Overclocking for the novice (ish)

I built a Vista media centre PC with the following components

SAMSUNG SH-S182M LIGHTSCRIBE DVD-WRITER
INTEL PENTIUM D PROCESSOR 915 2.8Ghz
SAMSUNG 205BW 20.1" TFT MONITOR
LOGITEC CORDLESS DESKTOP/MOUSE EX110
ANTEC TRUEPOWER TRIO 550W ACTIVE PFC
SAMSUNG SPINPOINT P120S 250Gb HARD DRIVE
INNO3d NVIDIA GEFORCE 7300GS GRAPHICS CARD (256Mb)
GEIL DDR2 ULTRA DUAL-CHANNEL PC6400 800MHz SYSTEM MEMORY (2x1Gb)
ANTEC NINE HUNDRED ATX PC CASE
ASUS P5W DH DELUXE DIGITAL HOME ATX MOTHERBOARD
PINNACLE PCTV DBV-T PRO TV TUNER

Im not interested in spending hours fine tweaking clock speeds and
voltages but am wondering whether there are a few relatively simple
overclocking tweaks I can apply for some worthwhile performance gains?
Any advice appreciated.

By the way, POST reports my memory as DDR2-PC5300. If I change the
BIOS overclock setting (currently auto) to manual and set the memory
to DDR2-800 (which subsequently POST reports DDR2-PC6400) do I get
faster memory performance?

Thanks

M wrote:
I built a Vista media centre PC with the following components

SAMSUNG SH-S182M LIGHTSCRIBE DVD-WRITER
INTEL PENTIUM D PROCESSOR 915 2.8Ghz
SAMSUNG 205BW 20.1" TFT MONITOR
LOGITEC CORDLESS DESKTOP/MOUSE EX110
ANTEC TRUEPOWER TRIO 550W ACTIVE PFC
SAMSUNG SPINPOINT P120S 250Gb HARD DRIVE
INNO3d NVIDIA GEFORCE 7300GS GRAPHICS CARD (256Mb)
GEIL DDR2 ULTRA DUAL-CHANNEL PC6400 800MHz SYSTEM MEMORY (2x1Gb)
ANTEC NINE HUNDRED ATX PC CASE
ASUS P5W DH DELUXE DIGITAL HOME ATX MOTHERBOARD
PINNACLE PCTV DBV-T PRO TV TUNER

Im not interested in spending hours fine tweaking clock speeds and
voltages but am wondering whether there are a few relatively simple
overclocking tweaks I can apply for some worthwhile performance gains?
Any advice appreciated.

By the way, POST reports my memory as DDR2-PC5300. If I change the
BIOS overclock setting (currently auto) to manual and set the memory
to DDR2-800 (which subsequently POST reports DDR2-PC6400) do I get
faster memory performance?

Thanks

Try SuperPI and calculate PI to 1 million digits. Try with your
memory at DDR2-533 and at DDR2-800, and use SuperPI in each
case. Then you'll know how much of a difference it makes.

http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/super_pi_mod-1.5.zip

According to the CPUSupport page, your board will take an E8400
45nm processor. To use one, you'd need to upgrade the BIOS version,
using your existing processor. Then install the E8400. It runs
at 3GHz, and is more than 50% faster than your current processor
(New processor has a higher IPC.) No overclocking needed, and
runs cool. Supply is currently limited, so you'll have to wait a
few months before the supply is plentiful. When they first came
out, the best price was $205. (Intel's price, in quantity 1000,
is $183. So the $240 they are currently asking for them, is a
bit on the rich side.)

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...%20DH%20Deluxe

You'll get much more improvement, from changing processor core
frequency, or architecture, than by fiddling with the RAM. But
that is why you're going to run SuperPI, to find out.

The only reason I recommend an upgrade, is because you said
"not interested in spending hours fine tweaking clock speeds".

