Overclocking - Whats the worst that can happen

Hello All,

I want to start by saying I am not too computer minded as I just
upgraded memory by 1 gig to increase speed...

...I now know it is the processor speed that increases speed so I would
like to know what is the worst that can happen if I overclock?

I have a amd 3000+ venice running at 1.8ghz - I have read I can get it
up to the late 2ghz so I would like to give this a go... If the worst
that can happen is the processor breaks I will just get the 3700and san
diego but if I can save 80quid I will

Any advice for an idiot will be greatly appreciated (if you can give me
a link to a step by step walkthrough too I would really appreciate that
as I have been searching and to be honest I have come up with nothing)

Thanks for your help

On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 06:32:36 -0700, Mighty wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> I want to start by saying I am not too computer minded as I just
> upgraded memory by 1 gig to increase speed...
>
> ..I now know it is the processor speed that increases speed so I would
> like to know what is the worst that can happen if I overclock?
>
> I have a amd 3000+ venice running at 1.8ghz - I have read I can get it
> up to the late 2ghz so I would like to give this a go... If the worst
> that can happen is the processor breaks I will just get the 3700and san
> diego but if I can save 80quid I will
>
> Any advice for an idiot will be greatly appreciated (if you can give me
> a link to a step by step walkthrough too I would really appreciate that
> as I have been searching and to be honest I have come up with nothing)
>
Haven't read it, but looks long enough to cover everything.

http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=300

Short form. Lower HT speed. Lower base ram speed, increase system
frequency, raise cpu voltage as required.

--
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Mighty wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> I want to start by saying I am not too computer minded as I just
> upgraded memory by 1 gig to increase speed...
>
> ..I now know it is the processor speed that increases speed so I would
> like to know what is the worst that can happen if I overclock?
>
> I have a amd 3000+ venice running at 1.8ghz - I have read I can get it
> up to the late 2ghz so I would like to give this a go... If the worst
> that can happen is the processor breaks I will just get the 3700and san
> diego but if I can save 80quid I will
>
> Any advice for an idiot will be greatly appreciated (if you can give me
> a link to a step by step walkthrough too I would really appreciate that
> as I have been searching and to be honest I have come up with nothing)
>
> Thanks for your help
>

From my limited experience, the worst thing is that you'll experience a
series of BSODs, lock-ups and/or memory errors.

Getting the processor to run at 2.0ghz is pretty much a no brainer.
That's barely above 10% increase. You may not even see any difference.

I saw a difference between the 3000 Venice and 3700 San Diego, but it
wasn't huge.

Merrill P. L. Worthington wrote:
>
>
> Mighty wrote:
>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> I want to start by saying I am not too computer minded as I just
>> upgraded memory by 1 gig to increase speed...
>>
>> ..I now know it is the processor speed that increases speed so I would
>> like to know what is the worst that can happen if I overclock?
>>
>> I have a amd 3000+ venice running at 1.8ghz - I have read I can get it
>> up to the late 2ghz so I would like to give this a go... If the worst
>> that can happen is the processor breaks I will just get the 3700and san
>> diego but if I can save 80quid I will
>>
>> Any advice for an idiot will be greatly appreciated (if you can give me
>> a link to a step by step walkthrough too I would really appreciate that
>> as I have been searching and to be honest I have come up with nothing)
>>
>> Thanks for your help
>>
>
> From my limited experience, the worst thing is that you'll experience a
> series of BSODs, lock-ups and/or memory errors.
>
> Getting the processor to run at 2.0ghz is pretty much a no brainer.
> That's barely above 10% increase. You may not even see any difference.
>
> I saw a difference between the 3000 Venice and 3700 San Diego, but it
> wasn't huge.
>

I actually ruined a motherboard doing this. I was playing around with
an XP-M 2600+ on an Abit NF7. If I recall, I wasn't even
"overclocking." I was adjusting the FSB and multiplier values to
acheive stock CPU speeds, but at an different FSB speeds.

For example, I think the chip ran at 133MHz*15=2000MHz. I was
benchmarking it at 166*12=2000MHz and 200*10=2000MHz (without any
voltage changes) when suddenly the machine stopped booting. Did alot of
troubleshooting and narrowed it down to a dead motherboard. I've never
heard of this happening to anyone else, so I'm skeptical that it died as
a result of my "overclocking", especially since the CPU was undamaged
and continued to work fine.

However, it did die, and you asked whats the worst that could happen.
Its also worth noting that I had owned the CPU for ~2 years and it had
been overclocked to 2.5GHz for the first 6-12 months, after that time, I
kept it at 12*166.

