Overclocking for everyone. “Home” overclocking of a processor with an open multiplier. How to Overclock an Unlocked Intel® Core™ Processor 0 New Overclocking Features

I have never seriously engaged in extreme overclocking, even though I have used liquid nitrogen more than once. For me, overclocking has always been not a competition, but a practical activity. After all, initially overclocking did not appear in order to compare who has more “parrots” in a particular benchmark. Overclocking arose from the desire of enthusiasts to make their systems a little faster. And save on it. Benefit is the first synonym for the word “overclocking”. And only then can we say that overclocking is a hobby and (cyber)sport. Now the opposite situation is observed in the computer components market.

Editor's column: goodbye overclocking

Taking their first timid steps in overclocking, novice enthusiasts changed the parameters of the clock generator. There was no BIOS then, much less a third-party one. software for overclocking. Just on motherboard certain contacts were closed, and this made it possible to create a table with processor frequencies, which were selected manually. A little later, jumpers appeared on motherboards that changed the clock generator signal. The resource hwbot.org (alma mater of all overclockers) registered the results of the AMD Am386-40 (40 MHz) overclock, released back in 1991. A Portuguese enthusiast under the nickname WoOx3r managed to overclock this “stone” to 50 MHz (that is, by 20%) and pass the Super Pi 1m test in “some” 69 hours 36 minutes and 32 seconds. In less than three days. On this moment the record in this discipline is 5.78 seconds, achieved using a chip overclocked to 7136 MHz Intel Core i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge). It's a funny comparison, but in 1991 the difference of 20% was quite noticeable. Let me remind you that AMD Am386-40 was once produced using a 1000 nm process technology and consisted of 275 thousand transistors. The model with a clock frequency of 40 MHz was the top model, and the “stone” with a speed of 12 MHz was considered the running one.

First world record achieved with AMD Am386-40 CPU

But it's all nostalgia. Later, the processor giants, as they say, felt which way the wind was blowing, and began to cater in every possible way to the just emerging subculture of computer enthusiasts. Among Intel and AMD processors, models with an unlocked multiplier have begun to appear, which significantly simplifies the overclocking process. For other models, it was always possible to overclock by increasing the bus frequency. Motherboard manufacturers also helped by releasing more and more sophisticated devices. The result is known: today overclocking is widely used by marketers, and any self-respecting office will certainly have a device that overclocks itself perfectly or helps overclock other components. And the best overclockers in the world are under contracts with one manufacturer or another. However, overclocking itself ceases to be a profitable activity for those who want to save money. If we consider it as a sports component, then only the most expensive and sophisticated devices are listed here. Otherwise, you won't get any records.

The record for overclocking a central processor belongs to the Finnish overclocker The Stilt. Using liquid nitrogen, he managed to overclock the AMD FX-8370 to 8722.78 MHz!

As a matter of fact, the first signal was the release of Sandy Bridge central processors, when initially only two models with an unlocked multiplier were presented. The remaining processors lost the ability to overclock by increasing the clock frequency of the generator - the BCLK parameter was simply blocked. With the advent of Haswell processors, the situation has changed somewhat (CPU Strap presets have appeared, allowing you to set the bus frequency in a certain step), but the trend is not. In addition, terrible quality thermal paste was placed under the heat distribution cover of these chips. As a result, even with slight acceleration (and overclocking potential Haswell is good) throttling and overheating were observed.

As a result, today in Intel's understanding, an overclocked processor, that is, a chip with an unlocked multiplier, is an expensive processor. All budget models have a fixed multiplier. The only exception is the Pentium G3258 model, which was presented to enthusiasts as a kind of gift - in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Pentium brand.

There is no talk of any savings in this case.

Intel Pentium G3258 is Intel's cheapest central processor to date

Now things are more or less the same for AMD. For the current FM2+ and AM3+ platforms, there are plenty of processor models with an unlocked multiplier. Including budget ones. Only the logic of the “reds” in this matter is clear: the company is now in no position to impose its conditions on the market, and in no case can it lose some of the enthusiasts committed to this brand.