Paul

'M' wrote, in part:
| I built a Vista media centre PC with the following components
|
..
..
|
| Im not interested in spending hours fine tweaking clock speeds and
| voltages but am wondering whether there are a few relatively simple
| overclocking tweaks I can apply for some worthwhile performance gains?
| Any advice appreciated.
|
| By the way, POST reports my memory as DDR2-PC5300. If I change the
| BIOS overclock setting (currently auto) to manual and set the memory
| to DDR2-800 (which subsequently POST reports DDR2-PC6400) do I get
| faster memory performance?
_____

*****The short answer to your question

Just looking at the list of components in your system, I'd guess that you
shouldn't bother with overclocking your system. It seems to be set up as a
home entertainment system, and is perhaps used for email, word processing,
web surfing, etc. Quiet operation is likely important to you. One of the
trade-offs in overclocking a CPU is to improve cooling so that the CPU runs
at a lower temperature than found in non-overclocked systems. That usually
(but not always) means more ventilation by fans, and thus more noise.

*****A reasonable suggestion

Since your motherboard is Intel Core 2 Duo compatible, an inexpensive E4400
CPU (~$130 US) can be installed in your current system and overclocked ~ 50%
with absolute ease. Very likely with no CPU voltage increase and no
additional cooling. The E4400 (stock 2.0 GHz) overclocked 50% to 3.0 GHz
will perform as much as 2.5 time the work in the same amount of time as your
current Intel Pentium D 915.

*****Some more detailed suggestions

1. All caps are hard to read, even in a list for equipment.
2. Since you don't give any idea what you run on the system it is hard to
tell whether you would get a 'worthwhile performance gain." For example,
for word processing, email, and web surfing; you would hardly NOTICE any
gain, no matter how much.
3. My guess is that your memory is reported as PC5300 (DDR2-667) because
your system is old enough that at the time the motherboard (and BIOS) were
manufactured, there was as yet no standard for DDR2 RAM faster than PC5300.
A BIOS update might change the memory report, but that is likely just a
cosmetic improvement, and certainly not worth the effort (and risk.)
4. Could changing the memory speed in the BIOS setup to DDR2-800 give you
faster memory performance? Depends. What does your motherboard manual say
that change does? At any rate, the speed increase may not be noticeable
(see #2.)
5. Will the possible improvement (given the constraints you list) bring the
performance of your system up to that of even the least expensive Intel Core
2 Duo E4300 (~$135 US) @ 1.8 GHz? No.

*****Advice on using Usenet newsgroups.

This newsgroup is full of simple directions for overclocking; even
step-by-step procedures. If your newsgroup server does not have good
retention of newsgroups, then follow up your post with a description of how
you use your system and I will be glad to reply with the contents of some
prior relevant posts in this newsgroup.

I see that you are using 'Google Groups' to access this Usenet newsgroup
(one of more than 35,000 Usenet Newsgroups.) 'Google Groups' is not the
best way to post to and read Usenet newsgroups. Outlook Express can
function as a newsgroup, and most ISPs provide a newsgroup server that
carries the majority of Usenet newsgroups. 'Google Newsgroups' is best used
to search the archives Google maintains of Usenet newsgroup posts over the
last ten years or more. Many of the various 'forum' type websites are
mainly composed of posts harvested from Usenet newsgroups. One advantage of
Usenet newsgroups, especially a long existing newsgroup like
alt.comp.hardware.overclocking, is a 'peer review' effect. There are many
knowledgeable posters who have been participants for years and who offer
corrections when erroneous (or debatable) information is posted. A second
advantage is the generally civil tone.

