PC overclocking tips

Overclocking

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Overclocking is the act of increasing the speed of certain components in a computer other than that specified by the manufacturer. It mainly refers to making your CPU run at a faster rate although it could also refer to making your graphics card or other peripherals. For example if you have a 300MHz PII CPU, you could probably overclock it easily to 350 or even 400MHz. The latest P4 processors also appear to be overclockable through the FSB (front side bus) even though they are advertised as being clock-locked.

So, now that you now what overclocking is, let's see how you can actually overclock your CPU. You can do this using any of the following 3 methods: Through your BIOS, Changing the multiplier settings, changing the Bus speed!

BIOS: In some BIOS's you are given the option to alter your CPU speed. Using this method, you won't even have to open your computer case. When you first boot your PC enter your BIOS (usually by pressing Del, F1, or F10) and start looking for any option that allows you to change your CPU speed. If you do find it, then it's as simple as changing the current number to a higher value.

Bus Speed: When increased, it makes the whole system run faster and not only the CPU. Most PC's have a speed of 66MHz or 100MHz. Mainly, it defines the speed that your motherboard and other components run at. To change your bus speed appropriately, see the table below.

Multiplier Settings: Multipliers are located on your motherboard and come in the forms x1, x1.5, x2, x2.5, etc... When the Bus speed is multiplied by any one of these numbers, it results in the final CPU speed. For example, if you have a bus speed of 100 and a multiplier of x4, your CPU speed is 400MHz. Clear? The table below shows how you can change your bus speed/multiplier settings according to your specific CPU.

Summary: The best way to overclock your PC is to alter the bus speed and multiplier settings. To do that, look at the table below and you should straight away realize how beautifully it has been put together. For example, if you have a Pentium 166MHz CPU (which is set up on a 66MHz bus speed and a multiplier setting of x2.5) you can see straight away that you only have 1 choice and that is to increase the multiplier setting tox3 to get a net speed of 200MHz!

Other processes to try out:

You must understand that to overclock you MUST buy a heatsink or an additional fan because your motherboard will be producing more heat. Ask your local hardware store for help with fitting these. Also, make sure you download a benchmarking utility to know how much speed you've gained, check out SiSoft Sandra 98 from the Speed Downloads section.

Now that you know what you'll need and what your options are, let's take a look at how you can actually speed up your PC:

(1) Take off your PC's lid and play around with your Motherboard's jumpers. With your Motherboard's manual in hand, you can see how you should fit your jumpers for each CPU speed, simply fit the jumpers for a faster CPU by altering the bus and multiplier setting jumpers. (see table below)

(2) Software. I would recommend you use software since it's easier. Go to h-oda.com and download a program called SoftFSB. Follow the instructions and then overclock your CPU one step at a time while rebooting to check and see if you've been successful.

(4) To prevent overheating your CPU, download and try CPUidle from cpuidle.de and Waterfall Pro from rocketdownload.com. Alternatively, you can buy heatsinks/fans for your CPU.

To help you choose the speed you want to overclock your machine to, consult this table. Bus Speed in MHz is listed down the left and multiplier settings across the top. Figures in bold represent the most common settings.

	x1	x1½	x2	x2½	x3	x3½	x4	x4½	x5	x5.5	x6	x6.5	x7	x7.5	x8
150	150	225	300	375	450	525	600	675	750	825	900	975	1050	1125	1200
133	133	200	266	333	400	466	533	600	667	733	800	866	933	1000	1066
112	112	168	224	280	336	392	448	504	560	616	672	728	784	840	896
100	100	150	200	250	300	350	400	450	500	550	600	650	700	750	800
90	90	135	180	225	270	315	360	405	450	495	540	585	630	675	720
83	83	125	166	208	250	291	333	374	415	457	498	540	581	623	664
75	75	113	150	188	225	263	300	338	375	413	450	488	525	563	600
66	66	100	133	166	200	233	266	300	333	366	400	433	466	500	533
60	60	90	120	150	180	210	240	270	300	330	360	390	420	450	480
Information within this table created by PC Answers Magazine

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