The second point that is not in favor of overclocking is technical progress. This problem, in my opinion, is more serious than the decision of the marketers of one company (in the end, today they want it, tomorrow they will change their minds). Unfortunately, the release of modern processors and video cards shows that overclocking potential is a kind of rudiment that will later have to be abandoned. Indirect signs are already noticeable today.

The leader in the overall team standings among overclockers at the time of writing this column was Team Russia, well ahead of the “hodgepodge” (representatives from different countries) called PURE. A large number of enthusiasts and overclockers - business card our country.

Intel has released a series of Broadwell architecture central processors manufactured using the 14 nm process technology. I tested the Core i5-5675C model. These chips have a very short life cycle, but this is secondary. The problems that Intel encountered during the transition to the 14-nanometer process technology significantly delayed the release of these solutions (by more than a year). And besides, these processors do not race. At all. And this is logical, because Broadwell’s clock speeds are initially lower than those of Haswell. I think that with the transition to 10- and 7-nm technological processes, the problem will only get worse.

Intel Broadwell central processor, which frankly does not want to overclock

In June, AMD introduced a video card

Throughout the development of the entire human race, stones have been our integral companions. Axes, arrowheads... pyramids in the end! Silicon alone is worth something - after all, it was thanks to it that we got fire. Albeit not so long ago, but already in the name of the development of the computer industry in the “Bronze” Age, people decided to torment their “stones” again. How it all started, we are afraid to even think. Either since the ancient Z80, or later, on the 286/386 series of processors, at some point a certain group of people discovered a new exciting activity, or rather, became the founder of a new direction - overclocking. The word, strictly speaking, is not ours; it is translated from English as “promotion”. Our definition has taken a slightly different form - acceleration, that is, increased productivity. We will tell you what it is and how it happens in this article.

Where did it start

In those glorious years when prices computer parts literally went off scale, processors were not so easy to overclock. If now overclocking a computer is practically no difficulty - the presence of a keyboard and the appropriate software allows you to do this in literally a few minutes - then increasing the clock frequency occurred with the use of a soldering iron, rearranging jumpers and short-circuiting the legs of the processors. That is, at that time, overclocking was available only to a select few - brave, dedicated and experienced technicians.

But it wasn't just processors that could be overclocked. Graphics cards and RAM came next, and more recently, enthusiasts have achieved improved optical mouse performance.

Why is this necessary?

And, in fact, why are we going to do something? Let's add up all the pros and cons in order to understand whether we really need it? The advantages include the following points:

• Increased productivity has never bothered anyone before. Its increasing quantity cannot be accurately predicted; it all depends on the components used. For example, the gain from overclocking a processor with a powerful graphics card almost always increases speed in 3D applications. Although, even without the goal of improving gaming performance, computer productivity as a whole will extend to archiving, transcoding, video/audio editing, arithmetic calculations and other useful operations. But the gain from “tuning” the memory will most likely not be as big as from overclocking the processor or video card.
• Many of the concepts you will learn during overclocking will provide invaluable experience.

And here is the other side of the coin:

• There is a risk of destroying the equipment. Although it depends on your hands, the quality of the components used and, finally, the ability to stop in time.
• Reducing the life of overclocked components. Here, alas, nothing can be done: with increased voltage and a very high frequency, coupled with poor cooling, the service life of the hardware can be reduced by half. This may seem unacceptable to many, but there is one detail: on average, the life of a modern processor is ten years. Whether it is a lot or a little, everyone decides for himself. We just remind you that as of today, progress has reached such a speed of development that a processor released two or three years ago is considered unacceptably outdated. What can we say about five...

Basic Concepts

Having designed a processor, the manufacturer creates a whole series (line) with different characteristics, often based on one single processor. Why, tell me, do two identical processors have different frequencies? Do you really think that the company that produces them manages to program each processor in certain frequency? Of course, there is another way. The frequency of the younger processors in the line can easily reach even the older ones, moreover, sometimes exceeding it. But hidden problems lurk on all sides, one of which is the question of successful selection of the “stone”... however, this is another story, which we will tell about next time. Because to further study the material, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with all the terms that will appear in the text one way or another.

