Just discovered my CPU is overclocked

  • Thread starter Thread starter Phil
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Phil

As I said, my CPU is overclocked, now, being somewhat of a novice compared
to some of you guys I am baffled by this as this computer has been running
just fine for about 2 years, although just recently I blew a motherboard and
had a new one installed.
The circumstances od this were, I was chatting on Cam to some friends in
Vietnam and everything stopped, the screen went blue with some dialog saying
something about disabling BIOS memory options such as caching and shadowing
and it then proceeded to dump memory to disk?
Any advice or hints to resolve this will be gratefully accepted
Phil
 
All the items you are asking about are setup in the BIOS. If you don't know
what that is then you better ask a knowledgeable friend for help because you
could really screw things up.
 
Phil said:
As I said, my CPU is overclocked, now, being somewhat of a novice compared
to some of you guys I am baffled by this as this computer has been running
just fine for about 2 years, although just recently I blew a motherboard
and had a new one installed.
The circumstances od this were, I was chatting on Cam to some friends in
Vietnam and everything stopped, the screen went blue with some dialog
saying something about disabling BIOS memory options such as caching and
shadowing and it then proceeded to dump memory to disk?
Any advice or hints to resolve this will be gratefully accepted
Phil

Sorry what's your question? Are you saying your new motherboard had a blue
screen, or your old one that you replaced?

If you bought the system from a shop and it was overclocked without your
knowledge, that would be fraud. If a well meaning friend did it, go and ask
him what he changed.

Overclocking will work fine for some time but can cause a variety of odd
behaviours. Depending on how the overclock has been performed and to what
extent the CPU was overclocked.

Usually increasing the bus speed by 10% won't cause any problems, (and a
negligible performance increase, so much so you might not even notice). But
if the CPU, RAM or VGA card has had the voltage increased to get a more
stable overclock, that is a different matter.

By overclocking the components life is shortened. Sure it might be from 10
years to 6 years, but my feeling is components today don't seem as robust as
they were in the past. I am seeing more motherboards that die for no
particular reason and I think manufacturers expect to see computers turn
over every few years, and consequently build components with a shorter
lifespan.
 
Hello, I am considering buying a new computer. Would I be less likely to
aquire a computer that "turns over every few years, and consequently builds
components with a shorter lifespan," if I purchased a very reputable brand,
such as Sony or HP ? Please elaborate. Thank you kindly,
 
Phil said:
As I said, my CPU is overclocked, now, being somewhat of a novice compared
to some of you guys I am baffled by this as this computer has been running
just fine for about 2 years, although just recently I blew a motherboard and
had a new one installed.

Well, you shouldn't have overclocked in the first place. Now the trick
is/maybe to go into the bios and put the same info there that you used
when you originally overclocked. Unluckilly, it may not work, Again, you
there was NO reason to over clock anyway as now some of your files may
be dameaged.
 
Hello, I am considering buying a new computer. Would I be less likely to
aquire a computer that "turns over every few years, and consequently builds
components with a shorter lifespan," if I purchased a very reputable brand,
such as Sony or HP ? Please elaborate. Thank you kindly,


Definitely not! In fact, those that you call "a very reputable brand"
are perhaps among the poorest computers you can buy.

Certainly the best computer you can get is one you build yourself,
choosing the best components, or one you have custom-built for you,
not a brand-name. Brand-names are often good values, but never
anything like best or longest-lasting.

But life span has almost nothing to do with whether you buy a brand
name or build yourself.
 
Hello, thank you. If I only could afford a "brand name" computer, which
brand name would you recommend? 1 gig ROM, 200 MB Hard.
 
Hello, thank you. If I only could afford a "brand name" computer, which
brand name would you recommend? 1 gig ROM, 200 MB Hard.


You're welcome. I think Dell usually provides good value.
 
dobey wrote
Sorry what's your question? Are you saying your new motherboard had a blue
screen, or your old one that you replaced?

If you bought the system from a shop and it was overclocked without your
knowledge, that would be fraud. If a well meaning friend did it, go and ask
him what he changed.

Overclocking will work fine for some time but can cause a variety of odd
behaviours. Depending on how the overclock has been performed and to what
extent the CPU was overclocked.

Usually increasing the bus speed by 10% won't cause any problems, (and a
negligible performance increase, so much so you might not even notice). But
if the CPU, RAM or VGA card has had the voltage increased to get a more
stable overclock, that is a different matter.

By overclocking the components life is shortened. Sure it might be from 10
years to 6 years, but my feeling is components today don't seem as robust as
they were in the past. I am seeing more motherboards that die for no
particular reason and I think manufacturers expect to see computers turn
over every few years, and consequently build components with a shorter
lifespan.
In addition, these components are manufactured at the limit of the
technology available, and there just isn't the latitude that was
available in the old days, when some CPUs were over-engineered if
anything.
For instance, I ran a Pentium166MMX at 250Mhz (2.5 x 100) for 18 months
without a hiccup, and remember the Celerons that performed amazingly.
I'm not sure how many CPUs would tolerate a 50% overclock nowadays,
without enormous voltage boosts and exotic cooling arrangements.
 

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