newbie, need some help

[beker]

Hello all I am new to overclocking, and to these forums, haven't the slightest idea where to start or how to start. I ve been reading many "how-to overclock" and every one I read every site I visit doesnt give me the info I need. Nothing I read says how to actually overclock, Am I missing something? What do I do, is it in the BIOS where I change things?, If so that brings me to my next problem, I can't even get into my BIOS, by the way I use a dell dimension, PIII 933, 512 ram. I tried every possible key combo listed on every website!....?!?! someone help me with that. Finally I'd just like to add that today I did my first mod and added a couple fans on the side case, two big mommas from the power supply in a packbell, It looks like hell as I must smooth out the edges of the circle, I think I did it right, I got one over my tnt2 blowin air out the other blowin in right next door, will just this increase performance?? Because Usually when I played Hitman: Codename47 I would have somewhat not so good performance even on a fresh reboot, but after I added the two fans I rebooted, loaded up hitman and it played like a dream, So I guess it did work

 

[JML]

You usually overclock by highering the FSB (Front Side Bus) or the multiplier of the cpu (though on pentiums I believe they are locked). Can't help you on getting into the bios, OEM machines can be frustrating with things like this. Have you tryed F1 or delete? If your Bios does not have options to change your FSB, though your motherboard may have switches for this. You will have to obtain the manuel for your motherboard from gateway. You may not even have them, which is usually the case with OEM's.

 

[TranceBear]

By the way, welcome to the forum.

The best thing to do is just start reading all the posts and go to the main page of this website and do the research. There is so much info on how to O/C. Each system is different.

 

[JML]

If your machine can overclock, you may want to think about purchasing a better HSF (heatsink/fan), and when your ready you may even want to move onto watercooling!

Try www.tweak3d.net for more in depth info

 

[Kryten]

beker (Jul 08, 2001 11:35 p.m.):
Hello all I am new to overclocking, and to these forums, haven't the slightest idea where to start or how to start. I ve been reading many "how-to overclock" and every one I read every site I visit doesnt give me the info I need. Nothing I read says how to actually overclock, Am I missing something? What do I do, is it in the BIOS where I change things?, If so that brings me to my next problem, I can't even get into my BIOS, by the way I use a dell dimension, PIII 933, 512 ram. I tried every possible key combo listed on every website!....?!?! someone help me with that. Finally I'd just like to add that today I did my first mod and added a couple fans on the side case, two big mommas from the power supply in a packbell, It looks like hell as I must smooth out the edges of the circle, I think I did it right, I got one over my tnt2 blowin air out the other blowin in right next door, will just this increase performance?? Because Usually when I played Hitman: Codename47 I would have somewhat not so good performance even on a fresh reboot, but after I added the two fans I rebooted, loaded up hitman and it played like a dream, So I guess it did work

Ok... Firstly let me start by welcomming you to the friendliest forum in town.
let me see a few diffent questions here
firstly the BIOS a few of the name brand manufactures dont want you poking around in the BIOS, so for this reason you will seldom see a message like "press F1 to enter setup, this being the case you will have to try pressing keys (would suggest F1, F2 and delete) at startup.
let me warn you also that overclocking may void any warranty you may have.
with regards to the fans try even out the airflow roughly as much in as out (opinions differ in here to percentages)
extra airflow wont dirrectly increase performance but it may allow you to make mods that will.
for exact instructions on how to overclock please supply as much info about the system in as much detail as you can so an intellegent suggestion may be made.
hope I covered all your questions and good luck.

 

[It_The_Cow]

Welcome! From what I know, it is usually very hard to overclock a brand name computer. Your best bet would be to try to increase your front side bus using CPUFSB from tweakfiles.com. If your motherboard is listed, gradually increase the numbers until your system becomes unstable. Usually, your sytem will lock up. Once it does, reboot and change the settings back to the highest and most stable setting.

Since, its probably a generic motherboard, you may not have proper dividers and your cards may get wacky. If you already run at a 133mhz bus speed, there isn't much you can do anyways when overclocking the FSB. If you know you have a 1/4 pci divider and your processor runs at 100mhz, you can increase the core voltage to try to increase stability. Unless you have manual jumpers to do this or if you find a way into your BIOS, you'll either have to try this(very, very risky; usually 2.0 volts is way too much) or download Tweak Bios from tweakfiles. I'm not sure if you can change the core setting, though.

The fans would probably increase performance since heat is always a problem in computers. The cooler you things are, the longer they last and usually the better and more efficient they work. Good luck!

 

[stool]

Welcome to the forums.

Being as you have a Dell, the odds for you overclocking to any degree are greatly reduced. First thing you have to do is figure out your BIOS and motherboard. You must either check your manual or go to Dell's tech support to see what you can actually do. Don't even attempt overclocking until you understand your box's setup first.

 

[CrystalMethod]

I'll check with some one tomorrow, but there is a way to get into the "hidden" part of the bios at boot-up. I just can't remember what key it is. I think it's "F6", but I'm not 100% sure. Usually, works with the Intel chipsets from what I've seen. I only can tell you from fiddling with an "Acer" machine (we weren't really suposed to open the box or the machine, as it was being shipped to a client, but all of us were curious...), so don't go and play with anything till you know for sure. Voiding waranties, is the first thing that happens when you OC your system, so make sure you REALLY want to do it with a name brand system, in addition to the difficulty of oc'ing it in the first place. Hang around in the forums for a bit before you try anything. Do the reasearch first, before you make the decision to get addicted to overclocking like the rest of us. Well, there's a lightning storm a few miles off, and getting closer, so I'm out for a bit.
*D'OH!*
I was just about to re-install too...

