# OCing old machine



## skinny2015 (Feb 7, 2015)

Hello one and all and thanks for taking time to read this post. 

i just recently aquired an old acer aspire x1300 

specs are:

AMD Phenom x3 triple core 8550 2.2Ghz
Nvidia 8200 integrated (geforce) according to nvidia site
2gb ram (4 originally but have a spare DIMM socket) 
1tb hd

i would like to know if i am firstly safe to over clock this as i have seen these are pretty safe to do according to some youtube videos but seeking advice for this / second opinion and hopefully more than just 1 lol.

anyway i would like to know if this is possible to run games better by overclocking this with a poor 2gb ram (1.75gb available) windows informs me

i have only had the machine running correctly today as it has been updating the hell out of itself all yesterday and much of today haha ( i installed windows anew) 

so if anybody could reccomennd configuration for this set up that would be practical/safe for the system? 

i have bought a new graphics card (radeon HD5450 1gb drr3) but isnt in place as i need a mounting bracket to fit this case (it is a micro atx) 

i am not expecting to run anything new amazingly well on it but its a fair little card and very cheap, i will get a better one in future though i believe hpowever i need to get more ram, would 6 be enough as it is a tri core, i dont think 2 is barely running windows the pc is fine but the gadget on the desktop shows ram to be over half way if not at 80/90 of full capacity most time while just browsing internet skype and veriuous small windows such as folders or something. 

i am thinking 6gb ram and a small overclock with this graphics card should be safe and ok but just want a little extra advice or opinions it is my first small project for a media centre/ baby gaming rig  

quite happy with the machine its a good computer (i believe) but anyone else who has etter knowledge and willing to help me please i wont get defensive over my little tiny monster haha 

also i apologise for this awful posting i am a little tipsy as i have been having a few bevvys waiting for my computer to finish some important disk chk or something on start up after the updates installed lol. 

its been a while since ive had a pc and i am not so used to typing with keyboard and beer goggles 

thankyou in advance of any help guys and gals and i appreciate it if anybody has a knowledge of the games i may be able to run with this kind of set up, because the system requirements lab website doesnt work for some reason, tried flash, tried doing different desktop download nothing :S 

used to be great site when i had my old sony vaio machine years ago 

again thanks and sorry my drunk state (burp) hehe


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

4GB of RAM is typically sufficient for most needs. I would suggest good quality 2 x 2GB memory.

The 5450 is not a gaming card and would struggle with anything but very old games.

OEM systems (ACER, DELL, HP, etc ) like this don't typically have the ability to overclock the CPU.


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## skinny2015 (Feb 7, 2015)

JMPC said:


> 4GB of RAM is typically sufficient for most needs. I would suggest good quality 2 x 2GB memory.
> 
> The 5450 is not a gaming card and would struggle with anything but very old games.
> 
> OEM systems (ACER, DELL, HP, etc ) like this don't typically have the ability to overclock the CPU.


hi thank you for your response  i was thinking is 2gb per core better than say 4gb on a tri core system though if i wanted to play stuff like crysis ? 

yh 5450 isn't the best of the bunch but i may go for a higher spec card of the samer if i like this one but want an extra bit more as i have extremely limited space so would need a low pro gfx card for the mobo and would not fit any full size card in micro case so new case would be required too. 

i have looked at a fewe videos that suggest otherwise with the phenom processors though that they can go up about ,5 ghz on varying models but i would not like to kill my machine for the sake of that as it would not be worth it, just seeking the advice of some people with more experience and as i mentioned a second and third opinion would help  

i also saw that on some cpus the 4th core can be unlocked would this be possible with this machine do you know? 

it is the amd phenom x3 tri core 8550 2.2ghz i saw some can be done but not all tri cores have a functioning 4th core hence if they were damaged quad cores they could still be used for sale in machines as tri cores

thank you for your fast response and could you reccommend a particular vendor for a good 2/4gb ram to me? thanks again


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

Yes, the CPU can be overclocked but the ACER will not have the ability in the BIOS to overclock the CPU. OEM systems like this do not include that capability.

For memory, Crucial is always a good brand.

You'll be limited on video cards because not only do you need a half-height card but the power supply will greatly limit your options. 

If you're intending to make this a gaming machine my suggestion is to save up until you can buy a gaming PC.

Another option would be to move the motherboard and all the components to another case IF the connectors on the motherboard will support a different case. Then you could upgrade the power supply and get a full height video card.


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## skinny2015 (Feb 7, 2015)

oh ok i see well a little unfortunate although i guess my main things are the gpu and the ram that need to beef up more anyway  i have been trying to make sense of a lot of different things but i know computers are not so simple and be down right fruit cakes at times ( it took me a full day trying to install windows from the disk) it just kept failing to finish the installation for no apparent reason lol i almost RAGE QUIT!! 

so thank you for the help because sometimes these things become a blur or fine details i cannot make out espescially after a beer or two lol

i have been looking at possibly just buying a radeon hd 5 series of the higher side like 57xx or upwards as they have no fan and can play dx11 and seem to be a good option for me. 



thank you for your advice and reccomendation of crucial to me  

i think the system should transfer into another case there is a acer aspire x1200 on youtube same exact case i believe and connections maybe you could work it out from this video? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJWCC_Vn0zA 

i am intending to play some games but i do not expect to run the latest and most demanding games, but i would just like to run the games i can on it at a good stable rate with low/mid settings on some modest/older games such as far cry 2, crysis, gta4 

possibly try to play some newer games like far cry 4 on low. 

would you be able to reccomend a graphics card to me if i did swap out the case to upgrade it further? 

i have a friend who has built his own gaming rig i just want some advice and appreciate any and all help and criticisms constructive the most  

i have 2 dimm slots and currently has only 2gb as it originally housed 4gb, i am running 64 bit windows 7. 

would also think about a new mobo if it is worth it and if i can find a good one for this system

if you could provide any more products with a low budget as i dont want to spend too much on the system it hasnt cost me much and also i would like to use this pc to learn as i am only going to go into building my own custom pc from scratch when i know a little more what i am doing and have confidence i will not break anything or build something crap with bad parts, or end up spending more because i bought something wrong and should have maybe opted for something better to begin with (eg a power supply which costs £100) is worth buying the first time, rather than maybe one that i bought for £40 (hypothetically speaking) to suit the system before i upgraded it then in future have to buy another one for a new gpu or to use sli or whatever lol 

pretty new to it all so just taking some baby steps and its also a machine for some productivity such as making music and video editing or game capture maybe if i decide to do that. 

i wuld love to start on a real machine but for now i have my mini pc and specs aren't dreadful (to me) so im going to play some games i never got the chance to play on pc and can mod them (like far cry 2-3) 

thanks again for the help really appreciate it


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