Overclocking Question

[rcrevolution]

Ok , i overclocked my amd 64 3400+ from 2.210Ghz to 2.258Ghz. I dont know if I am paraniod or what but my pc seemed to get a 20% speed increase my folders open up quicker and I got 7 extra FPS in CSS. now I have left my pc running for 2 hours at 2.258Ghz and the temp is still at 42C constantly, and nothing seems to be going wrong.

the question is this, am i safe at 2.258Ghz? it is .048Ghz faster thats it

[oenone]

Ok , i overclocked my amd 64 3400+ from 2.210Ghz to 2.258Ghz. I dont know if I am paraniod or what but my pc seemed to get a 20% speed increase my folders open up quicker and I got 7 extra FPS in CSS. now I have left my pc running for 2 hours at 2.258Ghz and the temp is still at 42C constantly, and nothing seems to be going wrong.

the question is this, am i safe at 2.258Ghz? it is .048Ghz faster thats it

Personally, I think that overclocking a brand new system is silly if your only going to use it for gaming, but maybe thats just me. The overclock you performed was only 48mhz, which is pretty small by todays standards. You probably don't need to expect a big meltdown, though any overclock presents a risk. The chip was designed to run at at the speed they clock it at. Any more than that and youare risking the chip. If you computer is running at more than stock speeds it is never safe, though with such a small overclock the main thing you have to worry about is that your chip will die faster due to the extra load on it.

[rcrevolution]

what is clock spread spectrum? and does it affect my performance?

[szukalski]

48MHz is barely an overclock (2.258/2.210=1.02, a 2% oc), not sure how you got that 20% speed increase.
I wouldn't worry much about being "safe" at this minor oc.
As long as your voltages are at stock, you should be fairly safe oc'ing to what you can, provided you have adequate airflow/cooling.
IF you overclock, you are gambling with your equipment. Luckily, it's not casino odds, more like, what do you feel comfortable running at.
When you say you left your pc running for 2hrs, was this testing?
I recommend using something like Prime95 to test the stability of your system. Let it run for a few hrs, or 12, and monitor your system temp to make sure nothing's going wayward. It will yield errors and stop if your system isn't stable.
A good program to test how hot your cpu will get is StressCPU, which uses a lot of cpu calculations and heats it up good and proper in a matter of minutes, giving a good indication of what CPU temperature to expect under load.
I also come from the school that says "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". ie. if you don't need the power, don't play the BIOS.
However... that was BEFORE I started playing with my BIOS and got addicted in this power struggle. (I bet it's god syndrome).

[rogue-monkey]

Aye, you're probably right concerning the odds that his computer will crash. I also agree that I don't know how you were able to get such huge speed increases from a 48 mhz overclock. Was it 7 fps faster in the video stress test, or just normal gaming.

[rcrevolution]

it was just game the game ran smother, but what is clock spread spectrum?

[szukalski]

When the motherboard's clock generator pulses, the extreme values (spikes) of the pulses creates EMI (Electromagnetic Interference). The Spead Spectrum function reduces the EMI generated by modulating the pulses so that the spikes of the pulses are reduced to flatter curves. It does so by varying the frequency so that it doesn't use any particular frequency for more than a moment. This reduces interference problems with other electronics in the area.

However, while enabling Spread Spectrum decreases EMI, system stability and performance may be slightly compromised. This may be especially true with timing-critical devices like clock-sensitive SCSI devices.

Some BIOSes offer a Smart Clock option. Instead of modulating the frequency of the pulses over time, Smart Clock turns off the AGP, PCI and SDRAM clock signals when not in use. Thus, EMI can be reduced without compromising system stability. As a bonus, using Smart Clock can also help reduce power consumption.

If you do not have any EMI problem, leave the setting at Disabled for optimal system stability and performance. But if you are plagued by EMI, use the Smart Clock setting if possible and settle for Enabled or one of the two other values if Smart Clock is not available. The percentage values denote the amount of jitter (variation) that the BIOS performs on the clock frequency. So, a lower value (0.25%) is comparatively better for system stability while a higher value (0.5%) is better for EMI reduction. Remember to disable Spread Spectrum if you are overclocking because even a 0.25% jitter can introduce a temporary boost in clockspeed of 25MHz (with a 1GHz CPU) which may just cause your overclocked processor to lock up. Or at least use the Smart Clock setting as that doesn't involve any modulation of the frequency.

This was found through the search function here .

[Shadowgrip]

I've got a 64 3400+ newcastle I just got Friday, and I have it oc'd to 2.69, granted I have an xp-120 and a thermaltake 120 mm fan on it, but as this is my first oc attempt, i'm chalking it up to a success, and I say, what better time than when the components are new than to overclock? I only say this b.c I got it on a credit card that covers it for 90 days agains accidental damage, so if i do fry it, they will buy me a new one, and i'll know not to run it that high. lol

[szukalski]

Shadowgrip, what volts are you running through your cpu?
What board, ram? Is it prime95 stable?
Just curious.. do you know the week of manufacture of the cpu?

[Catweazle]

Personally, I think that overclocking a brand new system is silly if your only going to use it for gaming, but maybe thats just me.

Considering 3D games are about the most taxing task you can put your PC to work at, just what use WOULD you consider to be a worthwhile one to overclock for?

[szukalski]

Don't be silly. You don't NEED an excuse to overclock.
It's about fun and education. (and e-penis).

[Catweazle]

The question being asked in this topic is related to whether or not the overclock is 'Safe'. No overclock is 'Safe'. Only running equipment at factory specifications is 'Safe'.

Overclock for fun, education and e-penis by all means, if that's what you want to do. But don't kid yourself that it's 'Safe'. If you can't afford to replace it, then leave it at stock settings and don't take risks ;)


Edit: Don't think I'm some old 'wowser' either. I have more than one overclocked system here, and it wouldn't inconvenience me at all if a component in one of them gave up the ghost right this minute!

[szukalski]

My post was a bit tongue-in-cheek.
I don't think you're an old wowser, anyone with Monty in their avatar gets instant respect from me.

[Shadowgrip]

my core voltage is 1.70 and the ram is still at 2.8, i've ran prime for 4 hours and been stable, i keep forgetting to run it when i leave, and my fiancee won't let me run it all night ;) so, it's only ran for 4 hrs but it was stable then. I had it at 2.73 GHz, but it crashed during UT2K3 and failed prime instantly. lol. I currently just play UT2K3, but I'm hoping to get HL2 soon.

[szukalski]

Sounding good Shadow, that's pretty good results from a 3400+. I can only get mine stable just past 2.6GHz but it will do it at 1.55v so that's a consolation. I can boot it higher, but only at 1.6-1.7v and then it gets too hot for my thresholds of comfortability once I start priming it. Your ram might need anymore voltage, just depends on the chips' sweetspot. You'll like hl2, but it may not like your overclock! That game is one of the best oc test programs out there.. ;)

[Ignite]

Thats not even a big jump...so i dont know what your bragging about. But nice comp