In this guide, i'll attempt to cover the basics of overclocking. The overclock will be performed on an Intel machine with an Award BIOS.
If you have a different BIOS, or things do not look the same on your setup, just ask a question and i'm sure we'll be able to help.
Getting Into The BIOS
Start up your machine in the normal way. As soon as you have output on your screen, start pressing the DEL button on your keyboard to take you into the BIOS.
On some systems the key(s) to get into the BIOS may be different. Common ones are F1 and F2.
Once in the BIOS you will be presented with a similar screen to below:
On my motherboard, the area where all the overclocking gadgets are is called 'Genie BIOS Settings', however on other makes of motherboard, it will be called something different (recent Abit boards have an area called uGuru).
The Default Settings
Once you have located the area of your BIOS that contains the overclocking options, you will see your processors default settings (see below). It is well worth taking a note of these settings before changing them.
If at any point you find that you cannot boot your machine due to an unsuccessful overclock, you will need to reset your CMOS, by shorting the CMOS jumper located on your motherboard. Your motherboard manual should tell you where this jumper is.
Raising The FSB Speed
Not all P4 chips have the same default FSB speed. There are two main varients of the P4 chip, the 533mhz FSB version and the 800mhz version, which equate to a real FSB speed of 133mhz and 200mhz respectivly.
Locate the option in your BIOS that allows you to increase the FSB. Most motherboard manufacturers give this option different names - on my board its called the 'CPU Clock'. Increase this option by 5mhz.
Save the settings, and reboot your machine back into Windows. If everything appears to be stable, reboot your machine again, go back into the BIOS, and increase your FSB by another 5mhz.
Keep increasing by 5mhz at a time until you find that Windows will not load or is unstable.
Stabilizing Your Overclock With Extra Vcore
Once you have increased your CPU's speed using the instructions above, you may have found that your system is now unstable at the overclocked speed. This can easily be fixed in most cases with a little bit of extra vcore.
Vcore is the voltage that is supplied to your CPU. Increasing the voltage a small amount allows the signals sent to the CPU to become stronger, resulting in your system being more stable.
Increasing the vcore, will also result in increased heat. There are many ways in dealing with this, and i will explain some of them further down the page.
Go back into the BIOS, and back into the same page that you used to overclock your processor. You should see an option to Increase the CPU vcore:
Increase this by only 0.0250v at a time (or the smallest increase that your board will allow). After every increase, see if your machine runs any more stable. Use the guide below to determin the maximum amount of vcore you can put through your processor without the risking of damage it:
P4 Prescott Socket 478 - Normal: 1.375v / Max: 1.575v
P4 Prescott LGA775 - Normal: 1.400v / Max: 1.600v
P4 Northwood Socket 478 - 1.500v / Max: 1.700v
Once you have found a vcore setting that allows your CPU to run stable, it is worth giving your system a stress test, just to make sure that your overclocked system is 100% stable. The way i prefer is to just play a couple of hours of my favorite computer game, however, you can use a tool called Prime95 . Please ask in the forum if you need assistance using this.
Dealing With Extra Heat Produced By Overclocking
Directly after performing your stress test, reboot your machine, and go back into the BIOS. You should have a menu called 'PC Health Status':
In here you will find details of your current CPU temperature and Case temperature:
In general, you do not want your CPU temperature to go above 55oc 'under load'. What i mean by under load is "When the processor has been used at full capacity for a period of around 2 hours".
If you find that your CPU is running hotter than it should, then you should look into replacing your current CPU cooler with something designed more for overclocked CPUs. Please ask in the forum for help locating a suitable 'heat sink' for your processor.
I hope this guide has been helpful. Any questions, please feel free to ask.
If you have a different BIOS, or things do not look the same on your setup, just ask a question and i'm sure we'll be able to help.
Getting Into The BIOS
Start up your machine in the normal way. As soon as you have output on your screen, start pressing the DEL button on your keyboard to take you into the BIOS.
On some systems the key(s) to get into the BIOS may be different. Common ones are F1 and F2.
Once in the BIOS you will be presented with a similar screen to below:
On my motherboard, the area where all the overclocking gadgets are is called 'Genie BIOS Settings', however on other makes of motherboard, it will be called something different (recent Abit boards have an area called uGuru).
The Default Settings
Once you have located the area of your BIOS that contains the overclocking options, you will see your processors default settings (see below). It is well worth taking a note of these settings before changing them.
If at any point you find that you cannot boot your machine due to an unsuccessful overclock, you will need to reset your CMOS, by shorting the CMOS jumper located on your motherboard. Your motherboard manual should tell you where this jumper is.
Raising The FSB Speed
Not all P4 chips have the same default FSB speed. There are two main varients of the P4 chip, the 533mhz FSB version and the 800mhz version, which equate to a real FSB speed of 133mhz and 200mhz respectivly.
Locate the option in your BIOS that allows you to increase the FSB. Most motherboard manufacturers give this option different names - on my board its called the 'CPU Clock'. Increase this option by 5mhz.
Save the settings, and reboot your machine back into Windows. If everything appears to be stable, reboot your machine again, go back into the BIOS, and increase your FSB by another 5mhz.
Keep increasing by 5mhz at a time until you find that Windows will not load or is unstable.
Stabilizing Your Overclock With Extra Vcore
Once you have increased your CPU's speed using the instructions above, you may have found that your system is now unstable at the overclocked speed. This can easily be fixed in most cases with a little bit of extra vcore.
Vcore is the voltage that is supplied to your CPU. Increasing the voltage a small amount allows the signals sent to the CPU to become stronger, resulting in your system being more stable.
Increasing the vcore, will also result in increased heat. There are many ways in dealing with this, and i will explain some of them further down the page.
Go back into the BIOS, and back into the same page that you used to overclock your processor. You should see an option to Increase the CPU vcore:
Increase this by only 0.0250v at a time (or the smallest increase that your board will allow). After every increase, see if your machine runs any more stable. Use the guide below to determin the maximum amount of vcore you can put through your processor without the risking of damage it:
P4 Prescott Socket 478 - Normal: 1.375v / Max: 1.575v
P4 Prescott LGA775 - Normal: 1.400v / Max: 1.600v
P4 Northwood Socket 478 - 1.500v / Max: 1.700v
Once you have found a vcore setting that allows your CPU to run stable, it is worth giving your system a stress test, just to make sure that your overclocked system is 100% stable. The way i prefer is to just play a couple of hours of my favorite computer game, however, you can use a tool called Prime95 . Please ask in the forum if you need assistance using this.
Dealing With Extra Heat Produced By Overclocking
Directly after performing your stress test, reboot your machine, and go back into the BIOS. You should have a menu called 'PC Health Status':
In here you will find details of your current CPU temperature and Case temperature:
In general, you do not want your CPU temperature to go above 55oc 'under load'. What i mean by under load is "When the processor has been used at full capacity for a period of around 2 hours".
If you find that your CPU is running hotter than it should, then you should look into replacing your current CPU cooler with something designed more for overclocked CPUs. Please ask in the forum for help locating a suitable 'heat sink' for your processor.
I hope this guide has been helpful. Any questions, please feel free to ask.
21x multi = phantastik!