BIOS(Basic Input-Output System) - Elementary input/output system. Essentially, it is an intermediary between the hardware and software environments computer. More specifically, it is a small configuration program containing settings for all the hardware contents of your computer. You can make your own changes to the settings: for example, change the processor frequency. The BIOS itself is located on a separate chip with flash memory directly on the motherboard.

FSB(Front Side Bus) - The system or processor bus is the main channel for communication between the processor and other devices in the system. The system bus is also the basis for shaping the frequency of other computer data buses, such as AGP, PCI, PCI-E, Serial-ATA, as well as random access memory. It is this that serves as the main tool in increasing the CPU (processor) frequency. Multiplying the processor bus frequency by the processor multiplier (CPU Multiplier) provides the processor frequency.

Beginning with Pentium 4, corporation Intel began to use technology QPB(Quad Pumped Bus) - aka QDR(Quad Data Rate) - the essence of which is to transfer four 64-bit data blocks per processor cycle, i.e. with a real frequency of, for example, 200Mhz we get 800Mhz effective.

At the same time, the once competing AMD Athlon transmission occurs on both edges of the signal, as a result, the effective transmission speed is twice as high as the real frequency, 166Mhz in the Athlon XP gives 333 effective megahertz.

The situation is approximately the same in the line of processors from AMD- K8, (Opteron, Athlon 64, Sempron (S754/939/AM2)): the FSB bus has been continued, now it is only a reference frequency (clock generator - HTT), multiplying by a special multiplier we get the effective frequency of data exchange between the processor and external devices. The technology was named Hyper Transport - HT and is a special high-speed serial channel with a clock frequency of 1 GHz at "double" bit rate (DDR), consisting of two unidirectional buses with a width of 16 bits. The maximum data transfer rate is 4 Gbit/s. Also, the processor frequency, AGP, PCI, PCI-E, Serial-ATA are generated from the clock generator. The memory frequency is obtained from the processor frequency, thanks to a reduction factor.

Jumper It is a kind of “contact closure” assembled in a miniature housing. Depending on which contacts on the board are closed (or which are not closed), the system determines its own parameters.

CPU

CPU multiplier(Frequency Ratio/Multiplier) allows us to achieve the final processor frequency we need, while leaving the system bus frequency unchanged. Currently, in all Intel and AMD processors (except Athlon 64 FX, Intel Pentium XE and Core 2 Xtreme) the multiplier is locked, at least upward.

Processor cache(cache) - a small amount of very fast memory built directly into the processor. The cache has a significant impact on the speed of information processing, since it stores data that is currently being executed, and even those that may be needed in the near future (this is managed by a data prefetch unit in the processor). The cache comes in two levels and is designated as follows:

L1- first level cache, the fastest and least capacious of all levels, directly “communicates” with the processor core and most often has a divided structure: one half for data ( L1D), the second - instructions ( L1I). The typical volume for AMD S462 (A) and S754/939/940 processors is 128Kb, Intel S478\LGA775 - 16Kb.

L2- the second level cache, which contains data ousted from the first level cache, is less fast, but more capacious. Typical values: 256, 512, 1024 and 2048Kb.

L3- used in desktop processors for the first time in the Intel Pentium 4 processor Extreme Edition(Gallatin) and had a capacity of 2048Kb. It has also found a place in server CPUs for quite some time, and should soon appear in the new generation of AMD K10 processors.

Core- a silicon chip, a crystal consisting of several tens of millions of transistors. He, in fact, is a processor - he is engaged in executing instructions and processing data coming to him.

Processor stepping - a new version, a generation of processor with changed characteristics. Judging by the statistics, the greater the stepping, the better the processor overclocks, although not always.

Instruction Sets- MMX, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, etc. Since 1997, with the introduction by Intel of the first MMX (MultiMedia eXtensions) instruction in the history of processor manufacturing, overclockers have received another way to increase performance. These instructions are nothing more than the concept of SIMD (Single Instruction Many Data - “one command - a lot of data”) and allow no less than the processing of several data elements with one instruction. By themselves, of course, they will not increase the speed of information processing, but with the support of these instructions by programs, a certain increase is noted.

Technical process(manufacturing technology) - along with various optimizations carried out with each new stepping, reducing the technical process is the most in an effective way to overcome the processor overclocking limit. It is designated by a strange combination of letters “µm”, “nm”. Example: 0.13\0.09\0.065µm or 130\90\65nm.

