OC MINI GUIDE AND OC PROBLEMS HERE

[chi]

I've always been curious about why there's no overclocking guide even though this is an overclocking forum. So since i'm a little bored, my as well try to knock something up.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for any damages you will do to your system if you follow this guide.

This mini guide assumes you are familiar with most of the terms you will see in the bios, well at least the page with the OCing options. ie FSB, Multiplier, Divider, etc... If you are not here's a good place to start: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1804

Before you start overclocking, always do you research beforehand. Believe me, it'll save you a tonne of headaches and leaving you with a happily OCed and running computer, opposed to a computer in flames (worst case senario). Here's a list of things I consider vital in any attempt to OC:

• Voltages (know what the safe limits are for your hardware)
• Temperatures (again, know the limits and perhaps think about getting aftermarket cooling if you havent already bought)
• OC results of similar hardware (to use as a guideline. Do not try to repeat what someone else has done, even with the exact same configuration.)
• Monitoring and stressing programs: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=420595 (I recommend getting core temp, real temp, motherboard monitor, cpuz for monitoring. For stressing use these: IBT [intel burn test], super pi, prime95, memtest86)

Ok, now that's out of the way, lets start with the real overclocking!

STEP 1: Preparing
First thing to do with any OCing adventure is to get to the all important bios page with all the juicy overclocking options! It might already be there by default but usually you'll need to press something before you can see it, this will be different for different boards. ie the gigabyte boards will require you to press CTRL+F1 before it shows the OCing options. You will need to google your mobo to unlock the OC page.

STEP 2: Voltages
Once you're in the tweaking page the first thing to do is always set all the voltages to default values. NEVER leave them on auto, because in most cases your board will usually overvolt itself when you start to overclock. I cannot stress this enough, so many people just dive into the bios and start pumping up the FSB and leaving the board to keep pumping a bazillion volt into your beloved CPU. Please research the default voltages of your motherboard/cpu/ram before you do anything else.

STEP 3: Motherboard
The first component you should OC first is always the mobo. This is because your board is the backbone of the entire system. If it cannot get a decent FSB, you should consider getting yourself a new mobo or just not OC at all. To see how high your mobo can go first tune down the CPU multiplier and RAM divider to the lowest setting, so that your cpu and ram will run at their slowest speeds. Now increase the FSB in 5-10Mhz increments and reboot into windows each time. Keep an eye on the Northbridge temps as this is the part we are pushing right now. Once it fails to boot properly or fail to load windows, increase the MCH Core voltage slightly (the smallest increment your board allows), then continue to increase the FSB after you've adjusted the voltage. Continue this cycle until you hit a wall (this is when you cannot boot the system even though you've raised the voltage significantly) or you are about to reach the maximum safe voltage or safe temp your board can take. Take note of the FSB now, this will be the max your mobo can go. Reset the fsb back to default, you can leave the voltages as is.


STEP 4: RAM
Now that we know how far your mobo can go, we push the ram next. A few words before we jump straight into OCing the ram. In most cases, OCing the ram will result in almost zero real world performance, that is it will make jack all difference. So for those looking to push their system for the extra frames in games or just a more responsive system, you can skip this step. Buying more ram will probably help you more. But having said that, you must remember that when OCing you will end up stressing ALL your components. Your ram might be bottlenecking your efforts to OC your cpu. So unless your mobo allows you to change the memory multipier to keep your ram within rated specs, I suggest you do try to OC your ram so you know if it does bottleneck your system and consider getting new ram if it is a problem.
Now to the actual steps, there are two ways to OC your ram, either by running it faster, or by tightening its timing. But for this guide I will only deal with running a faster bandwidth. First you need to adjust your divider so that you are running your ram at its rated speed (also adjust the voltage to what's its rated for as well). You can now increase the bandwidth the same way you OCed your mobo, by simply raising the FSB. You can then control how much you jump each step by changing the multiplier. Each time you OC your ram run a quick test with super pi (1M) to see if its stable. Once it fails to boot or fails super pi just bump up the DRAM voltage slightly and continue on. Once you reach a wall or the safe voltage limit or,your mobo's limit you found before, record your ram speed, this'll be how far you can go with your ram. Again, reset the fsb to default and also lower your divider to its lowest, but keep the voltages as is again.

