would it be usefull?

[LikeableRodent]

1st of all, i'm a newbie here, but i have read the beginners guide on overclocking.

i was just wondering if overclocking my computer would be worth the effort as i am running on a POS dell 233MMX

i'm not afraid to open up my computer (yesterday i got bored and unscrewed pretty much anything i could), but because this is the family comp (my parents wont let me buy my own) i dont want to spend much, if any money on this at all and i obviously dont want to screw it up.

reading other posts it seems that dells arent the easiest things to OC, but it would be nice to know if i should put in some more effort and learn how to do this (and then do it of course) or if i should just leave.

[Mr B]

Welcome to the forums!!

A couple of passing thoughts.....

That Dell is going to be next to impossible (if not entirely) impossible to overclock. Most store bought PC's don't have provision for doing what needs to be done (raising the voltage to the cpu slightly, and raising the FSB as well).

However.....

You say you're parents won't let you buy a computer. Good. You don't want to buy one. You NEED to build one. If you BUY one, you'll still have the same unoverclockability problems with an OEM motherboard that you have with the Dell now.

If you BUILD one.....

You can piece it together, bit by bit, as money allows. No huge outlay of cash all at once, and certainly no 3 years of MSN slavery.

Plus, you can configure it to what YOU want your PC to do. You can get a motherboard DESIGNED for overclocking. Throw in a high end video card, if gaming is what you're after, etc....

It will take a bit of time to assemble the componentry to build your own rig from scratch, but by the time it's ready to go, you will have;

A. Gained sufficient knowledge on how to overclock a PC.
B. A computer built to YOUR specifications.
C. More than likely saved quite a bit of money building it yourself.
D. The satisfaction of being able to say, " I BUILT THAT ! ".

BTW...Stick around. You can learn a lot from what is posted in here.

Mr B

[OpenFriday]

Im in the same boat. My parent wont dish out the $$$ so im building my own. The nice thing is you can build a computer to suit your style of computing. (im building a puter for my dad so he can email to his family in the Azores and D/l a fair share of pr0n) So if you want better preformance your gonna have to build your own. I mean a decent computer with decent components should cost you around 1000$ american. I mean say 100$ for proc , 120$ for decent o/cable mobo (perhaps ebay is for you), about 60$ for a good stick of 128mb ram, lets see, 100$ for decent video card, 100$ for nice case and PS, im not much for hdd prices but id imagine 175$ could get you a nice one? then 30$ for cd rom, 10$ for floppy you get the point. What im getting at is building a comp is not only cheaper/provides better preformance and can allow you to take it slowly step by step, you know you did it all yourself.

Keep in mind guys those prices were just very rought estimates. Come to think of it 100$ for a proc? i think more along the lines of 50-60$ is more realistic.

Ohh just for some added info, im just building a cheap box for Pa as stated above. Specs so far are Cel400 (should o/c to 600) looks like abit BE6 mobo, nice slotket and Vantec HSF with bad A$$ delta. This is fun stuff, hope you choose to share in the excitement.

Your 16 so i assume you have a part time job? If so your 1 step ahead of me, im building this comp on pretty much 14$ a week (my allowance) I think i can i think i can........

Your only options for a faster comp if your parents wont pay is either

1.) Build your own
2.) Live with the 233.(so basicly you have 1 option as the Dell is by no means overclockable.)

Stick around the forums, you'll learn a lot.

[zeisel]

i was also in the same boat with my old micron millenia. i just started upgrading it starting with the motherboard. if you want to work with your current system i would suggest one thing, get a new motherboard. the socket 7 platform (im guessing socket 7, thats what my 233mmx is) is a bit out dated but still upgradable to amd K6 chips. first find out what your chip style is (socket 7 or slot 1, i think they made a slot one) then look around for a motherboard with some voltage and fsb options. i would check ebay or even your local comp shop. all of the dell components should work with a better motherboard. once you do that you can move on to cooling and other things overclocking related

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

You asked if it would be worth the effort, and I would have to say yes...big time...my first overclock was just a few mhz, but when it was succesfull, I was extatic, I wanted to clock everything...I mean it is so much fun, even if it's just a few mhz, you will have the satisfaction that you did something that most don't even comprehend.
Just look in the manual, or on Dell's Website, and look for their jumper settings..and try to turn up the bus to 75mhz...if you could do that, you will get a "normal" overclock out of that chip...socket 7, or slot one....but don't expect much more than 266mhz. good luck

[LikeableRodent]

my parents wont let me buy a tv or comp (whether i build it myself, which i would like to do, or buy it premade). i do have a job though (approx 100$ a week).

and pretty much all that i could do to try and OC the comp. is by changeing settings (they were freaking out about how i installed a new hard drive without them knowing). i cant (or pretty much not allowed) to change the internal structure. everything must be done by changing the settings without the use of buying or using different components.

i realize that this severely limits the possibilities, and from what it seems puts those posibilities down to zero.

i dont care if the OC is minimal, i just need to suck all the perfomance out of this mind-bogglingly slow machinge as i can.

[!-=sky=-!]

i think the ppl with parents that won't let them buy anything should just get buy the thing u wanted them go home with it.....i do that all the time since my parents wouldn't let me buy anything either....and after u walk home with the thing u wanted, they couldn't do anything because u already bought it.....if they tell u to return it, just say u lost the receipt or somethnig like that
but beware, DON'T do this too many times b/c parents will get mad.......like mine and they stopped giving me allowance for a month.........and i get 50$ CDN a week.....haha

[Spode]

thank god both my parents are IT teachers. They can understand. Not only as far as my computers as well.

I spent £700 on brakes for my mountain bike (thats about $1000). Apart from a "couldn't you spend your money on anything better". I had no problem. Your only young once - you should buy all the things you can now!!!

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

Wow, a thousand clams for bicycle brakes? where you live? Mount Everest? I do a lot of mountain biking in the mountains, and if brakes cost more than 10bucks a pair, I'll just jam my foot on the front tire, and keep my 10.00 and buy a hamburger or something.
BTW, little tip, never let off your brakes on a 16%grade going downhill on a gravel road....my brother said if he had a video camera, he could have sent it to espn, and made money on my spectacular wreck, and endover end...needless to say, I was finished biking 4 that day