overclocking help
- Thread starter AlNom
- Start date
I'll get the windows report thing sometimes too.Maybe you should just take it as an indication your system isn't stable when overclocking and just forget that idea.
I don't think it would be safe to recommend you to start overvolting and stuff if you lack the basic knowledge to fix these stability issues yourself - sorry.
It HAS happened people have fried their hardware this way... Besides, it's not even certain that your system CAN be reliably overclocked. Some mobos aren't stable beyond spec speed, you might have poor quality power supply, poor quality memory, inadequate CPU or case cooling etc. Too many variables. Heck, you don't even say how much you raised the clock speed when programs started crashing on you.
Least thing you could do is list your full system specs first so people can give some reasonable assumptions of what might be going on, but unless your PC can handle some basic overclocking without fiddling with any RAM or voltage parameters at all, I'd say it's a lost cause for you; hardware shouldn't be FORCED to overclock, it has to WANT it. If your PC freaks out from a 200MHz overclock or so, you should just either live with the speed you have, or buy a faster CPU.
I don't think it would be safe to recommend you to start overvolting and stuff if you lack the basic knowledge to fix these stability issues yourself - sorry.
It HAS happened people have fried their hardware this way... Besides, it's not even certain that your system CAN be reliably overclocked. Some mobos aren't stable beyond spec speed, you might have poor quality power supply, poor quality memory, inadequate CPU or case cooling etc. Too many variables. Heck, you don't even say how much you raised the clock speed when programs started crashing on you. Least thing you could do is list your full system specs first so people can give some reasonable assumptions of what might be going on, but unless your PC can handle some basic overclocking without fiddling with any RAM or voltage parameters at all, I'd say it's a lost cause for you; hardware shouldn't be FORCED to overclock, it has to WANT it.
If your PC freaks out from a 200MHz overclock or so, you should just either live with the speed you have, or buy a faster CPU.DudeMiester
Regular
It could be all and none of those things. Overclocking is a fine art. But basically you're system is unstable because you overclock it too much. Oh and to really know if it's unstable you need to benchmark and test it with programs like memtest86, Prime95, SuperPI 32m, and 3DMark. Often times you can increase vCore to add stability, but there is an upper limit. Also, remember adding move voltages make the chip a LOT hotter and too much voltage will destroy it very fast. It also causes it to age faster too. Also, if the CPU is hot it will be more unstable, that's why extreme overclockers go to great lengths and costs to create triple cascades that can bring the CPU temp to -130C. Just make sure your cooling is adequite.
Then again, it could be your RAM. Try leaving the RAM stock using a memory divider, and see if it's still unstable. You can try adding voltage, or using looser timings on the RAM to get it more stable. However, some ram (e.g. BH-5) will be more unstable with looser timings. You need to know what kind of RAM (the actual chips) you have, and know it's characteristics.
It could be your PSU, which you will know for sure if it's not a good brand, like OCZ or PC P&C. You can use a voltage measurements to check the condition of your PSU, they should be pretty close to the ideal value. For more accurate analysis you need to use a multimeter, and for detailed analysis you'll get an occilliscope, which can be very expensive. Basically, I just rely on reviews and testimonials about PSU quality.
It could be your mobo and/or BIOS. The mobo design and BIOS have a huge impact on stability and overclockability. You need to check reviews to make sure you have a good motherboard, and make sure you flash the best BIOS. You may want to consider beta BIOSes and BIOSes that have been tweaked for overclocking by members of the OCing community. Certainly look for information about the best BIOS for your mobo. Then of course, there's the plethora of settings in the BIOS that affect stability, which are too vast to go into here. You'll need to look this stuff up.
It could be that you arn't locking your AGP and PCI-bus, thus overclocking all your perifial components. This is a BAD thing, because most perifials don't like to be overclocked. For example, if you overclock the PCI bus too much, you will probably loose all the data on your hard drive. Not to mention general instability. However, there is usually about a 10% safety margin on all components. Check your mobo manual and BIOS to make sure you lock your AGP and PCI busses.
Oh and you'll want to check out a few overclocking related websites, such as:
www.xtremesystems.org
www.vr-zone.com
Then again, it could be your RAM. Try leaving the RAM stock using a memory divider, and see if it's still unstable. You can try adding voltage, or using looser timings on the RAM to get it more stable. However, some ram (e.g. BH-5) will be more unstable with looser timings. You need to know what kind of RAM (the actual chips) you have, and know it's characteristics.
