Making gaming comp, need help

[maximan1]

I will be installing a water cooler on the processor instead of the fan, because I want to overclock it. Currently iy id 233 mhz, and I want it to perform like a 500 mhz. Somebody please help me I dont know how to do anything.

Link to computer:
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2933

Thanks guys:)

[FyR]

A link to your full pc spec would be handy, need to know your motherboard make, cpu make and model ect ect.

If you cant find the spec, download a program called CPU-Z, it will tell you the make/model of every piece of hardware you have in your box.

[maximan1]

ok then I will have to put it all back together (its in the process of being painted)

[AKA_RA]

if it only runs at 233mhz, honestly, you need an upgrade. no offense, personally, i think that the only thing a 233 is good for is the heatsink, cuz theyre easy to chop up and add to your north bridge or some other hot spot. now, i can understand if you cant afford to buy any sort of upgrades, but you also need to consider, that even if you can overclock on that motherboard, seeing as how its a compaq its unlikely, that youre not going to get over double your current processor speed. i think that the only way that would be possible would be on a high end motherboard with some sort of phase change cooling. but upon further investigation, if your compaq is in fact a Compaq Presario 7470. it should already be clocked around 500mhz stock. but still the only games youll ever get to run on that thing is possibly quake 3, which is actually one of my personal favorites still, heh. but do notice that i said quake 3, not doom 3 or quake 4. those are a bit out of your performance range at the moment, but then again, you might just be doing for the sake of doing it, which i highly support. so if you have any questions about pushing your pc, keep askin and well keep answerin

[maximan1]

Yo its a Halo themed comp so I hope it will play Halo.
So I don't get it can I overclock at least a lil bit? And yes it is a Compaq 7470, it runs real fast and smooth but needs a good video card instead of the onboard video card thats there now...all the images are grainy. VERY grainy.:( Anyways I am putting a water cooling thing instead of the fan and I downloaded CPU-Z and I'm about to install it well thanks peeples later!

[AKA_RA]

heres what i found listed as the minimum specs youll need to run halo, and usually this means running it at low everything most likely

* Microsoft® Windows® 98SE/Me/XP/2000
* PC with 733 MHz equivalent or higher processor
* 128 MB of system RAM
* 1.2 GB available hard disk space
* 8x speed or faster CD-ROM drive
* 32 MB T&L capable video card required
* Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio
* Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
* 56.6 Kbps or better modem or LAN for online play; broadband to run a server

btw, i think you only have a agp 2x slot in there, so im not even sure what video cards are out there that run on a 2x slot, usually they require at least a 4x these days. either way, im sure you can beef up your system just enough to be able to play the game.

[maximan1]

I AM beefing up the comp, and I have a question about that.
Where can I get the cheepest parts? I've already found a slot load cd rom drive but if anybody can find me a slot load dvd rom drive for about $20 it would be appreciated!

Thanks and BTW peeps I'm takin the biggest chance with this comp; I'm making my own water coooling system:D PLEASE I NEED ENCOURAGING WORDS NOW!!! Well anyway thanx:)
-Max

[maximan1]

O yeah i forgot to tell y'all I'm putting in a new grafix card

[maximan1]

O yeah can I clock it to 733 mhz? (sorry for triple posting)

[archmaille]

O yeah can I clock it to 733 mhz? (sorry for triple posting)

chances are no, most likely you can't overclock at all. Big computer manufacturers make computers geared towards long life and outlasting their warranty which means overclocking is generally disabled in the BIOS. What you need to do is get into the BIOS and tell is what controls you have (if any).

To enter your BIOS turn off your comp and turn it back on when the BIOS Load screen comes up (probably going to be the compaq logo) hit the "Del" key.... er at least that is the default key sometimes it is also "esc" or possibly one of the function keys but it should tell you what to press. Go through it, explore, look for something that say's "Advanced" or "chipset" or "CPU Configuration" something along those lines.... if you can't overclock tell us exactly what model your CPU is and I'm sure someone on here can find somewhere you can purchase a more powerful processor to replace it with... I know you can still get K6II's for like $20 new and unused so there is still hope.

