how do you overclock a processor?

Answer 1

You might consider what processor you have to begin with if you have something like a Celeron then a simple upgrade to a Pentium would give you a very marked increase in performance even if the two chips are the same speed since the L2 cache as well as other components on Celerons might as well be crippled. More ram or a faster hard drive may also speed you up noticeably. Follow any advice below at your own risk.
Overclocking is done in several different ways depending on the equipment you have to work with. first of all you must have a motherboard that allows for the adjustments usually a after market board. The over clocking is done by changing the Processors multiplier or the FSB (front side bus) speed. Amd is capable of multiplier changes for the most part but Intel chips have the Multiplier locked.
In the case of a intel chip you would need to change the FSB. Say you have 2.26 (2260mhz)P4 it runs stock at 133mhz with a multiplier of x17. So to reach 2.6ghz (2600mhz)you would need to raise the bus speed to 153 (153 x 17=2601).you usually cannot raise the fsb to more Than 200mhz sometimes less depending on your motherboard. Keep in mind that the system may not run stable at the higher speed resulting in crashes and or errors. Some of which could be fixed by raising the voltage being supplied to the chip. This will however create more heat which is another limiting factor in overclocking.
Some might say that 15% isn’t noticeable but look at it this way in this example you are getting an extra 340 calculations per clock cycle. You wont notice if your browsing the web but you will when your dvd recoding finishes a full 7 minutes faster .
This is such a complex endeavor that I recommend you read up before trying as you can cause Permanent damage to your system. I haven’t burned a chip yet but never say never.
My advice is unless you have a backup system don’t risk it. but if can risk the system and your looking for some fun have at it
Try reading this then google for more info.
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1804

Answer 2

Usually by increasing the speed of the Front Side Bus (FSB).

Note that most Intel processors have protection against overclocking, making it difficult. Also, you need to take into account the excess heat overclocking inevitably generates.

Answer 3

provided that the BIOS help the coolest factors you like for overclocking, like being waiting to alter cpu voltage clock speeds, FSB,s etc.. The i5 is is stable overclocker and could pass as much as 4Ghz with a stable motherboard. a super style of the waiting built structures like HP do no longer enable you to to try this in BIOS regrettably. The later i5's have a characteristic suggested as rapid develop which clocks the CPU up without delay to approximately 3.2Ghz while it desires it on the fly.

Answer 4

This would depend on the model of your motherboard. If it's an older one, you may have to fiddle around with physical "jumpers" or switches. For that, you HAVE to follow your owner's manual to make sure you don't fry your CPU.

If it's a newer one, you have to go in BIOS (usually by pressing DEL, ESC or F1 at boot) and then look under Performance or Advanced. Make sure you go in small steps - 5%, 8%, 10%, etc and restart the system every time to check stability. Once you find a spot where it's unstable, lower back a notch and you're golden.

Make sure you monitor system temperatures (get Motherboard Monitor, or CPU-Z). You might have to upgrade your stock fan to keep your CPU cool.

My advice - don't do it. A 10-15% isn't worth the risk of having to shell out another $100-200. Most of the time, your processor is the least important part for performance. Look at things like getting faster RAM and upgrading your hard drive to 7200RPM at least with 16MB cache. Then you will see performance increase.

Answer 5

EASY! Just read this first:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/newbie-oc-guide.html

Core2 Duo processors are overclocker friendly. 50% overclock at stock voltages is easy. 100% overclocks have been attained on enthusiast motherboards and with high performance RAM. Overclocking is very SAFE at stock voltages and with good cooling and case ventilation.

Answer 6

Digital blade is 100% correct. I heartily concur! It is better to disable all the junk on your computer than to get minimal results using overclocking. Some procs will give you good results, but you have to worry abou heat, memory latency, power supply and you void your warranty. You have to double virtual speed to even get a noticible difference and overclocking most chips wont give you results that are justified.

Answer 7

The two basic ways are to change the clock multiplier, and the FSB,(Front Side Bus). I would advise against it unless you really don't need this computer, and would like to experiment. If so, may I suggest Sysopt.com, has articles on overclocking, also Extremetech.com, Tomshardware.com,(OCZ forum), Hardwaresecrets.com,Majorgeeks.com, to name a few.

Answer 8

Got to agree - don't mess around with it - unless you have a box that you can experiment on.

Answer 9

http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-3370-3A0BA3FD-3A1AD81E-prod6