What speed does your CPU run

[Denholm]

Question, do you overclock from the Motherboard's BIOS? Or do you use some software to overclock?

[Fulmar]

Bios

[Getback]

Karaya, that's like buying a brand new ATV and only driving on the street. You need to get out there and get dirty.

When I get home tonight I will post my CPU-Z...I hope. Now frankly, I really can't match some your folks skills and knowledge but it does run at a comfortable 3.8 ghz and I want to show that.

[BaldEagl]

Karaya, that's like buying a brand new ATV and only driving on the street. You need to get out there and get dirty.

I had my Conroe OC'd to 3.2 Ghz but clocked it back to stock.  Not only that, I turned on SpeedStep.  It runs much cooler now and throttles the CPU back from 2.66 Ghz to 2.0 Ghz when idle.  When it needs the extra processor speed it throttles back up instantaneously.

Maybe I'll OC it again at some point but I really don't see the need for it.

[Getback]

I had my Conroe OC'd to 3.2 Ghz but clocked it back to stock.  Not only that, I turned on SpeedStep.  It runs much cooler now and throttles the CPU back from 2.66 Ghz to 2.0 Ghz when idle.  When it needs the extra processor speed it throttles back up instantaneously.

Maybe I'll OC it again at some point but I really don't see the need for it.

At idle my CPU drops to 2.4 ghz via the multiplier which drops from 9.5 to 6.

[Skuzzy]

First thing I shut off is SpeedStep.

It does not always kick the CPU back to full speed.  Case in point is one of the posters who ran CPUZ and it showed the CPU still throttled back.  CPUZ takes a while to run.  The CPU should not have throttled back when it was running.  Instead, it should have throttled up.

[1701E]

Quick question about overclocking.  Does auto-overclocking software work safely?  I tried it on my old CPU and it took it from 2.1 to 2.7, but I was never sure if it was a safe way of doing it.  Is manual OCing safer, or is auto just as safe?

Just in case it's asked the software came wih my Motherboard.


 
   X

[Fulmar]

I think the auto overclocking stuff is pretty stupid.  Like my Asus board has options like OC 10%-25%.  I never enabled them because I didn't know what parameters it was changing (i.e. voltage, FSB, multiplier, RAM, timings etc).  It's best to learn the basics of OC and do it the manual way.  You'll help avoid potential problems if you fully understand what you're doing, rather than just hitting one button and praying smoke doesn't come out

[BaldEagl]

First thing I shut off is SpeedStep.

It does not always kick the CPU back to full speed.  Case in point is one of the posters who ran CPUZ and it showed the CPU still throttled back.  CPUZ takes a while to run.  The CPU should not have throttled back when it was running.  Instead, it should have throttled up.

I have my CPU FSB, multi, and voltage (along with other things) on my system monitor on my desktop.  I haven't seen it skip a beat yet and haven't experienced any issues with it.

When I installed my Arctic Freezer 7 I clocked back, enabled SpeedStep, C1E and whatever the other throttler is that always escapes me just in case the Arctic Freezer popped loose or something.  I didn't want to be deep in a game and unintentionally fry my CPU.  Well, that's never happened so I've been thinking about OCing again but on the other hand, it's kind of comforting to know that nothing bad will happen to my CPU given the worst of circumstances.

[Skuzzy]

And yet, this person does indeed have an issue with SpeedStep not stepping up the CPU speed when it should have.

Apparently, it can happen.


I am with you Fulmar on the automatic overclock.  You have no idea what parameters are being adjusted when you run with those settings.  Best to take your time and learn the proper way to do it, if you are going to do it. 

[Fulmar]

I've never been 'too' concerned about overheating/frying my CPU.  Motherboard and chip mfgers have done a good job with having the system shut down during overheating.  I remember my first computer build.  2 weeks after I built it, my friend that helped me with it did not secure the latch on the heatstink very well.  So I booted up one day and before I got to windows my computer shut off and I couldn't reboot it.  Open up the case and my heatsink was resting on top of my video card.

[Skuzzy]

I have never been concerned about it either as Intel CPU's have had thermal protection built into the CPU for many years now.  The CPU will not allow itself to be over heated.

Something many AMD users, which have moved to Intel, are not aware of.

[BaldEagl]

And yet, this person does indeed have an issue with SpeedStep not stepping up the CPU speed when it should have.

Apparently, it can happen.

Sheesh... sorry.  I wasn't arguing with you.  Just explaining my experience and the reason that I did it.  And no, I have never owned an AMD processor.

[EDIT] Now for my question/observation:  Can't the Intel CPU throttlers be disabled in the BIOS (C1E and whatever that other one is)?

The reason I ask is that, when I first built this machine I was having some heat issues.  I had the throttlers enabled in the BIOS.  Every once in a while, my screen would go dark as, I'm assuming, the CPU shut down and I'd have to re-boot.

Then I disabled the trottlers in the BIOS.  It turned out my HSF came unplugged from the mobo and when I noticed it, my CPU was at 90C.  It had neither throttled back nor shut down at that point but was still humming along, far beyond the temps where it had began to shut down previously.

That seems to indicate that, while the throttlers are built into the CPU, they are controlled through the BIOS.  True or false?

[Skuzzy]

No.  There is no defeating the on chip thermal protection.  It cannot be altered.  It is a last ditch mechanism and it will allow the CPU to reach high temperatures before cutting in, but it will not allow the CPU to be damaged.

I have demoed this a few times.  Once by accident.

I was not trying to argue with you about the SpeedStep thing BE, just citing there are issues that can cause it to kick in when you do not want it to and vice-versa.

[1701E]

I think the auto overclocking stuff is pretty stupid.  Like my Asus board has options like OC 10%-25%.  I never enabled them because I didn't know what parameters it was changing (i.e. voltage, FSB, multiplier, RAM, timings etc).  It's best to learn the basics of OC and do it the manual way.  You'll help avoid potential problems if you fully understand what you're doing, rather than just hitting one button and praying smoke doesn't come out

Well the program I use I wasn't quite sure about.  It opens and shows CPU voltage, and a few other dials.  If i hit 'Auto' it will go through a constant upping of voltage and things, constantly showing the small steps on the dials.  The PC will auto restart when it hits a spot it can't handle and auto-backs down to a safe level.  Seemed a little dangerous in case it didn't back down.