Phil Weldon

"M" wrote in message
...
|I built a Vista media centre PC with the following components
|
| SAMSUNG SH-S182M LIGHTSCRIBE DVD-WRITER
| INTEL PENTIUM D PROCESSOR 915 2.8Ghz
| SAMSUNG 205BW 20.1" TFT MONITOR
| LOGITEC CORDLESS DESKTOP/MOUSE EX110
| ANTEC TRUEPOWER TRIO 550W ACTIVE PFC
| SAMSUNG SPINPOINT P120S 250Gb HARD DRIVE
| INNO3d NVIDIA GEFORCE 7300GS GRAPHICS CARD (256Mb)
| GEIL DDR2 ULTRA DUAL-CHANNEL PC6400 800MHz SYSTEM MEMORY (2x1Gb)
| ANTEC NINE HUNDRED ATX PC CASE
| ASUS P5W DH DELUXE DIGITAL HOME ATX MOTHERBOARD
| PINNACLE PCTV DBV-T PRO TV TUNER
|
| Im not interested in spending hours fine tweaking clock speeds and
| voltages but am wondering whether there are a few relatively simple
| overclocking tweaks I can apply for some worthwhile performance gains?
| Any advice appreciated.
|
| By the way, POST reports my memory as DDR2-PC5300. If I change the
| BIOS overclock setting (currently auto) to manual and set the memory
| to DDR2-800 (which subsequently POST reports DDR2-PC6400) do I get
| faster memory performance?
|
| Thanks

'Paul' wrote, in part:
| According to the CPUSupport page, your board will take an E8400
| 45nm processor. To use one, you'd need to upgrade the BIOS version,
| using your existing processor. Then install the E8400. It runs
| at 3GHz, and is more than 50% faster than your current processor
| (New processor has a higher IPC.) No overclocking needed, and
| runs cool. Supply is currently limited, so you'll have to wait a
| few months before the supply is plentiful. When they first came
| out, the best price was $205. (Intel's price, in quantity 1000,
| is $183. So the $240 they are currently asking for them, is a
| bit on the rich side.)
_____
The 'Penryn' E8400 is a 1333 MHz FSB CPU so the ASUS P5W DH has a max FSB
support of 1066 MHz and doesn't really support it.

The 1333 MHz FSB 'Penryn' E8400 could be a problem for the 1066 MHz FSB max
ASUS P5W DH, and of course, overclocking would be out of the question. It
would not make much sense to purchase a new CPU just to avoid overclocking
the CPU when overclocking the motherboard would be necessary just to run
the CPU at stock.

Phil Weldon

"Paul" wrote in message ...
|M wrote:
| I built a Vista media centre PC with the following components
|
| SAMSUNG SH-S182M LIGHTSCRIBE DVD-WRITER
| INTEL PENTIUM D PROCESSOR 915 2.8Ghz
| SAMSUNG 205BW 20.1" TFT MONITOR
| LOGITEC CORDLESS DESKTOP/MOUSE EX110
| ANTEC TRUEPOWER TRIO 550W ACTIVE PFC
| SAMSUNG SPINPOINT P120S 250Gb HARD DRIVE
| INNO3d NVIDIA GEFORCE 7300GS GRAPHICS CARD (256Mb)
| GEIL DDR2 ULTRA DUAL-CHANNEL PC6400 800MHz SYSTEM MEMORY (2x1Gb)
| ANTEC NINE HUNDRED ATX PC CASE
| ASUS P5W DH DELUXE DIGITAL HOME ATX MOTHERBOARD
| PINNACLE PCTV DBV-T PRO TV TUNER
|
| Im not interested in spending hours fine tweaking clock speeds and
| voltages but am wondering whether there are a few relatively simple
| overclocking tweaks I can apply for some worthwhile performance gains?
| Any advice appreciated.
|
| By the way, POST reports my memory as DDR2-PC5300. If I change the
| BIOS overclock setting (currently auto) to manual and set the memory
| to DDR2-800 (which subsequently POST reports DDR2-PC6400) do I get
| faster memory performance?
|
| Thanks
|
| Try SuperPI and calculate PI to 1 million digits. Try with your
| memory at DDR2-533 and at DDR2-800, and use SuperPI in each
| case. Then you'll know how much of a difference it makes.
|
| http://www.xtremesystems.com/pi/super_pi_mod-1.5.zip
|
| According to the CPUSupport page, your board will take an E8400
| 45nm processor. To use one, you'd need to upgrade the BIOS version,
| using your existing processor. Then install the E8400. It runs
| at 3GHz, and is more than 50% faster than your current processor
| (New processor has a higher IPC.) No overclocking needed, and
| runs cool. Supply is currently limited, so you'll have to wait a
| few months before the supply is plentiful. When they first came
| out, the best price was $205. (Intel's price, in quantity 1000,
| is $183. So the $240 they are currently asking for them, is a
| bit on the rich side.)
|
|
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...%20DH%20Deluxe
|
| You'll get much more improvement, from changing processor core
| frequency, or architecture, than by fiddling with the RAM. But
| that is why you're going to run SuperPI, to find out.
|
| The only reason I recommend an upgrade, is because you said
| "not interested in spending hours fine tweaking clock speeds".
|
| Paul