It could be your PSU, which you will know for sure if it's not a good brand, like OCZ or PC P&C. You can use a voltage measurements to check the condition of your PSU, they should be pretty close to the ideal value. For more accurate analysis you need to use a multimeter, and for detailed analysis you'll get an occilliscope, which can be very expensive. Basically, I just rely on reviews and testimonials about PSU quality.
It could be your mobo and/or BIOS. The mobo design and BIOS have a huge impact on stability and overclockability. You need to check reviews to make sure you have a good motherboard, and make sure you flash the best BIOS. You may want to consider beta BIOSes and BIOSes that have been tweaked for overclocking by members of the OCing community. Certainly look for information about the best BIOS for your mobo. Then of course, there's the plethora of settings in the BIOS that affect stability, which are too vast to go into here. You'll need to look this stuff up.
It could be that you arn't locking your AGP and PCI-bus, thus overclocking all your perifial components. This is a BAD thing, because most perifials don't like to be overclocked. For example, if you overclock the PCI bus too much, you will probably loose all the data on your hard drive. Not to mention general instability. However, there is usually about a 10% safety margin on all components. Check your mobo manual and BIOS to make sure you lock your AGP and PCI busses.
Oh and you'll want to check out a few overclocking related websites, such as:
www.xtremesystems.org
www.vr-zone.com
Sorry about the specs, I thought it'd be a general problem.
I'm running a liquid cooling system on my Athlon 2600+ (25C usually), I've upped the FSB from 166 to 200. I have had to up the voltage from 1.65V to 1.800V to get reliable booting.
The RAM is rated for PC3200 3-3-3-8, so there shouldn't be an issue, but it is generic. So basically, almost a 400Mhz overclock for the CPU, and the RAM running as it is rated. Without the overclock, I run the RAM at 166Mhz 2.5-3-3-7.
I can run PCMark04,3DMark03/05 without problems. The crashes occur while doing the timedemo in Doom 3 AFTER having done it twice AND changing resolution to take that timedemo. Another case is when doing the timedemo for Halo. I get a "gathering exception data". Other than that, it's been pretty stable.
My PSU is a 480W unit from ThermalTake. Motherboard is Asus A7N8X (regular).
AGP bus speed is set to "auto". Manually, there are a bunch speeds I can lock it to. I will try setting it to 66Mhz.
Believe me, I'm only doing this because I have a liquid cooling system set up. Thank you for all your suggestions. My main goal is just to run some benchmarks and analyze a few things about my system components and the software I'm benchmarking. I'd like to know where I should focus on for new parts in the future based on my results. It won't be a permanent overclock.
Edit:
You may be wondering what the hell I'm doing with a liquid cooling system if my intentions are not to overclock permanently or if I only have an Athlon XP 2600+... well...
http://www.futurelooks.com/?m=show&id=79
A few weeks old, but I'll be updating it very soon with temperature stuff and results from this overclock
I'm running a liquid cooling system on my Athlon 2600+ (25C usually), I've upped the FSB from 166 to 200. I have had to up the voltage from 1.65V to 1.800V to get reliable booting.
The RAM is rated for PC3200 3-3-3-8, so there shouldn't be an issue, but it is generic. So basically, almost a 400Mhz overclock for the CPU, and the RAM running as it is rated. Without the overclock, I run the RAM at 166Mhz 2.5-3-3-7.
I can run PCMark04,3DMark03/05 without problems. The crashes occur while doing the timedemo in Doom 3 AFTER having done it twice AND changing resolution to take that timedemo. Another case is when doing the timedemo for Halo. I get a "gathering exception data". Other than that, it's been pretty stable.
My PSU is a 480W unit from ThermalTake. Motherboard is Asus A7N8X (regular).
AGP bus speed is set to "auto". Manually, there are a bunch speeds I can lock it to. I will try setting it to 66Mhz.
Believe me, I'm only doing this because I have a liquid cooling system set up.
Thank you for all your suggestions. My main goal is just to run some benchmarks and analyze a few things about my system components and the software I'm benchmarking. I'd like to know where I should focus on for new parts in the future based on my results. It won't be a permanent overclock. Edit:
You may be wondering what the hell I'm doing with a liquid cooling system if my intentions are not to overclock permanently or if I only have an Athlon XP 2600+... well...
http://www.futurelooks.com/?m=show&id=79
A few weeks old, but I'll be updating it very soon with temperature stuff and results from this overclock