Voltage change for overclocking burned my PC. I don't understand.?

Question

I did some system tunning using nTune for my desktop com. Then I noticed that it did not change the raw settings for the system like BIOS. Computer restarts just fine so far. I entered BIOS to overclock the system and I only changed the voltage by 0.2+ (CPU, SATA, PCI-E) It only had three options: 0.1+, 0.2+, 0.3+. I never thought that this kind of change would be much at all because I previously overclocked 680i motherboard with no problem. When the Vista Ultimate rebooted, some loud spark was caused. I saw blue lightningin side the casing becase I had it open then. The blue lightning was right below the dvd driver where nothing was mounted. I don't find burn marks but some burning smell. I don't understand why the little voltage change could cause this kind of eletric sparks. or was it a big change? (0.2+ v). Did it burn my whole computer or is it just the motherboard or the power supplier. Does anyone know something like this? Ga-8n-sli(gigabyte), 4g 667ram, pentiumD, geforce7800gt

Answer 1

Overvolting within the capabilities of the motherboard and the power supply is typically not dangerous as long as you provide adequate COOLING. Cooling is the key to great overclocks.

The dangerous DARK SIDE of overclocking is VOLT MODDING. Many have fried their processor, smoked their PSU or toasted parts of the motherboard while on the dark side.

In your "flying sparks" experience, it seems to me that there was an electrical anomaly. Only a short on the +12V circuit would most likely do it. The ATX connector of your motherboard is located below your DVD drive. The short may have been in that area.

Your PSU may have been overloaded or the ATX connector was not tightly connected. Some pins may have overheated and melted the insulation, then possibly the short circuit.

A good PSU would just shutdown immediately when overloaded (such as during a short circuit). Apparently your PSU failed to do that, causing the damage.

It is really wise to invest in a good PSU whenever you build an expensive system.

Answer 2

Overclocking used to be a credible, if not always safe, way of speeding up a machine. It no longer is; a faster processor will simply spend more cycles idling waiting for memory access. Also, the power consumption increases dramatically with increased speed, and cooling is a serious problem even at design speeds. With luck, you may have burned up something cheaper to replace than a CPU. Bottom line: do not mess with CPU speeds or voltage settings; the odds are very good that you will be sorry.

Answer 3

Use the asus AI boost, let it decide for you the OC, use the "gear shifter" in the software, dont start overclocking without good cooling! Use the PC PROBE of asus to monitor the temps in C. if you see anything more than 60C, lower the FSB

Answer 4

Transistors and chips amplify voltage changes, 'don't understand' don't do. I used to take everything apart as a kid now I understand why not to.

Answer 5

messing with voltages is a bad idea unless u know what ur doing ..

Answer 6

With circuits getting smaller on CPUs, slight overvoltages are becoming more critical. If it happened right away, idk. But if it took a while, cooling was insufficient.