To Overclock, or Not to Overclock?

[ExAm]

That is the question.

I have an Abit KN8 SLI motherboard and an Athlon 64 4000+ single core CPU, as well as 2GB of PC3200 RAM in Dual Channel Mode.

My CPU clocks in at 2.4 GHz as of right now. That's the default. Under normal conditions it runs at 28-30 degrees Celsius. Under full load it reaches a maximum temperature of 42 celsius.

So, if I overclocked this thing, would the benefits be noticable?
If so, How do I do I overclocked CPU? :v

[Abdurahman]

It would sure help you to overclock. Try doing a 10% overclock at first to see the performance increase.

There should be a section for overclocking on your mobo.
I think its called Soft Menu?
So you would set your FSB to 220.
Then set your Memory to 166 or something so then it would be balanced, cause most ddr400 rams aren't good overclockers, unless you get the real expensive ones.

Ah, heres a guide to overclocking on your board.
http://www.digital-daily.com/motherboard/abit-kn8-sli/index05.htm

Exit bios, save settings, then boot into windows. I would suggest doing a benchmark or playing a cpu intensive game to see if it works stable. If it does, your all set.

Read this, it should help.
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1804&page=2

[ExAm]

I'll try that.



Exit bios, save settings, then boot into windows. I would suggest doing a benchmark or playing a cpu intensive game to see if it works stable.
Crysis demo :awesome:

[Phopojijo]

Also if you're running UnrealEngine2 (maybe 3, haven't heard anything about that engine yet) based games... know they are VERY sensitive to overclocking (and some other games as well).

Your framerate may go *down* and it may decide to crash a little bit...

So if you play a lot of UT/Bioshock/whatever... check those before you decide on your settings.

[ExAm]

K, I updated the first post with some full load temps.

EDIT: Speaking of clocks and stuff, I just fixed the timings on my RAM in the BIOS, and I seem to have lost all of my firefox bookmarks and history. Where the f*ck did it go? It might have something to do with the fact that I did a hard restart :v

EDIT 2: Google is awesome for figuring out how to recover bookmarks :awesome:

EDIT 3: It appears that my board absolutely sucks for overclocking. It has good tools for it, but it likes to forget your settings when you do it.

[CrAsHOvErRide]

firefox.exe -profiles

Restore it. Overclocking? Children these days...

[ImSpartacus]

Also if you're running UnrealEngine2 (maybe 3, haven't heard anything about that engine yet) based games... know they are VERY sensitive to overclocking (and some other games as well).

Your framerate may go *down* and it may decide to crash a little bit...

So if you play a lot of UT/Bioshock/whatever... check those before you decide on your settings.

DOWN? Do you understand the concept of overclocking? that's like saying in unreal 2 games a more expensive, higher clocked cpu will perform worse.

Granted stability can cause those problems, but i doubt this guy will go for anything higher than a modest oc.

[ImSpartacus]

K, I updated the first post with some full load temps.

EDIT: Speaking of clocks and stuff, I just fixed the timings on my RAM in the BIOS, and I seem to have lost all of my firefox bookmarks and history. Where the f*ck did it go? It might have something to do with the fact that I did a hard restart :v

EDIT 2: Google is awesome for figuring out how to recover bookmarks :awesome:

EDIT 3: It appears that my board absolutely sucks for overclocking. It has good tools for it, but it likes to forget your settings when you do it.

I have very little experience with amd parts, especially the older chipsets that run ddr. What kind of cooling you running? stock? I don't kno that board, but in general, a mobo should save your fsb settings and other things associated with oc'ing.

[Roostervier]

DOWN? Do you understand the concept of overclocking? that's like saying in unreal 2 games a more expensive, higher clocked cpu will perform worse.

Granted stability can cause those problems, but i doubt this guy will go for anything higher than a modest oc.Uh, I'm pretty sure Phopo knows what he's talking about. And it makes sense, granted it could crash the game and they are sensitive to overclocking.

Also, that is not like saying a better cpu would perform worse. It's just like saying an overclocked cpu might do worse.

[ImSpartacus]

Uh, I'm pretty sure Phopo knows what he's talking about. And it makes sense, granted it could crash the game and they are sensitive to overclocking.

Also, that is not like saying a better cpu would perform worse. It's just like saying an overclocked cpu might do worse.

Stability and performance are very different things. i assume he meant stability and said performance.

[Abdurahman]

Well I have an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual core and I overclocked it from 2.0 to 2.2 ghz, and its as stable as can be, even on UT3. :D