Computer Question

[Bloodcrest]

This is a question for all those computer experts on the board.
I need a fairly simple explanation of how one would go about over-clocking a pentium 4 processor without damaging it, and also what the benefits of doing so would be.

History behind the question: I've heard about over-clocking in lots of places, specifically some of the more technical but laid-back computer circles. I always like messing with my computer and I find that knowing things about computers tends to be helpful to more than just myself. So, if anyone can answer my question, I'd be much appreciative. Of course, if there is no one that can, I understand as well.

Also, I do understand that the specific process depends on what you're over-clocking, but just give me the basics please.

[Cat X]

I'm sure others are going to disagree but...

There is simply no point. Hardware is that dirt chep and plentiful that for the minor performance difference, it just does not make sense. If you really keen on making your PC faster, either configure the OS (and believe , do THAT right and you will get signifigant gain) or say get more memory. PC's some time ago exceeded the average performance demands of even power users with the right amount of memory. Or maybe a better video card.

Overclocking is simply changing the base timing rate of the PC. The base timing dictates how many, lets say for the ease of explaination "commands" are done per second. If you make the amount of count cycles increase per second, the compter will be able to execute more per second, because it's base timing has been shifted. The offset is that the more work a processor does, the hotter it gets, which is why you see overclockers also pay attention to the heat dissipation of the PC. The more work, the more heat, however the more heat, the more unstable a system gets.

Oerclocking will void hardware warranties.

Even my mates who are much more into hardware than I can be bothered with dont bother overclocking now. It used to be more the thing to do when your with a PIII or less.

[Morgan Evanar]

It depends on the P4, but even I don't really bother these days, and I did it with every previous CPU I've owned. If your computer has DDR2, buy more RAM, it's dirt cheap right now and isn't going to get much cheaper.

Overclocking a P4 means you need to increase the front-side bus from the stock speed to something higher. It's success depends wildly on the motherboard in question and the memory in use. Unless you built the computer yourself or know what "brand name" board is in it, you chance of overclocking is pretty much nil.

[TheHolo.Net]

There is simply no point. I agree. I overclocked a little back in the PII days and never found it to be anything more than a gigantic waste of time for very little noticeable payoff, if any.

[Morgan Evanar]

I agree. I overclocked a little back in the PII days and never found it to be anything more than a gigantic waste of time for very little noticeable payoff, if any.My Celeron 300A @ 450 was as fast as any PIII 450 for less than 1/4 the price at the time. The difference then was huge.

Unless you are rendering or encoding all of the time, you will not notice a speed boost from overclocking.

[Khendon Sevon]

Back when I ran an AMD 2500+ I got it running as fast as a 3200+. That was awesome, stable, and saved me cash. Had a Barton core, if I remember. Same as their mobiles, I think it was. Good times.

Now, what're you going to do? You're not going to get a significant increase.

If you really, really still want to do it (just for the hell of it), ask yourself this: do you know anything about the hardware sitting underneath the beige of your case?

Generally, I install Asus motherboards into my computers. These come with overclocking in the bios. Makes it very simple. Google for overclocking guides, I'm sure you'll find something better than anyone here can piece together. Just remember, test stability after every minute change! Stability, stability, stability.

As for overclocking video cards: meh. Mine was overclocked outta' the box. Otherwise I wouldn't have touched it.

By the by, Cat X's explanation of how overclocking works is... not sight-on. But, I guess he was going for a "simple" explanation. Again, google and you'll find a more precise description of what it's actually doing.

In fact, here you go, just read wiki if you wanna' know what it all does: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overclock

I'm so happy I never have to take a processor design class again... Computer Architecture nearly made my brain explode. It's insane how many little details there are in the architecture for processors... insane.

[Bloodcrest]

Much thanks all. Amusingly enough, by the time the wikipedia entry was posted, I had already checked it and read through it. So now I'm not so much looking at overclocking my processor, but my graphics card. I have a Nvidia GeForce 7800 GS. My only concern is power.

[Morgan Evanar]

Again, the gains are very minimal. Don't bother. You might have a motherboard that will accept a Core2 chip, and that would be worth spending money on.

[Khendon Sevon]

I agree with Morgan.

There's a huge push in the software industry right now to generate more multi-thread happy products. So, having a Core2 would greatly increase the overall "productive longevity" of your rig.

But, if you're setup is fine and you're just trying to explore, go for it.

Just, realize overclocking isn't the current fad :) Tweaking software side is more important, at the moment. Indeed, it's really software that's holding back performance now more than hardware (bad habbits abound in-industry).