Elvis-Virtus: Blog – Basics of Overclocking a PC

Friday, March 5, 2010

Blog – Basics of Overclocking a PC

10:03 AM | Posted by Eijan Ochoco | Edit Post

This is a long awaited post concerning overclocking, to start it off, i will talk about the basics of overclocking.

*NOTE: I WILL TRY TO DISCUSS OVERCLOCKING IN THE SIMPLEST WAY

WHAT IS OVERCLOCKING?

Overclocking is basically making the hardware part run beyond it’s factory setting. In other words, if i have a Q6600 Core 2 Quad CPU rated @ 2.4Ghz and if i were to change its setting to 2.8Ghz, its already considered an overclock which is 0.4ghz above the factory setting. If i were to explain in layman’s term, if your CPU was a runner, and his capacity was to run around a maximum speed of 10mph, then overclocking it is like making the runner run at 15 mph.

WHY OVERCLOCK A PC?

The main reason behind overclocking a PC is to obtain more peformance without additional cost. Its like making my q6600 (a 3 year old CPU) on par with the new Intel Core i7 920 without needing to upgrade my motherboard and cpu and in the process,saving me at least 600 dollars.

WHAT ARE THE CONS IN OVERCLOCKING?

As explained above, there is a huge benefit in oveclocking but as huge the benefit is, the cons are much much greater. When overclocking, you will encounter tons of problems first before getting your desired result. The main cons in overclocking are PC instability and hardware failure. PC instability is the most frequent problem among oveclocked PC, an instable PC usually have the following symptoms: PC hangs randomly, Random restarts, and PC wont Post. While Hardware failure is a serious con and also frequent among people who doesn’t know how to overclock properly. Hardware failure is damaging the overclocked hardware permanently and not able to use it anymore. The main reason behind hardware failure is that the hardware device operated beyond its temperature limit.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO MONITOR IN OVERCLOCKING

When overclocking, you should monitor your hardware’s temperature and voltages. Overclocked hardwares are performing beyond their factory settings, so their temperatures and voltages are also beyond their factory temperatures and voltages. You should first research your hardware’s temperature and voltage limits first before overclocking.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE OVERCLOCKING

There are 2 main hardwares that you can overclock the CPU and VIDEOCARD

-CPU

When overclocking the cpu you should know this formula:

“FRONT SIDE BUS * CPU MULTIPLIER = CPU SPEED”

eg: Q6600 stock setting ~ 266 FSB * 9 CPU Multiplier = 2.4 GHZ

Q6600 Overclocked setting ~ 311 FSB * 9 CPU Multiplier = 2.8 GHZ

The basic things that you can change in overclocking a cpu is you can change the FSB and also the multiplier but also be beware of the voltage and also the RAM frequency, once you change the FSB, the ram frequency also changes and a higher FSB will require you to bump up the voltage of the CPU. You should be also aware of the ram frequency because it a higher FSB will change the ram frequency and if its beyond the Ram frequency limit, you will have an unstable PC.

-GPU (Graphics Processor Unit, Videocard)

This is where hardware failure is frequent because people always try to push their GPU beyond its limit.

The thing you can change the Core Clock and Memory clock, and finding a stable setting between these two will take a lot of work as in a lot of work. A classic example would be finding a stable setting and then testing it on a stability test that runs for 2 hours, and then after passing that test, you decide to play the game, once the game launches, it immediately crashes. Its one of those times that being an overclocker is irritating. Finding a stable core clock and memory clock is like finding a needle in a haystack but once found the feeling is priceless.

LASTLY, THINGS NEEDED TO OVERCLOCK

TONS OF PATIENCE – Overclocking will take countless of hours and countless of restart. Patience is required, overclocking a PC would take about a week or so of use and testing, and after that, if your PC does not suffer a hang, it is already considered a stable PC.
THIRD PARTY HARDWARE – Third party cpu coolers are required because of the heat generated by the overclocked hardware are sometimes beyond the stock cooler’s limit
MONITORING SOFTWARE - Monitoring softwares are required to monitor the temperature and voltages of your PC.
TESTING SOFTWARE – A testing software is required to test your PC to its limit if its stable
OVERCLOCKING SOFTWARE – GPU requires an overclocking software and also the CPU requires one also but you can change the cpu on the BIOS menu.