New to OCing. But i want to learn - advice please :-)

Hello there


I have the following PC setup:

Gigabyte GA-8IK1100 motherboard
P4 3.0ghz processor with 800fsb
1GB 184 pin dimm ddr 3200 unbuffered cl3 eec (in 2 banks of 512mb)
Sapphire radeon 9800 pro 128mb
P4 Coolermaster heatsink and fan
Ati silencer cooler for the radeon
2 case fans
Tagen PSU 480W – TG480-U01
3 hard drives – 1 IDE and 2 SATA.
2 CD/DVD drives (cd-r, cd-rw, dvd-r /+r/-rw/+rw/ ROM

I am new to overclocking. But what I want to know is can I get safe levels of extra performance for gaming from my set up? If so how do I go about it? I know it’s a case of trial and error, but what are the basics I need to know. Im not looking to max out performance, I just want a little bit extra that is safe and that wont require extra cooling. Is this possible?

Any help or suggestions would be great

Regards Jp

can I get safe levels of extra performance for gaming from my set up

Click to expand...

Sure.

Lots of guides on overclocking to read
http://www.ocforums.com/search.php?searchid=914145

Should get you going.

If this is you first time ever tweaking stuff. I would recommend familiarising yourself with your bios and how to recover should a setting go goofy.

Have fun.

hey there - that link doesnt bring anything up

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=83663

The Overclocking and Computer FAQs forum has a ton of good stuff.

Hmm. Sorry about that. Not sure what happened. Anyway there are guides on the front page.

http://www.overclockers.com/topiclist/index04.asp#BEGINNER GUIDES

hope that link works.

thanks - ill have a read and see what i can do

You have a fairly decent system and yes you can safely do a modest O/C. Which 3.0 CPU do you have? Do a google search and download a small program called CPU-Z, it's free. See if you have a Northwood or Prescott and check out what stepping revision you have. That will help us tell you how to proceed.

Two important things to remember, don't overvolt and don't overheat. Basically, you need to go into your BIOS and increase the frequency (FSB) from 200 MHz to something higher. Go in small steps, like maybe try 205 MHz first. Reboot, check load temps and test for stability.

Maybe download a free benchmarking program like PCmark2004. Run that first before you try overclocking to give you a baseline. That is also a good program to run while you are check load temps. After you have increased FSB a few times, at some point PCmark2004 won't finish or you'll get a lockup or crash. That means your O/C isn't stable.

Often a little more voltage will stabilize an overclocked system, but if you have default cooling, you won't want to raise voltages up much. You can start making cooling improvements by organizing the cables and wires inside your case. Tie 'em back so they don't block air flow. Consider adding another case fan if there is a place for it in your case.

Hope this helps you a bit. Good luck.