Overclocking (Main Thread)

What’s considered a safe temperature range for an HD 4670?

I’ve bumped the clock up by 50MHz for now, and under FurMark, it's hitting a peak of 46°C.

Honestly, those temps are great...

Once you start hitting the 80-90 range, then maybe ask if it’s okay.👍

Heh, there's no way you're hitting those temps with that card—not happening. Can anyone tell me if I can actually bump up the voltage on an NVIDIA GeForce GT 210 for some extra overclocking? Once I push it past 800-870 MHz, my games just start crashing...

Alright, quick question for you guys. I'm running this motherboard http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.as...=N68-GE3%20UCC and looking at the BIOS settings. It’s got the UCC (unlocking CPU cores) option, plus CACC (CPU Active Core Control). But here's the thing—why isn't "core 0" showing up in my BIOS? All I see is core1, core2, and core3. Check out the screenshot; it makes it way more obvious what I'm talking about:

Like you can see right there, core 0 is nowhere to be found.

William Taylor18, I need some advice from anyone who actually knows their way around hardware. Here’s what I’m running:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P33 with turbo key
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT MSI 1GB, using MSI Afterburner
CPU: E6500 2.9 GHz, dual-core, 64-bit textures
RAM: 2 GB, DDR3

A few questions:
Should I push the overclocking via the turbo key or stick to MSI Afterburner?
If I go down either route, am I actually in control here, or am I just asking for a pile of burnt components?
Is it even worth the risk?

Thanks everyone.👍

If I remember correctly, Turbo is for processor Overclocking and Afterburner is for the GPU, haha.
It really depends on what you're looking to overclock. I'd suggest doing the CPU through the BIOS, while you can definitely use MSI Afterburner for the graphics card.

James Morris4 said:If I recall correctly, Turbo is meant for CPU Overclocking, while Afterburner is for the GPU. xD
It depends entirely on what you intend to overclock. For the processor, you should stick to the BIOS, whereas the GPU can be handled via MSI Afterburner.

I had the exact same thought, but I held back because I didn't want to look like an idiot. xD
I am 100% certain about MSI Afterburner, but I wasn't completely sure about Turbo.😁

Right, okay... Thanks... Even though I actually got the turbo key bundled with the motherboard rather than the processor, it’s entirely possible it was intended for the CPU... All in all, thanks 🙂 👍 👍 👍

Bwahahahah 🤣
Unknown.

The Turbo key is on the motherboard (I'm not sure how you concluded it's meant for GPU Overclocking). It’s definitely for CPU Overclocking. That's because the manufacturer says so, and honestly, it just makes sense since you'd handle the processor Overclocking through the motherboard settings.

Hey everyone!

So, I've got an Intel Core i7 920 running at the stock speed, somewhere around 2.66 GHz I think. Right now, I'm just using the stock cooler, but I'm really looking to dive into some Overclocking. To be honest, I'm pretty much a total newbie when it comes to this stuff, so I figured I'd throw a few questions your way—hope you guys don't mind me picking your brains a bit.

1. Just how much damage can Overclocking actually do to the component itself, and what's the actual risk factor there?
2. Can anyone recommend a solid cooler in the $100 range that would let me push my speeds as high as possible?

thanks!

It really depends on how much you're pushing it. If you pump too much voltage into it, you might kill it instantly. Even if you just keep it at a high voltage, you're essentially shortening its lifespan—say, dropping it from 20 years down to 10 😬. It’s probably best to just look up what voltage is safe for 24/7 use and stick to that. You can find that info pretty easily through manufacturer specs or just by doing a quick Google search on some tech forums. That said, you still have to watch your temperatures. Even at a "safe" voltage, things can get hot enough that the CPU will throttle itself or end up wearing out faster due to the heat (like going from 15 years down to 13 😬).

All in all, you'll likely upgrade to a new PC before you actually feel any "damage" from overclocking, provided you use common sense and don't go overboard with the voltage.

As for the cooler, those four cores can definitely run hot. Something like this would be a good move. I think it's one of those "best buy" coolers. It isn't anything fancy, but it's certainly a step up from the stock cooler.

So, if I end up installing that cooler, how far could I actually push the Overclocking? Like, what kind of numbers am I looking at—percentage-wise or in GHz?

