Overclocking a c2d is not all that dangerous if you just want an extra few hundred mhz or so. Most motherboards have built-in protection from dangerous overclocks anyhow - they'll just reset to factory settings if you fail.
What are your computer specs?
Let's assume you have a C2D processor with a mobo that supports overclocking, your ram is at least ddr2800 and so forth.
Go into your bios at startup. Look for your FSB multiplier. It should be something like 8.5 or roundabout there. Your clock speed is determined by a multiple of that number: i.e. 300mhz X 8.5fsb = 2550mhz real speed, or 2.5ghz.
To overclock just raise either the mhz or the multiplier. Start with the mhz. Push it up just slightly to begin with. You shouldn't need to mess with voltages just yet. Save and restart. When the PC boots up check your speed with CPU-Z. Monitor your temperatures carefully, if it goes above 40c on idle it's a bit too hot. You can check stability by running cpu-intensive programs.
Rinse and repeat. Push it up until your PC can't take it, either temperatures get too high or it resets constantly. Then if you want to go higher it's time to look for more advanced tools.
(07-24-2009, 04:00 PM)edwin lo Wrote: [ -> ]thanks a lot for all your help
Aren't you the guy with the like 1.8ghz single core cpu? you wont get dolphin running at full or even half speed... EVEN if you CAN overclock on that awfuly old computer. Stick with the console
True, thanks to new mobo protection schemes, breaking your computer is harder than ever!
For example, mine has a built in Voltage regulator, which if I set it to a level that would fry it, it shut off my PC and resets to default. Most mobos, even the cheap ones, come with such features these days. As long as you don't purposely fudge things up...
I OC'ed my CPU after reading a 5 minute guide & got 12 hours in P95, 2.4 to 3.4GHZ, it can do massive increases in performance, yeh. Q6600 is a good CPU.
personally, i dont really recommend overclocking a cpu unless it is a cheapie. the bigger badder cpus are quite fast enough for me, and taking life span off a cpu i just paid a lot of money for is pointless to me. as far as im concerned, overclocking is just for slow cpus to give it a boost and save money
So you don't overclock your Dual 2.81Ghz ^^
Anyway, you're building your new rig right?
You do realize an average CPU will live 10 years, and an OC'ed one just brings it down to like 6-7?
Are you really going to have the same CPU for 10 years? I understand not everyone can afford new parts, but yeah...at least once every 10 years, I'd think.
Also, 2.4GHZ to 3.4GHZ is a huge increase, you know? Nothing to scoff at, and well worth 3 years off the life span or so.
(07-25-2009, 04:38 AM)Mkilbride Wrote: [ -> ]You do realize an average CPU will live 10 years, and an OC'ed one just brings it down to like 6-7?
Are you really going to have the same CPU for 10 years? I understand not everyone can afford new parts, but yeah...at least once every 10 years, I'd think.
Also, 2.4GHZ to 3.4GHZ is a huge increase, you know? Nothing to scoff at, and well worth 3 years off the life span or so.
dude, im getting an i7 3.33ghz, thats $1,000. i think ill go ahead and keep it for 10 years rather than decrease the life span by almost half
edit: 2.4ghz? thats a cheapie if u ask me, so i guess were in agreement
(07-25-2009, 04:37 AM)Diddy Kong Wrote: [ -> ]So you don't overclock your Dual 2.81Ghz ^^
Anyway, you're building your new rig right?
yea, i got all my parts listed and priced in a notepad file. lets just say for the money, and for the speed im going to have, keeping the parts stock just makes sense
Well yeah, an i7 @ 3.33 GHZ is fine ,but I'm talking to this fellow. He doesn't have the cash to waste on such an over-blown CPU. i7 though...another sucker.
Well, you could OC that sucker to like 4GHZ on Air easily, and it wouldn't decrease the lifespan at all. Over course, nothing really requires that much CPU power right now...sides PCSX2.
So yeah, yer fine, but for people who don't spend thousands on new parts, OCing is a way to get the most bang fer yer buck. Also, by NOT ocing your computer, most people consider it wasteful.
(07-25-2009, 04:31 AM)Mkilbride Wrote: [ -> ]True, thanks to new mobo protection schemes, breaking your computer is harder than ever!
