Processor core optimization program. Which processors can be overclocked

All modern computers- These are multi-core devices that affect system performance. However, Windows 7, like any other operating system, does not use the processor cores to their full capacity. This is due to saving resources on the PC itself. Therefore, if your programs do not slow down and errors do not occur, we do not recommend using all the cores of the graphics accelerator. This action should be performed in cases where the PC power is not enough to run standard programs and games.

Configuring kernels through the startup menu

This option for using all the processor power is the simplest and safest. It is suitable for all versions of Windows OS (except XP). Any user, even a beginner, can perform these steps.

• Press “Win+R” and enter “msconfig”.

• The System Configuration window will open. Go to the “Download” tab and click “Advanced options”.

• In the window that appears, check the “Number of processors” box so that the item with the choice of cores becomes active. We set the maximum memory.

• Afterwards we save the result and reboot the system. Multitasking mode will turn on.

IMPORTANT! If your PC turns off during advanced settings, check whether your power supply has enough power.

Advanced CPU settings with AIDA64

AIDA64 is useful not only for its status and performance reports individual components PC, but also with functions for unlocking processor cores. To use the CPU capabilities using this program, you should do the following:

• Launch the program and select “ Motherboard", "CPU".

• Next, turn on each of the cores and reboot the system.

If the involved kernels did not bring benefits, it is worth returning the settings back.

Using CPU Cores Using CPU-Z

The CPU-Z program allows you not only to check what characteristics a particular PC component has, but also to optimize the operation of some of them. In order to enable all kernels, you must do the following:

• Let's launch the program. Go to the “CPU” tab.
• In the “Theads” item you need to set the value the same as in “Cores”.

• After rebooting the system, you need to check the changed settings.

Overclocking the processor using BIOS settings

To use all the cores of the graphics accelerator, you should go to the BIOS. To do this, restart your PC and press “F2” or “Del” several times. Then you need to make the following settings:

• Find the “Clock Calibration” section (It is only available for AMD products). Set the value to “All Cores”. In the “Value” item we set the value as a percentage.

• After rebooting the system, it is worth checking the PC for functionality.

These methods are quite simple and in rare cases cause the system to crash. However, if after editing the settings errors begin to appear, you should stop unlocking the cores and return the settings back.

To learn how to enable processor cores on a PC with Windows 7 and higher, watch the video:

Instructions

If the cooling system is efficient enough, you can proceed to overclocking. To do this, go to the BIOS (press the DEL, F2 or F1 key during boot, depending on the board model). Find the characteristics tab. It can be called differently, you can read exactly what it is in the instructions for it.

Final frequency processor is the result of multiplying the bus frequency by the so-called multiplier processor. Accordingly, acceleration processor you can implement by simply increasing the multiplier. However, in most modern ones it is. The exceptions are AMD's Black series and Intel's Extreme series processors, in which the multiplier value can be changed.

note

The operation of increasing processor performance beyond that stated by the manufacturer is called “overclocking.” This should be done with caution, since overclocking the processor leads to increased heat generation and increased load on many computer systems. Before you start overclocking, make sure that the cooling fans are working properly and providing required level cooling. If the processor temperature in normal mode exceeds 50 degrees, overclocking it without upgrading the cooling system is contraindicated.

In most cases, you should not increase the processor frequency by more than 20 percent of the nominal frequency.

When purchased, your personal computer is not running at maximum power. But you can independently, without the help of a professional programmer, increase performance your PC.

Instructions

To increase performance computer, you need to “overclock” the processor. Execute this operation possible through the BIOS. Restart operating system and click the “Delete” button. In the menu that appears, you need to find the option that is responsible for the memory frequency. Most often this section is called Advanced Chipset Features or POWER BIOS Features if your PC does not have of this name, then specify in the instructions the name of the section responsible for memory timings.

Install minimum value. This is necessary in order to avoid failure when overclocking the processor. Now find in the BIOS of your personal computer AGP/PCI Clock option and set the value to 66/33 MHz.