[maximan1]

chances are no, most likely you can't overclock at all. Big computer manufacturers make computers geared towards long life and outlasting their warranty which means overclocking is generally disabled in the BIOS. What you need to do is get into the BIOS and tell is what controls you have (if any).

To enter your BIOS turn off your comp and turn it back on when the BIOS Load screen comes up (probably going to be the compaq logo) hit the "Del" key.... er at least that is the default key sometimes it is also "esc" or possibly one of the function keys but it should tell you what to press. Go through it, explore, look for something that say's "Advanced" or "chipset" or "CPU Configuration" something along those lines.... if you can't overclock tell us exactly what model your CPU is and I'm sure someone on here can find somewhere you can purchase a more powerful processor to replace it with... I know you can still get K6II's for like $20 new and unused so there is still hope.
Sorry I'm new here. Whats BIOS?

[AKA_RA]

sounds like you wanna run before you learn to crawl. i hate to say it, but if you dont know the term BIOS, you may have a hard time overclocking. you may need to read a few guides. or better yet, do you have any friends that know about this sort of thing? thats pretty much where i learned the basics. guides and friends. which, of course, you can find both of them right here in these forums. and i must apologize, i just noticed the time and i should prolly get some rest, other wise id find you some good links. in the mean time, i suggest using google to find what you need to know about the wonderful world of overclocking.

[maximan1]

I don't know what I need to know about the wonderful world of overclocking. I used to have friends but they all moved away :( I NEED ENCOURAGING WORDS PLEASE:D

[Cevinzol]

http://www.hardocp.com/
You have a lot or reading to do my friend.
You will also have some setbacks (ie. toasted boards) If you can't afford to lose and replace the components don't try to O/C them.

[maximan1]

*WHINY VOICE* I HATE READING UUUUUUUU MOMMYYYYYYY *End WHINY VOICE* I have a motherboard, 1 pentuim processor, and 2 heatsinks laying around. I think it'll be good. After all I bought this computer at a thrift shop and at any time I could go there and buy another one for $20.
So, no sweat.

[Rankenphile]

The best way to learn is to go some research, do a lot of reading, and jsut dig in. There is only so much that you can learn from reading about it, so getting your hands dirty and actually doing some is going to be a good way to learn.

Before you do, however, know that overclocking can, and probably will on your first attempt if you are not very very careful, permanently damage your hardware. It doesn't sound like you've got a top of the line, super expensive rig on your hands, which will probably be perfect for learning on, so I say go for it, but do your homework first or else you'll have no clue what you're doing, won't know why you're doing it, and will end up frying something and not learn much in the process.

[maximan1]

Gee you all are so helpful :D thank you!

[FyR]

from 233mhz to 700mhz is a BIG overclock, and tbh not worth it at all, you will probably end up burning it out and wrecking your mobo or worse burning down your house. I remember my first overclock on an athlon 2400, i read an article about linking contacts on the rear of the chip using a lead pencil to unlock the multiplyer to allow for serious overclocking, like an idiot i did it and oh how sweet the air smelt when it fried, it took out my Mb and RAM! I was so pissed! Im nore careful now (hardware being more expensive these days). Rankenphille is right tho, this machine, being old and inexpensive would be a good place to learn.

I think you should use the money you plan to spend on a water cooling setup (around £80) and get a secondhand mobo of ebay (ASUS K8V SE Deluxe socket 754 on at the moment for £20) get a second hand sempron processor (about £40), again from ebay and then get yourself an ATI 9800 graphics card for around £20 AGAIN of ebay (no i dont work for them ;) ).

