What exactly is overclocking?

[tanker3000]

Im new to pc modding and messing around with different settings ect. But im in the process of building my new modded pc. Its got a chaintech zenith ZNF3-250 motherboard, samsung 60 gig 133SATA hard drive (will be adding another later). Im going to use an AMD Athlon 64 processor (the fastest 754 socket version hopefully), 2gig DDR400 memory ( not decided on a make yet, if any one has any idea which would be best), Im also stuck on what type of graphics card to use, im looking at about 350 pounds to spend. Any way could some one explain overclocking? and how to set up two harddrives in RAID? Cheers

 

[GONNA-GET-U]

you can overclock ur CPU - processor and GPU - graphics card
and i think u can adjust the timmin of ur memory

for CPU u need to goto ur bios and change ur FSB and Vcore setting to above default and this will make ur computer run faster - but also make ur componets build up more heat - which could cause problem - so thats why ppl get better fans etc. or even water cooling !

for GPU u norrmally need some kind or software to overclock ur card - this will also increase temp..

intel systems also overclock much more than the AMD systems

if u overclock ur componets - u may make ur system unstable !

useful site for reading up on overclocking http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/
they also have a web site - with loads of good componets for ppl that like to overclock or just get some great peice of kit ! http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

 

[ChristopherP]

you want to make sure that you have quality RAM (preferaby DDR433 or higher) and a decent PSU...

as for RAID, its quite complicated and will require a system reformat.

 

[Reefsmoka]

Im also stuck on what type of graphics card to use, im looking at about 350 pounds to spend.

The Geforce FX 6800 GT by Gainward is about the best you can get for £350, its clocked at 6800 Ultra speeds which is extrememly fast. It will outperform an X800XT PE in most benchmarks at the moment.

Have a look here , its the 2nd one down (Gainward Ultra 2400 Golden Sample).

 

[Kenny]

Yup you can alter your memory timings, changing the latency has a pretty good effect on how quickly things happen. But memory bought with low latencies is VERY expensive. I buy Kingston CL3, and bring it down to 2.5 at stock Voltage, saving me mucho moneyo