Help - New to OCing

[Error 404]

Hi, I'm new to the world of overclocking, and would like some help in squeezing more power out of my system.
Specs are:
PC: Dell Dimension 8250
CPU: Pentium 4 2.66 GHz, Northwood based, socket 478
RAM: Rambus RDRAM, 512 MB @ 533 MHz (PC-1066)
Mobo: Dell ATX, Chipset is Intel 850E, BIOS version A06
Graphics card: nVidia GeForce 420 MX w/ 64 MB DDR RAM @ 4x AGP (needs upgrade)
Hard Drive: 10 GB PATA (Also needs upgrade)
Cooling: The CPU is cooled by a large 90 mm fan directed -via a plastic cover- onto a large heatsink.
Power Supply: 250 watt Dell unit, can upgrade to a 350 watt unit

Any more info I can supply easily, but I don't have the manufacturers manual because this system was free :cool:, because of a broken hard drive.
I am hoping to get the CPU up to at least 3.2 GHz, but the BIOS is absolutely useless (think laptop-style :banghead:), which means I am down to overclocking using a program of some sort.
So, I have two questions:
1) How far could this system be overclocked to, without dramatically reducing its lifespan?
2) What program should I use for overclocking it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)

[hat]

Well overclocking never reduces a lifespan dramatically when done right. Although with a Hell, the most you can do is use a program to crank up the FSB until it becomes unstable. Keep clocking until Orthos fails within the first hour, then back the FSB down 2 points and see if it's stable (meaning running Orthos for 20+ hours)

You're best off building a new custom pc though. If you upgrade the video card you will need to get more RAM cause 512MB RAM is severely limiting and RDRAM is horrendously expensive compared to DDR2

[Kursah]

I had an older P4 socket 423 Williamette with RDRAM 800 on an ECS board...even with overclocking options, it didn't go but .2 GHz (it was a 1.4, so 1.6 lol!)...RDRAM isn't really worth it's weight, DDR won that battle years ago in the PC industry (at least for now).

As suggested you're better off building a custom PC with the intent of overclocking in mind...that doesn't mean top dollar either, but you would meet and maybe exceed your goals and learn a lot more that way.

You could try a program to overclock while in windows, but really with that rig, I wouldn't try to get too far...it's not built or intended to be OC'd, and with a lot of aged rigs like that, you're really asking for issues...the PSU is probably minimal to just supply that system stock, the coolers are stock, the case airflow is probably negligable...all hindering your effort for overclocking, thus for that build I wouldn't really recommend it. Sorry man...

If you do try, do keep us posted on your findings and how far it can go...but don't expect too much from it in it's current setup...

:toast:

[KainXS]

are you sure it won't let your overclock, I have a dell dimension 8100 in my basement and it can be overclocked and is pretty similar to yours

its a dell pc though so I would say that its not going to overclock very far and the dell that I have also has a large fan with a cover on it and it runs very, very hot. its not even really active cooled

the cover is green right

I'm gonna have to say to save up and build a new system, try to salvage parts from that one

and you know how I got my dell, it was free because the guy who gave it to me couldn't get it working because the hdd was fried

i guess the stock hdd's in them are unreliable or something

[Error 404]

Well, as I said, I got it for free, so I might as well take it to its limits.
I can put in a 350 watt PSU, and I don't plan to buy a new PC any time soon (I'm saving up for a laptop), but it doesn't get very hot under the hood, even with a heavy load.
So, even if I can get only a few hundred MHz out of it, I'd still like to get some experiance with OCing; Please post some URLs to any programs you think would work.
(I've tried Systool, but it won't even start :()
Oh, and I can add more fans to it, directly attached to the PSU connectors, to keep the heat down.

[hat]

You should scrape up about a grand for a decent rig if you feel the need for it. If you're just fucking around, try http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=189

[Error 404]

Thanks; I'm just screwing around with it. Besides, compared to my other computers, this IS a decent rig!
(My other computers are a Dell laptop @ 850 MHz and a PC with 400 MHz. Quite sad, really)

[hat]

Yeah, I would say it's time to get a new computer anyway, if you're into that kind of thing.

[Error 404]

Well, time for some updates:
I've overclocked the graphics card by 28%! :)
GPU went from 250 MHz to 320 MHz, and the RAM went from 333 MHz to 420 MHz.
3DMark2001 went from 3909 to 5018!:toast:
Unfortunately, all of the OC utils i've tried do not recognise the mobo, which is annoying.
I've found the PLL, but ClockGen wont work properly (it only shows the current clock speeds and the Options tab, and nothing else), and CPU FSB doesn't have the PLL.
PLL is ICS 9250CF-22, and the only other markings on the mobo to indicate its make are some VIA chips and some lettering: "E210882", if that means anything.
So, Dell is harder to OC than I thought.:shadedshu

[cdawall]

oh god that graphics card sucks i beat that score on an old 7500 DDR

as for the cpu check what your mobo supports and see if you can pin mod the cpu

[Error 404]

Its a Pentium 4 Northwood, socket 478, at 2.66 Ghz. Is Pin modding dangerous? (Dangerous meaning a high risk of something asploding).
If its not, then i've got a few hundred paperclips lying around somewhere. :D

[cdawall]

it a northwood hell that should do 3.2ghz on stock volts no issues i took one of those up to 3.4ghz on a school PC without even trying we jut need to find something that offers pll control

as for pinmodding its dangerousish google it and see exactly what it is

as for the 7500 DDR i beat tyour MX420 by 2k pts

http://img.techpowerup.org/080414/signature.jpg

[Error 404]

Haha, anything beats my graphics card.
Are there any other overclocking utilities that would work on my PC, without needing to know the mobo driver?

[cdawall]

nothing useful i used clockgen when i did the one at school but it was on intel i845...