Socket(Socket) - A type of processor socket for installing the processor into the motherboard. For example, S462\478\479\604\754\775\939\940\AM2, etc.

Sometimes manufacturers use alphabetic names along with the numeric name, for example S775 - also known as Socket T, S462 - Socket A. Such apparent confusion can be a little disorienting for a novice user. Be careful.

Memory

SDRAM(Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) - a system for synchronizing dynamic memory with random access. TO this type refers to all RAM used in modern desktop computers.

DDR SDRAM(Double Data Rate SDRAM) - An improved type of SDR SDRAM with double the amount of data transferred per clock.

DDR2 SDRAM - further development DDR, which allows you to achieve twice the frequency of the external data bus compared to the frequency of DDR microcircuits with the same internal operating frequency. All I/O control logic operates at half the baud rate, meaning the effective frequency is twice the actual frequency. It is produced using a thinner 90 nm process technology and, along with a reduced nominal voltage to 1.8V (from 2.5V for DDR), consumes less energy.

Real and effective memory frequency- with the advent of DDR and DDR2 memory, the concept of real frequency came into our lives - this is the frequency at which these modules operate. The effective frequency is the one at which the memory operates according to the specifications of the DDR, DDR2 and other standards. That is, with double the amount of data transmitted per clock cycle. For example: with a real DDR frequency of 200Mhz, the effective one is 400Mhz. Therefore, in designations it is most often listed as DDR400. This trick can be considered nothing more than a marketing ploy. Thus, we are given to understand that since twice as much data is transferred per clock cycle, it means the speed is twice as high... which is far from true. But for us this is not so important; there is no need to delve into the jungle of marketing.

Designation of memory according to theoretical bandwidth- when buying memory, along with the usual designations like DDR 400 or DDR2 800, in our case you can see such names as PC-3200 and PC2-6400. All this is nothing more than a designation of the same memory (DDR 400 and DDR2 800, respectively), but only in theoretical bandwidth, indicated in Mb\s. Another marketing ploy.

Memory designation by access time- the time during which information is read from a memory cell. Denoted in "ns" (nanoseconds). In order to convert these values ​​into frequency, you should divide 1000 by the number of these same nanoseconds. Thus, you can get the real operating frequency of the RAM.

Timings- delays that occur during operations with the contents of memory cells, given below. This is by no means their entire number, but only the most basic:

• CAS# Latency (tCL) - the period between the read command and the start of data transfer.
• tRAS (ACTIVE to PRECHARGE command) - the minimum time between the activation command and the closing command of one memory bank.
• tRCD (ACTIVE to READ or WRITE delay) - the minimum time between the activation command and the read/write command.
• tRP (PRECHARGE command period) - the minimum time between the closing command and reactivation of one memory bank.
• Command rate (Command Rate: 1T/2T) - command interface delays resulting from a large number of physical memory banks. Manual setting So far it works only on non-Intel chipsets.
• SPD (Serial Presence Detect) is a chip located on the RAM module. Contains information about the frequency, timings, as well as the manufacturer and date of manufacture of this module.

Theory

How exactly we will exceed the nominal processor frequency, you already guessed, right? Everything is as simple as a donut: we have a system bus (aka FSB or clock generator - for AMD K8) and a processor multiplier (aka multiplier). We simply change the numerical values ​​of one of them and at the output we obtain the required frequency.

For example: we have a certain processor with a standard frequency of 2200MHz. We begin to think, why is the manufacturer so greedy when in the same line with the same core there are models with 2600MHz and higher? We need to fix this! There are two ways: change the processor bus frequency or change the processor multiplier. But first, if you do not even have basic knowledge of computer technology and are not able to determine the standard FSB frequency or its multiplier by the name of the processor alone, I advise you to use a more reliable method. There are programs specifically for this that allow you to obtain comprehensive information on your processor. CPU-Z is the leader in its segment, but there are others. You can equally well use SiSoftware.Sandra, RightMark CPU Clock Utility. Using the resulting programs, we can easily calculate the FSB frequency and processor multiplier (and at the same time a bunch of previously unknown, but damn useful information).

