first time overclocker. i need help from someone who knows what theyre doing!!!

[goldendarko]

hi. i have never overclocked a computer before in my life but i want to now. here is my system:

MotherBoard: Epox 8k7a
CPU: 1.4GHz AMD TB
Video Card: GF3
Case: Wind Tunnel II Gamer
HSF: Thermalright SK-6
RAM: 256MB PC2100 DDR RAM
Hard Drive: 60GB IBM 7200RPM Hard Drive
PSU: 350 Watt Enermax power supply

ok. now that you know my system now you need to know me. i basically know nothing about overclocking. ive read some of these guides posted all over the net and on this webpage but i cant understand a word of em and im getting really frustrated! :mad: . i need help, i need someone to explain to me in a STEP-BY-STEP way how to overclock my computer. and in order for me to understand it needs to be told in a way a child could understand, because i am a child when it comes to overclocking. so if someone on these boards who really knows what they are doing and is good at explaining things would help me out i would be greatly appreciative. i have tried one other board (IGN.com) and they laughed at me for knowing so little.
:( i was told to order all these parts and that my system would be awesome for overclocking but unfortunately i dont know how to overclock and none of them want to help me. i hope the people at these boards are nicer and more willing to help because as it is now im really frustrated that i spent so much money on a system that can be OC and no one will help me. please help me, im so frustrated and this is my last hope. PLEASE HELP ME!

[UnseenMenace]

Welcome to the Forum

Unfortnately there is NOT a step by step guide because each system is different. The only thing that stays the same is the principles. All I can suggest is read the beginners guides on the front of overclockers.com and ask specific questions you need answering and we will try to help.

[goldendarko]

well i did read it to its entirity but it just makes no sense whatsoever to me. dont tell me my money went to waste, did it?:confused:

[UnseenMenace]

You have an awesome system, real nice, however rather than anyone telling you how to do it, you need to understand the techniques to avoid damage to your system.

Tell us something you dont understand and we will try to explain more.. but we need to know, before we can help

[goldendarko]

well the first thing i dont get it why cant someone with the same specs as me just tell me a guideline or something??? if we have the same basic system shouldnt we be following the same basic steps?

[UnseenMenace]

The problem is the variables in the production of the products you are using, just because someone has the same CPU as you it does not mean that you will hit the same speed or run at the same temprature, Because of this what works for one computer may not work for another, and because of this fact you need to understand what you are doing not just how to do it

[goldendarko]

<<just because someone has the same CPU as you it does not mean that you will hit the same speed or run at the same temprature, Because of this what works for one computer may not work for another, and because of this fact you need to understand what you are doing not just how to do it>>

ok i understand what you mean that just because we have the same components we cannot reach the same speeds. but thats not what im asking, what im asking is how do i overclock, not what can i overclock to. obviously someone with the exact same computer would overclock in a similar way right?

[jbslow]

Take some time and read through the forums , search for thing such as you mother board you proccesor your video card read read and then read some more. The cooling forum is very important when you overclock your system , you need to keep things cool.

Take alittle time out each day and read from these forums post if you need more specific answers and when the lingo doesnt look like chicken scrach and you start to see the light go ahead and try some minor overclocking and learn from you experiences. Monitor your systems performance useings benchmarks use stability testers to make sure the system is stable watch the temps. very closly just keep learing and before you know it you'll be overclocking with the best of them.

Good Luck this is a very fun hobby please do enjoy yourself.

[UnseenMenace]

Yes someone would overclock a system similar to yours using the same techniques, if you ask a question that you do not understand or ask for specific advice.. I will do my best to assist you.. but a question such as how do I overclock is exceptionally vauge and would require a great deal of time to answer which would prevent me from assisting anyone else for a while or expanding my knowledge which is unfair.
If you have a specifc question we will try our best to answer it, however I doubt anyone will put in enough time to create a step by step which may result in you damaging you machine due to the fact that if something goes wrong you would lack the knowledge that would allow you to cope with the situation.

IMHO if you do not understand the task ahead you should not attempt it.

[goldendarko]

ive been reading about OCing for over two months im just not getting the hang of it. i just need a step by step guide on how to OC my system, is that so hard?

[BigDawg]

Look guy....i was new to this overclocking stuff 2 months ago....i now can over clock my computer fairly easy....at first i was totally lost like you but i read articles from here and other places and learned....if i ran into trouble with certain things i then posted here....the people here are very nice a very very helpful.....i dont think you can be explained excactly how to do it unless you understand the basics of it....and it seems you are still not getting it....so my advice to you is read some more oc articles and then these people will surely be able and willing to help you then. And yes cooling is a very important part of oc'ing.


Good Luck !!

