What should i be concerned about if i choose to over clock my processor?

Question

My Processor is:
Intel Pentium 4 @ 2.93 GHz. Codename: "Prescott"
It does have EM64T
FSB: 533.3 MHz
Bus Speed: 133.3 MHz

Answer 1

Possibly frying it.

Consider the pros & cons .... do you really need to ?
or
Are you just bored & want to experiment ?

You won't get any overly dramatic increase in performance from overclocking that CPU ....

regards,
Philip T

Answer 2

What you should be able to concern about is the heating. When you over clock any componnet in the computer, it will push it beyond the recommendations. If the CPU is not properly heated, let's just say it will be crispy critter. To find the right cooling, go to newegg.com, where you buy colling hardware for CPU. I also heard that pentiums won't even overclock because Intel set it at certain way. AMDs are better for clocking. Try liquid cooling because it will become your entire your system cool if you don't mind paying a big chunk of money. Check the airflow too as well for airflow so it won't overheat.

Answer 3

Over clocking normally voids the warranty and also reduces the life of the hardware, because over-clocking is done by a slight increase of core voltage resulting in a increased performed but comes with over-heating problems, therefore you must make sure that you have a good airy-type casing and fan is running good.

You seem to have a sufficiently powerful CPU, I don't suggest doing it, but still you want to join queue of over clockers, then I suggest looking at:

http://www.overclockers.com/
http://www.karbosguide.com/hardware/module3d1.htm

The first web-site is dedicated to over clocking.

Hope that helps!

Answer 4

First of all, heat. Make sure your CPU fan is in good working order, you may need to upgrade to a Zalman after market fan. Also, stability could be an issue. Some of it depends upon your motherboard. There are many website devoted to overclocking and the pros and cons.

Answer 5

heat as well as stability,many processors that were great become very unstable when over clocked,my opinion is is it worth it for the little extra you can safely squeeze from them ? just upgrade to a faster processor and get a good quality heatsink and fan for the new one,dont waste time and expense with over clocking,if you fry the processor you will have to buy a new one anyway plus will have downtime getting it sorted.
good luck

Answer 6

HEAT !!!

I don't think overclocking it will really help you. At least not in any way that you are really going to "see".
Your processor is fine, and the FSB is quite reasonable, but the bus speed of 133MHz is really the bottleneck.
If I were you, I'd be more concerned with keeping my PC tuned up so that it operates efficiently. Here are some tips to help tune up your PC.

A major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive.
You need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.

One way is to use the defragment utility built into Windows XP. It is slow but does the job rather well. Go to:
Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and then click on System Defrag to run the tool. It may take several hours, so let it run overnight or simply walk away from your PC for a few hours.

A great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to http://www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the Editor and User reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.

Another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background. Here's another really good Microsoft tool. It’s called Autoruns and it was written by SysInternals who were recently bought up by Microsoft.

Before you download the program create a folder under program files called Autoruns. Leave Windows Explore open.

Launch Internet Explored and go to the following Microsoft web page.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/autoruns.mspx

Go to the bottom of the page and download the Autoruns program. After it downloads open the file. It is a Zip file. Unzip the file and you will see 4 files. Drag and drop those 4 files to the Autoruns folder you created under Program Files.

Once you have the 4 files in the C:\Program Files\Autoruns folder you can double click on the file titled “autoruns”.

This will bring up a window with several tabs at the top. Click on the “Logon” tab. It will list the programs that are running on your PC and eating up resources. Look them over carefully and turn off any that don’t absolutely have to be running. Simply click on the “check mark” in the little box beside the program name. Clicking on it will remove the check mark. Once you have edited the Startup list, click on Apply and then on OK.
NOTE: Leave items that show Windows; System 32; Program Files; etc. alone. Shutting them off may cause some things not to work.

Once you have exited the window, reboot your PC for the settings to take effect.

WARNING: Don’t go into the other tabs and start deleting things. You will probably give yourself major headaches if you do that. Stay focused on the “Logon” List only.

Another good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM XP Pro. It is free and is available from http://www.download.com This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time. I think you may be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also. Then just click “Minimize” and then “To System Tray” to return to the Task Bar.

What happens when you run out of or run real low on RAM is that the OS recognizes the low or no RAM situation and starts using a section of your hard drive as memory. This is called virtual memory, or a swap file. The PC is constantly writing and reading from your HD. Comparitively, it is a very slow process. Check your motherboard manual and determine how much RAM each slot can hold. It will also tell you what type of RAM you need. You can also go to http://www.crucial.com or http://www.4allmemory.com and run their analysis utility to determine what kind and how much RAM is installed in your PC. Depend on your MoBo manual to determine the RAM limits of each slot though.

Hope this helps

Answer 7

Heat

Answer 8

Your waranty is the first thing trhat comes to mind, followed closely by overheating.

I know everyone does it at some point or another, but I'll never understand why.

Answer 9

It will void any warranty you have. Something to thing about.

Answer 10

go for it !! infact most newer motherboards have a utility then will help you with it!!!!!!