OEM machines: OCable or not?

This is out of sudden curiosity, did anyone actaully had a successful result in overclocking OEM machines? If not, is it even possible? Personally I don't have a OEM machine but some of my friends do and they wonder as well. Maybe some one who has a better knowledge of this can clear this once and for all, not just for us (my friends and I) but for people who care to read this post as well. Thank You

 

I'm not sure what you're getting at exactly, but I don't see any reason in principle why you couldn't overclock an OEM computer. Surely some OEM hardware can be overclocked and some can't -- and the same thing is true of even home built computers. It ultimately depends on the specific hardware included in the system.

For example, it's possible to find two apparently identical CPU's but one of them can be overclocked and one can't. In the case of a CPU that can't be overclocked at all the CPU is said to be "locked" or it's multiplier is "locked." If you have a number of the same model of CPU and all are unlocked some will still be capable of being overclocked more than others. This is, according to my understanding, mostly just a result of the random variations in a production run of CPU chips. Some have more impurities or manufacturing defects (many computer chips have some defects but are engineered so these can be bypassed and the chip can still function -- the same sort of thing is true of hard drives. Even new ones have some sectors that can't be used, but these are mapped/marked as unavailable for use as unreliable). More impurities may make one chip run hotter than another and when they're overclocked this difference in the amount of heat generated can vary a great deal.

In addition to CPU overclocking you can also overclock video/graphics cards and system RAM. But as with overclocking CPU's overclocking other components almost always produces additional heat. If you only overclock a small amount the stock heatsink (or heatspreaders, in the case of system RAM) may well be able to handle the additional heat, but as you overclock more you reach a point where you have to add additional cooling. Often this is done by removing the stock heatsink and adding a more exotic and expensive heatsink/fan combo to dissipate the additional heat. Really extensive overclocking may require more drastic measures, such as liquid cooling instead of relying on air cooled heatsinks.

But while the amount of overclocking (if it's possible at all) will vary even between different samples of the same model of hardware the fact that a computer is "OEM" should not, in and of itself, prevent the possibility of overclocking at least some of the hardware.

 

An additional consideration is that overclocking may void the warranty of a particular piece of hardware in a home built machine or an OEM and, in the case of an OEM built computer, overclocking might void the entire manufacturer's warranty. So if you want to dabble in overclocking an OEM computer make sure you read the warranty carefully so you know what the possible warranty consequences may be if something goes wrong. Even if you're going to OC a home built system, you should check the individual warranty for whatever hardware you're going to OC. It may seem odd, even contradictory, but, for example, many name brand RAM manufacturers market some of their RAM modules as especially good for overclocking and they may even offer advice in their user forums about suggested BIOS RAM timings and voltage settings. Nevertheless, the RAM warranty from such manufacturers will still likely say that if you overclock the RAM you do so at your own risk and the warranty does not cover RAM that is overclocked. Similarly a motherboard manufacturer may supply a set of utility programs that make it easier for a novice to overclock his CPU, graphics card and RAM, but the motherboard manufacturer will almost certainly deny any responsibility for any damage or loss that may occur as a result of using the supplied utility programs to overclock any hardware attached to the motherboard and may also state that the motherboard warranty itself is null and void if any hardware attached to the board is overclocked. In addition, of course, the warranties on each individual piece of hardware that is overclocked will likely have similar provisions that void the individual hardware warranties.

Overclocking isn't all that risky if you understand what you're doing, start modestly, increase speeds in very small increments, monitor heating of components and adjust or change cooling solutions as needed. But all this takes some knowledge and patience and shouldn't be undertaken carelessly, whether you're attempting to OC an OEM computer or a home built machine.

 

yes yes i am fully aware of all the risk that ocing might cause, please, im not THAT newb at ocing computers, putting that aside, i know most OEM machines have their bios's locked. What i want to ask is has anyone got their hands on a worked over bios where OC options are a possibilty and came back with good result were it says, hey get this oem, cheap as hell and not too bad ocer.

btw i thot this post was LONG dead, thank you for actaully posting something let alone reading it.

