Hello, Mike here. Just signed up. I work in IT for a large world-wide monster corp ( : ) ) Guess who? Anyway, wanted to say hi and look forward to joining in some of the threads here. I only recently have obtained a somewhat modern home pc. I admit I kind of enjoyed tweaking everything possible to improve performance on my old pc, which I used for years until last month: originally a Gateway2000 266MHz P2!
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Hi, new here
- Thread starter ftguitar
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Hi Mike,
I am also new here.
If you have been enjoying tweaking your old machine then you can probably help me do the same?
My machine is Gateway2000 P3 500 Mhz. I have installed 512 RAM and additional hard drive (80 GB). I want to know how i can overclock? the processor if possible please? or anything else that would boost the performance?
I look forward to hear from anybody who can guide me with this.
Many Thanks!
I am also new here.
If you have been enjoying tweaking your old machine then you can probably help me do the same?
My machine is Gateway2000 P3 500 Mhz. I have installed 512 RAM and additional hard drive (80 GB). I want to know how i can overclock? the processor if possible please? or anything else that would boost the performance?
I look forward to hear from anybody who can guide me with this.
Many Thanks!
Overclocking is not a subject that is good to discuss in Tek Tips. The issue is in the fact that nothing is guaranteed, and if ever you smoke your PC or one of its components, no one here is going to shoulder the blame or pay for your dead component. Also, there are many overclocking sites out there that Google will help you find in a jiffy.
That said, I won't be going on a limb if I say that, generally, overclocking options are located in the BIOS, depend on just how much your motherboard was made to authorize them, and you should change them with great precaution, increment by increment, not big jumps at a time.
Also, bear in mind that overclocking always implies more current, therefor more heat. You WILL need to purchase better cooling elements for your adventure to be worth it without killing your components.
Finally, overclocking shortens the life of your components, so will be buying new ones sooner than you thought you would. Given that you have a P3, a very good overclock would be to simply go out and buy an Athlon 64 with the corresponding motherboard and RAM. Not so expensive these days, you could refurbish your whole PC for less than $400 and get an entirely new computing experience.
Good luck whatever you choose !
Pascal.
That said, I won't be going on a limb if I say that, generally, overclocking options are located in the BIOS, depend on just how much your motherboard was made to authorize them, and you should change them with great precaution, increment by increment, not big jumps at a time.
Also, bear in mind that overclocking always implies more current, therefor more heat. You WILL need to purchase better cooling elements for your adventure to be worth it without killing your components.
Finally, overclocking shortens the life of your components, so will be buying new ones sooner than you thought you would. Given that you have a P3, a very good overclock would be to simply go out and buy an Athlon 64 with the corresponding motherboard and RAM. Not so expensive these days, you could refurbish your whole PC for less than $400 and get an entirely new computing experience.
Good luck whatever you choose !
Pascal.
Ok, thanks for your advice pmonett. I don't have the budget to spend 200 pounds on upgrading the parts. i have decided not to overclock my pc.
I just thought if it was worth doing it to improve the performance a bit then why not? The machine is running fine and i have been using it for last 6 years.
I didn't know there was a great risk involved in doing so?
Many Thanks!
I just thought if it was worth doing it to improve the performance a bit then why not? The machine is running fine and i have been using it for last 6 years.
I didn't know there was a great risk involved in doing so?
Many Thanks!
- Thread starter
- #5
I agree that the overclocking can be detrimental to the system's health. You can max out your memory, get the best video card your system will support, a fast hard drive, and also buy the fastest processor your motherboard will support. For example, in that old pentium 2 266MHz machine, I was able to buy a P2 celeron 333MHz cpu for around 5 dollars. I liked improving that system just as a hobby, but be aware that there is no reason to put alot of money into old systems, as a new pre-built budget one that may be 10x better can be had very cheaply. There is no reason why you can't use yours for a very long time.
ftguitar
Interesting that you felt a 333 Celeron was faster than the full P2 266 CPU, I would have said the the Pentium was probably still faster? close call anyway.
You do have a good point though! MediaInfo's P3 500 system supports 100 front side bus P3's so is very likely upgradeable to the fastest in the model range which I believe was a 1000mhz (bios permitting of course, so may need flashing)
Actually thinking about it, I think I have two of these CPU's kicking about in a draw upstairs lol (I'm a UK member lol)
That would certainly speed things up a bit!!
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
Interesting that you felt a 333 Celeron was faster than the full P2 266 CPU, I would have said the the Pentium was probably still faster? close call anyway.
You do have a good point though! MediaInfo's P3 500 system supports 100 front side bus P3's so is very likely upgradeable to the fastest in the model range which I believe was a 1000mhz (bios permitting of course, so may need flashing)
Actually thinking about it, I think I have two of these CPU's kicking about in a draw upstairs lol (I'm a UK member lol)
That would certainly speed things up a bit!!
Martin
We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.
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