Overclocking... Should I?

[87x]

alright.. i have been thinking about this.. and was wondering if i should overclock my comp or just buy a better processor..
im running a 1.6ghz p4...

any suggestions?

[VxDx]

which p4 core and what does your motherboard support?

No matter what you say, I wouldn't suggest overclocking. You won't see any performance increase without looking at raw numbers.

If it's willamette on a willamette only board, don't bother upgrading only the processor. If it's Northwood, then you may be able to upgrade it a good ways, particularly if it's the 533mhz fsb.

[RageVI]

I don't suggest doing that unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing.

And like VxDx said, you probably won't notice any increase in performance, so it wouldn't be worth the risk and effort to overclock your processor...

[87x]

well another thing about me is that i dont know anything unless you tell me how to find it.. so unless you post instructions to the loction of those things you want me to tell you, i cant give you an answer.. sorry..

So you suggest just getting a different processor?

[Anticrombie0909]

I don't suggest overclocking, unless like Rage said, you know EXACTLY what you're doing. It can go very wrong. Beyond that, it doesn't improve your speed that significantly, and it really shortens the longevity of your computer if you keep it overclocked for long periods of time.

Yes. Personally, I'd say Athlon. Athlon isn't exactly the same raw processing power of a P4, but it's hella cheaper, and I've personally always liked Athlon. If you're looking for something relatively cheap, I believe the 2500 will get you a lot for your money.

[87x]

well money isn't really an issue.. and im looking for something that by this time next year wont be an obsolete thing... i want something to plan for th future.. its getting to the point where 1.6 ghz is becoming the minimum requirement for some games.. witht hat new data any new ideas?

and anti got a link to this athlon?

also... how do i find out the specs of my processor to see what it can handle and everything.. or is there a place online to find out this information

[VxDx]

Ok, I'll try to give you a quick rundown of your options, and things you can do to find out information about your computer...

This is a link to the DL page for SiSoft sandra, a very useful benchmarking and system information tool. I highly suggest getting this to provide useful info.
If you get this, just go to...cpu/bios info in the program and copy and paste everything before the features category.


Now for your options.
(1)Overclocking.
This is useful when you know what you are doing, know what kind of cooling you have, care about raw number scores, just like making you computer all it can be, and like to fiddle with your computer. If this isn't you, which I know it isn't, don't even bother.

(2)CPU only upgrade.
This is just what it says. You get a processor that works with your motherboard and ram and is capable of going faster. Not a bad idea if you are on the low end of a processor's core cycle (ie you have a PIII 500, you could get a PIII 1 ghz). This won't get you too much more system performance if you aren't sure that it's the processor that's slowing the computer down. I wouldn't really suggest this if you want your computer to be viable into the future and you can afford more of a system upgrade.

(3)system essentials upgrade
This is upgrading the motherboard, CPU, and RAM so that all of the bottlenecks in that area are widened. It's clearly more expensive, but beats buying a new computer entirely and upgrading just the CPU. If you want a computer that will last 2 more years before it needs to be upgraded again, this is really your only option besides buying a new computer altogether. The problem is that you have a myriad of options in regards to what to get. I'll sum that up in a bit.



So basically, if you want a computer that could last a couple more years before needing another upgrade, I'd go with option 3, but there is a bit more that needs to be said regarding what your options as to what to get are.

There are a lot of different processors out there, and each has its up and downsides. To sum it up, there are...

P4 "Williamette" - what I think you have, lowest, slowest P4. Not compatible with other processors I believe
P4 "Northwood A" - next higher, 400mhz FSB, don't bother
P4 "Northwood B" - next step up. 533mhz fsb, kinda low-end for new equipment nowadays.
P4 "Northwood C" - 800mhz FSB, some have hyper-threading, some don't. This is what I'd suggest if you decide to upgrade to a pentium based system. Also, they are highly compatible.
P4 "Northwood Extreme Edition" - high, high end. don't bother. $1000 processor
P4 "Prescott" - newest P4, if you wait a little bit, this would be the one to buy, but right now, it's not compatible and tested enough.

for AMD

Athalon XP "thoroughbred" (1800+ - 2600+ (not including 2500+)) - don't bother, if you want to upgrade everythign anyways.
Athalon XP "Barton" (2500+, 2800+, 3000+, 3200+) - if you are going AMD, get one of these, though they may be outphased fairly soon by the 64s
Athalon 64 - If you want extra support into the future get one of these. Good proccessor, not too cheap.
Athalon FX - don't bother.


So, basically decide from there so that I don't have to list every possible combination and can just give you a specific list.

[insomniakxz]

If you want to overclock, make sure you have very decent cooling... 4 fans are perfect.

[Anticrombie0909]

If you want to overclock, make sure you have very decent cooling... 4 fans are perfect.

Er...how your cooling works depends entirely on what kind of computer you have. My friend has an overclocked 64 bit, and he's hooked up 7 fans to it. Contraversially, Voodoo just released a PC that has no fans. It's completely silent. How does it do this? The entire CPU is one giant heat sink. While this works beautifully, it does make the computer uber heavy...but who lugs around their computer, anyway?

[jewpinthethird]

Well, if you dont care about your comp, overclock, that way when the firemen ask "what caused the blaze?" you can reply "Oh...I was just overclocking my computer." and sound all smart and nerdy.

[insomniakxz]

There is that new fan that's a huge heatsink...
I lug my comp around all the time.
That's why I put together a shuttle xpc...so small.

[makaveli121212]

yeah youre going to need to upgrade...there is no way you can overclock your system so it wont be obselete in a few months even

[tnyhwk900]

Depends if you built your system or bought it. If you bought it, don't try. It won't work. If you built it, you can, if the mobo supports it. I personally don't think you should, now that i realized a p4 that old probably has a REALLY low FSB. I'm an Intel fanboy, so I say get a P4 with hyper-threading, preferably 2.8-3.0 Ghz. DO NOT GET A PRESCOTT. THEY GET REALLY FREAKING HOT EVEN WHEN NOT OVERCLOCKED. Overclock it to 3.4-3.6, add two fans, and you'll have a blazing fast processor that runs fairly cool. You'll want to get a new mobo too, your's right now doesn't support HT and might not support that fast of a processor :\

[Anticrombie0909]

I'm an Intel fanboy, so I say get a P4 with hyper-threading, preferably 2.8-3.0 Ghz. DO NOT GET A PRESCOTT. THEY GET REALLY FREAKING HOT EVEN WHEN NOT OVERCLOCKED. Overclock it to 3.4-3.6, add two fans, and you'll have a blazing fast processor that runs fairly cool.

Aiee, so wrong. First off, if you're going to go with Pentium that's fine, but anything above a 2.6 isn't worth it. They'll slap an extra $500 to upgrade from a 2.6 to a 3.0 with HT, and the difference is so small. Take that $500 you save to get some heat sinks, extra ram, better video card, whatever. Second, even if you get a new computer, I still don't suggest overclocking. It really just kills your computer, and if you want this to last a while, you don't want to do it. If you overclock it you can't leave it overclocked, because in a year or less it'll just start crashing like crazy. It's like giving 75 watts of power to a 60 watt bulb- it burns extra bright, but also burns out three times as fast.

[makaveli121212]

what was he wrong about...he said get a 2.8 or 3.0, and even 87x said price wasnt an issue...overclocoking is just stupid in almost every case...the only reason most people do it is so they can say, 'whoa, dude i got mine overclocked to 3.45674, yuo cant beat that'...pushing your system to the limits is never good and there is no point in overclocking your processor .3 or .4 ghz...its just not worth it in the long run