I want to overclock my P-75!!!

I have a Gateway P-75 and just read the article about overclocking in Sim Racing News. All I can say is Hallelujah!! I want to overclock to 100 Mhz, but I wanted some input from anyone who has already done this as far as success and improved performance. Any info. will be GREATLY appreciated. Keith Branch

>I have a Gateway P-75 and just read the article about overclocking in >Sim Racing News. All I can say is Hallelujah!! I want to overclock to >100 Mhz, but I wanted some input from anyone who has already done this >as far as success and improved performance. Any info. will be GREATLY >appreciated. >Keith Branch TO EVERYBODY WANTING TO DO THIS. DON'T. YOU WILL BE BUYING A NEW PROCESSOR VERY SOON IF YOU DO. I have done this in the past, for lab testing purposes, and they will not last real long. I had a P60 last ten minutes at 66. They are made to run at the printed speed, no faster. Do you think if a P75 would run at 90-120 Mhz, Intel would sell it as a 75 for less money? I don't think so. Mike

If I understand correctly, the chips are only tested to a set speed, but are actually the same as ones rated faster (assuming the same design is used)? Doesn't the 486SX cpu still contain the math co-processor (disabled, of course)? People have been overclocking since motherboards came out with jumpers to adjust the bus speed. When I had my 486-25, I was able to successfully clock it to 33. When I finally upgraded to a dx2-50, I tried clocking it up to 66MHz. It lasted for 1/2 an hour, and then fried the chip AND my upgrade socket. Thank god that was all it fried! Although my motherboard can be upped to 166MHz now, I believe I'll stay at 100MHz until I buy a new chip. With the 200MHz chips coming out, I'm sure the 166MHz chips will drop down in price pretty fast. And whatever I pay for the chip will be less than a new motherboard if mine blows up from overclocking. And one last thought before I jump off the soap box. Would you put racing fuel (higher octane) into your family sedan and hope that your engine doesn't go boom? Isn't that essentially the same thing you do when you overclock?

Well, specifically regarding P-75s, I've just sold one that I've had running at 100Mhz for about 9 months. The new owner also has it running at 100Mhz in a new PC, and it's zipping along fine - no problems. Cheers! John _________________________________ __ _____| |_____ __ _________| |__| :| John Wallace | |__| |_________ \ :| |::| :| Team WW Racing TSW | |::| | / > :| |::| :|_________________________________| |::| | < / :|__|::|____:/ Sim Racing News \.____|::|__| \ /_______:/ \::/ http://sneezy.dcn.ed.ac.uk/simnews/index.htm\::/ \._______\

Mike, I don't mean to be insulting, but it's patently obvious you know very little about processor tolerances, nor about the marketing devices employed by today's semiconductor companies. If what you say is true, then someone needs to send some statisticians over to Edinburgh, because the laws of probability just aren't operating here. I personally have overclocked every processor I've ever had (LOTS!), as have all of my friends - we have NEVER, repeat NEVER, had a processor fail on us. Some haven't worked at the higher speed and have been put back to the original without damage, but NONE have failed. Learn a bit about the subject before simply scaremongering based upon ONE instance of a VERY old technology CPU. Cheers! John _________________________________ __ _____| |_____ __ _________| |__| :| John Wallace | |__| |_________ \ :| |::| :| Team WW Racing TSW | |::| | / > :| |::| :|_________________________________| |::| | < / :|__|::|____:/ Sim Racing News \.____|::|__| \ /_______:/ \::/ http://sneezy.dcn.ed.ac.uk/simnews/index.htm\::/ \._______\

>> TO EVERYBODY WANTING TO DO THIS. DON'T. YOU WILL BE BUYING A NEW >> PROCESSOR VERY SOON IF YOU DO. >> I have done this in the past, for lab testing purposes, and they will >> not last real long. I had a P60 last ten minutes at 66. They are made >> to run at the printed speed, no faster. Do you think if a P75 would run >> at 90-120 Mhz, Intel would sell it as a 75 for less money? I don't >> think so. >> Mike >If I understand correctly, the chips are only tested to a set speed, but >are actually the same as ones rated faster (assuming the same design is >used)? Doesn't the 486SX cpu still contain the math co-processor >(disabled, of course)? No. From what I have heard "Unofficially" from people at Intel, an "SX" was a DX where the co-pro did not work. Instead of throwing it away, they mark it "SX". Thus my point from above. Boy, wouldn't mom be happy with this..... Mike

I don't know about my mom, but my wife would probably kick my ass out the door if I came to her and said, "Honey, I need a new computer because I was stupid."

