Simple Overclocking?

I have an AMD Athlon II X4 640 CPU and a gigabyte motherboard +4gb RAM and a 500W PSU.

I want to increase the CPU speed from 3GHZ to say 3.2 to 3.3GHZ without too much complexe settings changes.

Apparently my MB comes with software called easy boost which says it can try different settings to give the highest stable speed.

Shall I just use use this or can someone give me some good known/tested settings I can enter and use?

Move the HT to 215 and see how it acts!

I agree!

ReadyBoost may work fine for that little bit of overclock. You would want to add a bump or two to the CPU voltage (1.4v is the upper end of the AMD recommended "safe" voltage for this CPU series) to make sure its stable. Test for at least 1 hr. with Prime95 blend test to check for stability as well as temps. Prime95 is a "stress tester" and will really work your CPU. As you do that check your CPU core temps. You don't want them to exceed about mid 50s Centigrade. ReadyBoost should allow you to check CPU temps as well as adjust voltages and speeds. It would be better to use HWMonitor to check temps as it is the "core" temps that are the most important, not the "CPU" temp. ReadyBoost will not check core temps but CPU temps (actually, the CPU socket area temp) and that will probably vary some from the core temp.

Realize that ReadyBoost may not give you a stable overclock and it will use system resources compared to oveclocking with the bios. If you would rather use ReadyBoost then configure it to automatically load your settings when it boots into Windows.

Like the other posters, I still recommend using the bios to overclock.

I am assuming you are using a stock OEM heat sink and fan to cool the CPU. If so, its really important to check temps under stress when you have overclocked as the temps will be greater than a nonoveclocked CPU.

yes stock heatsink, but silver thermal heatsink.

Il leave it for now as Im busy, but i will try what you have said and get back to you.

From what I have read there are alot of settings you can play with but im sure alot of other users will have done this before so I was expecting like a "settings list" and optimum values which I could put into bios and try.

What you are looking for is a bios template, sometimes people post them as rough guidelines. Not sure if there is one already around for your board/CPU.

3dkingpin said:

From what I have read there are alot of settings you can play with but im sure alot of other users will have done this before so I was expecting like a "settings list" and optimum values which I could put into bios and try.

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That doesn't usually work very well. There are too many variables. It isn't just the CPU were talking about but motherboard, memory, cooling, etc. And you haven't even told us anything about your system except the CPU and that you have a 500W PSU with a "Gigabyte" motherboard. Model of motherbaord? Make, model of PSU? Make, model, speed of memory? Case cooling?

If all you want is simple and easy and something that sort of works, stick with ReadyBoost.