-Dylan C

"Dylan C" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Merrill P. L. Worthington wrote:
>>
>>
>> Mighty wrote:
>>
>>> Hello All,
>>>
>>> I want to start by saying I am not too computer minded as I just
>>> upgraded memory by 1 gig to increase speed...
>>>
>>> ..I now know it is the processor speed that increases speed so I would
>>> like to know what is the worst that can happen if I overclock?
>>>
>>> I have a amd 3000+ venice running at 1.8ghz - I have read I can get it
>>> up to the late 2ghz so I would like to give this a go... If the worst
>>> that can happen is the processor breaks I will just get the 3700and san
>>> diego but if I can save 80quid I will
>>>
>>> Any advice for an idiot will be greatly appreciated (if you can give me
>>> a link to a step by step walkthrough too I would really appreciate that
>>> as I have been searching and to be honest I have come up with nothing)
>>>
>>> Thanks for your help
>>>
>>
>> From my limited experience, the worst thing is that you'll experience a
>> series of BSODs, lock-ups and/or memory errors.
>>
>> Getting the processor to run at 2.0ghz is pretty much a no brainer.
>> That's barely above 10% increase. You may not even see any difference.
>>
>> I saw a difference between the 3000 Venice and 3700 San Diego, but it
>> wasn't huge.
>>
>
> I actually ruined a motherboard doing this. I was playing around with an
> XP-M 2600+ on an Abit NF7. If I recall, I wasn't even "overclocking." I
> was adjusting the FSB and multiplier values to acheive stock CPU speeds,
> but at an different FSB speeds.
>
> For example, I think the chip ran at 133MHz*15=2000MHz. I was
> benchmarking it at 166*12=2000MHz and 200*10=2000MHz (without any voltage
> changes) when suddenly the machine stopped booting. Did alot of
> troubleshooting and narrowed it down to a dead motherboard. I've never
> heard of this happening to anyone else, so I'm skeptical that it died as a
> result of my "overclocking", especially since the CPU was undamaged and
> continued to work fine.
>
> However, it did die, and you asked whats the worst that could happen. Its
> also worth noting that I had owned the CPU for ~2 years and it had been
> overclocked to 2.5GHz for the first 6-12 months, after that time, I kept
> it at 12*166.
>
That's simply because you ran the CPU at an FSB that it wasn't designed for.
I've got an athlon XP 2500+ that has been running as a 2800+ for the past 6
months by simply changing the multiplier from 11 to 12.5. However, if I try
getting the same speed at 11*188 it wont boot. some chips are just finicky
that way.

chuck wrote:
> "Dylan C" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>
>>Merrill P. L. Worthington wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>Mighty wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hello All,
>>>>
>>>>I want to start by saying I am not too computer minded as I just
>>>>upgraded memory by 1 gig to increase speed...
>>>>
>>>>..I now know it is the processor speed that increases speed so I would
>>>>like to know what is the worst that can happen if I overclock?
>>>>
>>>>I have a amd 3000+ venice running at 1.8ghz - I have read I can get it
>>>>up to the late 2ghz so I would like to give this a go... If the worst
>>>>that can happen is the processor breaks I will just get the 3700and san
>>>>diego but if I can save 80quid I will
>>>>
>>>>Any advice for an idiot will be greatly appreciated (if you can give me
>>>>a link to a step by step walkthrough too I would really appreciate that
>>>>as I have been searching and to be honest I have come up with nothing)
>>>>
>>>>Thanks for your help
>>>>
>>>
>>> From my limited experience, the worst thing is that you'll experience a
>>>series of BSODs, lock-ups and/or memory errors.
>>>
>>>Getting the processor to run at 2.0ghz is pretty much a no brainer.
>>>That's barely above 10% increase. You may not even see any difference.
>>>
>>>I saw a difference between the 3000 Venice and 3700 San Diego, but it
>>>wasn't huge.
>>>
>>
>>I actually ruined a motherboard doing this. I was playing around with an
>>XP-M 2600+ on an Abit NF7. If I recall, I wasn't even "overclocking." I
>>was adjusting the FSB and multiplier values to acheive stock CPU speeds,
>>but at an different FSB speeds.
>>
>>For example, I think the chip ran at 133MHz*15=2000MHz. I was
>>benchmarking it at 166*12=2000MHz and 200*10=2000MHz (without any voltage
>>changes) when suddenly the machine stopped booting. Did alot of
>>troubleshooting and narrowed it down to a dead motherboard. I've never
>>heard of this happening to anyone else, so I'm skeptical that it died as a
>>result of my "overclocking", especially since the CPU was undamaged and
>>continued to work fine.
>>
>>However, it did die, and you asked whats the worst that could happen. Its
>>also worth noting that I had owned the CPU for ~2 years and it had been
>>overclocked to 2.5GHz for the first 6-12 months, after that time, I kept
>>it at 12*166.
>>
>
> That's simply because you ran the CPU at an FSB that it wasn't designed for.
> I've got an athlon XP 2500+ that has been running as a 2800+ for the past 6
> months by simply changing the multiplier from 11 to 12.5. However, if I try
> getting the same speed at 11*188 it wont boot. some chips are just finicky
> that way.
>
>
If the CPU had gone bad, that is what I would've thought. Strangely,
the CPU still ran and overclocked fine. Only the motherboard died.
Even a different working CPU failed to get the board to post. It was a
very strange situation indeed, considering the board was never operated
beyond its limits.

