| You can too OVERCLOCK your INTEL Processor |
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| Written by Administrator | |
| Wednesday, 09 November 2005 | |
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You may have heard about overclocking recently as it has become a fairly popular practice. Overclocking is no secret any more, it has almost become some kind of sport. The definition for overclocking is simple: Overclocking means operating an IC beyond its specified clock speed. As you know, the CPU speed is determined by the multiplication of the front side bus (FSB) clock and the multiplier. Some of the key factors that lead to successful overclocking include the following: FSB Settings Let's take a brief look at each of these factors. You'll want a motherboard that allows you to set change the CPU clock frequency or FSB settings, PCI and AGP multipliers, CPU Core Voltage, CPU L2 Cache Latency, and SDRAM settings. FSB - The more settings that the motherboard allows the better your chances. The ABIT BE6 II has a wide number of FSB settings - 66, 75, 83-200(1MHz increments) that give the board extreme flexibility. You'll want this to get the most out of your CPU. Since your chip might not be stable at specific FSB you can back down from to find an FSB that is stable.
AGP - Similar to the PCI bus you will want a motherboard that provides a multiplier setting for the AGP bus so that your video card will run at the specified bus speed of 66MHz. The ABIT BE6 II provides AGP 1/1 and 2/3 multipliers. At 100MHz the AGP bus is multiplied by 2/3 to yield 66MHz. Of course if you're running at an FSB of say 83MHz your AGP bus will be slightly out of spec when multiplied by 2/3 (55MHz). CPU Multiplier - As mentioned above your CPU is a locked number that can't be changed. For example the 300A had a 4.5 multiplier. One of the reasons why the Celeron 300A was such a great overclocking chip is that the 4.5 multiplier when multiplied against 100MHz yielded 450MHz! A 50% increase - not bad! You'll need to know the multiplier for your chip so keep this in mind when you're setting a target for your overclocking. It is a very important factor in the chips overclockability. Core Voltage - Although most chips will overclock to some degree it is sometimes necessary to increase the core voltage being supplied to the CPU in order to stabilize the chip. The trade off here is that increasing the voltage often leads to more heat which in turn can cause the chip to be unstable and even shorten its lifespan. The Celerons had a default voltage of 2.0v. The new FC-PGA Coppermine chips come with a 1.6v core. Ideally, you want your chip to run stable at the default voltage, but it is often necessary to raise the voltage up to 20% higher in order to stabilize the chip. Adjusting the voltage is one most important variables in successful overclocking. Be aware that too much voltage can permanently damage the chip which is why we limit the voltage increase to 20% outside of spec.
CASE Cooling - In order to make sure that your CPU is getting lots of cool air it is important to take a close look at your case. Your case should have a power supply that is located at the top of the case. The power is a source of heat and since heat rises the top is a good place for it. The power supply fan should be blowing air out of the case. This will help to remove the hot air from the top of the case. Next, your case should have another fan located at the bottom of the case that blows are into the case. This brings cool air into the case. Last, many cases come with a third vent located behind the CPU. This is a good spot to a fan in that blows air into the case and directly onto the CPU. This combination works pretty well. We here at Crazy PC have added a 4th fan to overclocked system. It is located at the top of our case and vents air directly out the top. This was done using one of the Radio Shack (Nidec) squirrel cage fans and cutting a small rectangular opening in the top of the case. With this setup we are consistently running at less than 10F above ambient room temp. Overclocking Speed The following table includes all Celerons, clock speeds and useful voltage settings. If you're not afraid to push your system and get your hands dirty putting it together then I highly recommend trying it. However, keep in mind that overclocking can cause damage to your system and could result in potential loss of data on your hard disk.
 There are three methods to achieve overclocking with your intel CPU. 1. Choosing a higher multiplier Since Intel has been locking the multiplier settings, the way we overclock is to change the FSB clock speed. Accessing BIOS Setup How do we get there? Usually all you have to do is press the <Delete> key on the keyboard during system boot-up. You can do it multiple times, just to make sure. Don?t disregard the information that appears on the screen. Read it. Sometimes, it may also be useful to look through the mainboard manual before getting started, because sometimes there might be a different key or combination of keys assigned to let you into the BIOS Setup. Adjusting FSB Frequency & CPU Voltage You need to find the Frequency/Voltage Control page from your BIOS page. Do it yourself?