[UnseenMenace]

Unfortunately yes it would be hard to write you a step by step even if I wanted to, which I dont.... It would require many questions to be answered before wring the step by step, such as
1) What are your tempratures in Degree C on both idle and load, we need system temps as well as CPU temps, what is the ambient temprature.
2) your hsf has it been lapped and are you using artic silver
3) are you using a shim, if so is it metalic of non conductive
4) what fan are you running on your heatsink
5) what other system cooling do you have
6) im assuming the the CPU is unlocked is this correct, have you checked
7) what fsb are multiplier are you currently running
8) what voltage are you currently running
9) what bios revision are you running
10) Some of the mobos you are using have a problem with the 5v line, is yours ok ?.. have u checked
11) what ram timings are you using?
12) what ram voltage are you currently running.

there are many more questions to come, before anyone could attempt to write a step by step..

If you have a question feel free to ask, however I will NOT write a step by step for anyone, unless it helps convey an answer to a question.

[UnseenMenace]

On numerous occasions I have offered to help, however you must understand that there is a risk to overclocking and that is.. "it can damage your computer equipment"
It is not correct for someone to tell you how to overclock your system, but only the 'techniques' that are used.. it is this knowledge and a little bit of luck that allows us to overclock.. I have at various times seeked the opinions and advice of others on this forum and generally find a suitable answer to my question.

If you would like advice or an opinion feel free to ask.. however I personally will not reply to this thread anymore in its current state, as I believe that I have conveyed my belief that if someone does not understand the task they should not attempt it and that I will NOT write a step by step guide.

May I wish you luck is whatever you decide to do, and if you ever have a question and require advice, I will be most willing to help as much as I can

[iggybaseball]

Yea a couple of months ago I was just like you. But i can overclock a machine now. However I am still learning something new everyday:) I know it can be frustrating, but the beginer guides are really easy. And if you read them for 2 months, u should have retained some knowledge. Why don't you ask for help with a specific problem. You have to develop a "touch" with overclocking. Like grandmas baking with no recipes. Just learn the techniques and if you have any questions ask them then. The money you spent for your system will not be a waste if you put some effort into your research. Good Luck:)

[diehrd]

Here is a starting point.Read the motherboard manual,,,It will describe what options in the bios are for what.

It will tell you how to specify processor speed and front side bus Mhz.

Usually In a bios the items that will allow a user define option have an adjustable setting that may be related to system performance,Thus by increasing or decreasing these values you overclock the system.

Example Processor at user define will on some boards allow you to select a multiplyer Like 9,,9.5,,10,,10.5 ect.This number multiplied by the front side bus will =Processor speed.

Your processor defaults to a setting of 10.5x133=1400

Change it to 11x133=1463

Change fsb to 140 and leave multiplier at 10.5 =1470

This is an example of ocing a processor other settings can be oced as well like ram,ect.

NOW read the manual because then you will know what is what on the system and what it does.

And by the way I am not to be held responsable if your system catches fire LOL !!! ALSO WELCOME TO OVERCLOCKERS.COM

[goldendarko]

well i must admit im not totally new to OCing but i have never done it before. (if i was totally new would i know what AS II and nanotherm Thermal Compounds are, or what a Thermalright SK-6 is or what a GlobalWin CAK38 is). it seems you guys think im asking how high i can OC. i know how to benchmark and stuff i just need to know HOW TO OC!!! like how do i actually get down and dirty and do it ya know?!

[N3D2000]

change your FSB by 5 (in the up direction). If your comp starts then you have overclocked. If it is stable try upping it more. AMD processors aren't enormously responsive to FSB changes but they are a start. alternativley change your multiplier by .5 (also in the up direction) if it starts , you have overclocked succesfully, if it is stable try a combination of FSB and Multiplier changes.

[azhari]

Don't despair. Just like you, I'm trying to oc for the first time too. I can understand how frustrating it can be. But these guys are right. I've been reading, and reading, and ....

The problem is, there is no step by step instruction for ocing. But I'll write down what I'm planning on trying. Maybe this will help you get some more specific questions formulated for the experts around here.

First thing's first: I will not assume any liability for this advice. You may seriously damage your computer and other things, so be forewarned.

1) Heat is the enemy: you must find out what your temperatures are before you even start to attempt to oc. Then to see if they are normal or not just read some posts in the cooling section.

2) If your temps are low (30's idle and low 40's under load) you can start to play with your settings. But ideally, you want them even lower. The lower, the more oc potential.

3) There are two main setting to play with. One is the cpu multiplier and the other is the fsb speed. As explained above, your normal settings for a 1.4GHz cpu is:
cpu multiplier = 10.5
fsb speed = 133
Therefore, your cpu's speed is 10.5 x 133 = 1400 MHz.
To overclock you can raise either of these settings. You can raise the 10.5 to 11, or the 133 to 135.

4) If your system does not overheat, AND your computer operates without any errors or blue screens of death, then you have just taken your first step to ocing.

Remeber, I haven't started my first oc yet, so the advice is from the blind to the blind, but after reading 100's of articles here and there, this is what I've learned (plus other tweaks, but one step at a time).

I hope this helps a bit, and don't hold me liable for any damages that you may bring upon yourself.

Lastly, WATCH YOUR TEMPERATURES. I'm not shouting ;) Just making sure you see where the emphasis should be.

Good luck.