-Dylan C

| If the CPU had gone bad, that is what I would've thought. Strangely,
| the CPU still ran and overclocked fine. Only the motherboard died.
| Even a different working CPU failed to get the board to post. It was a
| very strange situation indeed, considering the board was never operated
| beyond its limits.

on higher FSB, the chipsets generates more heat (and needs higher voltage,
if possible). so it is possible that your northbridge cooler was simple not
big/good
enough to cool the chip.

Mighty wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> I want to start by saying I am not too computer minded as I just
> upgraded memory by 1 gig to increase speed...
>
> ..I now know it is the processor speed that increases speed so I would
> like to know what is the worst that can happen if I overclock?
>
> I have a amd 3000+ venice running at 1.8ghz - I have read I can get it
> up to the late 2ghz so I would like to give this a go... If the worst
> that can happen is the processor breaks I will just get the 3700and san
> diego but if I can save 80quid I will
>
> Any advice for an idiot will be greatly appreciated (if you can give me
> a link to a step by step walkthrough too I would really appreciate that
> as I have been searching and to be honest I have come up with nothing)
>
> Thanks for your help

Worst case scenario I suspect is that your cause the destruction of the
universe. There are a number of reasons this could occur, it has been
studied before (not in relation ot overclocking)
http://doc.cern.ch/yellowrep/2003/2003-001/p1.pdf

While our current theories and understand suggest this is unlikely, you
never know.

As such if you don't want to be responsible for such a catacalysm I
suggest you don't overclock. Of course if you do cause it, no one will
ever know so it won't really matter. And it could happen even if you
don't overclock although it's logical to assume it's more likely if you
do overclock (as things get more unpredictable)...

Mighty you scribbled in [alt.comp.hardware.overclocking.amd]
on 29 Sep 2006 06:32:36 -0700
<. com>
*
> Hello All,
>
> I want to start by saying I am not too computer minded as I just
> upgraded memory by 1 gig to increase speed...
>
> ..I now know it is the processor speed that increases speed so I would
> like to know what is the worst that can happen if I overclock?

Well what happened to me is that the motherboard died, and at this point
I think also the Graphics card died. I wasn't really overclocking a
3700 san diego on a Epox 9npa+sli very hard. I think it was at 2200mhz
or something. When after 3 weeks of no problems the motherboard cracked
under the strain for some reason. Didn't have the values very high on
anything. But I do have to warn you not all pieces of equipment will
overclock well. Sometimes a mobo or graphics card or cpu that is
supposed to overclock well might just crack by a deformity within
unknown to you. Even if you just push a little, the causes won't be
actually known unless you had an expert check the part from the
manufacturer. So, my best advice is go easy as you increase values
(after you read up of course), and hope that everything works out.

Because the way things go, you never know what can't take it.

I had the mobo replaced but putting back everything the graphics card
doesn't work. I replaced the graphics card with a pci version to check
the cpu and it works but I cant install ms winblows because I need a new
pci express graphics card, or E card version. But I am hoping that
after I get a new card all is well again. And I won't need a new cpu
because thats another $100 out of my pocket. (sigh) But it's worth
getting some more speed because everything just moves faster. :-D

>
> I have a amd 3000+ venice running at 1.8ghz - I have read I can get it
> up to the late 2ghz so I would like to give this a go... If the worst
> that can happen is the processor breaks I will just get the 3700and san
> diego but if I can save 80quid I will
>
> Any advice for an idiot will be greatly appreciated (if you can give me
> a link to a step by step walkthrough too I would really appreciate that
> as I have been searching and to be honest I have come up with nothing)
>
> Thanks for your help
>
>

My last piece of advice is rather carefully said. When pushing your
mobo to the limits you may often want to take care as you can do damage
without knowing it. Going to fast on the settings will spell doom and
launch you into the madness of your own private hell. But if you are
careful and gently push your puter here a little, there a little, you
will be a happy camper in the end. And thats most of the time. But all
I can think of is that my computer bit the dust somehow, it maybe I
pushed it over the edge or it could have possibly been a lightning
strike! (sigh)

You just want to be careful and you should be very happy in the end.

Now, about cooling, if you buy yourself some water cooler that is a good
idea because that is the best route to cool the cpu. But the cheaper
route is to buy a well cooled case. I have a coolermaster centurian
that keeps the temps down to acceptable levels with a quiet cpu cooler.

Happy o'erclocking,
Rev

Corrupted Data, and that CAN happen, if your data is valuable, boot from
another drive, I can't believe no one mentioned this. But it CAN and DOES
happen.

"Mighty" <mighty-> wrote in message
news: ups.com...
> Hello All,
>
> I want to start by saying I am not too computer minded as I just
> upgraded memory by 1 gig to increase speed...
>
> ..I now know it is the processor speed that increases speed so I would
> like to know what is the worst that can happen if I overclock?
>
> I have a amd 3000+ venice running at 1.8ghz - I have read I can get it
> up to the late 2ghz so I would like to give this a go... If the worst
> that can happen is the processor breaks I will just get the 3700and san
> diego but if I can save 80quid I will
>
> Any advice for an idiot will be greatly appreciated (if you can give me
> a link to a step by step walkthrough too I would really appreciate that
> as I have been searching and to be honest I have come up with nothing)
>
> Thanks for your help
>