Is it possible to OC a P3?

[tonting]

I got this free ancient pc and it is a dell optiplex GX110 running at P3 800Mhz
256mb SDRAM and 4mb of graphics...

Is it possible to overclock the 800mhz cpu to 1Ghz? if so, how?

 

[aBg_rOnGak]

Not sure about P3 800MHz, but a P3 933MHz can be easily OCed to 1GHz with stock HSF and a single BIOS setting change. Perhaps you'll need a good HSF.I've never OCed P3 extensively, but if you could set the RAM to 133MHz and FSB to 166MHZ (CPU:RAM ratio of 4:5), with proper cooling, good BIOS and board, plus some luck, may be you could

 

[aBg_rOnGak]

Were there some kind of 'locked' Coppermine (other than multiplier locked)? Or was it locked to a certain FSB? Still, I myself not sure whether tonting's CPU is a Coppermine or something before it (What was it? I only remember Katmai )

 

[djcoolmasterx]

I seem to recall that there was a 8x100fsb and a 6x133fsb. The 8x100 overclocks much better because of the higher multiplier.

 

[MrMr]

I overclocked my Celeron 1.1GHz to 1650 (Tualatin core) with a pin mod. But that was a while back. I never had any success with P3's. What little overclock you may achieve would probably not be worth the trouble.

 

[nocteratus]

I've oc'ed a old celeron 300A, so from 300Mhz to 450Mhz. They were the best at that time for oc'ing...

Last me a few months before upgrade to my P3 600Mhz, and my P3 was Oc'ec to 733Mhz without any problems, depends if the mobo will allow it.

 

[mlek]

Chances are that Dell BIOS is locked up pretty tight, with slim chance of an fsb change. Might be able to tweak it with software though, depends on the chipset I guess. Is it a slot 1 or a socket 370 P3?

 

[LoneEagle]

Chances are that Dell BIOS is locked up pretty tight, with slim chance of an fsb change. Might be able to tweak it with software though, depends on the chipset I guess. Is it a slot 1 or a socket 370 P3?

I would agree with you. I had 2 Dell before and their BIOS are VERY simple and limited. Only the current high end are overclockable I believe but they are way too overpriced (can do a custom at a better price).

That why I left Dell and did my own custom build.

Anyway, would you see a big difference from 800 to 1000? And you can have a basic one starting at 379$USD. Must say that very low for light use.

I you find a way, let us know!

 

[frozencpu]

Try soft FSB works on a old dell 300.

 

[tonting]

Whoa ! Thx for the replies

The Core is a Coppermine Socket 370 and all the cpu features in the bios are all locked cant change a thing...

 

[funnyman06]

Actully on a P3 a 200Mhz increase would be noticeable. The P3 was faster than the P4 clock per clock. I personlly own 2 P3 systems and i owned a P4, and my 1ghz P3 was a very capable system, more so than the P4. But i highly doubt you will be able to change anything on it.

 

[Losus_Deliosus]

Most coppermines can reach 1Ghz, but don't expect it to go much higher then that. I remember trying to push my 866mhz coppermine above 1Ghz while utilizing some pc-166 ram I had, even pumping 2.2v into that cpu couldn't keep it stable above 1Ghz as anything that heavily utilized the L2 cache would crash almost instantly.