Overclocking an old compaq deskpro.

[Martin Logan]

Hi all a few months ago I got this old but fully working compaq deskpro it had win 98 on it but I have since gotten win 2000 to work on it.
It doesnt have a cd-rom drive but I have been able to externally conect one to instal windows and I plan to have xp on it soon.
The only problem is that its only 344 Mhz and it has an old 2Mb ati Video card I`d like to try to overlcock both of them.
The memory is 128 Mb I had two memory sticks but one is broken.
One might think just open the bios and overlcock it if you want then but the bios doesnt have the options in it to do that.
So my qeustion is how can I overclock it to hopefully 500 or more Mhz ?
To give a full idea of what I`m talking about please check this link wich I found through google: http://images.google.nl/imgres?imgur...%3Dnl%26sa%3DN
(I will look up how to shorten it after posting !)
If possible ill also post a dxdiag soon.
Thanks alot in advance.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Plain and simple: You can't overclock this machine without changing the mobo.

[Grimm]

Three options:

1) Footrest
2) Doorstop
3) Install Linux and use as a router/firewall

[PommieB]

Being a compaq, your probably right, proprietry build computers like compaq's and hp's were generally hopeless to overclock.

Grims suggestions sound about right.

[Jenner]

Wow, I had one of those at my co-op job back in 94...

Here's a 4th option if you're the kind of person who likes it:

4) Retro-gaming machine.

I bet Wing Commander 2, Doom and Hexen would be right at home on that machine.

[Martin Logan]

I found this little program called clockgen right here on the forum it should work right ?
I also forgot to mention that I modded the case a bit as the cpu cooling was underneath the hard drive bay.
I took the bay out and drilled two holes in the top of the case and screwed the Hd into those basicly its hanging from the upper part of the casing.
Now I have a big fan on the cooling fin it doesnt even warm up a bit whilest it got pretty hot before.

[Fourth]

you cant overclock it but you can turn it into a router. i used an old compaq to convert it to a smoothwall router and its been trucking along ever since. no downtime save for updates, good solid software with easy upgradability and settings, and: as compared to most consumer routers this thing is a beast. 400mhz cpu and 768megs of RAM is WAAAY MORE than enough so you know it will never get saturated and drop connections.

[3lit3]

These guys posted above me have no idea what theyre talking about. Yes you can overclock that old pc ... by how much is an uncertainty. Even if you can't change fsb or multiplyer in the bios. You can still use cpu-z to find out what motherboard your running. Then use SoftFSB or CoolFSB to overclock your pc within windows.
I use it on older pc's all the time .


Soft fsb can be downloaded here:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download434.html

Get cpu z here :

http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-141.zip

[Fourth]

Originally Posted by 3lit3

These guys posted above me have no idea what theyre talking about. Yes you can overclock that old pc ... by how much is an uncertainty. Even if you can't change fsb or multiplyer in the bios. You can still use cpu-z to find out what motherboard your running. Then use SoftFSB or CoolFSB to overclock your pc within windows.
I use it on older pc's all the time .


Soft fsb can be downloaded here:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download434.html

Get cpu z here :

http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-141.zip

who software OCs?

[Jenner]

You can software overclock? Isn't that like telling a blind man to tell you that your Honda Civic is really a Ferrari?

[Martin Logan]

@3lit3 Thanks for the idea Ill certainly give it a try.

I tried clock gen but it didnt work so I do hope 3lit3`s idea works or else Ill have to mod the motherboard.

I dont plan to use it as a router since I dont need one but I am gonna try everything I need to for overclocking it as I got it for free.

@Jenner Yes you can software overclock most or even all video cards ONLY can be overclocked through software so why not the motherboard bios too ?

[Jenner]

Well... I typically thought you could software OC video cards because they have the circuitry built onto them to allow you to control the clock/voltages via software.

Most older PCs that I worked with either were locked with hardware jumpers, or had the chip locked to a set clock multiplier, or had BIOSes that while they allowed you to OC them, only were able to change them while in a protected BIOS mode of operation, and not through a higher level operating system...

As a side note, I've never been able to change a clock setting on my motherboard/CPU/chipset while the machine was running in Windows, even though everything according to pGuru manual of my Abit Fatal1ty says I should. When I try, the system locks up. I've tried similar attempts on other "on the fly" systems and gotten the same results so I've mostly written off system OCing via software on the fly as a complex trick that might work for some people in a blue moon but has never worked for me.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

You don't have much hope of overclocking it via software either, as it's an OEM computer and there are very slim chances of it using a standard PLL.

[Martin Logan]

Softfsb didnt really work either as it doesnt support compaq motherboards.
The computer itself also doent have any jumpers for overclocking I tried all of them in alot of ways.
Could I not flash the bios to an overclockable type or mod it myself (no right ?)
Thanks for all the ideas and hopefully for future ones I`d just love to overclock this computer a little.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

A proper (as in non-OEM) mobo will let you overclock that chip. What connector type does the CPU have? Is it in a slot like a video card or a regular socket?

[Mr.Scott]

Could I not flash the bios to an overclockable type or mod it myself (no right ?)

You have about a tenth of a % chance of that working.

Thanks for all the ideas and hopefully for future ones I`d just love to overclock this computer a little.

My best suggestion is to explore "pinmods".

[Martin Logan]

Well on this computer I`m not afraid of doing a pinmod but how would I ?

@Th3_uN1Qu3 I dont now the socket name of the top of my head but it is just a normal socket like a pentium 75 or and old Amd motherboard.
It actually looks just like my fast computers socket only a diffrent nuber of pins.
To make it sound easy I could lift up a bar and pull out the cpu.
Also would buying a new faster cpu work in the way that its bios would see a faster cpu and use the faster clock speeds or would I still need to (over)clock ?

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

I think it's Socket 370. As about a faster CPU, it should work even if the board doesn't officially support it, as the multiplier is locked internally on the CPU.

But it has to have FSB 100, and also check the voltages, take off the cooler and look on the current CPU, it should have the voltage written on the chip. As an upgrade, something like a 500MHz PIII or a 650MHz Celeron would be your best bet, as higher clocked CPUs demand lower operation voltages (not only Vcore) that the board probably doesn't support.

[Martin Logan]

@Th3_uN1Qu3 Thanks for the information alot I might be able to find a new cpu soon ill take a pciture of it and use that to Id the new chip when I buy it.

Additional Comment:

Today I was given a free version of OS/2 Warp 4 and I think this might be a perfect new function for my old compaq.
I believe this O/S is even able to go online so maybe I can use it as an internet browser wich shouldnt be too virus sensitive as a windows one.
If anyone has tips for OS/2 Warp 4 please tell them to me so I can take the most out of it.