DeNiZeN's Overclocking And Tweaking

lightning.gif - 24407 Bytes

Welcome to my overclocking and tweaking page.

This is a work in progress, so dont give up on this site if you dont see what you want.

That is why I have a message board, to hear your comments and suggestions.

At the bottom of my pages I also have a button for Humanclick, this can allow you to chat live with me,

and will alert me to your request if I am online.

What is Overclocking?

Overclocking is taking a computer processor beyond it's rated speed.

This applies to processors on video cards as well.

Most all modern (P2 or newer) CPUs can be overclocked.

This goes for AMD, Cirrex, and Intel chipsets.

(The new AMD Athlon is overclockable, but only if you are a electronics technician)

The most commonly overclocked chip is the Intel Celeron.

Most manufacturers, I.E. Intel, lock the proccessors core speed.

(thinking this will discourage overclocking, so you have to buy a faster chip)

However, by adjusting the frontside bus (FSB), one can achieve the same results.

For instance: I currently have a 400mhz Celeron, overclocked to 500 mhz.

I did this by adjusting the FSB from the defualt FSB of 66mhz to 85mhz.

If I had used a FSB of 75, my computer would run at 450 mhz.

If you are lucky enough to have a computer motherboard that has Soft menu,

adjusting the FSB is as easy as hitting DEL on bootup,

and ajusting the FSB in the soft menu.

If not, you'll have to refer to your motherboard manual,

and find out wich pins need to be reset to attain the desired FSB speed.

The speed of your overclocking will vary from chip to chip.

I strongly do not recomend FSB speeds over 100mhz, if you are new to this.

To caluculate the end speed of your computer, multiply your FSB speed by the level of your multiplier.

These default multiplier values are to be found in your specific computer/ cpu documentation.

Before overclocking there are acouple things I would strongly recommend.

Make certain your computer case is fitted with enough fans to supply alot of airflow.
Make sure the fan/heatsink on your CPU is large enough to dissapate heat. (I recommend getting an upgrade, such as an Alpha.)
Install a monitoring program such as "Hardware Monitor" so that you may monitor your CPU temperature.
Before you begin, get an idea at what temperature your system generaly operates at.
Overclock in gradual increments. After each step test your system for stability. I would recommend running a game such as Quake II in an endless demo loop. This will tax your CPU, thus raising it's core temperature. An hour or two of this will give you an idea of your computers stability.
Before and after each step, run a benchmarking utility such as"WinTune" to determin performance gains.
Do your homework! Every system is different and will react differently. Even if you have two celeron 400 chips, each one may react to overclocking differently.There are many sites on the web dedicated to overclocking, and you should avail yourself the expierience of others.

Goodluck!

WARNING!

Overclocking can damage you computer and void your warranties!

I do not advise anyone who is adverse to reading and research, to try overclocking.

Tweaking

Tweaking is the act of changing various settings in your computer to increase it's performance.

Nearly all systems within your computer can be tweaked.

Some tweaks require utilities to access the settings,

and others may be accomplished within the operating environment itself.

On my Tweaks ans links page, I have listed links to all the tweaking utilities I currently recommend.