- Aug 8, 2015
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Overclocking a PC isn't that hard, all you need is a motherboard with an Overclocking BIOS, a decent power phase distribution, any CPU, OK Cooling, and a good PSU.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND OR ADVISE GOING OVER 1.4v ON ANY SYSTEM UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. THIS IS NOT A MOTHERBOARD GUIDE EITHER, GO TO THE TOMSHARDWARE MOTHERBOARD GUIDE FOR THAT.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
A good PSU:
These would qualify as a good PSU
Antec Earthwatts/HCG/HCGM/TP/HCP
be quiet! Pure Power/Straight Power/Dark Power/Dark Power Pro/Power Zone
Cooler Master G/RS/RSF/RSC/RSA/Silent Pro
Corsair RM/RMx/RMi/HX/HXi/AX/AXi/TX
Cougar GMX/CMX/PX/SX/GX
Enermax EPM/ERV/EMR
EVGA GQ/B2/GS/G2/P2/T2
FirePower ZT/ZX
FSP Aurum S/Raider (S)/HG/PT/Aurum CM/AU/Aurum Gold
NZXT HALE90
OCZ ZT/ZX/FTY
Rosewill Photon/Capstone/Quark
SeaSonic S12II/SSR/S12/S12G/SS/SSP/X Series/Platinum/Snow Silent (Pretty Much Anything)
Silverstone STF-P/STF-PB/SX-G/NJ
Superflower SF (Pretty Much Anything)
Thermaltake PS-TPG/TP/TPX/TPD
XFX TS/PRO/P1 (Pretty Much Anything)
This list may be added to, SOME PSUs ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS, also, your PSU might be fine and not on this list, but these are a lot of the good ones. I would suggest having one of these if you are overclocking!
A motherboard with an OC chipset or is OCable.
FOR G3258 OWNERS!!! You can use an ASROCK H97 MB for overclocking the G3258
AMD 760G/990X/990FX/970/A85X/A58X
Intel X38/X58/X79/X99/Z68/Z75/Z77/Z87/Z97/Z170
There might be some chipsets that you can OC on, not all are listed only the more modern ones.
Good Thermal Paste and Application Methods
Thermal Paste: http://www.maximumpc.com/geek-tested-17-thermal-pastes-face-off/
Application: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Thermal-Paste-Application-Techniques-170/
Good Coolers!
VOCABULARY:
BCLK: Base Clock
Multiplier: The number the BCLK is multiplied by
Understanding Overclocking
Overclocking is the action of changing the clock rate of any electronic with a clock in it, and making it faster. The most popular application is in computers, as this is why you would be reading this. There are two types of overclocking, BCLK overclocking, and multiplier overclocking.
BCLK Overclocking
If you are BCLK overclocking, your CPU will not have an unlocked multiplier, it is much harder to achieve a stable overclock with BCLK overclocking, as you are changing the base clock on all of the items on a clock in your computer. Those include: The CPU, the NB Chipset, and the RAM.
You can achieve a stable overclock with BCLK overclocking though. The way you do it is you have to adjust all of the voltages on all of the effected items.
EXAMPLE:
You have a computer with a BCLK of 100MHz, you turn up the BCLK to 125MHz. That will change your RAM from DDR3 1600 to DDR3 2000, which means you will have to turn up the voltage because it will not be stable at the stock voltages. The CPU has a multiplier of 27, that will also change the clock rate to 3.375GHz. You will also have to up the voltage on that too. You will not have a stable system as easily as the Multiplier OCing.
Multiplier Overclocking
If you are multiplier overclocking, I will assume you have an i5-4690k or FX-6 or FX-8 series CPU. It is easy to have a good, stable overclock on a multiplier. You start with a CPU and you only change the CPU's clock rate, which helps with system stability. You have to up the voltage still, but it is a lot better than BCLK Overclocking.
EXAMPLE:
You have a computer with a CPU that has a 34x Multiplier, a 3.4GHz clock, and a 100MHz BCLK, you turn up the multiplier to 40x, a 4.0GHz clock, the system will be producing more heat, and consuming more volts, you will need a good cooler for both the BCLK overclocking and the Multiplier overclocking.
Testing For Stability
Make sure that power limiting and turbo clocks are turned off so that stuff doesn't get in the way.
You have to test to make sure the system is stable, and is not running too hot, the program I suggest is PRIME95 (Link at bottom). I suggest running PRIME95 for about 8 hours or longer, but you do not have to run it for very long at all, I ran it for a few minutes, but that is only because it was (You could also just play your favorite game for stability testing, but it is not advised). Run a program to monitor temperatures (For AMD only use AMD Overdrive Thermal Margin is how much is left to an overheat).
Temp Guide
All CPUs should stay under 70-75C under load to ensure a safe, long, and cool operation. I say around 40-45C idle is a little high but it is fine.
