Can i Overclock my CPU without any risks?

[Infernova]

My System Specs:

OS : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 @2.20 GHz (Idling Temp : 42 degC)
RAM : 3 GB
Mobo : Intel D945GCNL (Chipset Model : i945G)

I am thinking of fitting a Radeon HD 6670 1GB DDR5 graphic card.

Is this possible without overclocking my CPU, or do i need to do it? If so, what would be a non-risk limit upto which i can overclock it?

 

[steddora]

There's always a risk with overclocking. Especially if you're already idling at 42C. That's my low gaming temperatures. I suggest researching some aftermarket cooling for the 775, and making sure that Intel board will even allow overclocking as I know many of them don't have the option to overclock a locked multiplier chip like that.

 

[Infernova]

there are two fans on the side of my cabinet... does that help? and how do i check if my board would allow overclocking? i'll have to go to BIOS setup?

 

[steddora]

I did a little looking around and that motherboard has a locked BIOS. You can't overclock with that motherboard.

That motherboard also has the 945GC chipset which even in its day wasn't a potent setup. As well the board has only a PCI Express 1.0 slot. The card WILL work with it, but all in all that machine isn't going have much potential. From what I see the thing is limited to 2GB of DDR2@667mhz (even though that limit may not be true as you show you have 3GB), No overclocking, and slow a PCI Express lane.

With that kind of setup, I'd probably just leave it to be a browser/office computer and build something with a little more potential if you're looking to game at all.

If you're just wanting to "boost" the performance a little; adding that card may help as it will free up some ram from the integrated graphics chip. Either way, that board was meant to be a low end board and just doesn't have much for performance.

Will adding the Radeon 6670 do anything? Of course, it will ease up on the ram used by the integrated chip, however you won't be playing much for games out there today.

 

[Infernova]

Well, Speccy says it does have a PCIE X16 slot... And once i used an MSI GT210 1GB card, with which i could play Crysis 2 at more than medium settings, but had occasional lags... so i was thinking this card would help to better that, along with upgradation to Win 7 for DirectX 11 support along with an increase of 1 GB, to facilitate dual RAM 2 x 2GB DIMMs matched... Will that help?

 

[steddora]

Of course it will. Though I'm not sure how far that PCI Express 1.0 slot will take that card. It runs at 16x, but it's "version" 1.0 basically. I do remember when PCI Express 2.0 came out there were some issues with PCI Express 2.0 cards in older 1.0 and 1.1 slots. Your board has a 1.0a slot "Support for PCI Express Revision 1.0a" from the spec sheet from Intel. If you get the card and have problems getting it to work you'll need to update the BIOS and see if that works. I'd probably update the BIOS anyways as it's not that difficult to do and there's always a reason they update the firmware.

However, I would imagine the 1.0a slot would actually bottleneck that card. You'd still see a vast improvement in performance over the integrated however. Just remember with the hardware you're using there's not a ton of room to upgrade you know what I mean?

 

[combine1237]

I suggest looking for complete system upgrade as steddora said, that system is a bit outdated and poor to upgrade, and you could get a system for $400 that will murder that one now, and in the long run pumping money into that one is a waste.

Excuse my grammer.

 

[jasont78]

Well, Speccy says it does have a PCIE X16 slot... And once i used an MSI GT210 1GB card, with which i could play Crysis 2 at more than medium settings, but had occasional lags... so i was thinking this card would help to better that, along with upgradation to Win 7 for DirectX 11 support along with an increase of 1 GB, to facilitate dual RAM 2 x 2GB DIMMs matched... Will that help?

gt210 will it play crysis 1 or 2 on medium, hell no your dreaming, full rebuild needed sorry mate

 

[Infernova]

Ok, so if i need a full makeover for compatibility with the HD 6670, will "AMD 3.6 GHz AM3 FX4100 Processor + ASUS M5A78L-M LX V2 Motherboard + 4/8(2 x 4) GB DDR3-1333 RAM" take it to its highest potential resulting in the most recent games playable at Ultra settings?

 

[steddora]

The 6670 isn't going to hit ultra on many games. The 6670 is more of an entry level card honestly to todays standard.

Honestly if I were in your situation I'd go with something like this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116775 i3-3220 $120

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157303 ASRock H77m (decent middle of the field Mobo $70

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544 8GB (2x4gb) Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600mhz $40

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004 Sapphire Radeon 7850 $180 with $15 rebate.


However, depending on what power supply you have now, you may need to boost that up but about 450-550w should be "alright with that.

That would make a nice budget gamer for certain. The 3220 is powerful in games and you could even later upgrade it for a more potent processor later on. The 7850 paired with that i3 would do quite well and run a LOT of games at MAX res. I know I might get shunned for picking that motherboard, but the performance difference between that board and the top of the line Z77 board isn't worth the extra coins in a budget machine. But there you go, $400 and able to play games at about 6x the speed your current rig can.

 

[combine1237]

Nothing wrong with mobo if you are not going to oc, but I would get the 2gb version as the 7850 1gb is not very good for higher resolution in my opinion.

Saphire: 195

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102999&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

MSI TWIN FROZR: 180 after rebate, would recommend, love my 7870.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127663&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[Infernova]

The 6670 isn't going to hit ultra on many games. The 6670 is more of an entry level card honestly to todays standard.

Honestly if I were in your situation I'd go with something like this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116775 i3-3220 $120

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157303 ASRock H77m (decent middle of the field Mobo $70

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544 8GB (2x4gb) Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600mhz $40

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004 Sapphire Radeon 7850 $180 with $15 rebate.


However, depending on what power supply you have now, you may need to boost that up but about 450-550w should be "alright with that.

That would make a nice budget gamer for certain. The 3220 is powerful in games and you could even later upgrade it for a more potent processor later on. The 7850 paired with that i3 would do quite well and run a LOT of games at MAX res. I know I might get shunned for picking that motherboard, but the performance difference between that board and the top of the line Z77 board isn't worth the extra coins in a budget machine. But there you go, $400 and able to play games at about 6x the speed your current rig can.

For now, I am only going to use the VGA port, and it's gonna be a while till i can afford a HDMI monitor, so my 300$ budget rig (FX4100 + M5A78L mobo + 4/8 GB DDR3 RAM + HD 6670 1 GB DDR5) because personally i wanna pair the Radeon card with an AMD processor for better performance. This should do well for VGA performance right? and this requires no higher level PSU. Thank you for the varied info which all started from Overclocking really helped a lot on me deciding to fully renovate my rig.

 

[Infernova]

And I would be satisfied with High settings, so i think the 6670 would satisfy that need and honestly, I got no more than 300$ to spend . So this is it.