Make your PC go faster for free

Posted on 3 Jul 2009 at 12:03

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In each of these cases, sticking to overclocking by a maximum of only 20 per cent shouldn't cause any problems. Bearing all this in mind, we'll now show you how to get a free processor speed boost.

How to... overclock your processor

The first thing you need to do is to identify your processor. Run CPU-Z, which should tell you the make and model of your processor, as well as its stated frequency. The frequency is important as it will give you some idea of how far you might be able to overclock your processor. Intel Core 2 processors have proven to be very overclockable and you'll probably be able to exceed the 20 per cent mark we're aiming for.

It's worth running Core Temp to check your processor's temperature when idle and while running Prime95. If the temperature while running the Prime 95 stress test goes above 80?, we'd recommend buying a better cooling system. It's also a good idea to check the load temperature after you've made a change to the overclocking level.

Start by rebooting your PC and, when the POST screen appears, hit the Del key (or whatever key your PC needs to access Setup). This should take you into your PC's BIOS. BIOS versions differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, so there's no all-encompassing guide on how to find the settings we're looking for. They're normally to be found in the Advanced Settings or Frequency and Voltage section. Specifically we're looking for the external bus frequency, using the naming conventions we mentioned earlier. You may also have to switch from automatic to manual frequency adjustment.

You should also look for the settings for PCI-E spread spectrum and processor spread spectrum, as well as C1E state and/or Intel Speedstep, and disable them all. For AMD systems, this is called AMD Cool'n'Quiet. These are related to saving power and can hinder overclocking.

Start by increasing the bus by 10 per cent. In our case, this was achieved by increasing it from 200MHz to 220MHz. You'll also need to check your memory speed. Check the default speed using CPU-Z and compare this with the reading in the BIOS. If it's running more than 10 per cent faster, this could lead to instability, so consider increasing its voltage or adjusting its ratio.

Save your changes and exit. When Windows loads, run Prime95 for half an hour to check that your system is stable. Repeat the process, increasing the bus slightly each time, until the PC shows signs of instability. When this happens, revert back to the last stable setting. Now leave Prime95 running for several hours. We recommend that you run it for at least six hours to ensure that the overclocking is stable. You can also try increasing the voltage of the processor in the BIOS, but don't do this by more than 20 per cent, and do it in steps, checking the processor's temperature each time.

As you can see from the graphs on the right, our Intel E5200 processor scored 102 in our image-editing test. With a 20 per cent overclocking to 3GHz, the score increased to 123, a 20 per cent performance increase.

Similar results occurred with our other Windows tests. We saw less of a boost when playing games after overclocking the processor, only getting a few extra frames per second.

How to... overclock your graphics card

Overclocking your graphics card is much easier and can be done from within Windows. ATI graphics card owners can use its overdrive utility, included with its Catalyst Control Centre software. You may find this easier to use than the method we're using here. We've used RivaTuner, which is compatible with ATI and Nvidia graphics cards.