Open POWER BIOS Features. It is responsible for the FSB frequency (for the speed of the processor). Start increasing the value by 10 MHz. Save the settings and reboot the system. With help CPU-Z programs check the stability of the processor. If everything is functioning normally, then increase the frequency by another 10 MHz. Follow this procedure until the normal operation processor. After that, reduce the value by 10 MHz and save.

To increase performance your personal computer, you need to defragment the disk. Go to “Start” - “All Programs” - “Accessories” - “System Tools” and select the “File Defragmenter” application. Specify the required virtual disk partition and click the “Defragment” button.

You can improve the quality of your computer by using Disk Cleanup. Go to "My Computer" right click Click on the desired virtual disk and open “Properties”. Click on the “Disk Cleanup” link.

Video on the topic

When working on a computer, users often encounter situations where the processor is overloaded. The image on the screen is redrawn extremely slowly, programs work very slowly. To make work comfortable again, it is necessary to find and eliminate the causes of excessive processor load.

Instructions

Increased CPU usage can be caused by a variety of reasons, ranging from startup unnecessary programs and ending with errors in the operating system. To identify the cause incorrect operation computer, open Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del), look total load processor and its load by specific processes.

More often than not, one process is causing the overload. Determine which program it belongs to, and if the process is not needed, close it. The operating system itself will not stop critical processes, so don’t be afraid of ruining anything. As a last resort, you will simply have to restart your computer.

If you cannot understand from the name of the process which program or service it belongs to, use AnVir programs Task Manager or Everest (Aida64). Open the list of processes in one of these programs, find the one that is loading the processor and look at the path to the executable file. Having determined what it is, you can already decide what to do with it - leave it, replace it, or delete it.

Increased processor load can be caused by a large number of programs loaded when the computer starts. Many installed programs tend to register themselves in startup without the user’s permission, so regularly check the startup list and remove unused programs. To delete, use Everest program: run it, open the Startup section and remove unnecessary programs.

To remove programs from startup, you can use standard utility msconfig. In Windows XP, open: “Start - Run”, enter the msconfig command and click “OK”. In Windows 7, open: Start and type msconfig into the search bar. In the window that opens, select the “Startup” tab and uncheck unnecessary programs and save the changes.

To speed up the operating system, disable unnecessary services: “Start – Control Panel – Administrative Tools – Services.” Find information on which services can be disabled in your version of the OS on the Internet.

One of the most annoying causes of excessive CPU usage is an operating system error. In this case, in the Task Manager, the main processor load falls on the System line. This sometimes happens with unlicensed versions of the OS and their “modified” assemblies. After starting, such a system can work normally, but at some point the processor load jumps to 100% and does not decrease. The best option in this case, replace the defective OS with its working version.

Sometimes high load CPU gives antivirus program. If this happens temporarily, with peak load up to 80-90%, then everything is fine. But if your antivirus constantly and excessively loads your system, replace it with another one.

A slow-running computer can irritate even a very calm person. It is not necessary to replace a slow machine with a new one - just find out which component is reducing its performance and carry out the upgrade.

Instructions

There are two reasons for poor performance computer: insufficient computing power processor and too little random access memory (RAM). The second of these reasons reduces speed work indirectly: when a resource-intensive application is running that does not, it begins to use for temporary data storage HDD. This process is called swapping. Exchange data with hard drive is much slower than with RAM. To determine what exactly needs to be upgraded, pay attention to the hard drive activity indicator. If the “braking” of the machine is accompanied by active access to the drive, it is necessary to increase the amount of RAM, and if not, replace the processor.

Do not resort to increasing productivity using methods that are harmful to the equipment. If the processor is overclocked, it will overheat. This does not mean that it will fail immediately, but its reliability will decrease significantly. Often overclocked processors fail users within one to two years. Also, do not create swap partitions (on Linux) or swap files (on Windows) on a flash drive. It works faster than a hard drive, but is still slower than RAM, and active rewriting of information in the same cells causes intense wear on the drive.