Let's take, for example, the Intel Pentium 2.66GHz (20x133MHz) processor on the Northwood core.

After simple operations in the form of raising the FSB frequency, we get 3420MHz.

That's how it is! We can already see how convolutions have begun to swarm in your minds, multiplying unthinkable numbers by monstrous coefficients... not so fast, friends! Yes, you understood everything perfectly: to overclock we will need to either increase the multiplier or the system bus frequency (and best of all, immediately, and, most importantly, more - approx. hidden internal greed). But not everything is so simple in our life, there are plenty of obstacles in our lives, so let’s get acquainted with them before we begin.

You already know that most processors on the market have a locked multiplier... well, at least in the direction we would like - towards an increase. Only lucky owners of AMD Athlon 64 FX and some Pentium XE models have this opportunity. (Options with rare Athlon XPs released before 2003 are not considered). These models can drive their already “high-frequency” “stones” practically without any problems (fussing with memory and insufficient FSB frequency reserve on the motherboard). The unlocked multiplier in this series of processors is nothing more than a gift to users who have given quite a lot of money. Everyone else who is not able to spend $1000 on a processor should go (no, not through the forest) just a different way...

Increasing the FSB or clock frequency. Yes, this is our savior, which in almost 90% of cases is the main tool for overclocking. Depending on how long ago you purchased your processor or motherboard, your standard FSB speed will vary.

Since the first Athlon from AMD and Intel Pentium on the S478, a 100MHz system bus has been the standard. Then the Atlons switched first to 133, then 166 and finally ended their life on a 200Mhz bus. Intel also did not sleep and gradually increased the frequencies: 133, then immediately 200, now 266, and even 333MHz (1333Mhz in QDR terms).

That is, having a modern motherboard with good potential for increasing the frequency of the clock generator (in fact, this quartz, which controls the FSB frequency, can also be referred to as PLL), everything becomes extremely simple - this is an increase in the frequency itself. To what extent and how to actually change it, we will talk a little later.

We hope you haven't forgotten what FSB is? No, we don’t mean the megahertz at which it works, but the immediate meaning. FSB is a system bus that connects the processor to other devices in the system. But at the same time, it is the basis for shaping the frequency of other buses, such as AGP, PCI, S-ATA, as well as RAM. So what does this mean? This means that when we increase it, we will automatically increase the frequencies of AGP, PCI, S-ATA and RAM. And if increasing the latter within reasonable limits only benefits us (currently only motherboards based on the NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition chipset can overclock the processor regardless of memory), then we can overclock S-ATA, PCI and AGP with PCI-E completely no need. The fact is that they are quite sensitive to such experiments and respond to us with very unpleasant consequences. The ratings of these buses are: PCI - 33.3Mhz, AGP - 66.6Mhz, SATA and PCI-E - 100Mhz. And it is highly not recommended to significantly exceed them. Unstable operation of the same S-ATA can lead to loss of data from your S-ATA drive!

That is, this is a very significant limitation... there was. But the point is this: realizing the benefits of such a miscalculation, some chipset manufacturers decided to fix this problem themselves. It all started with the use of special dividers that automatically switch PCI buses and AGP at nominal at 100, 133, 166…MHz. (and such interesting situations arose in which the processor was stable at 166Mhz, initially working at 133, but at 165 - not at all!), now you understand why. But not everyone learned this lesson. You don’t need to look far for examples: the VIA K8T800 chipset, released at the beginning of the Athlon 64 era. Having very good functionality and price, it simply cannot fix PCI\AGP\S-ATA frequencies when increasing HTT. That is, you will not get more than 220-230Mhz increase in the clock generator. That's so sad, gentlemen. Be careful not to fall for such a chipset (although it is a little old).

Thus, we put an end to this section of the article and move on to the next one. We looked a little at the theoretical part, plus a few nuances that may come your way. It's time to get down to business. At the same time, figuring out along the way what other sticks need to be taken out of the wheels.

To be continued…

It's winter 2010. There is still an economic crisis in the country, and throughout the world. Some are sitting without work waiting for a miracle, and most have started saving cash. But at the same time, many people continue to spend free time for computer games. And besides this, they sometimes archive data, encode video, etc. Every year, games and programs become more demanding of computer resources. And then, suddenly, the new and long-awaited game began to slow down. And the money for new computer or no upgrade. What to do then? That's right, call overclocking for help.