Douglas Anderson41 said:If I end up installing that cooler, what kind of headroom am I looking at for Overclocking? Are we talking percentage increases or specific GHz benchmarks?

The truth is, no one can give you a definitive number because success in this area depends on a chaotic cocktail of variables—motherboard stability, memory latency, and even the silicon lottery itself; if you happened to pull a particularly high-quality chip from the factory, your overclocking potential will be significantly higher than average.

If we’re just looking at heat dissipation—assuming the case has decent airflow—I honestly think that Intel Core i7 could be pushed to 3.6-3.8 GHz for 24/7 use without breaking a sweat.

One more thing:

I've been testing my Sapphire NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 128-bit on Mass Effect (running everything on high settings), and I'm getting some pretty nasty artifacts even with an Overclocking of just 30MHz over stock (750/873)

What seems to be the issue here?

Should I perhaps bump up the voltage? If so, where exactly do I adjust that, and by how many mV? I have RivaTuner installed.

Thanks.

Paul Miller64 said:One more thing:

I was testing an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT from Sapphire on Mass Effect—everything set to high—and I'm getting massive artifacts even with just a tiny 30MHz bump over stock (750/873)

What's the deal?

Maybe I need to bump the voltage? Where do I even go for that, and how many mV am I looking at? I've got RivaTuner installed...

thanks

Don't even bother—it's probably just built that way. I once had an old card where a single MHz jump would just brick the whole screen with glitches. You could try using the overdrive option in the NVIDIA Control Panel—there's an auto-tune feature there—but honestly? Don't touch it unless you want to kill the card...

Quick question...
Here is my current setup...
Motherboard: ASRock N68C-S UCC
CPU: Phenom II X2 560 BE > overclocked/UCC to Phenom II X4 B60 @ 3.66GHz (using a Cooler Master Hyper T3)
RAM: G.Skill 2x2GB 1600MHz / 1800MHz overclock
GPU: Zotac GT 240 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 overclock (with an Arctic Cooling Accelero Pro L2)
HDD: Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM 8MB😢
PSU: MS Industrial PRO-550ATX 2.03 P, 550W😢

The main issue is this: the motherboard is rated for up to 95W, but since I unlocked the multiplier, this CPU pulls about 125W if I'm calculating correctly. Is there a risk the motherboard might burn out?

I mean, you totally could—but honestly, since it’s such a budget board, it only has three power phases and zero heatsinks to speak of... which isn't great. As for that B60 chip, if you're looking at the C3 stepping, we're talking a 125W TDP, whereas the C2 version jumps up to 140W. My advice? Just downclock it to 3 GHz and drop the Vcore to the bare minimum, then run some tests to see if it actually holds up. Just because you managed to unlock it doesn't mean it'll be stable—those cores might just be fundamentally broken.

If you want to be 100% sure, you might want to look into getting a brand new 🙂

http://www.ebay.com/itm/motherboards...example

It’s honestly one of the better AM3 boards out there, and the price seems pretty fair 😉

I guess if you're planning for an upgrade down the road, you could always grab an AM3+ board for $233...

http://www.newegg.com/product_info.php?c...example

I've got a few questions since I've never messed around with overclocking before.

Can I actually overclock the graphics card with this setup? Is it even worth the hassle—like, will I actually see better FPS in games? And how does one even go about doing it 😁? Also, what kind of headaches should I expect? If there's any kind soul out there willing to help me out, I'd really appreciate it 🙂

1 x Intel Core i3 Processor, socket AM3, BOX, 1.5MB cache
1 x Asrock M3N78D, s.AM3 - NVIDIA nForce 720D, ATX, Solid Capacitor
2 x DDR3 2048MB ( 2GB ) Kingmax, 1333MHz, CL9, FLFE85F-B8EE9
1 x HDD SAMSUNG 500GB 7200rpm 16MB cache Serial ATA II-300, F3
1 x XFX Core Edition 80+ 450W PSU - EasyRail technology
1 x Samsung DVD Writer, DVD±RW, 24x DVD±R, 8x DL, 40x CD-R
1 x Thermaltake V4 Black Edition, VM30001W2Z, Mid-tower case, 4.5 kg
3 x SCYTHE Slip Stream 120mm 1200 rpm, SY1225SL12M, 24.00dBA
1 x Sapphire HD6770, 1GB D5 Flex