Link to P95
http://www.mersenne.org/download/
Critiques would be appreciated!
I DO NOT RECOMMEND OR ADVISE GOING OVER 1.4v ON ANY SYSTEM UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. THIS IS NOT A MOTHERBOARD GUIDE EITHER, GO TO THE TOMSHARDWARE MOTHERBOARD GUIDE FOR THAT.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
A good PSU:
These would qualify as a good PSU
Antec Earthwatts/HCG/HCGM/TP/HCP
be quiet! Pure Power/Straight Power/Dark Power/Dark Power Pro/Power Zone
Cooler Master G/RS/RSF/RSC/RSA/Silent Pro
Corsair RM/RMx/RMi/HX/HXi/AX/AXi/TX
Cougar GMX/CMX/PX/SX/GX
Enermax EPM/ERV/EMR
EVGA GQ/B2/GS/G2/P2/T2
FirePower ZT/ZX
FSP Aurum S/Raider (S)/HG/PT/Aurum CM/AU/Aurum Gold
NZXT HALE90
OCZ ZT/ZX/FTY
Rosewill Photon/Capstone/Quark
SeaSonic S12II/SSR/S12/S12G/SS/SSP/X Series/Platinum/Snow Silent (Pretty Much Anything)
Silverstone STF-P/STF-PB/SX-G/NJ
Superflower SF (Pretty Much Anything)
Thermaltake PS-TPG/TP/TPX/TPD
XFX TS/PRO/P1 (Pretty Much Anything)
This list may be added to, SOME PSUs ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS, also, your PSU might be fine and not on this list, but these are a lot of the good ones. I would suggest having one of these if you are overclocking!
A motherboard with an OC chipset or is OCable.
FOR G3258 OWNERS!!! You can use an ASROCK H97 MB for overclocking the G3258
AMD 760G/990X/990FX/970/A85X/A58X
Intel X38/X58/X79/X99/Z68/Z75/Z77/Z87/Z97/Z170
There might be some chipsets that you can OC on, not all are listed only the more modern ones.
Good Thermal Paste and Application Methods
Thermal Paste: http://www.maximumpc.com/geek-tested-17-thermal-pastes-face-off/
Application: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Thermal-Paste-Application-Techniques-170/
Good Coolers!
Cooler Master Hyper T2
Cooler Master TX3
Cooler Master Hyper T4
Arctic A11
Arctic i11
CRYORIG M9a
CRYORIG M9i
Zalman CNPS9300
The All So Famous Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Evercool TTC-NK35TZ/RPW/V3
Silverstone AR02
Deepcool LUCIFER
be quiet! Shadow Rock 2
Zalman CNPS9900MAX-R
Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B
Scythe Kotetsu
Thermalright MACHO 120 REV.A
Thermaltake NiC C5
LEPA LPALV12-BK
ARCTIC UCACO-FZ13100-BL
Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver.2
CRYORIG H5 Ultimate
CRYORIG H5 Universal
ARCTIC UCACO-FI30201-GB
ARCTIC Freezer Xtreme
Zalman CNPS10X Performa
Scythe SCKTN-4000
Zalman CNPS9900ALED
Zalman CNPS9500 AT
ARCTIC ACFZ13
be quiet! PURE ROCK
Phanteks PH-TC12DX
Silverstone AR03
Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK
Deepcool FROSTWIN V2.0
Corsair H50
Corsair H60
Corsair H55
Scythe SCNJ-3100
Scythe SCNJ-4000
Noctua NH-U9DXi4
Deepcool CAPTAIN 120
Silverstone TD03-LITE
Noctua NH-D9DX i4 3U
Thermalright Macho Rev.B
Phanteks PH-TC14PE_RD
Phanteks PH-TC14PE
Noctua NH-U14S
Prolimatech Megahelms
Prolimatech PRO-GNSS
LEPA AquaChanger 240
Deepcool CAPTAIN 240
Noctua NH-C14
Silverstone TD02-LITE
be quiet! Dark Rock 3
Corsair H75
Noctua NH-D14
Gelid Solutions Black Edition
Noctua NH-C14S
be quiet! DARK ROCK TF
Noctua NH-D15S
Thermalright SILVER ARROW IB-E
Prolimatech PRO-MGH-C
Intel BXTS13X
CRYORIG R1 Universal
CRYORIG R1 Ultimate
Corsair H80i GT
Corsair H90
Antec KUHLER H2O 1250
All other Corsair Liquid Coolers
NZXT Coolers
There will be coolers that are fine that are not on this list, in-fact, this list isn't nearly all of the good coolers. There are quite a lot
Cooler Master TX3
Cooler Master Hyper T4
Arctic A11
Arctic i11
CRYORIG M9a
CRYORIG M9i
Zalman CNPS9300
The All So Famous Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Evercool TTC-NK35TZ/RPW/V3
Silverstone AR02
Deepcool LUCIFER
be quiet! Shadow Rock 2
Zalman CNPS9900MAX-R
Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B
Scythe Kotetsu
Thermalright MACHO 120 REV.A
Thermaltake NiC C5
LEPA LPALV12-BK
ARCTIC UCACO-FZ13100-BL
Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver.2
CRYORIG H5 Ultimate
CRYORIG H5 Universal
