Hey guys, I'm fairly decent with computers but by no means an expert. I have a Pentium 4 3.0ghz and i want to try to get as much as possible out of it safely. Here's my system specs

Motherboard-Gigabyte GA-945GZM-S2 (rev. 3.x)
CPU- Pentium 4 631 3.0ghz

thanks guys, I appreciate it

you start by raising the fsb little by little..... to a point where the system does not boot into windows, unstable while in windows, or even posts. At that point, you want to back up a few notch. Then you can try to raise the Vcore voltage a wee bit... something like .01 volts at a time or whatever your bios will let you in the smallest increments. Once you raise the volts, then try to raise the fsb again. if it doesnt work, back up again and raise the volts again by another notch. Dont excede 1.45v.... It is a trial and error thing. you will notice that when you get to a point where nothing you do will help it go any further. Once you have determine that.... back up to a point of last known good settings.

There are other settings that may affect your ability to get high cpu overclock and that is your memory timings, ratio, and voltage settings. You can play around with these to see if it helps the cpu. Timings are usually go looser, ratio typically go higher, and voltage goes higher. Its all trial and error thing.

Overall OC'n will also be determine by the quality of each component. i.e. cpu, memory, motherboard, cpu heatsink, psu, etc.... all play its roll on that reach. And sometimes its just not gonna happen...

Good luck.... Your cpu with a good cooler should be able to reach 3.7ghz before you need to increase any voltage..... But on the other hand..... maybe not... I have a P4 650 3.4ghz that I have reached to 3.8ghz... and then after that it needed some dosage of voltages... in which I had stopped....

Good luck

ok i tried raising the clock speed, anything i change it to, when i restart the screen is all messed up, and i can't see anything. I also can't change the vcore voltage with my bios, any ideas

make sure you can lock the frequencies of the various busses in your system and that you are only raising the FSB, if you start messing with the PCI, PCIe/AGP frequencies etc... your cards and other components might not function properly.

Whenever you're OC'ing you want to keep your PCI-E bus latched to 33MHz (in BIOS)instead of the FSB. This could be the issue you are seeing.

Gerritt

ok thats fixed now but whenever i change the clock speed it says its still 3.0ghz(200x15) and i definetely changed the clock speed to 300

John,
I don't know what to tell you.
I had to ship back my only Gigabyte MB for a RMA.
I'm not saying they're bad boards, just that I'm not familiar with the BIOS.
You should be able to manipulate many settings including FSB, VCORE, PCIe, Multipliers, etc.. You may want to look up a site for OCing your specific configuration (GOOGLE "gigabyte + P4 + OC"), or some such for specifics.
Remember, that ALL systems, even if you have 10 with the same base specifications, will most likely have 10 different OC maximums. It is possible that something in your build IS at it's highest speed with a given rating, though this is rare.

Hi there,
I have a Gigabyte mobo and I think I can help you a bit here.

I am not sure if your mobo is capable of overclocking. So, go to BIOS and check that
there is an entry labeled MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.). If you have that one, we can take it
from there...

If not...I think it means that you can't overclock with your current MB...but I am not 100% sure
about that.

talk to you later...bye for now

just an FYI incase anyone didn't know... Gigabyte hides most of the advanced overclocking/tweaking options in the BIOS, you need to press Ctrl + F1 while in the main menu of the BIOS to reveal them.

Ok guys I tried pressing ctrl+F1 and that gave me another menu titled advanced chipset function, under that was 5 settings

1. CAS Latency time
options are as follows
-5
-4
-3
-6
-auto (preselected)
2.DRAM RAS# to CAS# delay
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-auto (preselected)
3.DRAM RAS# precharge
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-auto
4.Active to Precharge Delay
-auto
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-10
-11
-12
-13
-14
-15
5. Refresh mode Select
-7.8us
-15.6us
-auto

I also have a couple of options under Advanced Bios Function
1. CPU enhanced halt (CIE) "Preset to Enabled"
-enabled= CPU will enter C1 state and reduce core clock to system bus ratio & vid
-disabled=CPU will not enter C1 state and reduce core clock to system bus ratio & vid
2. CPU EIST function "preset to enabled
-enabled= when enabled EIST driver manages clock to best serve the thermal performance and power requirements
-disabled= when disabled EIST driver does not manage clock and vid to best serve the thermal, performance, and power requirements

I appreciate the help guys, if you guys need anything else on my end let me know. Thanks

Can take a screen shot of your BIOS?

or list all entries to the left...

The readings you provided shows that you can manipulate memory timing...
so, it might be possible to overclock with your MB.

I don't have a camera right now but i guess i could list all the options i have, give me some time, i'm using the computer im trying to overclock

i can change the cpu host frequency, but when anything i change it to, the mhz don't change.

If you can play with the frequency...it means you can OC.

Try to change it from 200 to 205 or 210 and then save and exit BIOS. You should see the speed changing.

Should be 210X15 = 3.15GHz

Note: At this point, don't change the voltage setting.

Ok guys, I finally have some good news. I raised the clock speed by 5 until i hit 245, at 245 by screen became unreadable so i reduced it to 240, 3.6ghz. If i raise it even by one more the screen messes up. I am using the onboard video card and don't see where i can change settings to keep the video card from changing when i change the bus speed. Also I don't see anyway to change the voltage. However I am running at 3.6ghz just fine. Should I leave it here or should i try to push the limits a little more, also is there any good software to monitor cpu temp in windows, and what would be an ideal temp to keep the cpu at? Thanks guys for all your help.

there are many temp monitoring programs...
but the motherboard you have should come with a software called "Easy Tune"
You can use it to monitor CPU temps...you also can use it to overclock inside windows..

as for voltage control, you should have it along with the same menu you used to overclock. Try CTRL + F1 and then go to that menu.

Good Luck with your overclocking experience.

I totally forgot that i had easy tune, thanks for mentioning it. I just installed it. I checked earlier and even if i press ctrl+F1 it doesn't give me the option, but i guess i don't need it if easy tune works. I have the front side bus up to 240. It says the voltage is at 0.85 when i look at it in the overclock mode of easy tune. should i change that or try raising the fsb some more and then raise the voltage. I also can change the ratio, should I or leave it. Just how accurate is the temperature sensor, because when im in the bios it says the cpu is running at about 48deg. Celsius and in easy tune it says it's only at 38/39deg. celsius, which should i believe and what should i try to keep it at. Thanks again for the help guys.

Both the BIOS and Easy Tune temp reading are correct. It is higher in BIOS because the drivers are not loaded until windows starts loading them. So, the processor will run under more load which cause the higher temps. Try to put some load on your processor inside windows and watch the temp rise.

And as for voltage, 0.85 seems odd. My processor runs at 1.38 by default. Anyways, if you are going to play around with it...just go easy on it...very easy..no need to hurry. And don't exceed 1.45.

Try to check the CPU voltage with another program..try CPU-Z for example...it seems really odd. As far as I know, even the lowest core2 would runs above 1.0...and they are more efficient.

The ratio in easy tune is actually the Multiplier. For example, when the processor runs at 3.0 GHz (200X15), 15 is your multiplier. I don't exactly know which is better, to increase the FSB or the Multiplier. But, I noticed that at lower multipliers, the motherboard would increase your FSB limit...you will have to ask someone more experienced about those two.

By the way, if your temp is around 50C, that's quite good for P4.

PS: Overclocking inside windows is not very stable...expect BSODs

I download cpu-z and it say the voltage is at 1.168, which sounds a little bit better. Ok guys thanks for the help and if you have any other ideas that might help let me know, i appreciate it