Before going to a store or market, carefully write down the name motherboard. Tell it to the seller, then say what exactly you want to buy: memory modules (DIMMs) or a processor. In the second case, also buy high-quality thermal paste. Before upgrading, unplug the machine. Simply switching it to standby mode is not enough: some nodes, in particular memory modules, can be supplied with power in this mode. To remove a memory module, move the latches to the side, and to install it, insert it right side into the grooves in the latches and press it. The latches will close automatically. Replace the processor, if you have never done it before, entrust it to a specialist. A misaligned heatsink or incorrect application of thermal paste can damage an expensive component. If you changed or added RAM modules, check them for errors using Memtest.

Inexperienced users may mistake the low speed of data exchange with the computer as “braking” the computer itself. global network. To increase it, change your provider or switch to a more expensive one tariff plan(within your capabilities). It must be unlimited. Sometimes equipment can also be a limiting factor; for example, replacing an EDGE modem with a 3G modem if there are base stations of the appropriate standard will significantly increase the data transfer speed.

So he ? File fragmentation is a very common occurrence when working with the Windows operating system, especially if there is a frequent process of writing to or deleting files from the disk. As a result of this process, different parts of the same file may end up in different places on the hard drive, and the operating system spends more time accessing the file, which affects overall performance.

The process of defragmentation - organizing the structure of files into - helps speed up the computer's performance in terms of reading information. Defragmentation can be done like this: regular programs operating system and third-party.

A less common problem, but one that does occur, is registry defragmentation. The Windows registry is the place where programs and the operating system itself store important data for operation. various settings and so on. The registry is essentially several operating system files. Registry defragmentation comes down to organizing the structure of these files on the hard drive in such a way that the computer cannot read the information.

The operating system has a master file table (MFT). This table stores information about all files on the hard drive. MFT has a fixed size, and there can be a lot of files on the disk. If you frequently delete files and then add them again, a situation arises where the MFT becomes fragmented. If such a problem occurs, the computer begins to slow down due to difficult access to the main file table. In these cases, it is recommended to remove unnecessary files. These files include:

1. Temporary Internet files (cache, cookies, log, history)

2. Various temporary program files

3. Operating system temporary files

You need to delete such files with an understanding of what is at stake. Accidental deletion important file may result in inability to follow Windows boot. Most often, in this case, they resort to the help of special programs.

Computer performance may be reduced due to viruses. To fix this problem, it is recommended to use any antivirus program.

If you notice that yours is, then begin measures to improve its performance. Competent and timely implementation of the actions described above is the key to normal and fast work your computer.

Video on the topic

The operating system from Microsoft is good for everyone: it supports a huge amount of hardware (though not “out of the box”), gives you the opportunity to play, is tailored to work with professional products, intelligently distributes audio streams to several devices, and so on. But there are also disadvantages to it. We will not take into account the glitches and too high price for such a product. The biggest problem with Windows is that it does not know how to adequately distribute power. central processor. As a result, the programs that are needed run very slowly. While some voracious "Chrome" in the background eats up the lion's share of resources. It's time to put an end to this. And the program will help with this CPU Control. How to use this utility? Let's talk about this.

What is CPU Control used for?

So, imagine the situation: you intend to play your favorite World of Tanks, when suddenly you notice that the game is ungodly glitchy and slow. You open the task manager, move to the PC resource consumption tab and see a terrible picture. Some kind of unnecessary antivirus coupled with no less unnecessary driver"Bluetooth" takes up almost the entire processor resource. And what to do now? How to force the system to allocate resources to what is a priority this moment? This is where CPU Control comes in handy. We'll look at how to use this program a little later. In the meantime, let’s try to understand what it does to the system so that it immediately starts working very quickly.

How CPU Control works

Essentially, this program forces the operating system to forget about its problems and allocate more resources to the application that is active at the moment, without paying attention to how much RAM or processor power the programs in the background require. Such forced prioritization is often necessary for old Windows. Because she forgets what should work faster and what should work slower. The program has many settings. It can even be used for forced launch on PCs with multi-core processors for applications that only run on single-core CPUs. So, how to use CPU Control correctly? Let's start with installation.