For example, mine has a built in Voltage regulator, which if I set it to a level that would fry it, it shut off my PC and resets to default. Most mobos, even the cheap ones, come with such features these days. As long as you don't purposely fudge things up...
I OC'ed my CPU after reading a 5 minute guide & got 12 hours in P95, 2.4 to 3.4GHZ, it can do massive increases in performance, yeh. Q6600 is a good CPU.
All computers ever since the beginning had voltage regulators. How would cpus even run if they didn't have them? You'd be feeding them 5volts dc or higher, while cpus only can use less than 2.5, (1.3volts standard now) thus, destroying cpus. Computers are hard to break now because bios is so resilient to noob attacks and error settings. They just default back to old good settings if something goes wrong.
(07-25-2009, 04:35 AM)krypking Wrote: [ -> ]personally, i dont really recommend overclocking a cpu unless it is a cheapie. the bigger badder cpus are quite fast enough for me, and taking life span off a cpu i just paid a lot of money for is pointless to me. as far as im concerned, overclocking is just for slow cpus to give it a boost and save money
If you buy a xtreme and don't overclock it, you're wasting your money. The whole point of xtreme is not the puny amount of clockspeed acheived. It's the unlocked multipliers and cherry picked chips that make it worth so much. You can overclock much easier and slightly higher (100-200mhz on ln2/dice) than normal bin chips.
(07-25-2009, 04:31 AM)Mkilbride Wrote: [ -> ]True, thanks to new mobo protection schemes, breaking your computer is harder than ever!
For example, mine has a built in Voltage regulator, which if I set it to a level that would fry it, it shut off my PC and resets to default. Most mobos, even the cheap ones, come with such features these days. As long as you don't purposely fudge things up...
I OC'ed my CPU after reading a 5 minute guide & got 12 hours in P95, 2.4 to 3.4GHZ, it can do massive increases in performance, yeh. Q6600 is a good CPU.
(07-25-2009, 04:41 AM)krypking Wrote: [ -> ] (07-25-2009, 04:38 AM)Mkilbride Wrote: [ -> ]You do realize an average CPU will live 10 years, and an OC'ed one just brings it down to like 6-7?
Are you really going to have the same CPU for 10 years? I understand not everyone can afford new parts, but yeah...at least once every 10 years, I'd think.
Also, 2.4GHZ to 3.4GHZ is a huge increase, you know? Nothing to scoff at, and well worth 3 years off the life span or so.
dude, im getting an i7 3.33ghz, thats $1,000. i think ill go ahead and keep it for 10 years rather than decrease the life span by almost half
edit: 2.4ghz? thats a cheapie if u ask me, so i guess were in agreement
(07-25-2009, 04:37 AM)Diddy Kong Wrote: [ -> ]So you don't overclock your Dual 2.81Ghz ^^
Anyway, you're building your new rig right?
yea, i got all my parts listed and priced in a notepad file. lets just say for the money, and for the speed im going to have, keeping the parts stock just makes sense
If you think about it, then you could get an i7 920 and overclock it to 4ghz and destroy the i7 965/975 for 1/5 of the price and get another cpu once it dies that performs better, that the i7 965/975 for even less money. Also, considering the fact that both are i7 bloomfields, they are the exact same chip, so lifespan wouldn't matter.
(07-25-2009, 04:45 AM)Mkilbride Wrote: [ -> ]Well yeah, an i7 @ 3.33 GHZ is fine ,but I'm talking to this fellow. He doesn't have the cash to waste on such an over-blown CPU. i7 though...another sucker.
Well, you could OC that sucker to like 4GHZ on Air easily, and it wouldn't decrease the lifespan at all. Over course, nothing really requires that much CPU power right now...sides PCSX2.
So yeah, yer fine, but for people who don't spend thousands on new parts, OCing is a way to get the most bang fer yer buck. Also, by NOT ocing your computer, most people consider it wasteful.
Wrong. Lots of software will max out an i7 at 4ghz. Looks at maxwell, video editing programs, etc.
Um...... So you're going to buy a $1,000 core i7 975 and run it for 10 years at stock speed - at which point in time it'll be like running the equivalent of a Pentium 3 - rather than buying a $250 920 and overclocking it for three years then selling it and buying a 12-core whatever? Makes sense to me.