[eaglepi]

I had a P4 2.4 cpu in my old system and about 9 months agao decided to build another new system. I bought a Intel dual core 2.4, you can see the exact one in my signture.

At the time I was going to upgrade I was thinking of going from a single 2.4 to a 3.0 or higher but it was suggested I go with a dual core, I believed that the Intel dual core 2.4 was a faster more powerful cpu than going to a single 3.0 or higher.

Can someone explain the differences and did I in fact get a faster cpu then if I had gone with a single core 3.0 -3.6

Thanks in advance

[Albuquerque]

Short answer: hell yes you got a faster processor.

Hertz is literally a measure of cycles per second; in terms of CPU's and GPU's, it's how many clock cycles a processor will go through per second. It's what you do with those clock cycles that matter.

Let's think of it a little bit like RPM's in an engine -- if you're hauling a big heavy trailer, which is faster, 4000 RPM's or 8000 RPM's?

In reality, there's no answer to that question -- RPM does not dictate power. A Honda Civic Si 1.6L will make it's peak power at 8000RPM's of around 160hp, but the Peterbuilt 8.3L Turbodiesel next to it will make it's peak power at ~2500RPM's of about 450HP. Ultimately, RPM doesn't mean anything unless you know what the "engine" can do with it. Similarly, trying to estimate a CPU's ability to get things done purely by Ghz (billions of hertz) really has no basis in reality.

The "netburst" architecture (your old P4 2.4Ghz) had a very low "IPC", or instructions-per-clockcycle ratio. Even though the speed could get very high, it would take many many clock cycles to get something done...

The "conroe" architecture (your current E6600 2.4Ghz) has a massively improved IPC; some 2x better (or more, depending on the circumstances) than your old P4 processor at the same speed. Thus, at equal clockspeeds, you should expect your E6600 to be somewhere around 2x faster than your P4 processor on single-threaded applications.

Another big benefit comes in those applications that can use multiple processors simultaneously -- most games and operating systems have finally now come to the point where they can use dual CPU's. In these circumstances, you'll see even further benefit -- an average of ~50% improvement on top of the original 2x; some apps can see more, others may see less.

Want the icing on the cake now? The Core series of processors can do all this while using about half of the power of your old P4. That means less heat, less fan noise, less stress on your motherboard and PSU, and smaller electric bills.

[VinnyTAMU]

The link below is a good place to start when comparing various CPU's.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/p...1-1-2,403.html

[eaglepi]

Thank you very much that clears it up for me

[Evilsizer]

to put it into a bit simplier terms... your new E6600 is as fast as a P4/PD at 4ghz,not really 2x as fast but rather close...

you have a decent setup, overclock it now to 3ghz, on a E6600 is no problem even with a stock intel HS.

[deathman20]

Indeed its a quick chip had 2 of them myself. OC that puppy to 3.0Ghz and it will be golden

You could almost do the differences between the old P4 line (single core w/ hyperthreading or dual core) to the AMD XP/X2 erra, where the AMD XP/X2 would crush the P4 offering at the time at a lesser clock speed.

[eaglepi]

To be honest I would love to OC it but I don't understand about overclocking and even when I read all the guides I don't understand.
The problem I run into when I ask in the forums about overclocking is people want to help and they tell me to do this and do that but they are not explaining why I am doing it.

I just don't want to risk ruining my system.

[Evilsizer]

well depending on the speed of your ram you wont have to make many changes. the cpu on stock voltage can do 3ghz. the NB might be another matter since its a P965 based board.

to be honast thier isnt much to explain... you need up the fsb to get the cpu speed higher since the multi on the cpu is locked. raising voltages helps to get/keep things stable as you oc.

there is no risk of ruining the system as long as you watch your temps and have a solid psu. 3ghz isnt that big of a oc for you need to worry about.

[Xaeryan]

Originally Posted by eaglepi

To be honest I would love to OC it but I don't understand about overclocking and even when I read all the guides I don't understand.
The problem I run into when I ask in the forums about overclocking is people want to help and they tell me to do this and do that but they are not explaining why I am doing it.

I just don't want to risk ruining my system.

It's not that difficult or dangerous if done in moderation. Get a good temperature monitoring program (I like HWMonitor, others like RealTemp and CoreTemp). Check your baseline temps before you start... Now, boot into your BIOS, and increase your FSB a wee bit. Boot windows, check temps, check stability (use Prime95, Orthos, and of course your everyday tasks. Rinse and repeat.
My E6600 hit 3.0 GHz without so much as a voltage increase. I just bumped the FSB to 333MHz in the BIOS and ta-da! That's with stock cooling in a 75 degree F room.