 

Yes, I realized after I'd posted that the problem with OEM machines is that their BIOSes probably just wouldn't include the settings for OCing stuff. And, as you'd already figured out apparently, it's not likely that you're going to find a low cost name brand computer that has the sort of components that will overclock well and a BIOS that gives you access to the settings you need.

I understand now what you were getting at and I don't know of an OEM machine I could recommend as a good overclocker. If you're really interested in OCing you should start planning to build your own computer. If you've never done that before keep an eye on the computer magazine section in a larger bookstore or news stand and watch for articles about how to build your own computer. These will usually recommend parts that will work well together and show you how to assemble it all. Often such articles will include some overclocking recommendations.

I see one of these "build your own" articles every few months. Typically the budget for such projects runs as low as $500 but in others may reach $1500 or even higher. (The most recent one I've noticed is in the April 2008 issue of Maximum PC -- "Build Your Own No-Compromises $1500 PC -- 13 Easy Steps Anyone Can Follow" And no, it's not an April Fool's joke. And if $1500 is out of your price range you can actually spend about half that amount and build a machine that will allow you to OC your CPU, graphics card and RAM. By the way, PC Maximum is a good magazine to read if you're interested in learning about and keeping tabs on computer hardware and picking up performance tips and tweaks.)

Not all of these projects will produce good OC candidates but some of them are designed with hardware that should OC nicely and will say so in the article. You can surely find similar articles online if you search on "build your own computer" or maybe even 'build and overclock your own computer".

Take a close look at your current machine and see what you may be able to scavenge from it to reduce the cost of building a new computer. If your current machine is an OEM it may include some proprietary hardware, often the case itself, that won't "play well" with off the shelf components, but you can still likely use at least a few parts (hard drive and DVD/CD burner, for example). But make sure you line up drivers for each item you want to use from an old OEM computer by going direct to the hardware manufacturers' websites if necessary. The drivers on OEM CD-ROM's are sometimes all bundled up together and you may not be able to easily install an individual driver from such a disk.

Building your own computer doesn't have to be terribly expensive even if you want to OC. There are name brand motherboards in the $100 to $125 range with full OC features in the BIOS, dual core AMD (and maybe Intel) CPU's in the $150 range that will OC (but again, if you plan to OC more than just a modest amount you may need to spend $50 to $75 for a 3rd party CPU cooler).

I think many brand name graphics cards will allow at least some modest OCing and some are marketed as good OCers and include software to make adjusting OC settings easy.

RAM is often a cheap and easy OC. Just a few weeks ago I purchased two gigs (2 x 1 gig DIMMs) of Mushkin DDR2, dual channel RAM, recommended by Mushkin as a good OCer with heat spreaders already attached. I installed the new RAM, posted in the Mushkin forum asking for recommended timings and voltage settings and quickly got a response with the requested info from one of the Muskin forum moderators. The RAM worked fine at the OC settings and I didn't even have to increase the voltage. Cost? About $65 out-of-pocket, but there was a $15 rebate, so final cost, once I get the rebate, will be about $50. I may eventually try cranking the RAM up even faster and may then have to install a fan to get rid of additional heat, but so far the RAM is working fine with just the heat spreaders that came attached to it.

Of course, the trick to all this is to not get any OCed components too far out in front as your slowest running component will reduce the overall performance of your system effectively negating any OC benefits. That is, for example, if your RAM and graphics card are seriously OCed, but your processor can't keep up, then your RAM and graphics are going to be spending a lot of their time "twiddling their thumbs" waiting on the CPU and you won't really gain much of a speed increase from your OCed hardware. But the same general principle applies even if you're not overclocking. There's not much point in getting a really fast graphics card and then running it in a setup with a slow CPU and/or slow system RAM. Unless, of course, you plan to upgrade those slower components in the near future.

I didn't notice the date you posted your question until I'd already responded. I just saw there weren't any responses so decided to take a crack at it. Hope there were at least a few bits of useful info that you didn't already know. Maybe someone else will know of some OEM machines that are capable of modest OCing, but "build it yourself" is really the way to go if you're serious about it.

There's a lot more OC info in the "sticky" posts at the top of the OC forum if you're interested in learning more.

Good luck!