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Almost Everything You Need to Know About Your
Packard Bell Computer
Overclocking a Packard Bell
Read This First!
I do not recommend or even suggest that anyone overclock,
I merely post this information so I can share what others have done, since
it is an interesting subject. You should only overclock your system
if you know what you are doing and you know the risks, because it is you
that bears all responsibility for your system. Enjoy.
Although when done right it can be no problem, I am currently overclcoking
an AMD K6-2 300 to 330 MHz with a PowerLeap Plus Adpater.
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O.K. Ray enough with your Standard Disclaimer, lets get on with the
information.
Can
a Packard Bell computer be overclocked?
Yes, but not all processors can be overclcoked. keep this in
mind.
What
motherboards can be overclocked?
I have got email from people that have overclocked PB Hillary, PB 600,
PB 640, PB 680. I am sure there are others, but I just need some
one to tell me.
Should I overclock?
That decision is yours, there are some risks. Most people have
no problems, but there is the occasional horror story.
How do I overclock?
Simply change the jumpers or dip switches on your motherboard to the
next higher setting. For example a 120 MHz would be set to 133.
If it does not boot, then you may have one of those CPUs made by Intel
that can not be overclcoked.
Where
do I get the jumper settings?
Try one of my system pages, if I wrote a
page on your system it should have the jumper locations on it. You
can also try you motherboard manual, if you don't have one go
here.
I
don't know what system I have?
That's ok, just visit this page to find
out your system type or if you are lucky the jumper setting are printed
right on the motherboard, if you can read them.
How
do I know if it is working?
If it boots, is a good start. If the system does not boot, forget
about Overclocking. Also they system must remain stable, run it for
a time. If you keep getting crashing, that was not normal before
then you either need to keep the chip cooler, or forget about Overclocking.
Also I would recommend running a benchmark on your system, like Wintune.
This way you will know if the gains you get are worth it. for example
Overclocking a Pentium 133 to 150 is not enough gain, this is due to the
lower bus speed.
What
are you talking about?
Please read the following Overclocking links, they will explain the
theory behind Overclocking much better then I can. I learned everything
I know from these pages.
Can
all Intel Processors Be overclocked?
No. Intel has tried hard to make it so certain cpu's can not
be overclocked. They disable something inside the cpu to prevent
it from being overcloked. This disabled jumper is usually connected
to the Multiplier frequency and those CPU's can still be overclocked if
you use a higher bus speed. However PB computers do not have 75MHz
or 83 MHz bus speed needed to do this.
Some time intel will sell a higher processor as a lower one, the most
recent example is the PII 300 production is ahead of demand so intel is
rumored to be selling them as PII 266. This makes these chips perfect
candidates for overcloking.
In addition to the P133, the P200MMX and P233MMX are not overclockable,
at least the newest ones. I read that the earlier CPU's can be overclocked.
How
about overdrive processors, can they be overclocked?
While I was writing this page I got the following email: "...if
a motherboard will support 66 mhz (like the pb600) the 180mhz overdrive
will run at 200 mhz. it seems the 180mhz is obtain on a 60mhz bus. the
overdrive is clocked at 3 and you cant change that but you can change the
bus speed... cause it reads the bus speed then x 3 whatever it is.. of
course this is Overclocking and he didn't condone this but I am sure the
processor would work okay." - Joe
I have not confirmed this, but it gives you something to think about.
Also, my boss has been running the Evergreen MxPro 180 at 200 MHz with
absolutly no problems. However another individual said he tried it
and it worked for a week and then they system started crashing, he immeadiatly
set the speed back to 180 and has had no problem since.
Is this illegal?
No, it is like tuning up your car to make it go faster. Of course
you go too fast and get caught you will get a ticket. With overcooking
your system will crash or your processor will burn out.
Of course if you sell the overclocked chip as the higher processor then
it is illegal. This has happened many times. Shady computer
dealers will sell P166 that are really P150. Some of them would even
go so far as remarking the chips.
You
said at the top of the page that you do not recommend Overclocking, why
then do you have so much space dedicated to this subject?
Simply because of the number of questions I get on the subject, this
web site grows by the email I get. If I get too many questions on
a particular subject I will make a page on it.
Also I wish I had a chip I could overclock, unfortunately my P133 is
not very overclockable, read my experiment at overclocking
my PB 640.
Will
Overclocking my Packard Bell system void my warranty?
You bet, any experimenting with your system like this is not recommended
and PB will not cover it if you screw up your system.
When is it best to overclock?
my official answer is, don't overclock.
I would unofficially say it is best to overclock when you were thinking
of a major upgrade. For example someone with a P75 that wants more
speed, but is looking at $400 to upgrade to where he wants to be.
For a little more he could basically have anew system.
I would say a person in that situation could try Overclocking, it might
get them by until prices fall for an upgrade and if something happens the
price of a new motherboard and/or CPU is a price he was willing to pay
anyway.
Or when you are willing to take the risk. I can not emphasize
this enough, I do not need anyone coming back to me and say "it's all your
fault". No it is not, it's your computer and I told you not to do
it.
My
motherboard jumpers do not go high enough to overclock?
There are some product that will let you have higher multiplier settings,
such as the powerleap adapter. Read my CPU upgrade
page for, more details.
My
Processor get hotter then ever when I overclcok, what should I do?
The heat is caused by overclcoking and it is this heat that could cause
your chip to fail. You need to keep your system cool. Start
by getting a good fan to put on the processor, many of the processors that
are 133 Mhz or less do not come with a fan on the processor.
Other ways to cool are to run with the case open, or to install more
fans that blow air into or out of your case. You should also make
sure you have a good heatsink on your processor.
If
I overclock what can I do to help keep the heat Down?
Get a hold of a program like CPU Idle, Waterfall, or Rain all
three of these utilities are designed to keep the processor cool through
a special instruction set in the CPU. See my PB
Tool Page for links where you can download these.
Also if you have a PowerLeap Plus the contraol panel will monitor the
CPU temperature for you and warn you if things get too hot.
Got
more questions that I should put on this page?
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