Overclocking question

[NYTCRAWLER94]

OK, so recently, I got the video card moved over from my old comp to this one (with 1 minor issue, being that the card wasn't seated properly at first, but that's neither here nor there). I've started looking into overclocking via software as, from what I have read, software overclocking is VERY common. However, my research so far has also shown that this is not to be done lightly, as too much overclocking can have severe negative impacts on your hardware (start out small, in other words).



Basically, I downloaded the system utility for my graphics card (Nvidia Geforce FX 5500), and I ALSO downloaded the driver updates it needed. This is where I'm stuck, though: Any time I try to increase the clock speeds on the memory, cpu, etc, I get a "Failed..Restored to factory settings" message. Is there some kind of read-only mechanism that I need to disable first? Also, would anyone recommend using another overclocking software other than the one I have?


Thanks in advance

[Chromatix]

A Geforce FX 5500? That's downright ancient, and it wasn't much good even when it was new. I'm going to guess that it is AGP, not PCIe.

Put simply, overclocking one of those isn't going to give you any noticeable benefits. Don't spend any time on it unless you're genuinely curious about how it works, and are willing to put in the time to research it yourself.

[emax4]

In addition, overclocking refers to modifying the processor or CPU to go faster than the advertised speed, but some video cards or GPU's can be overclocked as well.

If you get an off-the-shelf system, like a dell, HP, E-Machines or the like, that system isn't designed to allow overclocking, if it all. The way to speed that up would be to remove the cooler and replace the processor with a faster one that fits the same socket. If you shop at a store (in person or online) that sells the parts individually, you can get a motherboard from Gigabyte, Asus, FoxConn or other manufacturers; along with a processor that fits the board and your budget, and you'll have room to overclock and run the CPU faster.

Some boards, like from HP, are manufactured from other companies like Asus. But, there's what's called a BIOS (basic input-output set) chip. This chip sets the instructions for the parameters on how the computer operates. When you boot up a computer with a board like that, you'll get simple options such as being able to change the boot order, disabling or enabling a printer port, and the like. Now if you purchase a new Asus board off of the shelf, immediately you'll have more options such as the multiplier for overclocking the CPU, the voltage for the RAM, voltage for the CPU, and much more. These boards have a different BIOS chip that allows such parameters. It's possible to buy a new BIOS chip for an HP, e-Machines, Compaq or other desktop, but you may not get all the overclocking options in the BIOS that you would from a brand that sells boards that allows overclocking.

The processor or CPU itself is another factor. I have an Intel i5-2400 processor. It allows for slight overclocking, but it would be hardly noticeable to me if I went from the standard configuration to overclocking it as much as I could. Other i5 series and i7 series chips allow for higher overclocking though.

What system do you have (manufacturer, cpu, etc)?