Program installation

Let's assume that you have already downloaded the program from the official website. Installation is ridiculously easy. After launching the .EXE file, you will be prompted to select an installation path. We leave it unchanged. Now you just need to click on the “Next” button. After the installation process is complete, the program can be found in the list installed programs. The best thing about this utility is that it is portable. That is, you can easily throw it onto a flash drive and run it on another machine. Now let's look at the question of how to configure CPU Control. There is nothing complicated about this. You just need to understand the basic principle of operation. And then everything will go like clockwork. In some cases, the program does not even need to be installed. You just need to download the archive and unpack it into any folder.

Setting up CPU Control

By default, the program interface is English language. The first step is to Russify the utility. It's very easy to do. You need to go to the "Options" item, select the "Languages" sub-item and set "Russian" as the main language. After Russification you can start initial setup applications. You need to check the "Run with Windows" box and select "Minimize" (if you want the program to run in the background). Next you need to select the number of cores that your central processor has. All this is on one settings page in the main window. Naturally, if you have a dual-core CPU, then there is no point in setting up four cores. Nothing good will come of it in the end. Let us next consider the features of CPU Control. How to use the utility?

Using the program

So, how to use the CPU Control program correctly? Beginners are recommended to use auto mode. It turns on very easily. You just need to check the "Auto" item in the main application window. Then the program will begin to decide on its own how to correctly distribute processes among cores and which one to give priority to. At first, the system may slow down. But then the application will “get used to it” and everything will work as expected. For those who understand what they are doing, there is a special manual configuration mode. It allows you to distribute each process to any core. Of course, use manual method much better. But this is only suitable for advanced users. Because through ignorance you can kill the system completely.

Let's continue the topic of CPU Control. How to use this product in WoT? Tanks traditionally must use at least two processor cores. Therefore the scheme is like this. We launch the game, minimize it and click on the process in the program. Then we allocate the first two cores to the toy, and the remaining processes need to be distributed over the remaining two (if the processor is quad-core). All that remains is to restart the game. You will immediately notice how much the performance of your favorite “Tanks” will increase. But there is one more feature with Control. How to use it on computers with new processors? The trouble is that the utility may not support the latest CPUs. Nothing can be done here. We'll have to look for alternatives to the app.

Conclusion

So, we looked at what the CPU Control program is. We already know how to use it. It is only necessary to note that using this utility can add performance to even the oldest computer. Moreover, the performance will increase several times. You just need to configure it correctly software and choose desired mode. Better yet, study the hardware and configure the allocation of CPU resources manually. Then you can achieve the best performance

My friend the computer
April, 2014

Modern processors able to regulate their productivity depending on the tasks performed. If desired, dynamic changes in clock frequency can be optimized, and for older processors, a corresponding feature can be added.

Installed on the test bench AMD processor Phenom II X6. But most of the time he works on low, economical frequency 800 MHz - no faster than a twelve-year-old Pentium III. Under load, all six cores quadruple this figure - up to 3.2 GHz. All representatives of new generations of CPUs increase their efficiency and performance thanks to this dynamic adjustment of clock speed. We'll cover how this technology works and how it can be optimized to improve laptop battery life or PC performance, as well as how to enable it in older processors.

Today, desktop computers and laptops work more efficiently thanks to a flexible system of processor activity modes. Initially, this principle was used in laptops. Starting with the Pentium III processor for mobile platforms, Intel introduced energy saving technology SpeedStep, which in battery mode reduced the processor clock speed in order to provide longer battery life by reducing performance.

SpeedStep: Battery Saver

Since 2003, when the Pentium M was introduced, laptops have gone to great lengths to make efficient use of battery power and deliver sufficient performance when needed. They analyze the processor load and provide their full potential only when it is really necessary. This allows you to be more careful with the battery and makes the cooling system work noticeably quieter.

Since the main goal of laptop manufacturers is to reduce power consumption and increase the efficiency of the cooling system, mobile computers leave almost no room for overclocking. Therefore, there are fewer BIOS settings available on a laptop than on a desktop PC. Tuning programs from manufacturers are also rare. However, there are safe ways to optimize dynamic clock speed - using power plans in the Panel Windows management. The need for such actions arises if, for example, after a few minutes of processor operation under high load, the laptop’s performance unexpectedly drops and HD video begins to slow down.