>> MikeGet real people, it would still cost a lot less to kill your >underclocked cpu than to race your local dirt track a few week ends. >Bear in mind that if you blow up your cpu, that would be a good excuse >to go out and get that faster unit would you care to come over and explain this to my wife :-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MP Scurvydog #00 Simpson-Cowlings Motorsports http://www.netcom.com/~svydog/scms/index.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

underclocked cpu than to race your local dirt track a few week ends. Bear in mind that if you blow up your cpu, that would be a good excuse to go out and get that faster unit CT Hawaii: Cole "If you dont like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk"

In my experience of overclocking 486's and pentiums you can * sometimes * get away with it, consider the following :- 486DX33 Overclocked to 50Mhz A difference of 50% and 17 Mhz Pentium 90Mhz overclocked to 100Mhz A difference of 11% and 10Mhz Both had heatsinks and fans. The 486 is now 2 years old and works faultlesly (Except with some VESA cards which is normal for a DX50 anyway) The Pentium works fine idling but locks up when pushed hard (by NASCAR for example) This is for the simple reason that more of the pentium's logic is being used = more heat. The Processor will be prone to errors (i.e Crashing) at higher clock rates. If you insist on overclocking any processor follow my advice :- * DON'T go any more than 1 step faster on a Pentium (i.e 75 to 90Mhz) * You MUST fit a heatsink and a fan. * Fit a second case fan sucking into the case (as opposed to the PSU's which blows out). Do not allow this fan to work against the processor fan, though. * Use a proper heat transfer compound (e.g silicone) between the processor case and the heatsink. * Blow all the dust and ***from the PC's innards every 6 - 12 months Short of fitting a refridgeration unit into your PC (has anybody tried this - just a thought) this is about all you can do to minimize the risk of processor burnout. Just one more thought - that guy who oc'd a P60 to P66, didn't he think that maybe a processor that runs too hot anyway (the P60 REQUIRES a heat sink to be reliable) might just stretch thing a LITTLE too far?

>>TO EVERYBODY WANTING TO DO THIS. DON'T. YOU WILL BE BUYING A NEW >>PROCESSOR VERY SOON IF YOU DO. >>I have done this in the past, for lab testing purposes, and they will >>not last real long. I had a P60 last ten minutes at 66. They are made >>to run at the printed speed, no faster. Do you think if a P75 would run

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>>at 90-120 Mhz, Intel would sell it as a 75 for less money? I don't >>think so. >Mike, >I don't mean to be insulting, but it's patently obvious you know very >little about processor tolerances, nor about the marketing devices >employed by today's semiconductor companies. >If what you say is true, then someone needs to send some statisticians >over to Edinburgh, because the laws of probability just aren't

operating >here. I personally have overclocked every processor I've ever had >(LOTS!), as have all of my friends - we have NEVER, repeat NEVER, had a

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>processor fail on us. Some haven't worked at the higher speed and have >been put back to the original without damage, but NONE have failed. >Learn a bit about the subject before simply scaremongering based upon >ONE instance of a VERY old technology CPU. >Cheers! >John

John- Eight years in the PC industry, four as an engineer, I think I know how these things work. If you have never had one fail, good for you and your friends. PC companies are always trying to get better benchmarks than everyone else, which sells systems. This sometimes includes trying to "push" things. Don't even get me started on marketing. New technology processors are not much more reliable than the older ones, when you push the limit. Learn a little about people before you put you foot in your mouth and accuse them of not knowing anything. Mike

Emmmmm yes :) A peltier cooler is essentially a small "fridge" for your CPU and is very efficient. A liquid cooling system was considered also, but anything that needs cooling THAT badly is a bad idea to clock Cheers! John _________________________________ __ _____| |_____ __ _________| |__| :| John Wallace | |__| |_________ \ :| |::| :| Team WW Racing TSW | |::| | / > :| |::| :|_________________________________| |::| | < / :|__|::|____:/ Sim Racing News \.____|::|__| \ /_______:/ \::/ http://sneezy.dcn.ed.ac.uk/simnews/index.htm\::/ \._______\

