November 22, 2009

Now that you have an idea of what can be found and accomplished in the BIOS, the procedure for overclocking is really quite simple. First, you will need to determine your target clock rate. For instance, if you're processor runs stock at 2.4 GHz, and you want to increase this to 3.2 GHz. You set this in the BIOS in the the fields for CPU Ratio and Frequency, though they may have slightly different names depending on your motherboard. Check your manual to ensure you are adjusting the correct values. Also of note, some motherboards require overclocking support to be turned on before these options will appear or are editable. For instance, on most ASUS motherboards you need to set the "Ai Overclock Tuner" field to "Manual" before you can adjust any overclocking settings.

Set the CPU Ratio and Frequency to acheive your desired frequency. Alternately, you can begin with a lower frequency and slowly iterate up until your desired frequency is achieved. This is a good way to proceed if you are particularly concerned about damage to your processor, or if you are trail blazing with a processor that hasn't been extensively overclocked yet and for which limits have not been found. You will find the correct values for these settings by adjusting the two values so that when multiplied together the correct frequency is obtained. For instance, a clock speed of 333 with a multiplier of 9.0 yields a frequency of 2.997 GHz.

The other value you will need to adjust is your CPU Voltage. You will need to increase this so there is enough power going to the CPU to support the higher frequency, however, if you turn it up too much, you'll likely melt your chip. Start with small increments and increase as necessary.

Now that you have adjusted the required settings in the BIOS, save (usually F10) and reboot. One of two things will happen. If Windows fails to start, this means your system wasn't stable enough, and you'll need to press the reset button on your computer and go back into your BIOS. Increase the voltage to your CPU or decrease the speed you're overclocking to, and then try again. Otherwise, if Windows boots normally, it's time to begin testing!

Fire up all of the utilities you previously downloaded, and begin the Mersenne Prime 95 Torture Test. Watch your core temperatures carefully! If they get up to around 70, stop and back down to a lower voltage. You may need to settle for a slightly lower operating frequency to keep your processor cool enough. If you can run the test for a few hours without crashing your system, generating errors, or overheating your CPU, you have a stable overclock and can safely use your computer as you normally would. Congratulations! Otherwise, reboot and adjust settings in the BIOS, then start the tests again.

That does it! You now have all of the information you need to successfully overclock you PC. Leave us a comment to let us know how it goes for you, or if you have any requests or suggestions.

(Images courtesy of MyPCReborn.com.)