[Garfield]

I'm doing my first big overclocking this weekend and I need to know everything that I need to watch and monitor so I don't screw up anything and fry something or wipeout my hard drive. So, what do I need to watch when OCing my system?

Of course, temps of the system and CPU. The PCI bus, right? What else? Thanks!

[Coolio]

you won't fry your system unless the temps go really high but that is the main thing you should be watching for...

[Garfield]

There's nothing else I should be watching?

[phungilax]

nope not really, temps are the biggest things. you can also monitor stability but you really can't "monitor" that. programs you should use to overclock...

Temp - MBM5
CPU FSB, MULT, PCI etc - WCPUID
System information - SiSoft Sandra
Benchmark- SiSoft Sandra/3DMark
Stability/Burnin - SiSoft, Prime95, F@H or Seti

[Garfield]

>> CPU FSB, MULT, PCI etc - WCPUID <<

What exactly does this software do? Can you point me to it?

[phungilax]

http://download.cnet.com/downloads/1...d&cn=&ca=10001

its give you your current information on system clock, multiplier, internal lock, system bus, memory bus. i find it really helpful in overclocking to see "where i'm at". ifyou look around the forums you'll see screenshots of it.

[Garfield]

Back to what to monitor when OCing...

Shouldn't I closely monitor the spec of my PCI ports and the AGP? Because, if I let that get out of hand, I can fry the hardware, right? Shouldn't that be right up there with temps?

[phungilax]

well the PCI and AGP ports run by the Front side bus. so if you know what fsb you're running at you know what your pci and agp ports are running at. wcpuid will tell you what your front side bus is. thats not really anything to "monitor though". as in temp you will see it rise and you should also know what it is. you will know if your pci and agp are havingt trouble if you have instability. it means your fsb is too high and back it down. fsb doesn't fluctuate without you knowing, temp does

[Garfield]

I can just use sandra to monitor the FSB.

What kind of instability are you talking about with the ports buses' being OCed too much? Would I know if it happened to me?

[takiwa]

garfield...you will know that your PCI and AGP buses are to far out of spec when your computer no longer boots, my friend. This is EXACTLY what you should do:

1. boot up
2. look at your CPU temp
3. run a few programs you would normally run on a day-to-day basis (don't ask me which ones...whatever YOU normally use)
4. Check your CPU temp again. A small rise (2-3 degrees) is normal.
5. After several minutes (20-30), if everything seems to be stable (it is still on, and running your day-to-day programs), then start a benchmark program like 3DMark, Prime, Folding, etc.
6. Watch it for the first 5-10 min. for any DRASTIC change in temp...+10 degrees or more. If you see this...stop the bench and shut down your computer, and back off on the overclock some. If the rise is not that high, then let it run for a few hours, checking it every hour or so until you feel confident that everything is fine.

This is not rocket science, my friend...I am sure you will do just fine. Just don't over analyse things or you will drive yourself crazy!

[batboy]

Garfield, you have a big honkin' Swifty cooler. As long as you installed it properly, you'll be cool (pun intended). You've done your homework, now overclock that bad boy. If you get your PCI bus too far out of spec, the system will be unstable (freezes up, crashes, won't start Windows, etc.). You should not have any trouble at all until you go above 37 MHz or more on the PCI bus. The Radeon and GeForce AGP cards can handle lots of overclocking, so don't worry about the vid card. Mainly watch your temps and test for stability. Go a little bit at a time in baby steps. You'll soon gain confidence. Don't raise the voltage until you experience stability problems. When you do raise the voltage, just do it one increment at a time and check temps and test for stability. As long as you don't get the CPU too hot or run insane voltage, you will not fry it. Almost no chance of toasting a PCI card. I've scrambled a couple harddrives before, but they always work ok after a reformat and fresh Windows install. I've pushed several computers to the limit and never destroyed anything yet. Just use a little common sense. Now what are you waiting for? Go for it dude.

[Garfield]

Thanks, fellas!

>> Go a little bit at a time in baby steps <<
That leads me to another question: Do you usually step the FSB by 1 increment every time you OC and then go check your temps, etc.? Or do you step by 3 or more?

[Yodums]

Garfield, there's no need of asking 1000 questions, you'll learn much faster if you experience yourself! It would take forever to talk about all the possibilities of running a HDD out of spec etc. The best thing to do is try it yourself. Start with a high FSB number like 150. If it doesn't boot try adding some what near max voltage (You got a Swiftech, no worries), then see if it boots. If it does hurray if ya get into windows another big step. Last step testing stablity and checking temps while doing that. Get Prime95 to add some stress to the comp.

Also check in Chipset area and set the timings of your ram to 2-2-2... CAS2 etc.

[armatage]

What do you need to do to overclock you AGP GFX card and also how to moniter the GFX CPU temps? I have a Gforce2 TI

[cjlax5]

Originally posted by armatage
What do you need to do to overclock you AGP GFX card and also how to moniter the GFX CPU temps? I have a Gforce2 TI

u need a temp probe and some thing to read it.

next time u shouldnt post a new question in someone else's thread, just start your own, but FIRST search the forums and see if there is an answer to ur question.

[batboy]

Garfield, I have no experience overclocking those AMD XP chips, but I think the default FSB is 133 MHz. If so, then start out at about 140 FSB or so. That will give you 35 MHz on the PCI, so it should be a mild and very successful first step overclock. Then go from there. If you want to use 1 MHz increments, then that's fine. I generally use about 5 MHz increments at first and then zero in on smaller and smaller steps as I get closer to the limit. Overclocking is not a science, it's an art. I was both terrified and very excited the first few times I overclocked. I'm no longer terrified, but I still get excited when I overclock a new system.

[Garfield]

>> Also check in Chipset area and set the timings of your ram to 2-2-2... CAS2 etc. <<

Is this necessary? Besides hastening transfer rates, what does it do for OCing?

[batboy]

Actually, less agressive RAM timing is better for overclocking (such as 3, 3, 3). The faster RAM timings of 2, 2, 2 is better for performance and memory benchmarks, but might not be quite as stable.