Overclocking to P100 is _NOT_ drastic on a P75. The reason the latest P75 chips "refuse to start" is because Intel realised that every chip could be overclocked and many people were doing this - they put circuitry to STOP people doing that. Try UNDERclocking your P75 to 66Mhz - wonder why it doesn't work even at a SLOWER speed? That's not because of strain.... _________________________________ __ _____| |_____ __ _________| |__| :| John Wallace | |__| |_________ \ :| |::| :| Team WW Racing TSW | |::| | / > :| |::| :|_________________________________| |::| | < / :|__|::|____:/ Sim Racing News \.____|::|__| \ /_______:/ \::/ http://sneezy.dcn.ed.ac.uk/simnews/index.htm\::/ \._______\

Mike, Sorry to have upset you, but I am/was going on the information I have - what you posted. And what you posted is the scaremongering propaganda of the manufacturers and it's wrong. I too have worked in the semiconductor industry for several (12) years, specifying these products, and developing the raw material to make these products alongside the manufacturers - as such we know a lot about how they are made and manufactured. I'm not talking about the rubbish claimed by PC sellers, I'm talking of the info of the people who make them - Intel etc. To say that "They are made to run at the printed speed, no faster" is just plain not true as you will know if you have the experience you said. Intel make processors to run as fast as they possibly can - call it "continuous improvement", or "product development", if they can make a P-75 that runs at 300Mhz they'll do it - that's the processor that will beat Cyrix/STM/IBM/AMD-NexGEN in the coming months. As for why they don't sell it as a "P-300", that's marketing. As for why they don't put overclock protection, that's product yield - you can't do it until sufficient quantity of the line's product meets that standard. You had a bad experience with a P-60, a 0.8um technology early Pentium. P-75s were made on 0.6um and latterly 0.35um lines - these can turn out P-200 chips, so overclocking a P-75 to 100Mhz or higher is WAY short of a risk, and new technology processors are much more reliable than older ones since they're being produced on lines which are designed to be ready for P-Pro and even P7 production. Intel's switch from 0.6um to 0.35um and below has gone much better than anticipated, and that is why you're seeing a glut of good quality processors, price cuts and the P- 200 which wasn't supposed to be released (although there are other reasons for that too). Perhaps your knowledge just needs to be more up to date? I've seen a lot of your posts here, and you do talk a lot of sense, but on this issue I had to say you were/are incorrect. I'm not accusing you of "not knowing anything", just not being very "au-fait" with this subject. Cheers! John _________________________________ __ _____| |_____ __ _________| |__| :| John Wallace | |__| |_________ \ :| |::| :| Team WW Racing TSW | |::| | / > :| |::| :|_________________________________| |::| | < / :|__|::|____:/ Sim Racing News \.____|::|__| \ /_______:/ \::/ http://sneezy.dcn.ed.ac.uk/simnews/index.htm\::/ \._______\

Um, I have had my Gateway 2000 P5-60 for 2 years, and the way things are going, I might have it another 2 years. :-( Oh well. -- Kenneth [link lost in import]

I clocked my p60 to 66 for a year and it ran fine... never missed a beat ! anyone clocked a 166 to 200 yet with success ?? only kidding ;) but my p60 really ran at 66 not a prob !

> New technology processors are not much more reliable than the older > ones, when you push the limit. > Learn a little about people before you put you foot in your mouth and > accuse them of not knowing anything. Sorry...had to jump in here... Mike, if you've spent 4 years as an engineer and don't realize that a 60 Mhz Pentium is a 66 Mhz scaled back because it was UNRELIABLE at 66 Mhz, then it might be time to sign up for Bus Driver School. I wouldn't want you engineering the computers on the plane I'm on. Neil -- Meek and obedient you follow the leader down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel.. Neil Yeatman, Ajax, Ontario, CANADA

I'm currently running a P150mhz overclocked to P180mhz, Works fines has given me about 15% speed increase in processor and video performance. Check out http://www.dfw.net/~sdw/ for further details on overclocking. by the way tried to overclock to 200mhz but the machine wouldn't boot. good idea to turn the power off quick if this happens. cheers

After reading all the posts concerning overclocking, I decided to go for it and overclock my p120 to a p133. I did some more research on the web, verified jumper settings with the mfg, changed the jumpers, closed my eyes and turned it on. Everything has worked great. Most economical upgrade i ever performed :) Thanks to everyone for the info. -------------- Michael Kirton