4CoreDual-VSTA And 775Dual-VSTA Overclocking Guide
R. B. Inc.
http://forum.ncix.com/forums/i...erclockid=0#msg1311291
Here's a little guide of mine, compiled from information I collected from multiple reviews, forum threads, blogs, etc. It is intended for the ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA or ASRock 775Dual-VSTA, but you may find other motherboards with the same options to modify.
The point of this review is to allow users of said boards to get more speed out of their inexpensive value motherboards. Just because you paid a fraction of the price as other boards, which you certainly did, does not mean you have to settle for less, although you will ultimately settle for less, just not as less as many people would have you believe. This guide will allow you to get more bang-for-buck. Of course, having either of the boards is a major setback for overclocking enthusiasts, if you consider yourself to be one, then you chose the wrong board.
This guide will help owners with both DDR or DDR2 memory, as well as both AGP or PCI-E cards, as well as both SATA and/or IDE Drive users.
BIOS OPTIONS
Modifying BIOS options may be very dangerous, and, if configured incorrectly, may lead to a nonfunctional board. Make sure you know what you're doing before proceeding further, or get some help.
*This guide assumes you have the latest BIOS update: 2.60*
*All BIOS Options mentioned are found under the Advanced tab*
*Options are for Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors*
CPU Configuration:
>>Overclock Mode
-Set to: CPU, PCIE, Async
-Info: This setting determines whether or not the BIOS automatically sets your FSB, PCI, and PCIE frequencies. Setting to Async allows you to manually modify the PCIE frequency, setting to Sync automatically increments or decrements the PCIE depending on your FSB.
>>CPU Frequency(MHz)
-Info: This is essentially your Front side bus (FSB) speed. You have to stress-test different speeds to try and figure out what speed suits you fine.
-Note: The speed you choose will affect your memory speed and divider setting.
-Note: You should only increment in small 1-5 MHz steps and check for stability.
>>PCI Frequency(MHz)
-Set to: 34.78
-Info: You can set your PCI bus speed here. It really doesn't have any effect on your PCI devices unless you set the value too high or too low.
-Note: Setting the PCI speed to very high values will damage any PCI components you may have installed.
>>PCIE Frequency(MHz)
-Set to: 117-120
-Info: You can set your PCIe bus speed here. It really doesn't have any effect on your PCIe devices unless you set the value too high or too low.
-Note: Only modify the PCIe speed if you do not have a PCIe card, as modifying the PCIe speed will damage your PCIe card.
>>Spread Spectrum
-Set to: Disabled
-Info: This setting, when enabled, reduces the EMI of your FSB by modulating the signals it produces. This should definitely be disabled if you want to overclock your FSB, as it is the cause of many stability issues and crashes.
-Note: If you are not overclocking your FSB, you should still disable this, unless you really need to safeguard yourself from EMI problems.
>>Boot Failure Guard
-Set to: Disabled
-Info: I'm not sure why, but people have reported less instability if this is turned off on overclocked machines. If enabled, this simply checks for issues with your overclock, and if there is an issue, it will reset or revert your clock settings to optimal values on a crash.
-Note: This may potentially be useful for you to keep enabled if you are unsure about your overclocking skills.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please post them here, or ask for my email.
[Still under construction]
This message was modified by the poster at 04 02, 2007 10:56 PM
Topic URL:
http://forum.ncix.com/forums/topic.php?id=1311291