Moar Advice

[worshipme]

3Dmark showed me the vast extent of its suckiness. Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2160.

Your CPU is an awesome overclocker. It's a C2D in disguise. Even though it has a Pentium name, it's a full blown C2D with 1/4 of the L2 cache. You don't need to be a great overclocker to get it to 3.0GHz either.

 

[AmagicalFishy]

Oh, wow. It sounds like I lucked out.

How do I go about overclocking my CPU, though? This Phoenix-Award BIOS doesn't have the option, and my computer (got it from Compaq) came with Vista. I installed / use XP, so there's no BIOS update around for it.

Is there a software program, similar to RivaTuner I can use for my CPU?

Also, is the CPU more prone to heating up to unsafe temperatures than the GPU? The latter sounds like it can take some hot temperatures (up to 125C someone mentioned) - but I'm not sure if the CPU is as durable.

 

[Kage]

I can't help you with the BIOS, since the fact you got it from a company, may mean its locked, unless theres a way past it

But, yeah, there is a safety limit on CPU's.

GPU's can reach around 100-110-119 degrees C before temperature starts to become a problem. You'd soon see the problems though if they occured.

A CPU on the other hand, I wouldn't let go past 60 degrees C at full load to be honest. My quad gets to around 52 degrees C on all 4 cores I believe... pretty hot, but its not a problem in that sense.

A note though: The hotter the component, however safe, the less time it'll last.
But in terms of lasting, it'll still last longer than you'll probably want the parts for anyway, IF kept at reasonable temps.

 

[AmagicalFishy]

Yeah. I don't plan on overclocking anything to the point where it's at risk to break; just overclocking it to give a little boost.

Though, is there anyone who knows the appropriate software to overclock my particular CPU?

(I'm at work, so this is all I have: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9446779)

My motherboard is an MSI Boston 1.0.

Doesn't sound like I'm in luck. <.<

 

[worshipme]

Yeah. I don't plan on overclocking anything to the point where it's at risk to break; just overclocking it to give a little boost.

Though, is there anyone who knows the appropriate software to overclock my particular CPU?

Most likely, because you have a pre-built PC, you'll need a new motherboard to get around the locked BIOS. You can get a decent P43 board for like $85.