Cpu Voltage

[jorisb]

How do you find out what voltage you should be using and can a too hight or too low setting damage your cpu?.
Mine is controlled by dipswitches just like my multiplier however if when I take it off of auto and choose my own voltage it just stays at 1.85V.

Another unrelated question.. what is this L1 bridge everyone talks about.. where is it located and what exactly is it's function. I can simply change multiplier using dipswitch and fsb in bios.

 

[Victory]

Well voltages vary from processor to processor. Depending on what make/model/speed. Current XP's run at 1.75v Intel P4a's run at 1.5v. To find out what your voltage should be you're best bet is to visit amd.com or intel.com and look up your make and model. Depending on the make/model of your mainboard, you may or may not be able to select voltages just by dipswitches. On a previous Asus board(I'm assuming you have an Asus board as well) which is running a Thunderbird 900@978, the actual voltages were set by jumpers, not dipswitches. The dipswitches were only for setting the front side bus and multiplier. You may want to double check if this is your case. As for too low a voltage, it won't cause any damage, but you'll not either be getting full speed of your CPU, or more than likely an unstable core(a lot of crashes in software or just won't boot). Too much voltage can cause your CPU to overheat which in turn will be a breakdown of the internal circuitry which will eventually cause CPU failure.

As for the L1 bridge, well on Intel's you can't see/nor get to them on current processors. If you have a an older slot 1 or 2 (cartridge style) you'll need a special daughetcard to modify the settings(hard to find these days). With AMD in the Slot A(cartridge style) you'll also need to crack open the case or get the special daughtercard(once again hard to find) or with the socket A style you'll find them in the upper left corner that are 'broken' lines that look something like this :::: and are labeled L1 -L4. They are extremely small and not easy to spot. These are cut from the factory these days to lock the multiplier. Depending on the CPU (thunderbird or XP) you can just connect them or you have to fill in cut grooves then connect them.

Also note, that just because you can modify your multiplier in BIOS or via dipswitches, if your bridges are 'open' your mainboard's BIOS will auto revert to it's true CPU speed/multiplier configuration because it cannot alter the setting. So jumperfree mode and changing your muliplier, is pointless unless you connect the bridges forcing the new setting.

Save heating costs on your home, overclock your PC!!!