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Guide: Overclocking AMD And Intel CPUs On A Budget

Guide: Overclocking AMD And Intel CPUs On A Budget
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Overclocking is a collection of methods for making components run faster than the manufacturer intended. Once little more than a hobby for die-hard geeks and value-seekers, overclocking has become a way—sometimes the only way—for performance fanatics to get the system performance they really want/need. With graphics and memory technologies forging ahead at a brisk pace, central processors are quickly becoming the second-most restrictive component in many high-end systems.

If you feel forced into overclocking just to get a high-performance benchmark from the best parts, mid-budget enthusiasts are certain to find their lower-cost parts mind-numbingly slow. Because most buyers can’t afford the best components, the majority of overclockers come from the mainstream market.

There are two groups who overclock out of perceived necessity: those who need more performance than the market provides, and those who need more performance than they can afford to purchase.

Tom’s Hardware puts much of its editorial efforts into testing and overclocking the latest high-end parts, but today we’re going to focus on a few processors that most mainstream readers can afford and enjoy: AMD’s Phenom II X2 and X4, and Intel’s Pentium Dual-Core and an entry-level Core 2 Quad.

Mitigating Risks

Though we’re obligated to tell everyone that overclocking is a great way to put important data at risk, many Tom’s Hardware editors even employ it on their all-important work PCs. Methods that ensure stability are just as important as those that assure longevity, and any data that can't be replaced should be backed up to at least two devices, regardless of whether or not the primary system is overclocked.

All machines wear out, and forcing a component to run beyond its specifications is a sure way to make it wear out faster. In electronics, the biggest source of wear is a phenomenon known as electromigration, whereby ions are slowly transferred from a structure to the adjacent structure under the force of electrical current. Major contributing factors include increased heat and voltage, but the limits of heat and voltage vary with different materials, different production technologies, and expected component lifespan.

Increased voltage allows a stronger signal to be carried between various components, reducing signal loss that can occur as the result of overclocking and thereby allowing higher component operational frequency. As we overclock today’s four processor samples, we’ll discuss the voltage and temperature limits we’ve chosen as well as the expected lifespan, testing each part for complete stability.

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  • 0 Hide
    Anonymous , 20 July 2009 17:18
    Using top end motherboards isn't really budget overclocking, a cheap p43 board is sufficient for e5200 overclocking, additionally a q9400 is only 25% more than a q8200 and overclocks to 3.5Ghz with ease
  • 0 Hide
    wild9 , 22 July 2009 23:12
    Quote:
    Overclocking is a collection of methods for making components run faster than the manufacturer intended.


    ..or allows, considering different models often come off the same wafer xD
  • 0 Hide
    wild9 , 22 July 2009 23:18
    Quote:
    Disappointing headroom in the Q8000-series and a price-exclusion for Core i7 allow AMD's Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition to earn our value-overclocking recommendation for quad-core CPUs.


    Still, I doubt the AMD-basher's will let that one rest..
  • 1 Hide
    spearhead , 28 July 2009 01:21
    I like it. I like to see how far we can push this technology as well as how to keep the idle TDP as low as possible. I think the phenom II 955 suits me the best. AMD overdrive allows you to set both preformance settings as well as the idle settings. Something were i7 failt for me.
    I would like to keep cool and quiet on at all times because i dont would want a high power bill and because my computer is on for a few days in a row. So my challenge would be how can i keep the voltage and clocks very low at idle but maintain a resonable desktop preformance. However for gaming i can use some extra headroom. i like to fine tune it well.
  • 0 Hide
    Parge , 2 August 2009 20:28
    Why the hell did you choose an 8200? That makes no sense at all, its poor overclocking performance is widely documented.

    Better would be to choose something else, then have a side note saying 'do not buy this part to OC'.
  • 1 Hide
    Anonymous , 3 August 2009 20:59
    if you want a cheap stable intel overclockable intel quad core look for a Q6600 or if you really want a challenge look for a Q6700, both are very good OCers but are EOLed
  • 0 Hide
    Solitaire , 8 August 2009 08:08
    Strange to think its Intel that got an unfair bashing this time around. Using top-end mobos in a budget OC session is a major no-no. Using a Q8200 instead of something closer to the X4-955BE's price tag, like the Q9300, is just plain stupid.

    To be honest, switching to budget mobos wouldn't have affected the outcome that much; from what reviews I've heard the MSI 770-C45 is a perfectly decent AM3 budget OC board going for a pittance and there are a few MSI and Gigabyte P35/P43 mobos in the same price range on the Intel side of things.
  • 0 Hide
    Katash , 21 August 2009 04:08
    I need to get out of my closet and start reading these forums way more.

    Thanks for a very interesting thread :D 
    (Even if criticed by some)
  • 0 Hide
    nikko_lp640 , 27 November 2009 16:29
    e5200 oc at fsb 1066 (no voltage increasing)
    What would be the lifespan of the processor.