Overclocking

[Guest blazingcessna]

Can someone please explain this to an old hardware nerd? I have been trying to understand all the stuff over at OCforums, but that stuff seems to be written for thse with some experience manipulating that BIOS. I need an "Overclocking for Dummies" thread. Can anyone explain this so even I can understand it?

[Guest D17S]

Start with the Front side buss. Both the CPU and the ram are driven by the FSB's speed and a (FSB speed) multiplier. Intel generally locks the CPU's (FSB speed) multiplier, so one must increase the actual FSB's speed to make the CPU go faster. For instance, Intel will hard-set the Q9550 to tell the mobo to run its FSB at 333Mhz. Intel will then (also) hard-set the Q9550's multiplier to 8.5X. So, when you drop it in to a mobo's CPU socket a Q9550 will run at 333 x 8.5 = 2.83Ghz. (Note: To find the real FSB number, divide the advertised FSB by 4. Also the difference between a $200 CPU and a $1000 can be simply the multiplier Intel hard-sets into the CPU. ThaT's iT. Will someone please sue these people!) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115041The CPU's multiplier is locked, but the FSB is not. If you want the CPU to go faster, turn up the FSB. So far so good?

[Sharrow 0]

Can someone please explain this to an old hardware nerd? I have been trying to understand all the stuff over at OCforums, but that stuff seems to be written for thse with some experience manipulating that BIOS. I need an "Overclocking for Dummies" thread. Can anyone explain this so even I can understand it?

I suggest you make yourself a cup of coffee and start with this: http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html. Pick the one applicable to you (XP or Vista), download the PDF and give it a read all the way through. There is an introductory overclocking section as well which is well worth a read - you'll notice that it is towards the end - and for very good reason! Unless you have taken steps to both understand and then optimise your OS (trim the fat, tuck in all the corners etc) then overclocking is not going to be a pleasant experience for you. Once you have read this THEN decide where YOU feel comfortable going next.EDIT: Even though the above is a free guide for all to use please consider a small donation (or getting the deluxe version) if you find the guide helpful. The amount of work which goes into these types of guides is phenomenal! Thanks guys (and girls!)Konrad

[Guest blazingcessna]

Start with the Front side buss. Both the CPU and the ram are driven by the FSB's speed and a (FSB speed) multiplier. Intel generally locks the CPU's (FSB speed) multiplier, so one must increase the actual FSB's speed to make the CPU go faster. For instance, Intel will hard-set the Q9550 to tell the mobo to run its FSB at 333Mhz. Intel will then (also) hard-set the Q9550's multiplier to 8.5X. So, when you drop it in to a mobo's CPU socket a Q9550 will run at 333 x 8.5 = 2.83Ghz. (Note: To find the real FSB number, divide the advertised FSB by 4. Also the difference between a $200 CPU and a $1000 can be simply the multiplier Intel hard-sets into the CPU. ThaT's iT. Will someone please sue these people!) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115041The CPU's multiplier is locked, but the FSB is not. If you want the CPU to go faster, turn up the FSB. So far so good?

So the first thing to look at is the FSB. Is that the same thing as the Northbridge?

[Guest D17S]

The FSB is like the main road with lots of on and off ramps. The northbridge is like an interchange. It connects several other busses (roads) onto the main drag. I believe the FSB speed is actually created by a clock generator, somewhere. Look in there and see if you can see something vibrating . . . really fast! (in other words, not really sure where the clock speed is actually generated) The new i7 eliminated this remote interchange. The northbridge is gone. Now all the other (main) busses hook directly up to the CPU. It's called "QuickPath." It really didn't help anything cuz the ol' northbridge was doing just fine. We'll need this super-dooper QP tech someday, just not today.

[Guest JimBrown]

The new i7 eliminated this remote interchange. The northbridge is gone. Now all the other (main) busses hook directly up to the CPU. It's called "QuickPath."

Not quite right.The Northbridge is still there. Provides the connection between the CPU and the PCI and other subsystems. What was removed from the Northbridge was the connection between the CPU and memory. The CPU now has a direct connection to memory via the QPI (QuickPath Interconnect) which resides on the CPU....jim

[scott967 62]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.as...p;enterthread=ydecent OC guide.scott s..