have to write an overclocking tutorial...what do you think?

[SlickJesus]

ok guys, i need your input. i have to write an overclocking tutorial for my job, and i need to know what you guys think about it. LMK if i need to add anything, take somthing away, etc. keep in mind that this is only for OCing CPUs, no other OCing will be covered.

How to overclock your PC without damaging it

A common thing to do with a gaming machine is to overclock it, or run the PC faster than it was intended to run. This is done one of two ways; either by increasing the FSB, or the CPU multiplier. Increasing the FSB is the more common way to overclock, because most of today’s CPUs have their multiplier locked.


Increasing the FSB

Increasing the FSB is a very simple process. Boot the PC, and go into the system’s BIOS, now, depending on what BIOS your motherboard uses depends on where the overclocking features are, also if you don’t have the proper motherboard, or an OEM (Dell, Compaq, HP, etc.) computer, you won’t have any overclocking features. Most of the time, the overclocking features are under the ‘Advanced Chipset Features’ tab. Look for the ‘Front Side Bus Speed’ or simply ‘Bus Speed’ setting, now simply increase the number, either by typing in a new number, or scrolling through a list of speeds. Take care not to jump to high to fast. A key to a good overclock is to take baby steps in increasing the speed. Increase in 5 MHz increments, if Windows loads without error, restart and increase the speed by another 5 MHz. Do this until windows will no longer load correctly, then lower the FSB by 5 MHz, and test for stability. To test for stability run some games, or 3Dmark, or any other benchmarking utility, if it’s stable you have just successfully overclocked. Keep in mind that you memory gets overclocked as well when you increase your FSB. This is why I’ve been stressing that putting good memory in you PC is a very good idea, especially if you plan to overclock.

Increasing the multiplier

Increasing the multiplier is just as easy as increasing the FSB, and it is in the same menu. Like I stated earlier, this will probably not be possible for you to do. Every chip Intel makes is multiplier locked, and AMD has started locking their chips multipliers as well. So this probably isn’t an option for you.

Increasing the Voltage
Sometimes it may be necessary to increase the voltage your CPU gets to make your overclock stable. If you are having problems reaching a speed, try increasing the voltage a little bit to see if it helps. Make sure not to jump the voltage too high either, more voltage means more heat, and the CPU becomes harder to cool. Also, too much voltage can kill your CPU, so please take care when increasing the voltage.

Cooling
When overclocking, it will be necessary to get better cooling for your CPU. Heatsink manufactures such as Cooler Master, Thermal Take, Thremalright, and Alpha, all make excellent choices for overclocking heatsinks. You could also get a water cooling kit such as a Koolance, to get extreme cooling. With proper cooling a massive overclock is possible.

thank you for reading, and commenting.

[NateCooke]

I might add that the best way to test for stability is to run Prime95 torture tests for hours, as it stresses your whole system and tests for stability. I'd also add a bunch more to your cooling section. The CPU HSF is only part of the equation. I reduced my temps about 8 degress C by using a new HSF and another 8 or 9 by getting a better ventilated case with a better intake/exhaust setup. You might also encourage the reader to get a good high-ish watt PS.

[SlickJesus]

the PSU issue is in there, before that part, the whole tutorial is on 'building a gaming machine' it goes into getting good RAM, PSUs motherboards, etc. i will add the prime95 thing, and the better case cooling thing though. thanks for your imput.

[Chelica]

You should kind of give a general idea on how much voltage is too much when raising the VCore.

[The Bryophyte]

I second Chelica's comment. Your current voltage advice is too subjective and may leave less cautious people doing stupid things.

[SlickJesus]

good idea! here's what i added:
"I try not to raise the voltage more than .1V over the stock value ex: if CPU starts at 1.35V I won’t raise it to more than 1.45V"

[Chelica]

That sounds pretty good.

You should also mention what is considered overheating and an ok temp for the CPU in the cooling section. Something in the line of "Temp below ?? is considered good, but temps over ?? is considered overheating. This is where you must think about an aftermarket cooling..."

Then, mention a few freeware program to check the temp of their OCed CPU. And also mention that AMD and Intel are totally different when it comes down to temp. ratings.

[SlickJesus]

ok added temp monitoring and reccomendations
any thing else?

[md262626]

I'm not sure about the level of competency of your audience, but if they're newbs, you might want to tell them how to boot into the BIOS. Many newbs don't know to hit the Delete or F2 key while powering up.

[DocFaustus]

How much into detail are you going to go with this thing? Are you going to explain how good ram is important for overclocking with the FSB? How it becomes a limiting factor, and how you can relax the ram's timings to get more out of your CPU?

[SlickJesus]

there's going to be several "classes" they will learn the basics prior to this class (how to build a PC, get into BIOS load windows etc.) this is the last class there will be.
although good suggestion, i should have stated this earlier, sorry for the confusion

[SlickJesus]

Doc: i don't know yet how far they want to take it, they told me to do a basic write up, so i did. i will bring that up to them when i present it to them, thank you.

[DocFaustus]

No prob: Without going into specifics, you should also at least mention that to have more overclocking success, good cooling and good clean power are important. You don't have to go into specifics at all but just give a general rule to the effect, more cooling is better, and stable rails will allow for better results.

[SlickJesus]

good point. noted, and added!