DACS General Meeting by Patrick Libert When the program preview mentioned that Pete Basel, the presenter would demonstrate the overclocking process, I did not quite know what to expect. Would the computer tower begin to smoke and emit crackling noises? On the contrary, Pete’s presentation was a fascinating exposé of the progression of computer development from the point of view of the main processor and where we are today in terms of “chip” power. While the 80486 chip in 1990 was rated from 25-66 Mhz, the Pentium 4 in 2001 had reached speeds from 1300-3800 Mhz. In many cases, the labeled power of the processor can be exceeded safely with the application of additional safeguards to the machine architecture. This process is called “overclocking.” This should not be tried on any business or critical computer. Instead, one could do it as a hobby or to learn new technology as Pete Basel did on a computer he constructed himself. In the course of this project, Pete found that his preferred components were:
Pete had his custom built PC tower (using and old Gateway frame) connected to the video and we could watch the monitoring of various elements during the presentation. The overclocking was generated by launching a benchmark test. The critical measurement is the heat of the processor which we could watch climbing from around 41 degrees Celsius to 59. Beating the heat is critical. Whereas most systems have 1-2 fans, Pete added 3 case fans and larger heat sinks. This keeps the processor cooled and prevents crashes and other problems that could occur. Pete is now pursuing other projects including:
Hopefully, we can invite Pete at a later date to fill us in on another of his captivating projects. .
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