Another reason may be the constant switching of fan operating modes. This means that the processor, under full load, forces the fan to work at its limit, which is not enough to fully cool the CPU in this mode. As a result, the latter overheats, despite the rotation of the fan with maximum speed. As a result, the processor reduces the clock frequency, after which its temperature and fan noise decrease. When it cools down enough, it increases the frequency again, and everything repeats all over again. In this case, limiting the maximum processor performance using the Windows power plan will help.

Power Plan: Safe Optimization

To eliminate fluctuations in laptop performance, go to the "Power Options" section in the Windows 7 Control Panel. Here you can select one of the power plans - it is best to choose "Balanced" as the starting point for the settings.

Check it and click on the link “Set up power plan”, and then on “Change Extra options nutrition." Expand the “Processor power management” item in the list, and then the “Maximum processor state” sub-item. There are two parameters here - “On mains” and “On battery” - with the default value set to 100%. Now we need to find out at what value the processor maintains the required performance without overheating. At 95 or 90%, laptops often run more consistently under full load and don't take longer to complete long-running computing tasks due to the lack of power surges. If your most important concern is battery life and low level fan noise, set the battery setting to an even lower setting.

Changing the parameters in power plans is not dangerous, as they are within the boundaries provided by the manufacturer. Of course, you should avoid the anti-power saving "High Performance" plan, which is only useful for benchmarks. It maintains the processor's rated performance constant, which increases power consumption and fan noise, thereby shortening the life of the computer. This applies not only to mobile phones, but also desktop computers, which allow more extensive intervention in controlling the processor clock speed.

Desktop: floating clock speed

Desktop PCs also adjust their clock speeds to suit the needs of the day. In this case, the main attention is directed to optimal use processor and to improve performance. This Intel technology called Turbo Boost and appeared in Core processors i5 and P. At first it was only about solving the problem that many programs could not fully use the capabilities multi-core processors. As a result, one core was loaded at 100%, and the rest were inactive. Processors with Turbo Boost support use free potential to overclock a loaded core above the rated clock speed. The latest Sandy Bridge-based processors, which appeared earlier this year, have gone one step further: they can overclock all processor cores for a short time, which would lead to failure if used for a long time due to overheating.

But since the interval during which the processor and radiator heat up is known, the first of them, not reaching the overheating limit, begins to gradually reduce the clock frequency to a given level, so that the temperature curve stops at the upper limit permissible value. This means that the processor can deliver noticeably faster performance for up to 25 seconds—enough to boot up, run a program, or speed up Photoshop operations, for example. AMD offers a similar technology called Turbo Core in its the latest processors Phenom II, which have the letter T in their markings.

BIOS setup: dealing with frequency and voltage

Achieving both goals of dynamically changing processor settings (increasing performance as needed and reducing power consumption as possible) depends on two parameters - clock speed and processor supply voltage. It is important to understand their interdependence before making changes that are outside the manufacturer's specifications and will void your warranty.

The clock frequency determines how many times per second the transistors switch, that is, how many computational operations per second the processor can process. To improve its performance, it is necessary to raise the clock frequency above the nominal value so that it can perform more operations in the same time. However, due to manufacturing features, not all transistors in the processor (and there are millions of them) can support the same speed. This leads to errors in calculations, instability and system failures.

The solution is to increase the processor supply voltage, which allows you to stabilize the system due to the fact that with it all transistors can switch faster. But this simultaneously causes a rise in temperature, which can lead to an emergency shutdown. Moreover, when too high temperature sensitive transistors may fail or fail. Therefore, the limits for increasing the processor supply voltage are very narrow.

To save energy, it is first necessary to reduce the chip's supply voltage, since its energy consumption is a quadratic function of this indicator. This means that with a 20% reduction in voltage, power consumption will decrease by 36%. In this case, problems again arise due to the uneven sensitivity of the transistors: when the voltage is reduced, some of them stop switching or do not do so quickly enough. This rarely causes system failures, but there may be calculation errors that may appear as Not stable operation PC, damaged files and incorrect calculation results. Therefore, after changing the supply voltage or processor clock frequency, it is recommended to run the Prime95 program and let it run for at least six hours in stress test mode (Options | Torture Test). If the program does not generate error messages, the system will work reliably for a long time. You can change the clock frequency and supply voltage of the processor through the BIOS or using software tools from the motherboard manufacturer.

