About Motherboards

[dquepal]

Well, hi. I´m new to this forum, and i´m from Chile.

I wanted some advice on good overclocking motherboards. I´ve heard many things about this matter, but i wanted to know from ppl that eventually had an overclocked system, and what are the overclocking capabilities the motherboard has. For example, 1MHz increment, BIOS features to overclock, etc.
Any help?
Thanks. dquepal.

[Reid]

Charles and the moderators tend to discourage overclocking topics in PC Guide. Try this link (http://www.sysopt.com/ocdatabase.html) that I found in a Google search of overclock.

[dquepal]

Why do they do that? Some personal ideas about overclock?
I found overclocking very interesting. Not because i´m crazy about speed or anything like that. In fact, my system is runing at normal clock speeds right now, but i love to learn how to do it. :)
Thanks for the stats, very, VERY usefull.

[Reid]

I may be totally wrong about it, it was just my impression after reading some posts over a period of time. Here is one example (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4763&highlight=overclocking+AND+pete). Check back and see what others have to say.

[saphalline]

Nah, they aren't necessarily against overclocking per se, just overclocking when it's not needed. I know some of the people on here are just fine and dandy with a P200 as their main system, while those like me with an Athlon T-bird 1.2GHz are thinking of upgrading to an Athlon XP 1800+. :D Just depends on what you feel you need, what makes you happy/content. It's unnecessary for the most part to overclock because you can be risking a lot if you take it to the extreme.

Such as in the link you posted. A Celeron 300 overclocked to 900+ MHz (an exaggeration of course) isn't just risking your old & cheap CPU, but your whole system if a circuit blows. And let's face it, if you're thinking of overclocking more than 15% because you want JKII to run better on your P200, then you're obviously trying to run your PC waaay beyond its limits. This is totally unnecessary because for around/less than $300 you can upgrade to an Athlon XP system with a decent enough graphics card (just an example). If you really don't have the money for the upgrade, then you don't have the money to play the latest games and you're just plain out of luck.

Overclocking a little, in moderation, is perfectly fine if you've fully assessed the risks and aren't doing it "just because". An example of this would be a game that plays "in between" as I call it. Maybe JKII runs smooth as silk at 800 x 600 but just a little too choppy at 1024 x 768. Assuming you prefer not to turn down/off any graphics options, a slight overclock of your processor or graphics card might do you some good. Start out bit by bit, testing each level for at least a few hours (a good day usually) doing all the tasks you normally would for your computer. If it crashes or performs under par, go back to the last stable setting(s), and don't forget to check your temps. If you find yourself overclocking more than 10% (casual/conservative limit by my definition) stop and consider just upgrading instead of going further. Mid-range procs are only $100 to $180, DX 8 graphics cards are in the same range, and 256MB of RAM is sufficient for most computer tasks and cheap enough to save up for.

Look into overclocking all you want, and experiment a little, but keep in mind that nowadays it's a novelty, not a necessity like it was when a mid-range CPU was upwards of $350.

[integral]

Most motherboards now have the level control necessary for overclocking. Of course the grandfather of OC mother boards would be Abit, but any board with a soft menu style BIOS will do the job. I oc my old celeron 400 on an Abit BP6 is running at 500MHz with no extra cooling, since this means I have raised the FSB to ~86MHz I am still not pushing the PC100 memory. Yes the PCI bus is running high, but I have been running it that way for 2yrs will no troubles and really cannot understand why I would want to clock it slower. Seems to me the the current cheap parts is more of an argument for OC rather then against, so what if I burn out a $50 processor! One key is the need for extra cooling, it does not make any sense to spend $25 - $50 for more cooling which serves to increase noise level and complexity when the spending the same money on the processor to start with will get you a default speed higher then what you will be able to OC to anyway. So if you are running at a low temp (40-45C) you have some head room without extra cooling, you can then oc till your temps are in a perfectly safe, low 50C temperature range, this represents free MHz, why not use them.

Someplaces were OC is disscussed frequently and in detail is

Ocworkbench (http://www.ocworkbench.com/index.stm) Firingsquad (http://firingsquad.gamers.com/) Anandtech (http://anandtech.com/)

go into the forums on any of these sites and you will have plenty of avid OCers to talk to.

[Paleo Pete]

OK, I see I need to explain our position more clearly...again...

Our general position on overclocking is that we do not recommend it, due mostly to the risks involved. We also should not be offering instructions on overclocking without knowing that the individual involved has the necessary technical expertise to deal with it, and again, knows the risks.

On the other hand, if a person wants information about overclocking, I am not against providing links and general information, provided our participants do make sure and point out the risks involved, and the fact that if you want to overclock, you MUST know what you're doing.

[jabarnutcase]

I think you can find some excellent info on overclocking HERE (http://www.qsl.net/ka1ymc/PCexplode.gif)
Good luck!:D

[dquepal]

Originally posted by Paleo Pete
OK, I see I need to explain our position more clearly...again...

Our general position on overclocking is that we do not recommend it, due mostly to the risks involved. We also should not be offering instructions on overclocking without knowing that the individual involved has the necessary technical expertise to deal with it, and again, knows the risks.

On the other hand, if a person wants information about overclocking, I am not against providing links and general information, provided our participants do make sure and point out the risks involved, and the fact that if you want to overclock, you MUST know what you're doing.

I agree woth you, in some ways. Of course there ir an issue about responsibility, including the one who delivers information about overclocking, and the one who is going to use it. If anybody wants to know about overclocking, i would at least explain him what overclocking is about and how to do it, if it is and AMD system. He (or she) must have the wisdom to know if he is prepared to understand the information that the overclocker guy delivers, or if he must read more about it. A responsable guy should read more about it.
About what you say about not recomending overclocking, i think that you cannot recommend only not to use overclock in all cases. In some, an overclock could make the whole system more efficient. Lets face it, overclocking is an option, for not spending extra money, and making an artificial "upgrade" to the system.
Suppose one guy has an AMD duron 600MHz or 800MHz. Imagine now he lives in a place where temperatures are:
winter: 0 to 10, C°
summer: 30 to 40, C°
Without spending extra money, he could overclock his system in winter and dont need even a new FAN. Then in summer, overclock finishes...
In other cases, and overclock is too, very good. For example suppose you are going to be in vacations nex week. Why then dont overclock to run games more smoothly?.
These are only some examples, on how can you use an overclock, in an inteligent way.

For example, me. Some 6 months ago, i knew very little about overclocking. But now, i know some very interesting concepts on how it works, and how to make it work. I had to read? Yes. I had to ask? Of course. People was willing to help me? Yep.
I think overclocking is good option you got. And if someone ask´s some question about initiation in overcloking, it should be answered.
Of course if this is an administrative decision, moderators can let me know, and i would have no problems in talking about other issues, and not about overclock.

[jabarnutcase]

dquepal
Sorry, I know my link above was a bit cruel-(All in fun).
Seriously though, I just never saw the point. With todays processors, I don't even think you would notice the difference. I would rather go with more memory or a new video card...(which I have)and actually SEE the difference, than to play around and risk frying my cpu or creating other related havoc, for a small boost in peformance.
Then, when the time is right- I'll just go for the "latest and greatest" motherboard and cpu. And run it at the speed it was intended.
For now, my 1GIG Athlon suits me just fine. (Guess I'm just old fasion) :)
Again, good luck...And don't take my little joke above to seriously. (Well, maybe you should). ;)
Only my humble, worthless, opinion...:D