 

[beker]

ok heres my specs, and thanks to everyone that replied, and very quickly I might add! I don't think I've ever seen that kind of respond time in a forum, you guys are great. Kryton I hope this is enough system info


Intel Pentium III
(1) 930 MHz
Windows Me 4.90.3000
NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro
1280x1024@16bits/pixel
2671 MIPS (Integer operations)
1048 MFLOPS (Floating point operations)
217 (Integer application simulation)
208 (Floating point application simulation)
214 (MMX application simulation)
114 Video MPixels/s
17 OpenGL MPixels/s
90 Direct3D MPixels/s
352 Direct3D Null driver score
200 Direct3D Primary driver score
1748 RAM MB/s
120 cached disk MB/s
5.6 uncached disk MB/s

System Details

BIOS: Intel 08/18/00
Bus: PCI,ISA
APM:
Possible 'hog' apps running: (none)


CPU Details

CPU load: 0
low MIPS: 2000
CPUID: 0x0683 0x383FBFF
MMX Present: True
3DNow Present: False
Streaming SIMD Extensions Present: True
Processor Serial Number Present & Enabled: False
dhrystone time (s): 0.75
whetstone time (s): 0.0095
Integer time (s): 3.6
Floating point time (s): 3.5
MMX time (s): 4.4
I got these from WinTune

and I have seen some exact systems as mine,
Dell Dimension 4100 with OEM mobo, PIII1ghz, OC'd to 1.4, there were two in particular, I wish I could give addy but I reformatted and forgot to backup links

 

[Ridenow]

Ok, what is the Dell service tag? It is a 5 digit alphanumber on the back. With it I can look up your config and ask if it supports faster processors. If it does, Dell usually has a set of jumpers on the mobo.

Moderators tend to move threads like this to "General hardware" so do not be surprised if it is sorted.

 

[e_storm]

I'm not sure if this was mentioned already, but one of the most important parts of OCing is monitoring temps, ALWAYS monitor temps if you are OCing. You can get a program like MBM (motherboard monitor 5) or similar program from tweakfiles.com. This is all assuming you are able to overclock with your current setup...definitely monitor temps.

 

[beker]

e_mark, thanks for the temp tip, I was wondering how I could monitor it, love the cosmo kramer by the way. ridenow: the service tag is 5z25101,

 

[Ridenow]

Well, the good news is that you are at 933 and there is a setting for 1000MHz. The bad news is that I can not find the tech sheet with a motherboard layout that shows where the jumpers are. It is a fairly new (8/29/2000) system and is not listed under DCSE. Most of the time there is a row near the battery.

To enter the BIOS:

On all Pentium®-based Dimension™ systems (except the 8100), press the <Delete> key as the system powers up.

On the Dimension 8100 system, press the <F2> key as the system powers up.

 

[Daniel ~]

I'm moveing your post to "Intel Motherboards" We post by Topic in our forums":O}

 

[beker]

ridenow, I know where the jumpers are, I found the specs at support.intel, I was messin aorund in the bios configure mode(* yes I did figure out how do get in, my problem was I never shut my computer down ever only restart, not since I bought it 7 months ago, but a little while ago I shut down and the "press del to enter setup" was there, although I can't mess with anything at all in the BIOS except some basic crap, and If I'm correct that's where I can up the FSB to overclock the cpu, If I have a PIIIE which is 100mhz someone said up to 124mhz is an acceptable clock, or PIIIEB wich has133FSB won't clock well at all, So should I get a new motherboard?, as mine sucks anyway!! I was thinkin of getting one for quite sometime now, but instead I bought 2 crucial 256 sdram and a 3d glasses system for gaming( Which I must say is really damn cool!), plus I didnt know what mobo would work with the setup I have. maybe someone can tell me what motherboard to shoot for, Ill give my specs if someone replies

 

[e_storm]

thats a good question...I'm not sure what Dell puts in their systems, but I would assume you have a 133mhz board and a 933EB chip. I'm not even sure if the 933 chips have an E, I think they might all be EBs(133mhz)Can you remove your current chip or is it soldered in there somehow? I know it sounds like a strange question, but I know in the old days computer maker used to solder the chips to the board....I doubt its done anymore, but I'm just checking. It sounds like a decent system, but if you do decide to get another board, let us know and we can help. I'd get some more opinions on this too before jumping on it, as I don't know a lot about Dell comps..

 

[beker]

e_storm: I have found it it is eb, 133mhz boardfsb, I dont know if you saw my other thread but I did buy a new mobo, a gigabyte GA-6OXET, from the reviews I read, I figured what the hell, so i bought it, It arrived this morning, so IM installing it, it fit perfect in the case, everything hooked up alright, except for two cables in particular, the cables coming from the PSU that hooked up on my old board, the one main one(with the red,black,yellow colored cables, this one hooked up), then there was another blue black and white sucker(didnt hook up anywhere) with an odd looking connector, it didnt go nowheres on the new board, but I figured i didnt need it

ok now next cable that didnt go nowhere, and this is the one that is the big problem, its the power/reset button cable, the plug looks like this, and the cable is like a IDE but less width

oooooooo
o   oooooo

now on the new motherboard there is pins for this cable to go but they dont match up, theres is something like this:

o     ooooo o
o  oooooo o

lotta people didnt understand what i was talking bout, so hopefully this helps

 

[Stealth]

I think I understand, had a similar problam with my old HP, the hdd-led\power led\power switch\and reset switch are all wired together and connected, like a custum harness for your old mobo, you will have to trace theas wires back and find out what each one goes to and re-wire it yourself, I just bought a new case, much easy that way. I could be wrong, so please don't go spliceing wires on my account, just sounds like a problem I had at one time.

 

[e_storm]

ahh, ok...you have a whole other set of issues now...lol
looks like you have a ton of responses in that other thread so I'm sure your question will be answered.