You will then be able to play halo :)

[maximan1]

I have a mobo and a pentium processor (I don't know which pentium processor it is, I can take pics if you need) and 2 heatsinks lying around at home, AND my dad told me he found a bunch of computer stuff in the garage, so, I'm pretty much good.
I think...
-Maxime

[archmaille]

BIOS = Basic Input/Output System you get to the BIOS by following the instructions I gave you earlier. Chances are you have no controls for overclocking with that system, and only will have overclocking controls if you purchase a motherboard from a company such as Asus, Biostar (crap boards but they do have OC controls... er... kind of, the very basics at least), MSI, or other. FyR has a pretty good idea for starting out in the overclocking business, and water cooling with that system is slightly overkill. You only need water cooling for EXTREME overclocking. Right now I've got an AMD 3700+ which runs stock at 2.2ghz and on air cooling I have no problems getting it to 2.75ghz but this is a little different than your situation if you can get your chip to move 10% you're doing pretty good. Another thing to consider when overclocking is your RAM I'd say go with either OCZ, or Corsair. If all you really want to do is play Halo then get some new parts to put in that case you got... and a new power supply. I killed a good motherboard and some RAM once because I had a shotty power supply when overclocking... OC is not necisary... and in all honesty rarely brings huge rewards it's just for us speed junkies that like to push the limits of everything we've got. When overlocking there are a few things that generally fail 1) Motherboard - pretty much the most common 2) HDD's - I know it sounds odd but yeah Hard Drive crashes are very common with overclocking 3) RAM - this is easy if you don't have good stuff 4) Power Supplies - under powered? expect a failure, or worse an explosion 5) Processor - mainly will only occur with overheating, but it's not uncommon. As you've listed the only thing that you've got excess of is your heatsinks... uh... heatsinks rarely burn up as I know :P

Anyways, get into your BIOS and see if you have any OC potential first and then we'll see what needs to be done, or if you should just purchase something new

[cheztir]

If your still talking about the Compaq 7470 which it seems you are. You can get to 500, but your modifications aren't in the BIOS. The board has jumpers. I run my 7470 at 550mhz (100mhz FSB,with 5.5x Multi). I've spent many a time researching how to go higher, the best i've heard was a guy that took his to 625, but that was with water and a LARGE core voltage increase. (2.2 -> 2.7). He tried to go higher on anotheor one (650mhz but the core literally caught flame) For the compaq mobo 5.5x multiplier is the highest you can get with the printed stats. The voltage ofcourse can climb.

I agree heavily with AKA_RA, you are the fat man with good intentions running a 10k race (nothing against fat people). You didn't know what a BIOS is, USB2 was a question (diferent thread). You think you could take a 233mhz PC up to Windows XP level running Halo. Trust me i have 512mb PC100 ram in the 7470, Windows XP was a nightmare. Just god aweful. I also bet a mystery pentium and a mobo aren't going to cut it either. The case for the 7470 is perfect for mods, but the hardware it came with is NOT. I got the system new in 1999. It's 2006 now. it came with Windows 98. Windows XP is here and Vista is in purgatory (it's a joke). Go get a nice dual P3 system off ebay (runs about 50 bucks) OC those then youll have a decent system. I hate to bash but you are incredibly unrealistic with what this hardware is capable of. This is the type of hardware you test, you screw with, you break it big deal. but you don't use it for very serious means. Again readup, learn your stuff, know your limits. I may only have like 10 posts on this forum but I know the limits of this technology.

[maximan1]

If your still talking about the Compaq 7470 which it seems you are. You can get to 500, but your modifications aren't in the BIOS. The board has jumpers. I run my 7470 at 550mhz (100mhz FSB,with 5.5x Multi). I've spent many a time researching how to go higher, the best i've heard was a guy that took his to 625, but that was with water and a LARGE core voltage increase. (2.2 -> 2.7). He tried to go higher on anotheor one (650mhz but the core literally caught flame) For the compaq mobo 5.5x multiplier is the highest you can get with the printed stats. The voltage ofcourse can climb.