ARCTIC UCACO-FI30201-GB
ARCTIC Freezer Xtreme
Zalman CNPS10X Performa
Scythe SCKTN-4000
Zalman CNPS9900ALED
Zalman CNPS9500 AT
ARCTIC ACFZ13
be quiet! PURE ROCK
Phanteks PH-TC12DX
Silverstone AR03
Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK
Deepcool FROSTWIN V2.0
Corsair H50
Corsair H60
Corsair H55
Scythe SCNJ-3100
Scythe SCNJ-4000
Noctua NH-U9DXi4
Deepcool CAPTAIN 120
Silverstone TD03-LITE
Noctua NH-D9DX i4 3U
Thermalright Macho Rev.B
Phanteks PH-TC14PE_RD
Phanteks PH-TC14PE
Noctua NH-U14S
Prolimatech Megahelms
Prolimatech PRO-GNSS
LEPA AquaChanger 240
Deepcool CAPTAIN 240
Noctua NH-C14
Silverstone TD02-LITE
be quiet! Dark Rock 3
Corsair H75
Noctua NH-D14
Gelid Solutions Black Edition
Noctua NH-C14S
be quiet! DARK ROCK TF
Noctua NH-D15S
Thermalright SILVER ARROW IB-E
Prolimatech PRO-MGH-C
Intel BXTS13X
CRYORIG R1 Universal
CRYORIG R1 Ultimate
Corsair H80i GT
Corsair H90
Antec KUHLER H2O 1250
All other Corsair Liquid Coolers
NZXT Coolers
There will be coolers that are fine that are not on this list, in-fact, this list isn't nearly all of the good coolers. There are quite a lot
VOCABULARY:
BCLK: Base Clock
Multiplier: The number the BCLK is multiplied by
Understanding Overclocking
Overclocking is the action of changing the clock rate of any electronic with a clock in it, and making it faster. The most popular application is in computers, as this is why you would be reading this. There are two types of overclocking, BCLK overclocking, and multiplier overclocking.
BCLK Overclocking
If you are BCLK overclocking, your CPU will not have an unlocked multiplier, it is much harder to achieve a stable overclock with BCLK overclocking, as you are changing the base clock on all of the items on a clock in your computer. Those include: The CPU, the NB Chipset, and the RAM.
You can achieve a stable overclock with BCLK overclocking though. The way you do it is you have to adjust all of the voltages on all of the effected items.
EXAMPLE:
You have a computer with a BCLK of 100MHz, you turn up the BCLK to 125MHz. That will change your RAM from DDR3 1600 to DDR3 2000, which means you will have to turn up the voltage because it will not be stable at the stock voltages. The CPU has a multiplier of 27, that will also change the clock rate to 3.375GHz. You will also have to up the voltage on that too. You will not have a stable system as easily as the Multiplier OCing.
Multiplier Overclocking
If you are multiplier overclocking, I will assume you have an i5-4690k or FX-6 or FX-8 series CPU. It is easy to have a good, stable overclock on a multiplier. You start with a CPU and you only change the CPU's clock rate, which helps with system stability. You have to up the voltage still, but it is a lot better than BCLK Overclocking.
EXAMPLE:
You have a computer with a CPU that has a 34x Multiplier, a 3.4GHz clock, and a 100MHz BCLK, you turn up the multiplier to 40x, a 4.0GHz clock, the system will be producing more heat, and consuming more volts, you will need a good cooler for both the BCLK overclocking and the Multiplier overclocking.
Testing For Stability
Make sure that power limiting and turbo clocks are turned off so that stuff doesn't get in the way.
You have to test to make sure the system is stable, and is not running too hot, the program I suggest is PRIME95 (Link at bottom). I suggest running PRIME95 for about 8 hours or longer, but you do not have to run it for very long at all, I ran it for a few minutes, but that is only because it was (You could also just play your favorite game for stability testing, but it is not advised). Run a program to monitor temperatures (For AMD only use AMD Overdrive Thermal Margin is how much is left to an overheat).
Temp Guide
All CPUs should stay under 70-75C under load to ensure a safe, long, and cool operation. I say around 40-45C idle is a little high but it is fine.
Link to P95
http://www.mersenne.org/download/
Critiques would be appreciated!
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