Overclock CPU

[Acid_1]

Okay, I have know that I have a 1.6 Ghz processor that runs at 1596 Mhz for a long time, what I didn't know was that it's capable of safely overclocking to 1.8 Ghz. Could someone please help me with this, I have never been able to do this.

The printout of 'sudo lshw':

Code: Select all

id:	
cpu
description: 	CPU
product: 	    Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1.60GHz
vendor:         Intel Corp.
physical id:    400
bus info: 	   cpu@0
version:  	   6.13.8
slot:        	Microprocessor
size:           1596MHz
capacity:       1800MHz
width:       	32 bits
clock:       	133MHz
capabilities:   fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss tm pbe nx up bts est tm2 cpufreq

[tinca]

Acid_1,

there is a risk when trying to overclock a CPU. The risk is that you may make your computer unstable or unusable.

To say that your CPU will overclock to a given figure is probably a bit optimistic as all CPU's are different, and what works on one CPU will not necessarily work on another identical one.

The main problem that you will encounter is HEAT. If your computer as a whole cannot handle the extra heat that is being generated then you could not only fry your CPU but most likely toast your motherboard as well.

If you search "Google" you will find thousands of articles explaining how to overclock, when you have read and can understand what the results can be, then you can proceed with your venture.

Best regards Keith

[Acid_1]

I have read many articles, and I understand the risks. However, the reason I ask is because although Google is ones most valuable asset, I am only able to find results that require access to my parts of my BIOS that I don't have (prebuilt Dell laptop). And to jump it would be difficult as well, so it's not that easy for me, so I was hoping someone would have an idea how.

[Fred]

Acid_1,

I can't really tell you how to do it, as it depends mainly on your BIOS. I would suggest that you check and see if there is a BIOS upgrade available for your hardware. Sometimes a later BIOS will have more features to choose from. You should be careful when pushing the envelope however.

It might be nice to know how they get the various speeds of chips from the same architecture. The chips, or dice, (singular is "die") are made on a wafer, usually a round substrate that is about 150 mm in diameter. Wafers are not without flaws. The dice are tested on the wafer and sorted by the amount of current drawn at given test frequencies and voltages. Dice that have more flaws and distributed capacitance than others draw more current and are rated or limited to lower frequencies. This is, very briefly, how they get the different speed ratings out of the same architecture.

When you over clock, your chip needs to draw more current to keep the signal voltage levels up to the threshold minimums. Otherwise the chip becomes unstable and won't run correctly. To do this you must increase the voltage going to the chip.

On a very basic level, Power=Current X Voltage, (P=IE). Since the current and voltage have gone up with over clocking, you can see that a considerable power increase has occurred. It being the product of the two variables. Power is dissipated in the form of heat. There are limits to what temperatures can be tolerated by the chip in an attempt to dissipate the increased power consumed.

In practice, some chips might be on the border of a cut-off point, either on the high side or the down side. Some might be actually marked wrong. People actually do this task, so mistakes are not unheard of. It is a crap-shoot as to what you actually have. That is why nobody can tell you how high you can go with a given chip and hardware set-up.

I probably told you more than you really wanted to know, but it is what it is.

Fred

[Acid_1]

Thanks Fred. That's exactly what I needed to know Much appreciated. But on the upside, my notebook is starting to get out of date (actually it was way out of date when I bought it four years ago), so it's probably time to purchase a new one. Thanks all, and Fred that was some great advice. I now know some of the clockworks (pun intended) behind it.