Overclocking the Intel Celerons - all generations
Mar 13 '01 (Updated Apr 26 '01)
The Bottom Line Celeron overclocking? By all means go for it, just make sure you have the right kind of motherboard/memory and a decent processor cooler of above average quality.
Before we start off I have to make clear that the only way to overclock Intel Celeron processors is by increasing the bus speed as these processors are multiplier locked, this lock is hardwired into the processor and there is no way to overcome this.
Both generations of the Intel Celerons are excellent overclockers. I have both a first generation Celeron 300A which I've been running for over a year at 464Mhz (103*4.5)without a glitch and a Cel2-566 running flawlessly for months now at 952 Mhz(112*8.5). These machines are not running constantly though.
If you initially feel unsafe with overclocking go for a more conservative setting first. Most Celerons 300A, the most succesful overclocker of this first generation of Celerons with 128K of onboard level 2 cache, are very content at 450Mhz (100*4,5). The bus speed Intel intended for this processor line was a mere 66Mhz in accordance with the then most available speed for SDram. But if you have a motherboard and RAM that allows you to select the 100 Mhz option, in order to gain 50% speed on the processor you just go for 100 Mhz either by selecting the right jumper settings or by selecting this speed in your Bios in case you have a jumperless motherboard, consult your motherboard manual to check how you can change the bus speed.
Much to many reviewers disappointment, the CeleronIIs were also intended to run at 66Mhz bus speed, so for overclocking these you do exactly the same thing as for the CeleronIs. The most succesful overclocker of this line of Celeron processors is the Celeron2 566, which should make the 850Mhz (100*8.5) mark easily if you up the voltage a bit, available voltage settings are also dependant on your motherboard, or if you have a slocket adaptor - which allows you to install socketed Celerons in Slot 1 motherboards - on the adaptor itself which will normally have jumpers for this.
The advantage of keeping the bus speed at 100Mhz and not selecting an even higher bus speed like I have done for my Celerons, is that no other component on your system is stressed because you'll be using the 1/3 divider for the PCI bus which thus stays at its intended 33Mhz and 2/3 for the AGP which then remains at its 66Mhz, also this 100Mhz option with the right dividers is built in your motherboard which has to support the other PentiumIIs and Pentium IIIs that are meant to run at 100Mhz.
The only things required for achieving a good result is the right kind of motherboard offering the necessary (but preferably as many as possible) options in both bus speed and voltage settings, memory modules that support the selected bus speed and, last but not least a decent cooler, so not the standard flimsy OEM ventilator but something with a bit more bite. I have e.g. a Goldenorb cooler on the Celeron 566.
With the appropriate cooler, none of both processors have a tendancy to overheat, temperature just rises a few degrees while in use but nothing out of the ordinary which is one point where Intel shows that it still holds the lead over AMDs Athlon/Duron in the manufacture of microprocessors. Because these AMDs run very very hot and are very sensitive to what kind of cooling device you install, anything under the AMD requirements and your processor fries and dies.
The second point being that the Celeron2s - which are exactly the same built as the Pentium3s with half of the level 2 cache disabled, 128K instead of the Pentium3's 256 - don't require a special, tested +300W powerhouse which for the latest AMD's proves to be indispensable too.
I for one don't believe in installing exotic cooling equipment - huge peltier coolers, kryogenic cooling, watercooling, etc - because not only are those not so easy to install, often they limit the accessibity inside the case, sometimes disabling the filling up of all memory slots or PCI-slots. But also because all the money invested in this type of expensive cooling solutions could as well have been spent right away on a newer and faster non-overclocked processor which doesn't require all this hassle in the first place.
Unlike other contributors to this site, am not at all convinced that the expected lifespan of the overclocked Celerons is very diminished, because with a decent cooling device they don't run that much hotter than at their intended speed.
For mission critical machines which are kept running 24/24 and 7/7 overclocking could be a risk, for these make sure that you have hardware monitoring software up and running configured to automatically shut down the system as soon as system temperature becomes critical. This of course because a cooler or system fan failure can never be excluded.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
isvikthere
|
|
Reviews written: 46
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
Amongst other things, a computer hardware enthusiast who writes only about things I know/own.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.