The Dome's laundry list of very basic overclocking questions v1.0

[Dome]

i have all these questions about overclocking, to which i am very new, and i think it'd be easier for everyone if i could just ask them all at once, and maybe easier for other noobs like me to learn about the process. i already know the answers to many, but i will ask them anyway

please keep this thread ON TOPIC. thanks.

feel free to post your own questions in this thread, as well as answers if you know them.

please no flaming others when you disagree, again i'd like for this thread to stay ON TOPIC.

1) what is 1:1, 5:4 etc that i keep hearing you guys talk about

2) do i have to change voltage when i overclock?

3) i have a computer setup and running stock, where do i start overclocking?

4) how do i monitor temperatures

5) what speed ram and how much do i need

6) how important is it that i avoid generic parts such as power supplies and ram?

thanks

 

[r_a_s88]

Originally posted by Dome


1) what is 1:1, 5:4 etc that i keep hearing you guys talk about

2) do i have to change voltage when i overclock?

3) i have a computer setup and running stock, where do i start overclocking?

4) how do i monitor temperatures

5) what speed ram and how much do i need

6) how important is it that i avoid generic parts such as power supplies and ram?

thanks

I'll answer what I (think I) know

1) i beleive those are ratios, as exampled in the 'ram same as fsb' thread, 1 mhz ram speed to one mhz fsb speed

2) i don't think so, but someone else had better clarify

3) from what I read, i would start by upping the FSB, but there is probably no single thing you would start with, you would just change many things at once. hardware-wise, i would think about cooling

4) by a rheobus. it is a temp monitor that mounts in one of your drive bays

5) I would start with at least a gig of ddr 433/466 ram, probably kingston hyper-x r corsair high-buck ram

6) generic ram is manufactured cheaply, which gives more room for error, and is the reason for the price. expensive ram is manufactured with the highest standards in mind, ensuring that there will be minimal defects





that's my $.02, i dont know if im completely right though

 

[DrunKBunny]

Often it is not needed to up the voltage on your parts, but if you are pushing for the higher end overclocks, it might be necessary to up the voltage on things like your vCore, vDimm, and chipset. If you do choose to up the voltage, make sure you have sufficient cooling.

Get Motherboard Monitor 5 and follow the website help to set up your mobo with the program.

The speed of the ram you need depends on how high you are intending your FSB, half the rams rated mhz would show you the rated FSB. For example, pc3200 is rated at 400mhz, half of that is 200 FSB. I find that 512 megs of ram is fine, although if you have a lot of money 1 gig is even better =)

I would stay away from generic PSUs, I have had some bad experiences with them - I suppose they would run but why not shell out some money for the peace of mind that comes with a quality PSU? As for RAM, generic ram will often not be able to hit the FSBs that overclocking ram can yield, and run on higher memory timings.

 

[jamezzz122]

When you overclock, you should not have generic parts at all...

As for the ratios...It is the ratio of FSB to ram...

 

[yoda634]

Originally posted by Dome
i have all these questions about overclocking, to which i am very new, and i think it'd be easier for everyone if i could just ask them all at once, and maybe easier for other noobs like me to learn about the process. i already know the answers to many, but i will ask them anyway

please keep this thread ON TOPIC. thanks.

feel free to post your own questions in this thread, as well as answers if you know them.

please no flaming others when you disagree, again i'd like for this thread to stay ON TOPIC.

1) what is 1:1, 5:4 etc that i keep hearing you guys talk about

2) do i have to change voltage when i overclock?

3) i have a computer setup and running stock, where do i start overclocking?

4) how do i monitor temperatures

5) what speed ram and how much do i need

6) how important is it that i avoid generic parts such as power supplies and ram?

thanks

1. These ratios are the proportion of the RAM speed to the FSB. 1:1 implies that a Barton (166MHz DDR to 333MHz) will run RAM at PC3200 -- 166MHz DDR to 333MHz.

2. No. You can overclock on stock voltage. However, to get the highest, most stable OC, you will likely need to increase your voltage. Basically, overclocking is a game of removing limits. Power is one of those limitations. If you remove that limitation by increasing the power, you get some more room to play until you hit the next limitation (heat, processor capability, motherboard, RAM etc.) However, a processor running at higher than stock voltage will produce higher heat than normal, thus will need more cooling.

3. First step, IMO, for a beginner should be to get a complete inventory of all the parts of the computer, including: motherboard (and revision), processor (and stepping), RAM, PSU, and video card, as well as what O/S you use. Some people will get more out of overclocking their video card. Others will find it more beneficial to start out overclocking their CPU. Once you have this list, post it here, and ask for suggestions on a case-by-case basis.