I agree heavily with AKA_RA, you are the fat man with good intentions running a 10k race (nothing against fat people). You didn't know what a BIOS is, USB2 was a question (diferent thread). You think you could take a 233mhz PC up to Windows XP level running Halo. Trust me i have 512mb PC100 ram in the 7470, Windows XP was a nightmare. Just god aweful. I also bet a mystery pentium and a mobo aren't going to cut it either. The case for the 7470 is perfect for mods, but the hardware it came with is NOT. I got the system new in 1999. It's 2006 now. it came with Windows 98. Windows XP is here and Vista is in purgatory (it's a joke). Go get a nice dual P3 system off ebay (runs about 50 bucks) OC those then youll have a decent system. I hate to bash but you are incredibly unrealistic with what this hardware is capable of. This is the type of hardware you test, you screw with, you break it big deal. but you don't use it for very serious means. Again readup, learn your stuff, know your limits. I may only have like 10 posts on this forum but I know the limits of this technology.

**** you I'm not fat I'm skinny.
And you have 8 posts.
And I can do whatever I want and not give a **** about you.

Sorry about my language I'm just angry.
-Max

[silverdemon]

I don't know a lot about overclocking myself, but I've read some things about it. I think you shouldn't ty to overclock your pc now, I think you should learn a bit more about thing having to do with overclocking. Learn how BIOS works and all that stuff... I think when you will try to overclock this much you will end up with a lot of broken parts...

but then again, I don't know anything about it, never overclaocked my pc...

[maximan1]

Yeah I'm doing a lot of reasearch...

[silverdemon]

okay, nice to hear you do want to go on with the idea...

and when you've got it working, you will learn me some things about it, right?

(I want to overclock something too, but I don't have any hardware to do so... yet...)

[cheztir]

**** you I'm not fat I'm skinny.
And you have 8 posts.
And I can do whatever I want and not give a **** about you.

Sorry about my language I'm just angry.
-Max
Woah, cool your jets. I never actually implied your fat as a note, ever heard of a similie? And o boo im off by 2 posts. 1 now. You have what like 104, but from what i've seen they aren't very informative. not to start a flame war here. All i said was do your research because right now you have intentions to do things but you don't have th full background knowledge for it, everyone was there once, just read up which you are doing so kudos to you. Don't bite off more than you can chew.

PS: From a person who has OC'd everything from PCs, Mac's, and even SNES, that a K6II wont play halo well.

[maximan1]

Woah, cool your jets. I never actually implied your fat as a note, ever heard of a similie? And o boo im off by 2 posts. 1 now. You have what like 104, but from what i've seen they aren't very informative. not to start a flame war here. All i said was do your research because right now you have intentions to do things but you don't have th full background knowledge for it, everyone was there once, just read up which you are doing so kudos to you. Don't bite off more than you can chew.

PS: From a person who has OC'd everything from PCs, Mac's, and even SNES, that a K6II wont play halo well.

FLAME WARRR!!!! Just kidding. You stop flaming me ass.

[maximan1]

And if you've OC'd everything you could teach me :D.

[archmaille]

It's hard to "teach" overclocking online. Best done with the person there, but that is what we're trying to do. Personally I've overclocked (and killed) just about everything out there as well... ok, well just PC's but overclocked video cards, processors, etc. You've got a LOT to learn... but to start learning to overclock the processor is a start. Personally I've not worked with many old computers, and I do remember the days when you overclocked using jumpers on the motherboard I just forgot about that and that is why I didn't say so, but yeah cheztir is right that is what you're going to be looking for.

just to get you started here are a few things that you might consider looking up in Wikipedia, or some other trust worthy searchable site for what you're going to be looking for when overclocking.

FSB (front side bus)
Multiplier
chipset
AGP Bus (don't know if this applies to you)
overvoltage (and voltage controls)
DRAM Ratio

for basic CPU overclocking you are going to be working with FSB and Multiplier's. I don't really know all of the stats for your particular system... so I'm going to use mine as an example. I've got my FSB running at 250mhz from the stock 200mhz which is then multiplied by the multiplier (sometimes I wonder how they come up with such elaborate names for things) which is set at 11 giving me a final processor speed of 2750mhz, my RAM on the other hand can only handle a FSB speed of 218mhz (well at the 2-3-2-6 latencies it is designed for at least) which is what brings me to why I have the system set as I do the RAM to CPU ratio of my comp is set so that my RAM is running around 215mhz but if I were in a different situation I may actually lower my multiplier for a higher FSB. For example, if I had the fastest RAM on the market for my computer that runs stable at 275mhz, I would use a 10 multiplier and set my FSB to 275 and use a 1:1 ratio for my RAM:FSB.

