First time overclock!

sampeoples · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:03

Hey guys,

I want to overclock my system, and im pretty new to overclocking.

Specs :

Abit KN9 SLI
Albatron 7950GT 512MB
AMD X2 5200+
OCZ 2GB DDR2 800MHZ
WD 250GB 16MB HD

Ive got all the necessary tools I think :

Core temp
speedfan
cpu z
hd tune
rivatuner

What should I do before I start messing with the core + clock speeds to make sure its as safe as possible?

Thanks

w3bbo · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:11

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17612922

sampeoples · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:12

ive read all of that, i just wanted some other opinions also

Jokester · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:19

I think you're ready to have a go, make sure you've grabbed a copy of Prime as well.

Just start by increasing the FSB a few notches (say 5MHz) and then testing for a bit with Prime to make sure it's not unstable. Use the RAM dividers to keep your RAM under it's rated speed for now to make sure it's always stable and also turn the HT multi to x4 and then x3 once you hit about 250MHz on the FSB.

Jokester

sampeoples · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:25

the prime95 link in the guide is dead, anyone got another link?

Jokester · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:28

Try:-
http://majorgeeks.com/Prime95_d4363.html

Jokester

sampeoples · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:48

ok ive increased the fsb by 5. should i run 2 copies of sp2004 with priority 10? or just run 2 copies of sp2004 with standard priority?

Jokester · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:50

If you download Prime, it'll spawn how ever many threads it needs to fully load the CPU.

Jokester

Cob · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:51

Use the SP2004 Orthos beta rather than 2 copies of SP2004.

And the priority level depends on how much you want to use your rig whilst it's being tested.

sampeoples · 29 Sep 2007 at 14:54

ok thanks.

so if i run this orthos beta for say...10 mins and i dont crash, is that sufficient proof that its stable at that overclock? or should i go for longer

*Chris · 29 Sep 2007 at 15:01

the general opinion is that 8hours+ is very solid.

Much less and you don't really know

sampeoples · 29 Sep 2007 at 15:04

8 hours? even for a small increase of 5mhz?

Jokester · 29 Sep 2007 at 15:09

30mins should be long enough until you start having stability issues (ie it flags up errors). Once you can get no further then do long stability tests to prove your overclock.

Jokester

w3bbo · 29 Sep 2007 at 15:11

occt is a decent test over a short period of time

Cob · 29 Sep 2007 at 15:11

Oh god no.

I would give it maybe 30-45mins per 5mhz until it fails. Then drop down 5mhz and run until it fails. Then keep dropping 5mhz until you can pass 8 hours.

sampeoples · 29 Sep 2007 at 15:13

thanks for the help guys

il run it for 30 mins, and keep increasing it 5 mhz until it fails then find the max and go for 8 hours

sampeoples · 29 Sep 2007 at 15:46

whats a safe temperature for my cpu's to be at under load?

ive increased the fsb by 10mhz atm and its at 2.73ghz, with temps of 55 and 54 under 100% load.

should i be modifying anything apart from the fsb on the overclock??

Jokester · 29 Sep 2007 at 16:04

Depends on your specific chip, but 60C is a good figure with AMD chips.

Jokester

sampeoples · 29 Sep 2007 at 16:05

its a windsor chip, with average temperatures of 54-55 under max load at 2.73.

should i wait until i get my cooler, which will be the coolermaster geminii II, or should i push it until the average temperatures under load are 59-60??

also, jokester, is it safer to increase (for example) my fsb to 275 and drop my multiplier to 10 rather than having my fsb at 211 and my multiplier at 13?

Cob · 29 Sep 2007 at 16:19

You may as well keep it at x13 as your motherboard may start to find the going tough at 275+, or atleast until you find your CPU's max overclock.