Well, I'm suprised there hasn't really been one started yet (I personally think we should have a whole sub-forum dedicated to it) but here is the Overclocking thread. If you have any knowledge of overclocking, we need you to answer some of our questions. Also, if you are posting an answer to someone's question, please let them know how much experience you have with overclocking. Obviously, nobody would be responsible for blown-up CPU's except the person who chooses to do it to their own computer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, I have a question (I'm new to overclocking) On my laptop, I have an AMD Turion64 X2 Dual-core processor running at 1.6Ghz. I'm running Vista Home Premium and I also have 1gig of RAM. The laptop runs pretty hot as it is, but I'm wondering if I might be able to overclock the CPU as the computer is, or if I would have to upgrade it. If I should upgrade it, what would I have to do? I'm assuming I would need a new fan (one that runs faster), and to pull apart my CPU and put it back together cleanly and make sure the heatsink is on right etc. I'm just not TOTALLY sure so I decided to come here and ask. Anyone that can help, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm willing to bet that AdderallAssassin will be posting in here within the first 6 posts
Not sure if there are any techs in these here forums, I work at my college's helpdesk in desktop support. I'm not big on over clocking, i generally run everything stock (out of the box). When you overclock, you make the processor go faster than it was designed to go - creating a lot of heat, which necessitates a better heatsink. I would not recommend overclocking a laptop. They are not designed to be speedy, they are designed to be portable and efficient - and so they get hot really quickly, slowly damaging nearby components which could, eventually make them fail. FOr your laptop, I would add another gig of ram to make it 2 gigs - this would be the best way to speed things up, because Vista eats ram. I would advise you to get an old computer from somewhere. Perhaps a family member's old pc, or at a garage sale, or I often find perfectly good computers on the side of the road. Use this computer to tinker with. If you fry it, no big loss. Many computers will have overclocking options built into the bios. There are settings which are optimal for that cpu, which are set. You can control the operational frequency of the multiplier, which makes the processor process faster. Hope that made sense. I am big on fiddling with old computers - its how I learned.
Yeah I overclocked a 600Mhz (LOL) Pentium 2 at about 1Ghz then it blew the processor clean out of the computer, and put a hole clear through the motherboard... I took the heatsink off and had the case open and did it on purpose... It was a junky old PC that I've had since '97
Lol. The processor blew strait through the motherboard? Nice. Once I overclocked a gypsie and the flux capacitor blew a gallon of white stuff out the bottom end... Like tommyb said, you really can't depend on an overclocked laptop. Those things can't take the heat, so they should stay out of the oven. Chances are, even if your laptop has OCing options, it wouldn't be worth it. A RAM upgrade would do you a lot more than anything else. If you get a desktop OCer, then holler out. Personally, I've OCed a few desktops and tried many many methods to keep them cool. Right now I am running an AMD X2 4000+ Brisbane (dual core, 2Ghz) at a speed of 2.8+Ghz. My board is a Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4, which is a great OC board. This is a nice OC and it will not run on just air cooling. I have an external water cooling system that I custom built for about $100+. The real advantage to (true) water cooling is the silence. I can run my OC and do it quietly. Unlike tommyb, I like to OC. So long as I can keep everything cool, I can get a lot more for my money. Here is my sig from an Overclockers forum I belong to:
Yeah, I was thinking of making a mineral oil computer for OCing... I just don't really have the time or the cash to be going and making expensive electronics just to fuck em up. The hole through the motherboard was pretty cool though. It was really loud, too!
I thought about doing a mineral oil rig just for fun. I would use an old AMD rig and lots of plexi/acrylic. Maybe some lights, heh strobe... something for looks. Mineral oil cooling is good for hobby-type cooling. You want bragging rights? drop your mobo in mineral oil. You want to cool that OC? use water.
Well this will date me but I remember pushing 486-66 to run at 100mhz. Over clocking is great, alot of cpu's are more than able (remember the old 333 celerons) some are actually the same cpu as thier faster counter parts but for whatever reason at the time were deemed more stable at a lower speed. First rule to remember is that like most things they are rated to protect themselves from idiots who under cool ect. As for your questions I would never over clock a laptop, limited cooling area, most of the time the cooling intakes are clogged from the users blankets, legs ect so your already fighting a problem.
Well if I was to OC my laptop I would definitely get one of those laptop cooling trays. I decided not to though, because I need the laptop and I don't really need a desktop. I'm just going to get more RAM (as someone already suggested).... I've been looking, just haven't found the right cards to fit. whats a mobo? Sorry, I don't know much computer slang...
MOBO= Motherboard, the big part inside your computer that the ram (memory) the processor, the hard drive, the cd drive ect all plug into.
Laptops usually have logic boards. It is basically the same thing as a motherboard with lots of integrated junk. Just recently I overhauled 2 laptops. One was well overdue. It would get really hot and the fans would run on max all the time. I opened it up and found gobs of cat hair, dog hair, human hair, dust, hole punch pieces, etc. It was blocking the heatsink fins from removing the heat from the laptop. I cleaned it out and lapped the HS (heat sink; making the heat sink flat to transfer heat better). The I used Arctic Ceramic (a great thermal compound) to seat it. Now the laptop stays completely cool and at max CPU, only 2 of 3 fans need to come on. It would be a decent overclocker but it wasn't mine. If you want to overhaul your laptop, make sure you download a full disassembly service manual. Laptops are way different than desktops, and every laptop is different.
the fans on my laptop run pretty much constantly too... That's why I'm hesitant to put any more RAM into it, it would just be taking up more space and running the computer's heat up.
Hey Twizz, for ram, i would goto crucial.com You can put in your model number, and they'll tell you what ram will fit. You can either buy it direct, or goto newegg.com or tigerdirect.com for a better deal. Crucial's good ram though, you might want to just go with that. Remember, upgrading isn't overclocking. Hehe, the celeron 333 takes me back. Too bad the people at intel are dicks and purposely crippled the L2 cache so that they could market it as a budget processor. Hey assassin, how about a pic of that water-cooled box? Probably would never do one, but I don't think I've ever actually seen one before.
Oh, and ram is a standard upgrade, you're not doing anything bad by putting more in, as long as it can handle it. Anything over 3.5 gigs is a waste. 32 bit operating systems can only address 3.5. 64 bit can address up to 8 gigs, i think. Laptops have got too be my least favorite invention. All the college students are coming to school with them now, and they're crap for the most part. Laptop Hard drives last about a year, they over-heat, they're slow, and when I get them in to be fixed they usually have like 5 keys missing and a cracked case. Junk.
These pics were taken a while back during the build phase. This is my custom WC case that I pieced together and painted. It is actually an old HP case with some heater cores and water pump. Also, it has a 140mm Aero Cool fan along with a 130mm Thermaltake fan. It looks very different with the huge, blue LED fan on the front radiator. Here is my AMD X2 Brisbane dual core processor I lapped and did a slight polish on. As for the RAM limitations according to 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems. Only Windows has those limitations. OSX, Linux, BSD, *Nix, etc do not have those limitations. Windows 32 bit is limited to 4Gb and Windows 64 bit is limited to 8Gb. Linux has no realistic limitation.
I'm wondering... A mineral oil PC would be able to be overclocked a lot, right? Because the oil is thicker and it's not like air where the temperature changes without much effort... I'm just wondering if I could make one into a permanent OCing case and just keep upgrading parts as I get the cash. Also, what are ALL the different methods of cooling? I know of air, water, oil, refrigeration, and those overkill liquid nitrogen rigs (which would be fun to play with, not much more).