I don't know how much help any of this is to you... or if you've already researched this stuff, but I'm just trying to share what I know, which coincidentally goes more with modern computers so I don't know how much help it really is... I know all the basics are still the same.

[Kona Rider]

*Alright I went to post this but it made me log in, and deleted my typed stuff, so I'm going to type it again"

Ok, so here we go. Maximan, I see you're young and probably ambitious. But you are trying to climb a brick wall. You really are better off purchasing a better computer that you will be happier with and not have to do any adjustments to. (For time being) If you try to oc your current pc (even if you can) you will probably end up damaging something. Talk to your parents about purchasing a computer for you. Tell them how much you are interested in them and how much it will help out in the long run. If you can't afford it ask them if you could do chores to work off the money. Realistically that is your best option. Good luck mate.

[.Maleficus.]

I read through this and it helped me a lot. (I've still never overclocked, but I have a better understanding of what it is now.) Very informative.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=263753

[Dazza_1981]

I will be installing a water cooler on the processor instead of the fan, because I want to overclock it. Currently iy id 233 mhz, and I want it to perform like a 500 mhz. Somebody please help me I dont know how to do anything.

Link to computer:
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2933

Thanks guys:)
hahhahahahaha water cooling on that heap hahaha,

[Omega]

hahhahahahaha water cooling on that heap hahaha,


Shut up. You're a dickhead.

[archmaille]

Shut up. You're a dickhead.

maybe he is... but it's kinda true.... water cooling would be MAJOR overkill.... but hey, I'm not one to speak I'm always up for a game of overkill when it comes to compy's :D

[maximan1]

I want to overclock it to hell :)

[archmaille]

I want to overclock it to hell :)

see if you can't get some good utilities for overclocking.... not quite sure that it will do anything on your board but there is always a possibility. I don't really know of any off the top of my head, but I know I've used SpeedFan before for monitoring and it has an overclocking utility built in. There is other stuff as well such as FSBsoft (or something like that) you mght check into them do a lil research and find some more.

[DaveW]

Shut up. You're a dickhead.

Cool it. Rankenphile's left me in charge this week and I don't want to have to use these moderator powers. Let's all show we can play nice while Daddy's away, ok guys?

-Dave

[Canadian Eh?]

davey is right, foul language...BAD and with Dave in charge...BADDER

[CanaBalistic]

Watter cooling doesnt have to be just for overclocking. It makes any system run much more stable. Although i dont know anyone who would watercool without overclocking.

[DaveW]

It makes any system run much more stable.

One of these days i'll explain why watercooling and air cooling are almost entirely equall in terms of cooling power. It really comes down to what suits you best.

The main reason watercooling wins is because it's quiter, less dusty, and unless you've splashed out on a Zalman, looks better in a mod. In terms of cooling power...they're equal. There's a fair amount of phyics involved which is why i can't be bothered elaborating.

-Dave

[crenn]

I wouldn't agree that water cooling and air cooling are almost equal in terms of cooling power. Although some air coolers can get close to temps reached when using water cooling, they're normally some of the heaviest ones out there with a lot of heatpipes.

Even the zalman water cooler is an interesting design and can be fitted to look good in certian type of mods (ie futuristic or industrial).

[maximan1]

Please stop replieng to this thread. Long gone.

[DaveW]

It's your thread, if you want people to stop replying, then close it. Simple.

-Dave

[Canadian Eh?]

Even the zalman water cooler is an interesting design and can be fitted to look good in certian type of mods (ie futuristic or industrial).

The zalman water cooler? do you mean this one?
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/pcmods/6d08/

[DaveW]

I said water cooling looks better in a mod. The Zalman fans are the only fans I think anyone would really want to look at.

-Dave

[maximan1]

buhbye