Emergency Break! And what shall we do if the system is over-overclocked, if the parameters have been set incorrectly, and the mainboard doesn?t even boot-up, or system hangs shortly after booting? Some contemporary mainboards monitor the boot-up process and if something interrupts it, the mainboard restarts with the default settings for the processor and system memory. In this case, all you need to do is access the BIOS Setup and set the correct values. Sometimes, you can cure the system by rebooting it while pressing and holding the <Ins> key. In this case the mainboard also resets all the values to the nominal that allows to boot the system successfully. If nothing helps, you have to find the Clear CMOS jumper, shut the system down, switch it to two next contacts for about three seconds and then return back to the initial position. Overclocking Tips Never change BIOS settings if you're unsure of the results or what function they perform Always use a grounding strap and attach it to your case. Don't take unnecessary risks. Especially when you're about to take a huge one! Cool your CPU. Attach a fan with a big heatsink to it. Some people recommend a dual fan. I have only one with a big heatsink. - I've purchased a Radio Shack temperature sensor that I will use to monitor my CPU temp. If you're heat sink is bare metal on the side that abuts the CPU you should apply thermal compound (or heatsink grease). Apply a thin layer to CPU die surface and surface of heatsink that will make contact with the CPU. The layer should be thin and not dripping. Thermal compound will help conduct the heat from the CPU to the heatsink better by filling in the tiny gaps between the chip and the heatsink. Apply a thin layer to the CPU die surface that contacts the heatsink surface. It's non-conducting but be careful not to be sloppy anyway. On tower cases make sure the air blows in from the bottom and out from the top. Cool air in the bottom, hot air out the top. The power supply fan should blow out. I installed an extra fan next to the power supply that sucks air out. My ambient temp is between 80F-86F. Some say your temp should be no more than 10F-20F more than room temp. When you start overclocking start with default voltage and work your way up by small increments (.05). Remember cooling becomes more critical as you up your voltage as well. Always take small steps when increasing bus speeds and multipliers. I've read that some drives have problems with the non-standard bus speeds and UDMA which can lead to corrupted data. As a precaution, I recommend disabling DMA. Some people recommend a burn-in period before overclocking. Make sure you have your system running stable for a period of time. The term "burn-in" is also used by some to mean running the CPU at a specific clock speed and voltage. Some believe the CPU adapts to the higher voltage after time and the voltage can then be lowered. Never assume that you'll get the same speeds as someone else, there can be many reasons why you won't. Remember just because it boots and runs for a while doesn't mean your system is safe or completely stable. The quality of your RAM becomes more critical with higher clock speeds. It's not just about the CPU. Getting a good motherboard is very important. Brands such as ASUS or ABIT are usually good overclockers. Brands such as Gigabyte, Intel... are very bad. MSI is boarder line. Make sure you have read motherboard reviews if your planning to achieve max overclock with that new CPU. |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 November 2005 ) |
PCI - Ideally you want your PCI devices to be unaffected by your changes to the FSB speed. Unfortunately, there will be some effect on your PCI bus speed but in most cases it is minimal. Normally, the PCI bus operates at 33MHz. You'll want to stay as close as possible to this speed. The ABIT BE6 II motherboard supports PCI bus multipliers of 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2. For example, a FSB setting of 66 is multiplied by 1/2 to achieve 33MHz, 100FSB is multiplied by 1/3. This allows the overclocker to keep a PCI bus speed that is close to the original spec. 
CPU Cooling - The single most important factor to a stable overclocked CPU is cooling. Too much leads to system instability and a shorter CPU lifespan. The simple rule is - the cooler the better. Due to the popularity of overclocking there are now several commercially supported products that provide a variety of cooling methods. The current cooling techniques range from heatsinks, water coolers, and Peltier coolers. The most common method is to using a efficient heatsink and fan combination. In the case of the Intel Coppermine CPU the retail heatsink is great for normal operating temps but a larger heatsink is required when undertaking more extreme overclocking. The heatsink should be used in combination with thermal compound in order to ensure that there is good contact between the surface of the heatsink and CPU die. A very thin layer of thermal compound should be applied to the surface of the CPU (not the ceramic potion but the heatsink slug itself). Thermal compound is usually made of Zinc Oxide which has a low thermal resistance and is electrically non-conducting. 
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