Overclocking the Athlon 64 - Page 2

First up, let me just say that if you are careful and understand what you are doing, then it will be very hard for you to do any permanent damage to your computer or any of its components by overclocking. If you're pushing things way too far, your computer could crash, or simply refuse to start, but it's actually very hard to break your computer by simply pushing it too far.

However, there ARE some dangers. Nothing is ever free, and the same is true of overclocking. You won't get more speed without some drawbacks, and the most common and dangerous problem is heat. When you make a component do more work than it is designed to, it's going to generate more heat; this is a fact. If your cooling system isn't sufficient, your system can and will overheat. Again though, this generally won't permanently damage your computer, it'll just cause instability. The only way that you will seriously damage your computer is if you repeatedly try to run the system at temperatures much higher than recommended by the manufacturer. As a rule you should try to keep your CPU temperature under 60 degrees Celsius, although anything under 50 degrees would be better (programs designed to monitor your CPU temperature in Windows will be mentioned later on).

Now I know what you're going to say; "Mike, that sounds a little scary, I think I'll just go watch TV instead of overclocking". Well don't! There is no need to be worried about overheating, as you will see clear signs before your system gets hot enough to be damaged, besides, there's nothing on TV right now anyway...

The most common signs of overheating are random crashes (programs close unexpectedly, Windows restarts or 'freezes') and general instability when the system is running under heavy load (when the CPU/graphics card are heavily taxed, such as during gaming). Overheating is easily prevented by simply keeping an eye on system temperatures. If a temperature is reported that is too high, you can either reduce the speed of the system slightly to cool it down, or obtain some better cooling (cooling will be talked about later as well).

Besides possibly overheating, the only other real hazard of overclocking is the reduction in component lifespan. When you run a CPU at a higher clock speed, or run more voltage through it, its lifespan will decrease. Now before you click the back button in your browser, let me put this into perspective. The CPU, on average, is designed to last for over 10 years, by overclocking it you will reduce this figure by only a couple of years. Now, firstly, anybody that is even contemplating overclocking probably won't care much about this, since do you honestly think you'll be using the same processor in 6 years, let alone 10? It is also extremely unlikely that any of your components will fail before 4/5 years regardless of how much voltage you run through them or how high you clock them (within reason!) The small trade off in lifespan is worth the substantial performance increase in most users' eyes.

You should now be familiar with a few of the possible dangers, and if you're comfortable with the idea of having a faster computer for free, then you can now read on.

This computer did NOT have adequate cooling.

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Article Navigation:

• Introduction
  • What is Overclocking?
  • The Dangers of Overclocking
  • Overclocking basics
• The Differences in the A64 Platform
  • Athlon 64 Multipliers
  • Athlon 64 and the missing FSB..
• RAM and what it has to do with Overclocking
  • Memory dividers
  • Timing is everything...
• Voltage and how it affects Overclocking
• Cooling and Other Hardware Considerations
  • TIM the enchanter
  • The Sometimes Overlooked Hardware
• Let's start Overclocking!
  • Tools of the trade
  • Overclocking the CPU - Part 1
  • Overclocking the CPU - Part 2
  • Overclocking the Memory
  • Putting it all together
• Conclusion
• Overclocking 'Crib Sheet'