overclocking intel pentium 4 2.8ghz how?

[morinehtar]

just thought i'd try overclocking my processor before going out to buy a new system to see if its worthwhile. i will need some help overclocking as im kinda clueless but if you think its not worth overclocking without new parts i wont bother. here are some of my specs:-
processor: intel pentium 4
codename: northwood
Brand ID: 9
Package: Socket478mPGA
Technology:0.13um
core voltage:1.494V

Motherboard
Manufacturer: hewlett packard
model: 085Ch
chipset:intel i865p/PE/G/i848P rev. a2
Southbridge:intel 82801EB (ICH5)

and i have a cheap 500w power supply if you have any advice please feel free to post

 

[tech savvy]

is that pc a store bought or self built? because if it is store bought than must likely the BIOS is locked so you cant OC(overclock).

 

[powerpack]

HP's and DeLL's do not have BIOS options for OC'ing. That leaves you with only software solutions like setfsb. I hardly think that is worth it. Then again with a P4 I have doubts even a BIOS OC is going to do much.

What do you want to do? I am sure Office and many other productivity apps work fine. Are you trying to game. If so your GPU is also likely the culprit. My brother has a P4 he just upgrade to 4670 I think. Best he could get with AGP. It games much better.

So what do you want this OC to do?

How much RAM do you have? For my brother increasing that and new GPU is going to add life to his "long in the tooth" system. I have been encouraging him to upgrade since I got a dual core. He tells me to F' off, as he has a house and kids and bills and not going to happen.

Post back maybe like my brother you can stretch but I don't see OC doing it.

 

[morinehtar]

thx for the replys i guess im stuck with upgrading or getting a new set up cuz I dont think I can squeeze anymore out of this machine...Im mainly using it for online gameing similar to wow i have around 1.25gb ram dual channel, 256 mb geforce fx5700 drivers updated. i think the hdd spins at 7200 which i dont think is the best but haven't got anything faster. I have uniblue power suite for speeding up my pc and avast for virus checking all running on windows xp. I have gamebooster installed although not sure if this makes much of a difference, the main speed issue probably comes from my isp which is only 20mb i think and cant have anyone download while playing online or the game will suffer. oh and i think the graphics card is only on an 8x agp? slot.

 

[morinehtar]

oh and i got the machine off ebay probably put together for some company all manufactured by HP

 

[powerpack]

I think a RAM increase and new GPU could make it last for maybe $300? Of course a new system is best but is that in budget? Post back.

 

[dave1701]

Don't bother with the ram increase. I don't think it's worth it. I have the same processor and I'm upgrading.

 

[spynoodle]

That Pentium 4 will pose a bottleneck for any games you try to play. A simple Celeron E3400 + LGA775 mobo would be a major upgrade. 87dtna has some nice benchmark comparisons to put it into perspective.

 

[powerpack]

Alright let's all be honest. In a perfect goshdarn world you should build a new system with a quad core and new hardware. I suggested a minimal upgrade at a minimum cost. Sure you can upgrade better but what is the point? To keep you tied to the same piece of crap forever? At some point you might have to decide if you are going to jump. I think MoBo and CPU is way beyond that.

Edit: So if you can afford jump! Build a new rockin system.

 

[FuryRosewood]

for the amount you suggested, he could practically put a new board, ram and cpu in the machine...even possibly stretch in a budget gpu...however the PSU would need to be swapped...i think a upgrade to the current platform he is running on would not be worth the expense...