STEP 5: CPU
Now this is part will probably give you the most boost in performance. First off we need to get the multiplier back to normal. Then we can go about OCing in two ways, by increasing the multiplier or the fsb. In most cpus, the multiplier is locked so i'll just deal with OCing by raising the fsb. Same as with the mobo, just slowly raise the fsb in 5-10Mhz increments and run IBT in max memory mode for 5 runs. Keep your eyes GLUED to your temp monitor as you do not want to cook your CPU. Once again, bump up the CPU Core voltage when you fail IBT or cant boot. And again continue this cycle until you reach a wall or the limit of your mobo or the safe voltage or temp for your CPU. Now set everything back to their default values except for your voltages.


STEP 6: Full System
Again, you should have everything back to their default value except for your voltages. You should then set your FSB to the value that you found stable on the weakest component. ie the lowest FSB. If this happens to be the ram, there's a way to get around this and using the second lowest instead. Set the ram divider so that the ram runs at its rated speed. If the system does not boot just lower the FSB by 5-10MHz and try again. After you can boot into windows and it seems stable start running a blend mode of prime95. If it can run for 12hr without errors or threads stopping its pretty much solid. If you really want to make sure its completely stable, 24hr should do the trick. Double check on temps and look through your settings again to make sure you have everything the way you want it and done! Congrates you've achieved a basic OC. If you want to push you system further you may want to look at the fancier voltages and also better cooling solutions.

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With Ma baker's permission, this might be a good thread to consolidate all "newbie" OC related questions

A few things you should always post:
Complete system, including PSU
What you've tried to do
What problems did you encounter (BSOD, freezing, turn off, etc)

[iMomOx3]

Seems like this can go somewhere. I too wondered the OC in OCAU was missing, never had the balls to make a thread

Goodwork chi

[goodguy82]

hooooray

This can go here i reckon, most newbies would come into this thread for the first time to ask about noobi questions like "how do i overclock cpu,rams ect.

just ask Mother Ma if his cool with it been here. I reckon its a very good idea!

[mitsimonsta]

Maybe you should have looked in the right sticky in the right section.

But kudos for actually doing something.

[iMomOx3]

Originally Posted by mitsimonsta

Maybe you should have looked in the right sticky in the right section.

But kudos for actually doing something.

This is a more noobie section which could help a lot. And some of that stuff isn't updated etc.

[chi]

Originally Posted by mitsimonsta

Maybe you should have looked in the right sticky in the right section.

But kudos for actually doing something.

yeah. i did see that, but i was trying to get a simple guide for the first timers and to stop or at least minimise the "how do i overclock" threads

[iMomOx3]

How's the rest of it coming chi? Looking forward to it.

[chi]

Originally Posted by iMomOx3

How's the rest of it coming chi? Looking forward to it.

its coming along, though i might've simplified the ram bit a little too much, there's a whole lot about timing which i just wized over

[FNQer]

i don't know - do we really need another generic guide about overclocking - because the article tries to address different computer h/w configurations of the readers it generalises and theorizes, rather than be more specific about an overclock on a particular h/w configuration?

[snappy1]

Originally Posted by chi

its coming along, though i might've simplified the ram bit a little too much, there's a whole lot about timing which i just wized over

I wouldn't worry about the ram timings Chi, i was overclocking for quite a while before I started to play with ram timings, all I cared about was an overclocked cpu

[Monst3r]

Originally Posted by snappy1

I wouldn't worry about the ram timings Chi, i was overclocking for quite a while before I started to play with ram timings, all I cared about was an overclocked cpu

true that mate, ram timings really dont make much of a difference when benching

[damnation]

hey mate thanks for forwarding me onto this thread, but what do you mean by ram divider? you mean the "system memory multiplier" or the "MCH frequency latch"?

take note that i'm on a GA-EP45-DS3 mobo

[snappy1]

Ram divider = system memory divider

[chi]

Originally Posted by damnation

hey mate thanks for forwarding me onto this thread, but what do you mean by ram divider? you mean the "system memory multiplier" or the "MCH frequency latch"?

take note that i'm on a GA-EP45-DS3 mobo

(G)MCH Frequency Latch should be set on AUTO in your case.
The System Memory Multiplier (SPD) is the one that lets you set the ram divider. your board only lets you go down to 2 so it'll probably be a bit hard trying to OC. What i suggest is put your profile and ram timing on auto then the mobo will automatically set your ram to its rated specs with whatever FSB you throw at it

[damnation]

checking a pic i took - the MCH freq latch was @ 400mhz and the SPD @ 2.00D.

I think those two settings gave me my stability.

Thankyou Chi!!

edit: btw what is IBT monitor?