P4 overclocking.

OK, I finally decided to try overclocking this chip (mPGA-478). It's been a while since I dabbled in the overclocking world since the P4 2.4ghz has been plenty fast so far. However, I'm reading about Doom3 coming out so I want to overclock the CPU as well as my ATI 9500pro video card for the new games. This section deals with the chip. My mainboard is the Abit BE7, a very basic P4 board.

I did a small amount of research, and not a lot has changed in the P4s except that they're multiplying the FSB speeds for marketing purposes, and the memory is also rated for higher speeds and voltages. Rest assured, the bus still runs at either 100 or 133mhz, but in multiples. I.e. they're calling the bus "400mhz" when in reality it's just 100mhz multiplied by multiple data paths. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but there it is.

Here's all you need to know about overclocking your P4 on this board. Start small and work your way up. If your faster speed doesn't work at first, set the voltage higher and boot again. Take notes, beginning with the default settings. Default you should have:

Now, same as the older chips, the multiplier is fixed. You cannot change it. You CAN change the FSB speed from 100 to something higher, but BE SURE to KEEP the PCI bus at 33 and the AGP clock at 66. This particular Abit board allows you to set the FSB at anything you want, but fix the PCI & AGP clocks at 33/66. In the old days you needed to set the ratio, which meant doing a little math, but this hard-setting in the BIOS is pretty cool.

Start be rebooting and entering the BIOS by hitting DEL at the initial screen. Go into Softmenu III. Take note of the settings you have now. Change the FSB speed by setting the BIOS to user-select and manually typing in the FSB speed at the prompt. You just enter the digits by hand, there is no selection menu in this BIOS.

Also, familiarize yourself with the BIOS reset jumper now. You will probably need it. If your machine refuses to boot because you overclocked too much, you'll need to set this jumper for a few seconds and then put it back in the default position. Otherwise, holding down INSERT while booting might set you back to default mode if you're lucky. It never worked for me.

All you need to know is, keep upping the FSB speed while keeping your PCI and AGP speeds fixed. Boot. If it doesn't boot, increase the voltage to the CPU. At a faster speed, your chip will probably need more power. But it will also generate more heat, causing the chip to halt and your computer to freeze up. If you do get the system to boot, start doing something CPU intesive, such as playing your favorite game. If it lasts a good 20 minutes you're probably safe.

SETTINGS I USED:
I started big, don't do this. The system wouldn't boot, I had to set the BIOS jumper and also unplug the power supply and re-plug before it'd boot again.

Here's what CPU-Z gives me now:

Next (coming soon), overclocking the ATI 9500Pro video card.