Phil Weldon wrote:
'Paul' wrote, in part:
| According to the CPUSupport page, your board will take an E8400
| 45nm processor. To use one, you'd need to upgrade the BIOS version,
| using your existing processor. Then install the E8400. It runs
| at 3GHz, and is more than 50% faster than your current processor
| (New processor has a higher IPC.) No overclocking needed, and
| runs cool. Supply is currently limited, so you'll have to wait a
| few months before the supply is plentiful. When they first came
| out, the best price was $205. (Intel's price, in quantity 1000,
| is $183. So the $240 they are currently asking for them, is a
| bit on the rich side.)
_____
The 'Penryn' E8400 is a 1333 MHz FSB CPU so the ASUS P5W DH has a max FSB
support of 1066 MHz and doesn't really support it.

The 1333 MHz FSB 'Penryn' E8400 could be a problem for the 1066 MHz FSB max
ASUS P5W DH, and of course, overclocking would be out of the question. It
would not make much sense to purchase a new CPU just to avoid overclocking
the CPU when overclocking the motherboard would be necessary just to run
the CPU at stock.

Phil Weldon


It is listed in the support list here, so should work at stock FSB1333.
I didn't say it was a "good plan", just a "plan" :-)

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...%20DH%20Deluxe

Paul

'Paul' wrote:
| It is listed in the support list here, so should work at stock FSB1333.
| I didn't say it was a "good plan", just a "plan" :-)
_____

Be that as it may, the Intel 975X chipset was not designed for 1333 MHz FSB
operation, and neither was the ASUS P5W DH motherboard. New Intel chipsets
and nVidia 600 and 700 series chipsets are, as are some newer ASUS
motherboards.

Phil Weldon

"Paul" wrote in message ...
| Phil Weldon wrote:
| 'Paul' wrote, in part:
| | According to the CPUSupport page, your board will take an E8400
| | 45nm processor. To use one, you'd need to upgrade the BIOS version,
| | using your existing processor. Then install the E8400. It runs
| | at 3GHz, and is more than 50% faster than your current processor
| | (New processor has a higher IPC.) No overclocking needed, and
| | runs cool. Supply is currently limited, so you'll have to wait a
| | few months before the supply is plentiful. When they first came
| | out, the best price was $205. (Intel's price, in quantity 1000,
| | is $183. So the $240 they are currently asking for them, is a
| | bit on the rich side.)
| _____
| The 'Penryn' E8400 is a 1333 MHz FSB CPU so the ASUS P5W DH has a max
FSB
| support of 1066 MHz and doesn't really support it.
|
| The 1333 MHz FSB 'Penryn' E8400 could be a problem for the 1066 MHz FSB
max
| ASUS P5W DH, and of course, overclocking would be out of the question.
It
| would not make much sense to purchase a new CPU just to avoid
overclocking
| the CPU when overclocking the motherboard would be necessary just to
run
| the CPU at stock.
|
| Phil Weldon
|
|
| It is listed in the support list here, so should work at stock FSB1333.
| I didn't say it was a "good plan", just a "plan" :-)
|
|
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...%20DH%20Deluxe
|
| Paul

'RobV' wrote:
| Well, my P5B-Plus with 965 Express chipset runs perfectly stable at 1333
| MHz FSB with my E6600, giving an overclock to 3 GHz. The box advertises
| "Effort Free FSB 1333, supporting future processor upgrade".
|
| Just as the P5W DH supported CPU list shows support for the new 1333 MHz
| FSB CPUs, so to does the support page for the P5B-Plus list the 1333 MHz
| FSB CPUs as supported. I can attest to the fact that a 965 chipset MB
| can run quite well at 1333 MHz and above (it's fine up to 1375 MHz, but
| I backed down to 1333, knowing it will [and is] be perfectly stable [and
| cooler] there). If the P5W with 975 chipset lists 1333 MHz as
| supported, I'd believe it.
_____

