# Venturing in to Overclocking (newbie)...I have some questions!



## TwistedVenom (Oct 21, 2008)

So I've got a PC that I've built from scratch myself and have finally got all the kinks worked out and settled down, it's stable and working well. 

I've made sure every part is kitted with good solid third party cooling, no stock parts here.

Basically I want to start overclocking, I'll list what I have-what's cooling it and protecting it all and I'd love to know where to go from there. I've no idea which BIOS settings to adjust or which OC software to use. I'd really appreciate some help.
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*CPU-* intel core 2 Quad (2.4ghz)
_----- Zalman 1000 heatsink.
-----Akasa 450 thermal paste_

*PSU- *Thermaltake Toughpower 750w

*RAM-* 2x A-Data 2gb DDR2 RAM modules with copper heatsink "sleaves"
----- 2x Kingston 1gb DDR2 RAM modules, no heatsink

*Motherboard- *ASUS P5N-E SLi board. BIOS was flashed with most up-to-date version last week.
_------ Northbridge is cooled with Zalman copper heatsink w/ small 30mm fan.
------ Southbridge has a simple metal heatsink stuck over it._

*GPU-* XFX ATi HD 4890
_----- cooled with thermaright t-rad^2 gtx. It's fitted with 2x Scythe Kama 92mm fans. A second heatsink, "VRM-2" is also placed as is required by thermalright for the t-rad to fit._

(Finally) CASE- Antec 300
_-------- fitted with a full set of Scythe Kama 120mm fans (2x front, 2x back, 1x top, 1x side)_

Running Win7 Ultimate x64bit.

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I used to have an XFX 4890 black edition which had a 1000mhz clock speed out of the box. It died and was RMAd, as of now the replacement is the plain 4980. 

I've tried a *small?* overclock of the GPU by pushing the clock speed from 850mhz to 1000mhz using the ATI catalyst program. My system is fully stable.

So I've put in all this detail...but what can I actually change? I hear quad-cores can be OCed by +20%. Could I push my GPU further? I'm just not sure what to do.. Suggestions?


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## deleted6052011 (Jul 16, 2009)

Hi TwistedVenom :wave:



TwistedVenom said:


> I've tried a *small?* overclock of the GPU by pushing the clock speed from 850mhz to 1000mhz using the ATI catalyst program. My system is fully stable.


I'll admit I don't know much about overclocking, but I have an ATI card and have used the ATI OC tool to see how far it will go. There is a button on it that will find the max clock and memory usage. When it hits the limit, the card will stop responding. Catalyst will notice and reset default settings. The OC program slider will be at the highest working level so you can see how far you can push the card.

My 9600 reached a pitifull 420MHz :sigh:

And whenever you OC anything, be sure to always check the system temps under load to ensure it isn't overheating.

Hope this helps :smile:


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

never use software to overclock always use the BIOS. Read the thread called if your new to overclocking read here for starters. If you have questions after that then ask away.


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## Underclocker (Aug 13, 2007)

If you're going to overclock your RAM running 4 RAM modules, especially with different densities, will reduce your maximum clock. If you're not going to do heavy graphics/video editing 4GB is adequate for everything including gaming.

Though if the A-Data modules aren't Vitesa series they'll be rubbish overclockers. I fried a 2x1GB A-Data kit (with heatspreaders, not Vitesa)with just 2.1V trying to run any lower timings than standard the 5-5-5-18 at 800MHz once...


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

greenbrucelee said:


> never use software to overclock always use the BIOS.


DITTO and 4GB of RAM is more than sufficient. There are no apps or games than can use more.


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