Overclocking, overclocking (from the English overclocking) - increasing the performance of computer components by operating them in forced (abnormal) operating modes.

In this article I would like to tell you that overclocking is not only a hobby, a sport or a simple exercise in nonsense, but also a way to save money, which most people already lack.

You will probably say: “Overclocking is dangerous, the computer may fail.” But there is nothing dangerous in overclocking if you approach the matter correctly. The essence of overclocking is not only to increase the frequency of computer components, but also to test the stability of already overclocked hardware. In fact, for normal and everyday overclocking, no additional investment is required. Of course, you can’t overclock the processor much with the cooler that came in the kit, but we’re not going to set any records either. It turns out that with the help of overclocking you get a more productive computer for the same money. But in my article I will use alternative cooling for the processor and video card, since bundled BOX coolers are noisy and ineffective for conquering high frequencies. Although, in some cases, manufacturers of processors and video cards equip their products with better cooling systems.

Test bench configuration

• Processor: Athlon II x2 240 AM3 2.8 GHz
• CPU cooling system: Thermaltake Big Typhoon 120 mm
• Motherboard: MV Gigabyte MA-790FX-DQ6
• Memory: DDR2 Hynix 2 x 2 Gb 800 MHz 6-6-6-18-24-2T 1.8 V
• Video card: BFG GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB
• Video card cooling system: Zalman VF 1000
• HDD: Seagate 250 Gb SATA
• Power supply: FSP 450 Watt PNF
• Drive: DVD +RW NEC SATA
• Monitor: BenQ G 900 (19 inches, 1280x1024, DVI / VGA)

Overclocking and testing were carried out on an open bench for better cooling of computer components.

CPU overclocking

Overclocking the CPU is the basis of overclocking. A lot depends on the processor frequency: the speed of encoding and archiving data, the number of fps in games, the speed of programs, etc. Most processors are overclocked by 20-30% of the nominal value with conventional cooling, some by 50 percent or more. This article uses the AMD Athlon II x2 240 processor as the basis.

AMD processor Athlon II x2 240 has a nominal frequency of 2800 MHz, L2 cache capacity is 2 MB, and the allocated power does not exceed 65 W. This processor at a voltage of 1.47 Volts overclocked to 3714 MHz. The north bridge of the motherboard chipset and the HT Link bus operated at a frequency of 2650 MHz. At these frequencies, the processor passed the Linxp and OSCT stability tests. As a result, the overclocking was 33% of the nominal frequency. Quite a good result for a processor costing 2000 rubles!

Overclocking RAM

Unlike a processor, overclocking RAM does not provide such a big performance boost. In addition, memory overclocking is not just about increasing the frequency; timings greatly affect performance. And these are not all the pitfalls of overclocking RAM: the memory frequency depends on the frequency of the processor or clock generator.

With a nominal memory frequency of 800 MHz, the overclocking was 10.5%, that is, 884 MHz. At the same time, the timings were reduced to 6-5-5-15-20-2T instead of the required 6-6-6-18-24-2T. The voltage had to be raised to 2.05 Volts. Lowering timings also improves performance.

Overclocking a video card

Overclocking a video card does not take much time. You just need to install an overclocking program, for example Riva Tuner. Enough convenient program even for a beginner. A video card can change 3 frequencies at once: the graphics chip frequency, the shader domain frequency and the memory frequency. Naturally, the higher these frequencies, the more productive the video card becomes. But we must not forget about the temperature of the graphics chip. During acceleration it can increase sharply. It is advisable to install an additional fan opposite the video card, or even better, replace the standard cooling with an alternative one.