You posted "Well, my P5B-Plus with 965 Express chipset runs perfectly stable
at 1333 MHz FSB with my E6600, giving an overclock to 3 GHz. The box
advertises "Effort Free FSB 1333, supporting future processor upgrade".
Overclocking involves running CPUs at higher speeds than specified. In your
example that includes the CPU AND the chipset/motherboard.

Try the Intel specification pages for the stock FSB speeds for Intel
chipsets. Anything higher than the specifications is an overclock. If you
were to use a 1333 MHz FSB CPU, hadn't you rather start out with a chipset
that is specified for 1333 MHz? Or start out with a CPU that has FSB
overhead for overclocking on the specified FSB speeds Intel states are
supported by the 975X chipset? The best overclocking experience always
comes from limiting the number of components that must be overclocked.

Long ago (in PC time) Intel chipsets could be forced to overclock to higher
bus speeds - first toward 80 MHz, up from 66 MHz, then toward 133 MHz, up
from 100 MHz. Not because anyone especially WANTED to overclock the
chipset, but because there was no choice. Now there is.

Phil Weldon



"RobV" wrote in message
...
| Phil Weldon wrote:
| 'Paul' wrote:
| It is listed in the support list here, so should work at stock
| FSB1333. I didn't say it was a "good plan", just a "plan" :-)
| _____
|
| Be that as it may, the Intel 975X chipset was not designed for 1333
| MHz FSB operation, and neither was the ASUS P5W DH motherboard. New
| Intel chipsets and nVidia 600 and 700 series chipsets are, as are
| some newer ASUS motherboards.
|
| Phil Weldon
|
| Well, my P5B-Plus with 965 Express chipset runs perfectly stable at 1333
| MHz FSB with my E6600, giving an overclock to 3 GHz. The box advertises
| "Effort Free FSB 1333, supporting future processor upgrade".
|
| Just as the P5W DH supported CPU list shows support for the new 1333 MHz
| FSB CPUs, so to does the support page for the P5B-Plus list the 1333 MHz
| FSB CPUs as supported. I can attest to the fact that a 965 chipset MB
| can run quite well at 1333 MHz and above (it's fine up to 1375 MHz, but
| I backed down to 1333, knowing it will [and is] be perfectly stable [and
| cooler] there). If the P5W with 975 chipset lists 1333 MHz as
| supported, I'd believe it.
|
| "Paul" wrote in message
| ...
| Phil Weldon wrote:
| 'Paul' wrote, in part:
| According to the CPUSupport page, your board will take an E8400
| 45nm processor. To use one, you'd need to upgrade the BIOS version,
| using your existing processor. Then install the E8400. It runs
| at 3GHz, and is more than 50% faster than your current processor
| (New processor has a higher IPC.) No overclocking needed, and
| runs cool. Supply is currently limited, so you'll have to wait a
| few months before the supply is plentiful. When they first came
| out, the best price was $205. (Intel's price, in quantity 1000,
| is $183. So the $240 they are currently asking for them, is a
| bit on the rich side.)
| _____
| The 'Penryn' E8400 is a 1333 MHz FSB CPU so the ASUS P5W DH has a
| max FSB support of 1066 MHz and doesn't really support it.
|
| The 1333 MHz FSB 'Penryn' E8400 could be a problem for the 1066 MHz
| FSB max ASUS P5W DH, and of course, overclocking would be out of
| the question. It would not make much sense to purchase a new CPU
| just to avoid overclocking the CPU when overclocking the
| motherboard would be necessary just to run the CPU at stock.
|
| Phil Weldon
|
|
| It is listed in the support list here, so should work at stock
| FSB1333. I didn't say it was a "good plan", just a "plan" :-)
|
|
|
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...%20DH%20Deluxe
|
| Paul
|
|