[goldendarko]

im not gonna hold anybody here liable obviously and i do have enough common sense to check temps. when OCing. im just curious, how do i adjust these FSB and such??? i cant get to them anywhere where are they.

[Placid]

You go into the bios (hit delete key at boot) then go to the Frequency/Voltage control section as shown in the manual on page 4-24.
Then change the cpu clock setting.

[azhari]

Unfortunately I'm not familiar with your mobo (you can see in my sig that I have a KG7). But, your mobo manual should tell you what jumpers and/or bios settings you have to change. On my mobo its all done in the bios, where I just select the multiplier and fsb manually. So give your manual a read and see what you have to do.

[goldendarko]

<< then go to the Frequency/Voltage control section >>

i went to the BIOS i didnt see any freq./volt. section. all i see is basics like langauge, time, date. etc.

[goldendarko]

also what if my mobo is an OEM version and doesnt have a manual?

[Placid]

Go here: http://www.epox.com/html/english/products/motherboard/ep-8k7a.asp
and download one.

[Placid]

Originally posted by goldendarko
<< then go to the Frequency/Voltage control section >>

i went to the BIOS i didnt see any freq./volt. section. all i see is basics like langauge, time, date. etc.

Its the top option on the right side of the main bios menu.
If you have the epox 8k7a.
If your board came in a pc from a oem they may have a custom bios that might not allow overclocking. *shrugs*

[Bubba]

It sounds to me you're jumping over some very important steps,like learning to use your computer without OC'ing it.You may want to get familiar with your bios and the different settings in it before you play around with OC'ing and ruin that great system of yours.A knowledge of how your computer works and the normal settings that run it are a must in order to change them.So this is step one,when you finish with it then you'll understand step two.

[BigDawg]

GOOD GRIEF !!!!!!!

[goldendarko]

ok i think you guys are getting my question confused. i have read tons of OC guides and everything so stop telling me to do so. all i want to know is the exact procedure to OC!!! WHAT DO I PHYSICALLY GO TO AND DO TO OVERCLOCK?!?! get what im saying now. please dont give me some spiel cause i know all about cooling and everything and trust me my system is running at plenty cool (i think 30 degrees C while Idle)

[jbslow]

Ok , goldendarko if you've read a few articles and read through these forums you would have heard of the two core thing involved in overclocking you cpu , FSB (front side bus) and multiplier.

Now you have a 1.4 athlon and I'm going to assume its a 266fsb , now your fsb and multiplier at default setting are as fallows 133(fsb) x 10.5(multiplier) = 1396.5 which is your default core cpu speed.

The way you increase the clock speed or overclock your processor is by increasing either one of these integers. 134x10.5=1407 , 135x10.5=1417.5 or you could leave your fsb alone and increase your multiplier 133x11=1463 , 133x11.5=1529.5.

FSB is usually or at least with your mobo adjusted in the bios under the Frequency/Voltage Control. There is 14 different sections in your bios one of them is the above. I have the 8k7a which is the same board minus raid so I know , well at least it should be there in fact right know as I'm wrighting this my cpu is clocked at 145x9=1305 my default is 133x9=1197 which is a 1.2 (266) Athlon.

Multiplier is adjusted atleast with your mother board by changing the jumpers , you need to get out your manual so you know what each setting will do. There is 6 different jumper that adjust 6 different things for your system one of them adjusts you multiplier , one of them adjusts your cpu core voltage , one of them adjusts your memory core voltage and there is 3 more like I said you need a manual then you need to read once or maybe even twice.

I really hope this helps you overclock you cpu later if you still need to know you can ask someone in the videocard/sound card forums how to phisically overclock your G3.

[goldendarko]

ok thank you jbslow. im gonna overclock the FSB . also when you overclock the FSB what other things get OCed? i hear the RAM gets OCed as well ?

[jbslow]

Yes , when you up your fsb your ram to will be excellerated that is why you will get a better overall performance increase by upping the fsb verses just upping your multiplier.

I also believe your PCI slots will be excellerated they need to be as close to 33mhz as possible. I have yet to increase my divider infact I havent even looked for the adjustment yet so to say the least I am cluless , maybe someone else can enlighten us both on this the default settings for our mobo's and perhaps where to change the divider aswell , although I don't think its really an issue until you up the fsb over 150 *shrug*.

[!-=sky=-!]

when you up fsb you will get an increase of speed in everything

the pci bus, agp, and usb i think so too

[Billvill]

Lots of good avice posted here ! I would suggest easing up the FSB at first.

Billy

[goldendarko]

ok so how does this sound. with all my cooling ill up the FSB to 150. (and run stability tests and temperature tests) and just leave it at that. so 150 x 10.5 =1.575GHz . does this sound alright or is that too high for a first step? should i go to something lower like 145 and then ease my way up to 150?

[jbslow]

No way thats way to big of astep you should increase 1 fsb point at a tme and run say 3dmark 2001 every single time you up the fsb. You could also run say Sandra or Quake demo every other time you up the fsb. Through the hole thing run MBM and see how high your temps peak and how low your +5 volts and so on and so forth. Take your time.

Good luck