Overclocking cpu

[8800GT]

Hi i am thinking of overclocking my pc processor to try to increase gaming performance. Pc specs are Dell inspiron 531 With AMD Athlon 64x2 5000+ (2.6ghz) Not overclocked, 2GB 667MHZ DDR2 Ram, Nvidia Ge-Force 8800GT (Not overclocked)
Would it be safe to overclock from 2.6Ghz to 3.0ghz ?
This all seems very confusing to me is there not a program i can download to do this or do i have to go into the bios to do this ?

 

[floppybootstomp]

The words 'Overclocking' and 'Dell' do not sit happily side by side

You may be able to overclock it to 3Ghz or you may not, you'll just have to try. I suggest you find a good overclocking guide before you start.

You'd probably be better off with a slight overclock on the video card for improved frame rates within games, go to www.guru3d.com where there are several free software programs available that allow you to overclock your video card, Nvidia Riva Tuner is good.

You probably won't see much difference in gaming performance with any overclocking on that machine and if you push it too far at best you'll have to reset your cmos/bios, at worse you'll fry your processor.

Also be aware that any overclcoking will produce extra heat and on a standard Dell this is likely to result in system instability.

Having said all that - good luck

 

[Abarbarian]

As flops says go to guru3d they have a good forum section that has loads fo info, they will have a thread specific to o/c ing the 8800 GT. Riva Tuner is what you need to tune your GFX and that is a good place to start.

Get a better GFX card and you will see improvement in FPS.

Try these guides for o/cing info.

http://forums.guru3d.com//showthread.php?t=122731

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/newbie-oc-guide_7.html#sect1

 

[lacerveza]

First off you want a decent cpu heatsink/fan, Don't go oc'ing on stock cooling especially with a dell because they use the stock coolers .Thats a fairly easy oc, 333mhz fsb with a 9x multiplier and you may get away without changing the voltage,but DONT go messing around in your bios without knowing what you are doing,read a few different guides and then read them again.Remember wheneveryou oc its at your own risk,no warranties,besides if it's a dell the bios may be locked.