Hi guys

I overclocked this chip to 3.42GHz over two years ago but after my video card died I clocked it back to 2.8GHz.

Since the arrival of my X1950 Pro 512MB I want to overclock back up to 3.42GHz but I cannot remember how I did it or indeed if I did it right!

Can someone recommend a decent guide on how to do this? I don't want to fry my RAM!!!

Many thanks

J

Bump!

Adam K. should be able to help you out. He's got a Pentium 4 Northwood overclocked. Sit tight, I think he's at school or something.

J Bothroyd said:

which version of northwood are we dealing with here?

P4 "B" (no Hypertreading 533MHz Bus)
or
P4 "C" 800MHz w/ Hyperthreading

???

I don't know! How can I find that out????

google up the program CPU-z (free). This will id your cpu.


as for your 2.8 cpu running at 3.42 in the past.... well... you should be able to achieve that again unless your mb or other components are tired.

Just start by upping the system FSB slowwwly... If your cpu fsb for your cpu is 533, then the system fsb will be at 133mhz. If your cpu fsb for your cpu is 800, then the system fsb will be at 200mhz.

I think its 133

J Bothroyd said:

In that case you have a 533MHz bus chip, you need to lock your AGP and PCI frequencies to their default before you start rasing you FSB if you haven't done so already (AGP = 66MHz, PCI = 33MHz). Don't worry about your RAM its PC3200 (good for a 200MHz bus) you've got lots of headroom there. Just creep your bus speed up a few MHz at a time till you reach 3.4 again.

I'm certain that AGP/PCI is locked at 33/66 or something like that?

Increased my vcore and vdimm by one notch each too - is that right?

Pondering whether I should increase my FSB until I reach 3.6GHz - I've heard that is the sweet spot for a Northwood.

dont increase your voltages unless you have to for system stability.

I'll crank the voltages back down then.

So you think I should go from 3.4GHz to 3.6GHz?

Is it worth it? Will I notice much difference in performance?

J Bothroyd said:

its not so much should as it is can, some chips will only clock so high without rediculous hikes in voltage and extreme cooling but even then its luck of the draw. But if you've got a 2.8 to 3.4 thats pretty good, If you can eeek an extra 200MHz out of your chip without compromising stability and without cranking the voltage I say go for it. It's doubtful however that you will notice a huge difference between the two.

I would like to overclok my Dell Dimension 4600 (w/ a P4 Northwood 2.8ghz - non HT) that I bought years and years ago. How do I go about this? Are there specific programs that will help? I've been told before that the PLL chip on my Mobo will not allow a FSB increase. Is this really a roadblock, are there other ways to do this?

Thanks very much -

Not really no. You'd need a new motherboard.