Help with overclocking

[blimkie.k]

i have become interested in slightly overclocking my processor, but i want to do my homework first to make sure i don't cause any damages. how would i go about figuring out the max i can overclock without causing damages. I have downloaded a freeware program called speedfan it monitors cpu usage and various temps. It seems it will also allow me to do some tweaking. Is anyone familiar with this program. Thanks

System Specs

Acer Aspire 6920
intel core 2 duo t550 1.83ghz
4.0 gb of ram
320 gb hard drive
geforce 9500m gs 512 mb


-Blimkie

 

[redargon]

if you find out what motherboard you have, you may be able to download a tool for that specific model, that let's you tweak your bios settings from you operating system. Otherwise, do it the old fashioned way by pressing del or F9 at boot up to enter your bios and find the clock menu. I take no reponsibility for the damage you may cause, so I'll recommend a great site that gives some good user guides www.tomshardware.com[/url] and [url]www.guru3d.com[/URL] is great for tweak software. you can for example download tools to unlock you graphics card and tweak its frequencies.

If you serious about starting this up, then post some of you ideas and what you expect out of an overclock and we can try to go through some steps together, before you melt your system :wink:

I haven't done a lot of overclocks recently (since my varsity days actually), but used to on my old machine (an AMD athlon with an Nforce motherboard great overclockability). Now that I earn a better living, I just buy more powerful parts for my PC so that i don't need to overclock, but it is damn fun and very addictive! I even went as far as building my own water cooling unit for my old CPU :smile:

 

[hellboydvd]

hey blimkie.k

normally, a core 2 duo processor can handle overclocking limits upto double its initial frequency ( as seen in various benchmarks), in your case, it can go upto around 3.5 Ghz, but that's too risky to do, u can reach frequencies upto 2.5 Ghz and above, but be careful after that. Generally overclocking softwares first let u set your desired frequency then test the hardware on that specific frequency, it may pass or fail the test according to the set frequency. Tweaking from the bios is RISKY than doing by the software as it does not notify you about tests or if you are going beyond limits, its always safe to use the software.

About your speedfan, its a good thing to use, although if the sensors of your motherboard are not in a good condition, then it may display the wrong info. Try visiting intel's site for overclocking methods according to your motherboard.

 

[blimkie.k]

hey guys thanks for the input

did some research, since I am using a laptop its probably going to be pretty hard, maybe impossible to do that i want to do. The reason why i want to overlock it is to get a better performance for gaming. gta 4 specifially.

im using a program called clockgen but I am not sure if my motherboard is supported,

http://rapidshare.com/files/206329316/clock_gen.png.html

that is an image of my desktop with clock gen running, i have to figure out the clock generator setup

tryed going into the bios b the but i can't really do anything in there.

my plan would be to turn up the voltage or speed a little bit at the time then use speedfan to monitor the core temps.

 

[hellboydvd]

That's totally fine, but remember your maximum limit of your CPU fan, it depends on its size of course, so overall your fan speed also accounts for the amount of overclocking u can achieve. :) That's just a word of advice, rest u can handle yourself, best of luck :D

 

[redargon]

The biggest probelm with oc'ing laptops is getting rid of the excess heat. Everytime you raise the voltage, you increase the heat output of the CPU. If you increase bus speeds, you'll also increase the heat generated by the mobo and the RAM. Maybe one of those fan pads for your laptop would be a good idea before you start? I have one with dual fans tha sits under the laptop and plugs into the USB for power. I'm not sure if it helps for overclocking, I got mine to keep my laptop dry because it suffers if the humidity is high.

 

[blimkie.k]

This laptop does a pretty good job of keeping itself cool even when its being worked really hard. I have yet to touch it and anywhere and have it feel really hot anywhere. The 2 laptops i owned before this one would get really hot to the point where it would be uncomfortable to have it sitting on your lap.

The program speed fan displays temperatures of the cores and gpu etc. does anyone know how accurate these readings would be. How does software go about measuring these temps?

 

[russ_watters]

The software doesn't measure the temps, there are sensors built into the computer and the software is simply reading data that is reported to the motherboard by those sensors.

 

[redargon]

The program speed fan displays temperatures of the cores and gpu etc. does anyone know how accurate these readings would be. How does software go about measuring these temps?

The temp measurements are not usually incredibly accurate. In my experience they range to within about +/-5°C. I have also had reports of overly high temperatures that were not correct, but I think that they usually err on the side of too hot than too cold.

 

[blimkie.k]

Thanks for the all the info guys, I have tried several different methods and have not been able to to even slightly adjust my clock speeds. It seems impossible. I think I am going to call it quits before I destroy my laptop. Next PC is going to be a desktop.