Overclocking

[cantdrive55]

I'm trying to overclock my 1.8GHz P4 up some but am having trouble starting. I have read many different things that give me an idea of how to do it but I am unable to. I tried going into the BIOS to change things but the CPU Ratio is locked. I know that I am using the ICS 950202CF chipset. Any help would be great!

[Overclocked Doc]

The P4 1.8 is a great little overclocker! You can not change the "multiplier" on most P4's from that erra. You have to instead change the "CPU host frequency", which will intern net you an increase of the front side bus effectively giving you your overclock.

@ stock your CPU is 100 (CPU host frequency) X 18 (multiplier) =1800 Mhz
The 1.8 has a "sweet spot" @ 2.3 Ghz (128 X 18)
Limitations for you will arise if not using suitable ram and or the motherboard / chipset that you have. At stock you need DDR266, but when you attempt to overclock, you will need DDR333. DDR400 will work but, depending on the brand, you're results may decrease. Not all ram lends itself well to overclocking, even if you stay with in spec.

Once you achieve your overclock you'll need to check stability. The system is NOT nessecarily stable even though it may boot into Windows with out issue. Start by running Super PI the 1M test, then Super PI 32M test. If you can get past the second one you will "probably be OK". You should however run "Prime 95" and stress test the system to be sure. Keep an eye on the CPU temps when running this test initally. At 2.3 you will most likely see temps rise to about 50degs.C (which is not a problem).

Doc

[cantdrive55]

Thanks! Thats exactly what I was looking for. Could you tell me though how I should go about changing theCPU host frequency?

[Overclocked Doc]

I need to know what motherboard you have.

[cantdrive55]

Its a PC Chips M902ULR.

[Overclocked Doc]

I can not give you exact specifics for that board but instead can give you the general steps.

Bios > Advanced > frequency / voltage > cpu host frequency. The frequency will be stock @ 100. adjust in small increments and test.
You must also look at the AGP/PCI/SRC settings and note what they are before you make any changes. After changing the CPU host Frequency, re-adjust them (AGP/PCI/SRC) back to the stock setting. This will require you to change to "manuel". You should also disable "spread spectrum". Every bios is different and may or may not use the same terminology (although it will be similar).