Overclocking questions :)

[Deleted member 136161]

Hello everyone,

I am somewhat tech savvy and decided I wanted to increase performance on my laptop my overclocking but I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to damage anything. I want to overclock as many components as I can without messing anything up. How much should I overclock and how do I do it exactly? And what can I expect?

Here are some specs that might be useful for someone to help me out.

Sony VAIO laptop model VGN-FS790
2.00 gigahertz Intel Pentium M
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
2.00 GB of RAM
Windows XP Home Edition
Version 2002 Service Pack 3
Video Card: Nvidia GrForce Go 6400
Board: Intel Corporation
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD R0084J1

If there is any missing information that's required please feel free to let me know and I will post it

 

[fcomstoc]

To overclock the CPU you will need a new BIOS because the MFR usually does not allow it. When flashing the BIOS it is really important to make sure that you get the right one.

Secondly, heat is a MAJOR issue when overclocking components (CPU and GPU), laptop cooling is not designed to dissipate the amount of heat that you will create when overclocking (that is why most of the people that overclock components have after market cooling and even water cooling). In my opinion the little OCing you can do on a laptop is not worth the time you spend setting everything and the potential of ruining the entire computer. My desktop is OCed but I have the proper cooling for it.

 

[Deleted member 136161]

So I can't overclock anything? Not even from 2.00Ghz to 3.00Ghz? Is there anything I can do to increase the performance / time tasks are carried out? I do routine maintenance with Tune-Up Utilities and other various programs to keep it up to speed. And I'm maxed out with the amount of RAM I can put into this thing. The laptop in general doesn't put out that much heat. I also have an external cooling platform my laptop sits on with two 80mm fans that run from USB. Any suggestions?

 

[fcomstoc]

I wasn't saying that it couldn't be done I was just stating that it might not be a great idea; going from 2 to 3 GHZ is probably not possible without serious changes to the cooling system but you might be able to attain a slight overclock by flashing the bios and upping the clocks and voltages; doing this will create more heat so watch the temps.

Temprature is a big issue (e.g. I took my 2500k in my desktop from 3.3 stock to 4.5 and needed a huge aftermarket cooler to keep the temps reasonable; I even went to WC to make the temps lower)

 

[SF101]

I personally don't think you can do it on that laptop "or any I've seen"

And if you could I wouldn't do it as yes you would prob over heat the chip as well as other components due to lack of cooling capability's. generally they build a laptop around its cpu/selected hw to do just enough to get the job done, that includes cooling.

your best bet for performance upgrade is more ram and a ssd.

 

[Deleted member 136161]

Hmm..ok gotcha. Thanks for your answers on overclocking. I will go ahead and just settle for not being able to do it but I see where you mentioned where I could upgrade RAM and my SSD for a performance increase. My laptop doesn't hold any more RAM besides 2GB but is there anyway I could add more externally or something of that nature? And also...What is a Solid State Drive and how does it work? Would I be eligible to upgrade? And are they easy to just go and purchase and install? And how would I know what kind of SSD to purchase? I really appericate your help guys

 

[Deleted member 136161]

bump

 

[Knufire]

Five hours isn't a large amount of time on these forums, btw.

In terms of installation and such, SSDs are just like hard drives. Throw it in your hard drive bay and install Windows to it. SSDs are usually the 2.5" form factor, which is the same size and screw holes as laptop hard drives. Run the WEI (Windows Experience Index) after you install and it'll make the necessary major tweaks.

SSDs sometimes don't play nice with Windows XP though, you might want to get 7. Also, that laptop is probably limited to SATA II, so you'll be stuck at about 300MB/s RW speed, even if you get a faster drive.

 

[ziggo0]

I personally don't think you can do it on that laptop "or any I've seen"

And if you could I wouldn't do it as yes you would prob over heat the chip as well as other components due to lack of cooling capability's. generally they build a laptop around its cpu/selected hw to do just enough to get the job done, that includes cooling.

your best bet for performance upgrade is more ram and a ssd.

You can - it just strongly depends on the laptop. For example, my Asus G60JX...came with a i5 430, stock 2.26ghz (133x17), using SetFSB and ThrottleStop it's at 158x19 (forced turbo multi) so just over 3ghz - it can go higher I just haven't done any stability testing above 3ghz yet. Temps haven't changed much at all (60 ~ 75C in prime95 - doesn't even get that warm while gaming). I'm very happy with it...but need more horse power haha.

 

[(Clanger)(DOA)]

Most of the AMD APU's can be oc'ed. So far My A3420 went to 3.1ghz from 2.4.... But still laptops arent designed to handle heat well.. Top end for me is 75c.. I dont doubt there is more but i dont want to get it that hot.