So, let's start overclocking the video card. I found myself in the hands of a “legendary” product from NVIDIA - GeForce 8800 GT. It is legendary for the fact that it is still an excellent solution in terms of price/performance ratio in the segment of inexpensive video cards. I'll bring you brief characteristics of this video card:

• Core frequency: 600 MHz
• General purpose processor frequency: 1500 MHz
• Number of universal processors: 112
• Number of texture blocks - 56, blending blocks - 16
• Effective memory frequency: 1.8 GHz (2*900 MHz)
• Memory type: GDDR3

I replaced the standard cooling system with a fairly powerful Zalman VF 1000 video cooler. As a result, the graphics core frequency was increased from 600 to 743 MHz (23%), the shader domain frequency from 1500 to 1861 MHz (24%), and the memory from 1800 to 2100 MGC (17%). Quite a good result for this video card.

As a result, the average percentage of overclocking of all components (processor, memory and video card) was 21%.

Testing

Two systems will participate in testing:

1. Default system - computer components at nominal frequencies;
2. OC system - at higher frequencies.

Testing was carried out at a resolution of 1280x1024 in the following benchmarks and games (high quality, full-screen anti-aliasing 2x):

Synthetic tests:

• Super Pi
• EVEREST Ultimate Edition CPU Queen
• WinRAR

Quite a good test for evaluating processor and memory performance. The productivity increase is 30%.

Once again, this synthetic test only stresses the CPU and GPU. The increase from overclocking was about 33%.

In the file archiving speed test, computer performance increased by 16%. “It’s a small thing,” but it’s nice.

In the most popular gaming benchmark, the difference between systems is 25%. This test fully loads the entire system. It is also an excellent way to check the stability of overclocked hardware.

An excellent gaming test for the processor and memory. The video card does not load too much. The performance increase in this test is 20%.

“Brother” of the previous test, but already focused on loading the video core. The performance difference is 25%.

In this game the increase is similar to the previous one - about 25%.

This game is very demanding on processor resources, so overclocking the processor will give you a significant boost! 50% growth is no joke.

And in this test the increase is also quite large, about 30%.

In the latest part of the well-known shooter, the increase was 22.5%.

And in the popular rally racing simulator the difference is about 17%.

conclusions

Today I tried to tell you that overclocking is very good way save your hard earned money. So what did we get? It took me several hours to overclock all the components and check for stability. This one is quite a bit. But at the same time, I received an average 26.3% increase in performance in synthetic tests and 26.8% in games. Considering that the presented system unit costs about 20,000 rubles, then if we wanted to achieve the same performance on a computer of a higher class, we would have lost more than 5,200 rubles. Why lose? A little work and extra money on hand. Quite a significant saving, even considering that I spent about a thousand rubles on alternative system cooling.

It so happened that in almost twenty years of IT practice I have never had to deal with overclocking - somehow everyone had other interests. However, when choosing a configuration for another new (although now far from new) computer, for some reason I settled on an Intel processor with an open multiplier - i5-2500K. Why I did this, I don’t remember now, perhaps I intended to figure out in my old age what this overclocking is. And then one evening, when there was nothing to do, I realized that the moment had come, and I delved into studying the issue, and the next evening I applied what I had learned in practice. That's what I'm going to report on.

Overclocking theory

So, Intel itself has opened the way for “at-home”, fast and highly skilled overclocking. It would be a sin not to take advantage of such an opportunity, and I began my experiments. As a test bench, as I already said, my long-suffering home computer, by the way, was completely unprepared for overclocking; rather, on the contrary, it was chosen for reasons of efficiency and noiselessness.

Experiment

Step three. 44x, that is, 1 GHz increase. Having made my face like a brick, I started the computer. “Well, no, that’s enough,” he replied and flew into blue screen. It is necessary to increase the processor supply voltage. I immediately raised it to 1.4 V so that it would be enough. Now I decided to operate through the GUI on Windows. In the AI ​​Suite software supplied with the ASUS motherboard, the Turbo V EVO component is responsible for overclocking. To operate, this program uses the TPU (TurboV Processing Unit) controller on the motherboard. The TPU module is so intelligent that it can itself, without human intervention, overclock the system to the maximum possible parameters. Thus, overclocking technology, from the point of view of the “dummies”, has reached its highest point, when to get the result it is enough to press one button “make sure everything goes well”.
I was not able to really test the 4.4 GHz mode, because just a few seconds after starting a full load, the temperature rose to the maximum permissible, and I was forced to interrupt the experiment. However, I have no doubt that with normal cooling the operation of the processor would be stable - numerous experiments of other users convince me of this. If we talk specifically about the i5-2500K, absolutely everyone’s processors work up to 4.5 GHz, the result of 5 GHz is quite common, and the most stubborn ones reached 5.2 GHz. Let me emphasize that we are talking about stable operation under heavy (test or real) load. Thus, we are dealing with more than 50% increase in frequency with minimal material and mental costs.

