Overclocking (Main Thread)

So, my DFI board shows a disk in QuickLaunch like it’s some kind of USB stick. Why does it do that? Honestly, who knows, and I don't really care enough to stress about it.

There’s probably an old thread about this somewhere on Hardware Forum.

I was wondering if anyone could lend me a hand here. I'm running into some trouble getting my SATA controller properly set up. I've got a DFI Infinity NF4 socket 939 motherboard paired with a Maxtor 6V250FO 250GB hard drive, but every time I finish installing Windows, that little green "Safely Remove Hardware" icon pops up in the bottom right corner of the taskbar. When I click it, it actually gives me the option to safely remove the drive itself.

I'm actually using that exact same drive, and I've been dealing with that same annoying "safely remove hardware" notification in my system tray constantly too.
Do you think this might be related to that idea that SATA drives are designed to be hot-swappable while the PC is still running? (amberorca192, please don't roast me if I'm totally off base here!)

amberorca192 said:I've been playing around a bit with my X2 +4200. I wasn't aiming for insane frequencies, just trying to give the rig a little extra kick without cranking the voltage too high.

Just be careful with that voltage; as you bump up the frequency, heat dissipation increases roughly linearly, but when you push the voltage, that dissipation rises quadratically! 😲 Someone once reminded me of this, and after running through the equations from my freshman year of college, the logic holds up perfectly. 😁

Captain, the power is rising exponentially! 🙂 😁

Look, it's pretty unlikely you're gonna fry a CPU with any normal voltage (and by "normal," I mean stuff like 1.4V, 1.5V, and those kinds of ranges... depends on the socket and the manufacturer, obviously).
Usually, it's those insane voltages like 2.0V and up that actually kill a chip.😬

Running at 1.4V or 1.6V is perfectly fine as long as your cooling setup is solid.🙂

restlesslynx said:Just be careful with the voltage. As you bump up the frequency, heat dissipation goes up almost linearly, but when you crank the voltage, it hits you quadratically! 😲 Some guy actually reminded me of this, so I ran the math in my head from back in my freshman year of college and it totally checks out. 😁

Captain, the power is rising exponentially! 🙂 😁

I'm not even thinking about pushing the voltage to the limit. It doesn't make any sense to me why I'd care if the rig runs 100MHz faster if it means pulling 30% more power.

I'd much rather have things running within normal limits at a slower speed than just forcing it for some tiny, unnoticeable gains.

Yo, my 2.4GHz Nortel is hitting 2.92GHz steady without even breaking a sweat on the temps. Check the pic...http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...st/Clockin.jpg

cosmicpilot said:Hey man, my 2.4GHz Nortel chip is hitting 2.92GHz without even bumping the frequency, and temperatures are fine too. Check out this pic.. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...st/Clockin.jpg

Well, you're underperforming then. I had the exact same CPU once and managed to push it to 3.6 GHz.😁

Honestly, though, 3.42 GHz is the sweet spot. It stays rock solid while keeping the voltage low.

To hit 3.6, you have to crank the voltage up by nearly 0.3V. That's a massive jump just for an extra 180 MHz.

Here are the pics so I don't have to go on and on about it...

The motherboard can handle more, the CPU can definitely do more, but memory is just a total rip-off (you pay through the nose for every little bit you get)
Honestly, I could crank this thing up to 2560, but since my room hits 30 C during the summer, my CPU climbs up to 60 C. There’s zero point in chasing a few extra MHz if I'm gonna melt my gear.

Uh... default frequency is sitting at 27 degrees clock.. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...e_st/clock.jpg

Could someone please advise on the proper procedure for overclocking an Intel processor from 2.8GHz to exceed 3.0GHz?

mr. ex, I was wondering if you might suggest which graphics card would be the best purchase for me:
X800XL
6800
9600PRO
9550

William Moore61 said:mr. ex, what kind of graphics card should I pick up?
X800XL
6800
The 9600 Pro. Let's talk about it.
9550

You're gonna find it right here.😬

Take that first one from the four.😉

William Moore61 said:Can anyone tell me how to overclock an Intel processor from 2.8GHz to over 3.0GHz?

What kind of RAM are you running?
What's the motherboard?
And what about your power supply?

well...............🙄 🙄 🙄

ATX 400W
ASROCK P4V88+ 4x IDE,6x USB,2x SATA,5.1CH,LAN.............
GEFORCE 6600GT 128MB 8X AGP (500MHz/1000MHz)
INTEL CELERON D 2.8GHz,256KB L2 cache
2X 256MB DDR400 KINGMAX (dual Channel)
250GB SATAII MAXTOR 16MB cache
BLUE NEON

It's nothing special

Man, I have zero clue what kind of motherboard that actually is, but with a power supply like that? Forget about overclocking... you're dead in the water.
Honestly, just be glad your rig isn't crashing even on default settings.

What are your thoughts on this?😕
It seems to be performing quite adequately for me.

William Moore61 said:What’s your take on this?😕
It works fine for me.

Looking at those specs (basically a budget rig), you're probably looking at a PSU that costs less than $50. Honestly, you're lucky if the thing even stays stable. If you try to overclock with a unit like that, you might just hear it scream right before it fries everything else in your case. Not worth the risk.

People—especially the ones who don't know any better—totally ignore the power supply. They see "400W" and think they're sitting on a powerhouse. Sure, 400W sounds decent, but a high-quality 400W unit isn't going to cost $50; it'll be closer to $100.

Since we're talking power supplies, I’ve got some random MS 450W unit in my rig. I've heard rumors that these things are absolute junk—is there any truth to that?
I'm running an Athlon 3000+ @ 244x9.0

Trying to overclock a PC with a power supply like that is asking for trouble. It could easily blow a fuse, scream under the load, and take every other expensive component down with it. Definitely not worth the risk.

Man, now you've got me worried that something's actually gonna blow up on me...

That MS is just loud because of those two fans... Honestly, the rails aren't even that bad, you just shouldn't try to push it too hard with overclocking if you want to be smart about it.

rustydriver22 said:Speaking of power supplies, I'm running some random 450W unit in my rig. I've heard those things are total junk—is there any truth to that?
I've got an Athlon 3000+ @ 244x9.0

Now you've got me worried something's gonna blow up on me...

I had one of those once. It handled half a gig of RAM, a PIV 2.4@3.2, and a Radeon 9600 just fine. But the second I swapped in a GeForce FX 5900, the PSU started popping sounds. I pulled the card out and tossed in a Codegen 480W instead. Honestly, that thing was a cheap piece of work for the price, but I still have it sitting in a spare build. You can tell the difference immediately; when you hold a decent unit, it feels solid, but holding an MS supply feels like you're clutching a cheap burner phone.😁

I'd pull that thing out and swap it for something better if I were you.