Originally Posted by Albuquerque

Short answer: hell yes you got a faster processor.

Hertz is literally a measure of cycles per second; in terms of CPU's and GPU's, it's how many clock cycles a processor will go through per second. It's what you do with those clock cycles that matter.

Let's think of it a little bit like RPM's in an engine -- if you're hauling a big heavy trailer, which is faster, 4000 RPM's or 8000 RPM's?

In reality, there's no answer to that question -- RPM does not dictate power. A Honda Civic Si 1.6L will make it's peak power at 8000RPM's of around 160hp, but the Peterbuilt 8.3L Turbodiesel next to it will make it's peak power at ~2500RPM's of about 450HP. Ultimately, RPM doesn't mean anything unless you know what the "engine" can do with it. Similarly, trying to estimate a CPU's ability to get things done purely by Ghz (billions of hertz) really has no basis in reality.

The "netburst" architecture (your old P4 2.4Ghz) had a very low "IPC", or instructions-per-clockcycle ratio. Even though the speed could get very high, it would take many many clock cycles to get something done...

The "conroe" architecture (your current E6600 2.4Ghz) has a massively improved IPC; some 2x better (or more, depending on the circumstances) than your old P4 processor at the same speed. Thus, at equal clockspeeds, you should expect your E6600 to be somewhere around 2x faster than your P4 processor on single-threaded applications.

Another big benefit comes in those applications that can use multiple processors simultaneously -- most games and operating systems have finally now come to the point where they can use dual CPU's. In these circumstances, you'll see even further benefit -- an average of ~50% improvement on top of the original 2x; some apps can see more, others may see less.

Want the icing on the cake now? The Core series of processors can do all this while using about half of the power of your old P4. That means less heat, less fan noise, less stress on your motherboard and PSU, and smaller electric bills.

Love the comparison to RPM. :-)

[JamesXP]

People generally overclock for the perfomance,

Your processor will probably overclock to 3.0GHz with little to no voltage change, and your systm life will not degrade noticeably.


Basically you need to change your FRONT SIDE BUS (FSB) and make that higher, your CPU at stock is

266x9 = 2400

to Acheive 3GHZ it would be

333x9 = 3000

This will be in your BIOS you can enter this by pressing 'Delete' while your system is powering up, You should see a menu of items, gnerally overlcocking settings are in a menu called eitehr

'Cell Menu'
'Advanced Chipset Features'

I am not familiar with your motherboard though.

[deathman20]

With that board.. don't think I had to touch the NB voltage at 3Ghz. For 3.2 and 3.4 and 3.8 I know I did but for 3Ghz I don't think its needed. Trying to think ram just making sure its running 1:1 to be safe so if your running 375Mhz FSB the ram runs 375mhz, just under PC-6400 (400mhz ram).

Tempature wise stock heatsink will work plenty do it around here, perfered aftermarket one but for such a mild OC its won't be needed to spend the money on it, If anything tossing a fan in the area of the CPU to help blowing over components in the area and getting the heat out of the case will help out more so for stability.

For simplicity sake there are a few components to OCing
You have voltages, to take the part out of spec my the manufacture to achive stability.
You have the settings, which like FSB sets the speed of the PC.
Then you have the tweaks, options that will tweak extra performance out of the PC and hardware at the settings you have selected.

To really get the OC up and going, really you should only have change FSB up to 333 for 3Ghz and check to make sure your ram is running 1:1 (for 333Mhz it would be 666Mhz). If you want to take baby steps up to clock trying the CPU at 2.7Ghz (300mhz). As well if needed you might need to bump the voltage on the ram, really doubt it since the speeds are quiet low, but you might need to bump the NB voltage up 1 or 2 settings just to get it going. Voltage on the CPU might need to be changed as well. I know that board undervolts the CPU a bit, so it might be nessisary to nudge it up slightly depending on what the VID is. VID is the Voltage value thats sent to the motherboard for its default voltage at that chips stock speed, this can be looked up under CPU-z (mentioned below)

For stability testing get Prime95, Orthos, or OCCC. I personally like Orthos the most, as well other OC tools to get is CPU-z to show CPU speeds, ram clocks, ram settings, etc. GPU-z is nice for your GPU if you want to see that. As well getting program called Coretemp which will monitor your CPU temps.

[eaglepi]

My RAM is CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail

[Enablingwolf]

One thing that makes newer CPU's faster than the older ones. Is how much cache they have. Then how the cache is used. In laymans terms. It is like short term memory. The longer the memory is, the more stuff you can cram into it. With computers. It is all about math. So if you can cram more numbers on the CPU itself. It can get the cycle done faster. Make sense?

