Are you looking for that extra power from your PC? whether it be for games, or just for simple everyday computing, this guide will show you how to achieve that, through overclocking!
Don't fear, you'll be up and running within the hour. but all i ask, is that you read through everything i write, and take all my messages seriously, as they are important.
enjoy...
What is Overclocking your CPU?
Overclocking simply is changing the "clock speed" of your CPU, and RAM. By overclocking, you will achieve higher performance and a much more fun computing experience.
Is it dangerous?
Overclocking is not as dangerous as it sounds, in fact, it is very difficult to damage your hardware unless you change voltages (we will talk more about this later on) as long as you understand what you are doing, and are sure about the inputs you make, its very safe. don't worry, it will become much more simple as you read on... :)
the main culprit for damage while overclocking is temperature. as you start pushing more and more from your CPU and RAM, more heat is created. (this too will also be explained later on in the post) :(
the other culprit is of course voltage, not only because a higher voltage will create heat, but it also has the chance of frying your CPU purely because of the amount of "juice" it requires! that's why i always tell beginners never change the voltage. anyway, we will get to more of this shortly.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE GOOD COOLING - YOUR CPU MUST NOT REACH OVER 60*C AT ALL TIMES EVEN 50*C IS VERY HIGH. to monitor your temperature, programs such as core temp and Everest are great. (just be sure to monitor the readings of "core1" "core2" "core3" "core4" (the individual cores) not the single CPU reading itself)
Things you need to know:
- First of all, don't hold me responsible for any damage that occurs... not that there will be any.
- A CPU'S clock speed is measured by MHZ, 1 MHZ is 1 million cycles of processes, 1 cycle is an in, and an out of information, each time this happens, heat is created. that part isn't important, but its good to know.
Now for the important stuff - this is where i explain how overclocking works, and how to do it. don't worry if you don't understand or are unsure about something, as there will be steps later on in the post - just take all warnings seriously.
- To access the "bios" where the options for the overclock is, when the PC is booting, right at the start, press delete, there is usually a prompt telling you what to press and where, it may say (press ... to enter setup)
- once in, all bios are different, in my case i have a p35 chipset which belongs to my Asus P5K (yes a little old - its a core2duo chipset so it is fine.) so some options are a little different. in any case, if you are lost or cannot find an option, google it, for example if you cannot find the "vcore" option (which is used to change the CPU voltage, just google the name of your motherboard? " *name of motherboard* how to change CPU voltage" or something like that.
OK, here are the meanings of all the important terms which we will be using, once again, they may not be in your bios, if not, MORE RESEARCH! ;)
- MULTIPLIER and FSB: the fsb is multiplied by the multiplier, this will give you the clock speed of your CPU in MHZ e.g. 3200 = 3200MHZ = 3.2GHz
so: fsb of 333 x multiplier of 8 = 2.66MHz this also overclock the ram through a ratio.
- Vcore: the voltage of your CPU; change this from "auto" to the Default value "stock value" of your CPU, this is done because the motherboard changes the voltage usually to something fairly high which is very very bad! this whole step is explained in the step process of this post. (don't do this until you have read that part! i mean it! u will do something wrong!)
- VRAM: the voltage option for your ram, as RAM is also overclocked, this is also to be changed to the stock value (which is also explained later on)
OK, so there's all that part done,
How do i start?
Its easy! if you have not done so already, check out our overclocking video on YouTube, as found here: or you can view it at the bottom of the page as it is embedded.
Step 1: Get a program such as "core temp" or "Everest" to check your default CPU temperatures, the process to get these readings is explained earlier on in the post.
Step 2: You need to find out your what your hardware is, to be specific, your CPU (processor) your RAM and your motherboard (also your motherboards bios version)
Step 3: Now for the fun part... RESEARCH! ha ha! you need to find out the following things:
- Your CPU's stock voltage; to do this you need to take a look on the Internet (using software to find it wont be accurate and will show you the value which your motherboard has set it too. you need to make sure the value is correct!
- Your Ram's stock voltage; also use the Internet for this, or you could open up your computer to take a look, it is sometimes located on the RAM sticks.
these values will be used later on, just write them down - BUT MAKE SURE THEY ARE RIGHT!)
Step 4: ... more research, well, if you want it done right, you gotta work for it!
look on the Internet for settings others have used, i would recommend settings which don't involve a voltage change from the default value, as it will lower the life span of your Hardware.
Step 5: once your confident in your steps, its time to make the changes;
- change the "VCORE" from "auto" to that of the default, stock, CPU value which you found earlier, make sure its right! this will make sure the motherboard doesn't put in some crazy value by itself
- change the "VRAM" To the stock, default value of the CPU which you researched earlier, as the motherboard may change the value as its really stupid.
Step 6: NOW THE FUN BEGINS! its time to see the real results!
- Slowly increase the FSB value slightly, if you can be bothered, do some math to predict the value, as explained earlier, you can test to see what a value of the fsb will set the clock speed of your CPU too, i showed you this earlier in the post.
don't go changing it to something insane like from 333 to 500 take it easy, say if 333 by 8 is
getting my e6750 to 2.66GHz, i may want to try something like an fsb of 400 which will get me too 3.2GHz or 375 which is at 3GHz.
once you have changed the value, making sure you have the vcore at the researched stock value of the CPU, and the vram at the researched stock value of the ram, we can try to boot the PC.
Step 7: boot the PC, and run the "orthos test" which is a program that you can download by typing it into google, let the test finish if it passes, great! it is stable, check the temperatures during the test to check, remember, 60* is too much, 50* is getting pretty high. if you PC didn't boot at all, or failed the orthos test, you will have to lower the fsb and try again.
although, there is another option if you have failed the boot test, but i only recommend it to people with an aftermarket CPU cooler and good temperatures. this is detailed in the next step
Step 8: If its not stable, try changing the voltage of the CPU only to the next increment then try booting again, make sure you check the temperature as i said earlier, voltage change and temperature is what kills CPU's and i don't recommend it! keep doing this until it is stable, but i wouldn't go much further than the first 2 for people with the stock cooling fan, and not far over that for people with an after market cooler
once you start pushing the higher voltages (at or past the 3rd voltage setting) you should check online for the "max" voltage for your CPU. this is sometimes found on the manufacturers website, like Intel.
if it has failed this test, you can try changing the VRAM's voltage to the next increment while the VCORE is also increased as it was, then boot again. once again, i don't recommend this, in my opinion, its not worth it.
The beast!
Hopefully your still there, and have found this somewhat useful if you are still stuck, take a look at the video at the bottom and ask any question in the comment section of it, or this post. good luck! and check out our YouTube channel, we have hundreds of subscribers!
www.youtube.com/users/mrgamesoffical
here's that video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpwcQH-AATE
to download in PDF format, click here
sorry about the end, it can fit many more lines in, so it has squished it a little.
