OVERCLOCKING the CPU ----------------- HOW DO YOU DO THAT? ------------------------------<wbr>------------------------------<wbr>-----------

Hello - I hasve read quite a few postings here that people are "overclocking" the cpu for what I gather is better performance from the computer. I have a 233 pentium MMX (NOT PENTIUM II) and may be interested in doing this if need be with the sim GPL. I would appreciate it if someone could post the instructions on how to overclock the cpu for thier cimputers. I, for one, am interested, and I am sure there are many, many more sim racers out there that would appreciate the information for their cimputers as well. Thanks! Doug

Quoted text (19 lines)

> Hello - > I hasve read quite a few postings here that people are > "overclocking" the cpu for what I gather is better performance from > the computer. > I have a 233 pentium MMX (NOT PENTIUM II) and may be interested in > doing this if need be with the sim GPL. > I would appreciate it if someone could post the instructions on how > to overclock the cpu for thier cimputers. > I, for one, am interested, and I am sure there are many, many more > sim racers out there that would appreciate the information for their > cimputers as well. > Thanks! > Doug

Hi Doug... Likely may be a while before someone will get to you with a more difinitive answer on overclocking (there's a GPL "feeding frenzy" in progress right now!), so if you've got 5 minutes, I'll tell you all I know about it. Overclocking has to do with adjusting the multiplier so as to force the CPU to run at higher speeds. This is either done at your CMOS screen (if your motherboard uses software to accomplish this), or on the motherboard itself with "jumpers". Using a software based motherboard such as my old Titanium TX, you simply enter the CMOS screen, and change the multiplier. Example, a "typical" clock speed setting for a P233 is 66 (the mhz speed of the CPU) times the multiplier of 3.5, which equals 231 (referred to as "233") CPU speed. If you adjust the clock multiplier up to, say 4, then: 66 x 4 = 264 (or "266"). Thus, your CPU is now cranking at a higher speed. Things to watch out for is heat on the CPU. If you have a good CPU fan, you probably won't have much trouble overclocking up to 266. If your motherboard allows for faster BUS speed... there's another way to speed up you system: Overbussing. This is where you up the bus speed. Using this method, by upping the BUS speed, you can actually slow down the CPU speed, and realize significant gains in system speed. This is what I do. I'm running my BUS at 75 mhz (highest my board will allow) and using a 3 multiplier for a CPU speed of 225. Results are as follows: Benchmarks on my system using Norton: (Note, a P100 benches at 21.1 for reference.) "Speedeasy" CPU/BUS speeds (i.e. your basic "233" settings) benchmark = 57.7 75 mhz BUS x 3 (225 mhz) = 66.0 75 mhz BUS x 3.5 (266 mhz) = 69.8 At 266 with a BUS speed of 75 mhz, my system stumbles upon occassion when working with Jpeg (graphics) files. But it works great at that speed for simming. I noticed I could run noticably more detail on GP2 (a CPU hog) at these CPU/BUS speeds. As you can see, this is basically a "freebie" that's available on most systems just by asking the right questions! HOWEVER... don't get your hopes up about GPL on your P233. I understand that this sim is extremely horsepower hungry once you add AI cars. A HIGH quality Rendition or 3dfx vid card is absolutely essential for our machines and I understand we'll STILL be way under the real system requirements to fully enjoy the beauty built into GPL. That fact has me quite discouraged about buying the sim. :-( Hope this helps. Perhaps others will step in here and add to, or correct, my observations on overclocking. Andre

To learn about overclocking, I suggest http://www.tomshardware.com . However, for newer sims like GPL I think you will need new hardware to see big improvements. I have a Celeron300a running at 450 MHz and a Voodoo2 card. That makes GPL running at 36 fps most of the time. -Jan Otto

Quoted text (19 lines)

>Hello - > I hasve read quite a few postings here that people are >"overclocking" the cpu for what I gather is better performance from >the computer. > I have a 233 pentium MMX (NOT PENTIUM II) and may be interested in >doing this if need be with the sim GPL. > I would appreciate it if someone could post the instructions on how >to overclock the cpu for thier cimputers. > I, for one, am interested, and I am sure there are many, many more >sim racers out there that would appreciate the information for their >cimputers as well. > Thanks! > Doug

Excellent explanation, Andre! Overbussing, as you call it, is much more useful for GPL than increasing the multiplier, because running the motherboard at 75 mhz also makes the L2 cache, which is critical for GPL, run faster. Don't be discouraged! Your overclocked 266 should be perfectly adequate to run GPL just fine. I used an AMD K6-200 throughout the beta test period. Most of the time I had a Voodoo 1 card and was running the K6 at its stock speed of 3 x 66. Eventually I overclocked it to 3 x 75 = 225, and later added a Hercules Thriller. In all configurations, it ran GPL just fine, although overclocking it and adding the Thriller allowed me to run more graphics details and more AI cars than before. In its current configuration, it can run about half details at 640x480 with 5 to 8 AI cars. The overclocked K6 is quite adequate. However, I built a P2-300 with Herc Thriller recently, and this new machine is wonderful! 800x600, 19 AI cars, all graphics details, solid 36 fps except in full pits and at the start of races. Good work! See my hardware FAQ for more details about GPL and hardware: http://nh.ultranet.com/~alison/gpl/ Alison Remove the spam blocker NOSPAM to email me. http://www.nh,ultranet.com/~alison

I am sorry Alison, but half details at 640x480 with 5 to 8 AI cars IS discouraging. Half details and 640x480 I could probably live with. But you should explain to people that running with only 5 AI cars means that the system is too slow to handle driving in any kind of traffic. MAYBE, it can handle one other car in the vicinity (passing or being passed) without jerking too much. That is, once again, very discouraging and disappointing for people interested in enjoying the sim. nature of GPL. It's still great to drive tracks alone, but then so was CART:PR once you got it set-up....but you trashed it thoroughly, several times. Marc.

MV> I would appreciate it if someone could post the instructions on how MV> to overclock the cpu for thier cimputers. I depends what kind of motherboard you use !! ROTFL and get those jumpers in the right position... Also, man mailt sich... .\\atze [ FmMW2109 - FmMB2139 ] *home* : http://www.home4u.de/buesing/

Quoted text (13 lines)

> MV> I would appreciate it if someone could post the instructions on how > MV> to overclock the cpu for thier cimputers. > I depends what kind of motherboard you use !! ROTFL and get those > jumpers in the right position... > Also, man mailt sich... > .\\atze [ FmMW2109 - FmMB2139 ] > *home* : http://www.home4u.de/buesing/

Check out http://www.tomshardware.com or comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips newsgroup.