One of the cool things about Intel. They can be very forgiving overclocking. Plus they are pretty simple to get good numbers out of them. You don't need to push it to really high speeds at first. Experience breeds knowledge.

One easy way to address you not knowing how to overclock... Where are you stuck?

Here is the basic math for how a basic overclock goes.

Front side bus (FSB) x Central Proccessor Unit (CPU) divider = CPU speed.

Simple example:

(FSB) 200 x (divider) 10 = 2Ghz [or 2000Mhz]

It gets fuzzy when you have to adjust the memory. But the math is not all that hard. RAM is 200 x4 = 800. So if you move the FSB up by 10MHz.. You will add 40 to your RAM. 210 on the FSB would make your RAM run at 840, instead of 800.


Super basic primer of how to understand how the basic speeds work. There is always a seed that starts the oh, that is how it works...

[eaglepi]

Where I get lost is in the Bios, I just don't know enough about my bios to understand what it is I am changing, if anyone has the same bios as I do I would appreciate the guidence.

For example, I found this good gudie for overclocking and it's done with my exact cpu and mb but it's too confusing to me. Maybe I should just not do it.

The guide is here
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=515316

I went into my bios and I saw something that said FBS 1066 I doubt that was the FBS I was suppose to change to 333......lol

I'm just lost

[Enablingwolf]

How about we start at the basics for all machines and bring you in the loop so to speak.

Most BIOS will be the same or really close. Just the wording can throw you off.

Things to look for:

The CPU.
The RAM..
Temps..
The hardware.. Like the video card, Sound card and other things that are connected in back.

Now even though I do not have your board. I can help you locate settings. Heck once you figure out the layout of BIOS. You can do the same for any of them.

Empowering yourself, knowing the basics gives you a sweet hand up to most things computer.

Take for example. On just about EVERY BIOS. The top section. Or first selection is for your drives and the time/date. They are all super dooper close. So if we can get you in the loop how BIOS are laid out. You can use your noggin to poke around and find where you need to be.

[eaglepi]

OK fair enough,

Can you tell me exactly what I have to change to overclock to 3.0 and I'll find it in the bios. If anything has to be taken off auto please tell me that too.

I have tried and tried to understand how to overclock and I guess it's just something that is too confusing for me but I hate when everyone keeps telling me I can overclock to 3.0 with no problem at all with a few changes..........lol

The secret is what changes.

[Enablingwolf]

Don't worry about how high you can go right now. Once you you can navigate a basic BIOS on any setup. Then wonder how high you can go.

Here is a basic layout. It is not worded the same across all computers. But it is so close. Once you understand. You can use your head and finger the rest out. There is nothing wrong with poking around,v Exit Without Saving. Is a good thing.

CMOS Features
BIOS Features
Chipset features
Peripherals
Power Management
PnP/PCi
Health or system reporting(fans speeds and temps)
The rest can have other names, but it is sometimes called Chipset, advanced or something crazy like that.

There is nothing wrong peeking at the BIOS and looking. If you see The words CPU or memory.. You know you are close.

I want you to understand what is going on. So if I lose you. Let me know.

[karkas]

Originally Posted by eaglepi

I went into my bios and I saw something that said FBS 1066 I doubt that was the FBS I was suppose to change to 333......lol

1066 is the clock speed your intel processor is running at, that number tells you what your FSB (front side bus) is. Intel processors are "quad pumped" which means it operates effectively 4 times faster than the speed of the FSB.

So if you divide that 1066 by 4, then you get the real speed your FSB is running at which is 266 (1066/4 = 266mhz). Its the 266 that needs to be increased to 333.

You should find the FSB under....

"Configure System Frequency and Voltage"

Change "AI tuning" to [manual]

"CPU frequency" [266] <---- Change this to 333

[eaglepi]

I do understand that the bios is setup with the categories you listed, I just don't know in my bios what needs to be changed to overclock. I know everyone says with my combo all I really need to do is set the FBS to 333 and maybe raise the voltage. The problem is in my bios things are not listed easy enough for me to understand what to change and does something have to be changed before I can change what needs to be changed.

I really apprciate you help but I hate for you to waste your time trying to teach me something I can't seem to grasp.

would it help if I took pics of the different bios screens?

[karkas]

Originally Posted by Enablingwolf

It gets fuzzy when you have to adjust the memory. But the math is not all that hard. RAM is 200 x4 = 800. So if you move the FSB up by 10MHz.. You will add 40 to your RAM. 210 on the FSB would make your RAM run at 840, instead of 800.
[/I]...

Im I retarded? I thought DDR2 was FSB X2??