Date: Fri 30-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-Brand-overclocking

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: Overclocking

By Bob Brand

Some people just like to push a good thing.

Inside all PCs the system clock sets the pace for the speed of the computer.

When computer manufacturers build a system, they assemble components that are

known to operate at a predetermined tempo. For example, a 100 megahertz

computer contains a microprocessor (usually a Pentium chip) designed to run

comfortably at that speed. This can be visualized as a drummer inside the

computer that calls the beat determining how fast the parade (in this case the

speed of the computer) moves down the street. If you had a way to make the

drummer tap faster, the computer would run quicker. Many computer owners can

perform this trick in order to obtain more performance from their systems

without spending lots of money.

Voltage and Speed

The speed of the bus on the motherboard in a computer tells the processor (the

computer brain) how fast to execute instructions. Bus speed (determined by the

computer clock) is controlled by voltage setting on the main board. By simply

changing a jumper or two on the main board (jumping to a higher voltage), the

speed increases.

Many boards are designed to accept several speeds of processors. Instead of

installing a new processor, just change the setting. This fools the computer

into thinking that a faster chip was added. Increasing the voltage causes the

components to run faster.

In the world of electronics, voltage is like water pressure in a garden hose.

More pressure (more voltage), higher speed. However, when the voltage in

increased, the components run hotter. The band marching down the street breaks

into a sweat because the drummer has picked up the pace. In order to

compensate for the extra heat, a fan, a heat sink or thermal compound (often

all three) must be installed to the microprocessor (usually the Pentium chip).

These items are available on eBay priced $5 to $15. Welcome to the world of

overclocking.

How Much Improvement?

Many overclockers crank up the speed of the microprocessors by 25 to 33

percent with less than a $20 investment. However, before you troll eBay for

bargain basement "supercharging e-gear," it would be wise to visit Tom's

Hardware website (http://www.tomshardware.com/overclock.html). This is

arguably the premier location to access valuable information on this subject.

Tom addresses issues ranging from actual feedback from overclockers (Pentium,

Pentium II, AMD, and Cyrix) to the moral question of pouring the juice to the

chips. You should be warned that if you make a mistake, the motherboard (and

components on it) can be fried by excess voltage. However, there are so many

success stories that it worth exploration by the adventurous. For those folks

who have an old Pentium (the processor of choice) system collecting dust in a

closet, this could be a walk on the wild side.

Overclocking

In The Mainstream

In late 1998, Intel introduced a new class of Pentium processors. Basically,

Intel was losing the low end of the computer market to competitors. It took a

high end chip already in production, crippled it a bit and sold it as the

brain for inexpensive computer systems. They called it Celeron. Shortly after

its release to the public, the Net was abuzz with comments that Intel's

Celeron CPU possessed an unusually high capacity for overclocking. Computer

hardware junkies were buying Celeron chips, installing them on high-end (but

relatively inexpensive) motherboards and realizing dazzling performance. In

fact, some "garageshop" computer manufacturers were selling overclocked

systems that advertised spectacular performance without telling the consumer

their secret.

An article posted by Newsweek on March 29, 1999 demonstrates how overclocking

has entered the mainstream. Intel reacted to the "chip on amphetamines" craze

with the release of software (Processor Frequency ID Utility) that allows

computer owners to determine if their Pentium processors are overclocked. Dell

and Gateway owners need not worry about this deception.

Reduced Life

Experts explain that overclocking shortens the life of the computer chip. With

compression of time resulting from rapid technology advances, accompanied with

sharp price declines for hardware, the extra speed versus reduced product life

is viewed by hardware jocks as an acceptable trade off. Keep in mind, however,

as 500 MHz systems hit the used computer market in the next year or two, some

of these muscle machines may be bulked up on overclocked steroids. The Intel

Processor Frequency software is a free download from the Intel website.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.sysopt.com/howtooc.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/overclock.html

http://www.ars-technica.com/paedia/celeron_oc_faq.html

http://www.currents.net/newstoday/99/03/29/news8.html

(This is the 152nd of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, Agony of Victory is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next

week, happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for

Real People can be found at http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and

suggestions to rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)