Overclocking: Maximum CPU Performance

You can enter the BIOS immediately after turning on the computer by pressing the Del or F2 key, depending on the manufacturer of the motherboard or laptop. Refer to the user manual for information about setting parameters for your processor. On our test computer with an ASUS M4A89GTD motherboard, they are located in the BIOS Al Tweaker tab. Most settings are set to Auto by default. Before manual installation clock speed, Turbo Boost or Turbo Core must be disabled. Instead of the desired processor frequency value, you should enter two parameters - clock frequency system bus, which is the basis for synchronizing the entire system, and the processor multiplication factor. This multiplier indicates how much faster the chip is relative to the system bus speed. The last setting on our test PC is 200 MHz, and the multiplier Phenom processor IIХ61090Т-16. This corresponds to a clock frequency of 3200 MHz. The system bus clock speed and processor multiplier for your computer can be found in the CPU | Clocks of the CPU-Z program.

Overclocking steps depend on whether your computer can freely change the processor multiplier value. This is quite rare - for example, with CPUs for overclockers, which Intel can recognize by the letter k at the end of the marking, for example Core i5 2500k. AMD adds the Black Edition mark to the name of such processors. Gradually increasing the multiplier value, test using Torture Test from Prime95 how stable and error-free the system works. If errors or failures occur, carefully increase the supply voltage and repeat the test.

It's more difficult when you can't set the multiplier higher than the preset value, which is the case with most processors. Then it remains the only way out- increase the clock frequency of the system bus. A small increase, like on our test PC (from 200 to 210 MHz), does not cause problems in most cases. If you raise the FSB clock much higher, you will have to worry about overclocking RAM. To do this, you need to set its frequency manually. For some models, this is achieved by increasing the memory divider in the BIOS. Special programs for Windows OS allow you to configure the processor during operation for higher performance or lower energy consumption. This is most conveniently done using configuration programs from motherboard manufacturers. For example, ASUS supplies the TurboV Evo overclocking utility in the Al Suite package, which will give you the ability to change the above parameters. If you find values ​​that provide the desired result, they can be saved as profiles and activated as needed - for example, one profile to save energy and another to improve performance. If your motherboard or laptop manufacturer does not provide tuning software, and your processor is relatively old, use the RightMark CPU Clock Utility or CrystalCPUID software tools to change the clock speed or voltage of the processor - to increase performance or reduce power consumption.

Graphics card: performance or efficiency?

By dynamically adjusting the GPU clock frequency, you can achieve good results in terms of increasing the efficiency of the entire system, because their power consumption is comparable to the CPU.

For example, GeForce video card NVIDIA's GTX 590 consumes over 400 watts in modern games like Crysis, which is 2.5 times more than an entire six-core PC under full load. When dissipating heat, its fans make a terrible noise with a volume of more than 8 sones. All the more important is that in 2D mode the noise level and energy consumption are significantly reduced. The card significantly reduces the clock frequency GPU, power consumption drops to 55 W, although the fan noise at 3 sones remains quite loud. Since less powerful video cards with increased load become quite noisy, almost all models use dynamic adjustment of power and energy consumption, which is performed automatically, like processors.

Adjusting the CPU clock speed

Similar to the CPU, it is possible to increase or decrease the clock frequency of graphics chips within the limits provided by the manufacturer. There is an OverDrive item in the AMD video card driver menu. By activating this feature, you can change the clock speed of the GPU and memory of the card - raise it to improve performance and lower it to reduce power consumption. The cooling system can also be controlled here. To change the clock speed on graphics cards NVIDIA cards, in addition to updating the driver, you will need to download system tools from the video chip manufacturer.

Laptop: Disabling GPU

More effective method than reducing the clock speed of the graphics card is its complete shutdown. Laptops supporting Optimus technology from NVIDIA or PowerXpress technology from AMD contain both powerful discrete and economical built-in video adapters. Most of the time, the integrated chip works, and when it is necessary to solve more serious problems, the discrete one comes into play.

