if your board is overclocker friendly, it will let u access the bios settings no matter what, from which place you can revert back by 10MHz. Otherwise, you will have to open up your cabinet and reset the CMOS manually.
Now increase the VCore (cpu voltage) to the next number and try the htt increase. Anyways, 5MHz below unstable is the rule. Now, do the same with your ram by increasing your fsb by 5MHz. Increase VDimm (Ram voltage) if it doesn't post. But for Pete's sake (more like, for your computer's sake) keep an eye on temperatures. Be extra careful with ram voltages as any increase in ram temperatures cannot be noted. This is where the heat spreaders on ram modules can help, somewhat.
You can apply the above technique to your graphics accelerator as well. But 3D cards are especially notorious because they contain two cores: 2D core and 3D core. So when u OC in the 2D mode, the temps may be cool, but when you start that game, your GPU may BSOD or restart the core. The temp problem is very elusive too. That is, if u wanted to check the temp of the GPU while running a game, by the time you ALT+Tabbed to the desktop to check the temp proggy's display, the temperature would've gone down by 10 to 20 deg C! They cool down extremely quickly. Most highend 3D cards operate above 90 deg Cand may reach 105 on a hot day. So be careful when u OC them. Testing each 5MHz with a benching utility like 3D Mark and checking for artifacts like snowing, missing textures and any out of the ordinary display, will help keep the cool in your card.
My NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT (Leadtek) was only able to do 550MHz core and 1100MHz memory. It could do more, but I kept this because the core and memory freqencies are in sync this way.
Now, you can either sit on your laurels here, or u can proceed from here. If you do want to proceed from here, you could try fine-tuning the cpu and memory clocks to acheive a perfect balance. You might also consider fitting your components with water blocks to reduce noise and temperatures. The rule for a fast computer is higher cpu clocks and not memory clocks.
I must've restarted more number of times that day than all the other days combined. But I don't seem to get any faster than 2500MHz. I had increased all the timings and freq to the max, but still the comp won't boot even at 2550MHz.
When I plan to increase the memory capacity of my system, I will be sure to buy a higher end brand with better timings, now that I've tasted OCing. I've heard Asus A8NEs having problem with 4 sticks of memory, so I will have to sell the existing sticks anyway and buy 2 sticks of 1GB each.
PS: For those interested in monetary details: (As of 01 June 2005)
My AMD 3200+ => Rs.9,800
Asus A8NE => Rs.7,600
Hynix 512MB => Rs.1,900
GForce 6600GT => Rs.10,000
(2ndSept05, 9:39PM)
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