4. There are plenty of ways to monitor temperatures. You can buy a drive-bay device to display real-time temperatures, or you can install a piece of software, such as Motherboard Monitor or SiSoftware's Sandra suite. Both of these programs can be had as demos for free, and will show you your temperatures. Also, most BIOSes will have a display reading the temperature...drawback being that you have to restart to see it.

5. RAM...that's a complicated question. Good rule to follow is, you don't need more than 1GB. 512MB is good enough for most people, and if you only do light computer usage, 256MB might suffice. However, if you game or do video editing/modeling, etc. 512 is the minimum. I use 768MB, and have no problems with it. As for speed, depends on a lot. PC2700 will suffice in most machines that won't be overclocked. PC3200-PC4000 should be considered if you plan on using a CPU whose FSB is greater than 266DDR. Compare the clock speed of the RAM to the predicted FSB of your processor, and you'll need RAM that can run as high.

6. CRITICAL. Generic RAM won't overclock worth a damn, usually. PSU's are less critical, but can become an obstacle if their voltages aren't stable enough.

 

[Dome]

7) what is the meaning and purpose of running tighter or looser ram?

8) is it nessissary to increment increases while overclocking? for instance if i was (hypothetically) running at 5x150, would it be bad to jump to 10x200? assuming that the hardware could handle it

 

[Sc0rched]

7) what is the meaning and purpose of running tighter or looser ram?

Tighter times can often give better performance, but somtimes sacrafice stabability. Looser ram is worse, but by loosing the speeds of the RAM you have, you can get it up in speed, such as turning a PC-3200 stick into PC-3500. Looser can be more stable for some RAM sticks, but tighter is prefered.

8) is it nessissary to increment increases while overclocking? for instance if i was (hypothetically) running at 5x150, would it be bad to jump to 10x200? assuming that the hardware could handle it

It is RECOMMENDED to take it in increments. At certain speeds processors can be come unstable, hot, and it becomes easier in reality. That way you just go up slowly and go down slowly so you get max performance. If it doesnt work at 10x200 then you got to start over again. Also you have a higher chance of burning out your processor because you have no clue how much heat that overclock will give. Also running programs such as prime95 will help you determine stabability as well as how much it heats up to under load.

 

[Dome]

9) is there any sort of requisite burn-in time for a processor or other computer parts before beginning the overclocking process?

10) how important is after-market cooling in overclocking (thermal paste, heatsinks and fans etc)?

11) how important are high benchmarks? are they accurate tests of real-world computing (games etc)?

note: soon i'll try to compress this into a new thread and hopefully get it stickied or something as a newbie faq

 

[superjohnny]

Originally posted by yoda634
6. CRITICAL. Generic RAM won't overclock worth a damn, usually. PSU's are less critical, but can become an obstacle if their voltages aren't stable enough.

Yoda I was all with you until you dropped this bomb. The power-supply is the most important piece of equipment in the whole PC. You'd know this if you ever had a bad one. They can cause such a wide variety of problems it makes them incredibly hard to troubleshoot. Same goes for generic RAM... it's really tough to troubleshoot.

If you want to over-clock your PC there are 4 components that absolutely must be high quality. They are (in no particular order): 1) motherboard, 2) power-supply, 3) CPU, and 4) RAM. These form the foundation of your PC.

 

[superjohnny]

Originally posted by Dome
9) is there any sort of requisite burn-in time for a processor or other computer parts before beginning the overclocking process?

10) how important is after-market cooling in overclocking (thermal paste, heatsinks and fans etc)?

11) how important are high benchmarks? are they accurate tests of real-world computing (games etc)?

note: soon i'll try to compress this into a new thread and hopefully get it stickied or something as a newbie faq

9) Some components need a little burn-in time. Don't push your over-clock really hard after you first set up the PC. Get it running and running stable for a week or two before you start getting serious about over-clocking.

10) Good cooling is an important variable in over-clocking. If you can't keep your components cool they won't stay stable. I would not advise over-clocking with retail coolers. Mild oc'ing is ok, but when you start increasing voltages you need to really pay attention to your temperatures.

11) Benchmarks are a load of bull IMO. To get good benchmarks you almost always have to sacrifice quality for speed. The whole reason I have a good video card is so I can maximize the video quality. The whole competitive benchmark thing is beyond me, but diffn't strokes for diffn't folks.

 

[paulmofyourhand]

Originally posted by superjohnny
Yoda I was all with you until you dropped this bomb. The power-supply is the most important piece of equipment in the whole PC. You'd know this if you ever had a bad one. They can cause such a wide variety of problems it makes them incredibly hard to troubleshoot. Same goes for generic RAM... it's really tough to troubleshoot.

If you want to over-clock your PC there are 4 components that absolutely must be high quality. They are (in no particular order): 1) motherboard, 2) power-supply, 3) CPU, and 4) RAM. These form the foundation of your PC.

yup

-paulm