Overclocking is a forced increase in the processor clock frequency above the nominal one. Let us immediately explain what these concepts mean.

A clock cycle is a conditional, very short time period during which the processor executes a certain number of instructions program code.

And the clock frequency is the number of clock cycles in 1 second.

Increasing the clock frequency is directly proportional to the speed of program execution, that is, it works faster than an unoverclocked one.

In short, overclocking allows you to extend the “active life” of the processor when its standard performance no longer meets the user’s requirements.

It allows you to increase the speed of your computer without spending money on buying new equipment.

Important! The negative aspects of overclocking are an increase in computer power consumption, sometimes quite noticeable, an increase in heat generation and accelerated wear of devices due to operation in abnormal mode. You should also know that when you overclock the processor, you also overclock the RAM.

What should you do before overclocking?

Each processor has its own overclocking potential - a clock frequency limit, exceeding which leads to inoperability of the device.

Most processors such as intel core i3, i5, i7 can be safely overclocked to only 5-15% of the original level, and some even less.

The desire to squeeze the maximum possible clock frequency does not always pay off, since when a certain heating threshold is reached, the processor begins to skip clock cycles in order to lower the temperature.

It follows from this that for stable operation of an overclocked system it is necessary good cooling.

In addition, given the increased power consumption, it may be necessary to replace the power supply with a more powerful one.

Immediately before overclocking, you need to do three things:

• Upgrade your computer to latest version.
• Make sure that the installation is in good working order and reliable.
• Find out the initial clock frequency of your processor (look in the BIOS or through special utilities, for example, CPU-Z).

Also useful before overclocking test the processor for stability at maximum load. For example, using the S&M utility.

After this, it’s time to begin the “sacrament.”

Review of programs for overclocking Intel processors

SetFSB

SetFSB is an easy-to-use utility that allows you to overclock the processor on the fly by simply moving the slider.

After making changes, it does not require restarting the computer.

The program is suitable for overclocking both older processor models like Intel Core 2 duo and modern ones.

However, it does not support all motherboards, and this is an absolute necessity, since overclocking is carried out by increasing the reference frequency of the system bus.

That is, it affects the clock generator (PLL chip or, as it is called, a clocker) located on the motherboard.

You can find out whether your board is included in the list of supported ones on the program website.

Advice! To avoid processor failure, working with SetFSB is recommended only for experienced users who understand what they are doing and know about possible consequences. In addition, an untrained user is unlikely to be able to correctly determine the model of his clock generator, which must be specified manually.

So, to overclock the processor with using SetFSB, need to:

• Select from the “Clock Generator” list the model of the clocker installed on your motherboard.
• Click the “Get FSB” button. After this, the SetFSB window will display the current frequency of the system bus (FSB) and processor.
• Carefully move the slider in the center of the window in small steps. After each slider movement, it is necessary to monitor the processor temperature. For example, using the Core Temp program.
• Having selected the optimal position of the slider, you need to press the Set FSB button.

The advantage (and for some, the disadvantage) of the SetFSB utility is that the settings made in it will only be valid until the computer is rebooted. After restarting, they will have to be installed again.

If you don’t want to do this every time, the utility can be placed in startup.

CPUFSB

CPUFSB is the next program in our review for overclocking processors Intel core i5, i7 and others, which can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

If you are familiar with the CPUCool utility - comprehensive tools monitoring and overclocking of the processor, then know that CPUFSB is a dedicated overclocking module.

Supports many motherboards on Intel chipsets, VIA, AMD, ALI and SIS.

Unlike SetFSB, CPUFSB has a Russian translation, so it is much easier to understand how to handle it.

The principle of operation of these two programs is the same: increasing the reference frequency of the system bus.

Operating procedure:

• Select the manufacturer and type of your motherboard from the list.
• Select the brand and model of the PLL (clock oscillator) chip.
• Click "Take frequency" to display in the program current frequency system bus and processor.
• It is also necessary to increase the frequency in small steps, while controlling the processor temperature. After selection optimal settings Click "Set Frequency".

CPUFSB allows you to set the FSB bus frequency the next time you start the program and when you exit. The current settings are also saved until the computer is restarted.