Results and conclusions

Some people are probably wondering what happened to the index Windows performance? Almost nothing, it increased by only one tenth, from 7.5 to 7.6. However, do not forget that for Windows 7 maximum value index is 7.9, so a big jump could not have happened.

Now let's try to answer the question, who needs this overclocking - except for overclockers themselves? However, it was answered before us: first of all - to amateurs computer games. Experiments have shown that processor power at standard frequencies is not enough to power top-end video cards, especially if there are several of them, and as the frequency increases to a certain limit, gaming performance also increases. Saturation occurs, by the way, at our “home” 4-4.5 GHz; it is at this frequency that the processor ceases to be the “bottleneck” of the entire system. In addition, people dealing with heavy media content, and, of course, respected fans of distributed computing will definitely be happy with the extra gigahertz. I note that all categories of citizens will have to vigilantly monitor the temperature of the processors and their cooling system - otherwise a slight “zilch” and smoke is guaranteed.

Important: To maintain system stability, ensure maximum cooling as possible when increasing clock speed and decreasing voltage.

STEP 1: Hardware Setup

1.1. Choice motherboard and power supplies optimized for unlocked Intel® processors
Use a motherboard that has been designed specifically to overclock unlocked Intel® processors. Use a reliable ATX power supply that can handle increased power consumption. Please review the overclocking section below and make sure you understand the risks involved.

1.2 . Application of active cooling
Use a reliable solution that provides much more efficient cooling than the minimum requirements. The optimal choice is the system liquid cooling, and additional case fans will help further improve overclocking efficiency.

STEP 2. Changing software settings

2.1. Increasing power and using maximum ICC configuration

2.2. Boost clock speed
Increase the factor for the subsystem you are going to overclock (processor core, graphics, cache). NOTE. The frequency is equal to the base frequency multiplied by a factor. For example, to increase the frequency to 5000 MHz, the factor is 50 if the base frequency is set to the default (100 MHz). Please note that the CPU graphics overclocking factor is multiplied by the base frequency divided by two.

STEP 3. Carry out load tests

3.1. Checking system stability
Test the reliability of the system you are overclocking by running one or more load tests to ensure system stability. NOTE. The Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility includes several powerful load and benchmark tests.

3.2. Increasing voltage in case of system instability

3.3. Increasing the frequency and completing the overclocking process if the system is stable
If the load test shows that the system is stable, you can increase the frequency even more - see step 2.2. If you are satisfied with the results of overclocking, the process can be considered complete.

STEP 4. Overclocking the game

Congratulations! You have successfully overclocked the system and the system is running stable.

2.1. Increasing power and using maximum ICC configuration
Using the BIOS or custom software such as Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel® XTU), increase the power and current/maximum ICC configuration based on your motherboard, power supply, and cooling system specifications.

2.2. Boost clock speed
Increase the factor for the subsystem you are going to overclock (processor core, graphics, cache). NOTE. The frequency is equal to the base frequency multiplied by a factor. For example, to increase the frequency to 5000 MHz, the factor is 50 if the base frequency is set to the default (100 MHz). Please note that the CPU graphics overclocking factor is multiplied by the base frequency divided by two.

3.1. Checking system stability
Test the reliability of the system you are overclocking by running one or more load tests to ensure system stability. NOTE. The Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility includes several powerful load and benchmark tests.

3.2. Increasing voltage if system stability decreases
If load tests reveal system instability, try increasing the voltage. This may be required when increasing the frequency by more than 100–200 MHz. Increase the voltage 5 to 10 mV at a time and use the lowest voltage possible. If increasing the voltage no longer improves stability, you may have reached the maximum frequency at which the system operates stably. Before completing the voltage settings, it is recommended to select the “adaptive” mode.
Note. Advanced overclockers will sometimes increase the voltage before increasing the frequency on subsequent attempts.

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