I heard this is where I should ask...

[timm3r]

I have a horrible system and I know the first answer out of the first reader will be to "get a new pc" but that is not an option at this time. But let me start by saying that I am new here and I am not certified nor do I have a degree in computer science.

Which leads me to my question:

I have an older model Dell (yeah i know!) that runs a Celeron D 2.53 processor
with 1 gig of ddr ram. Now this machine does everything I want it to but I am intrigued by some of the things my friends have done with their pc's, mainly overclocking. Now I have read in many a forum that DELL makes their mobo's anti-overclock or just not applicable. But then again I have seen other threads where they have gotten up to 3.2 mhz out of the same processor just having a different mobo. While some people say you can overclock ANY board.

So can I or can I not overclock this dying beast without a new board?

I have searched high and low for jumper settings and board schematics on this thing to no luck at all, I have used CPU-Z to get my sysinfo and the board I have is this one...

http://www.barebonekit.net/itemdesc.asp?ic=MB4DELWF887&eq=&Tp=

I know that this may seem like some newb bs to most of you but please bare with me  am trying to get the most out of this machine and I will run it into the ground doing it since the best game I can play on it is Battlefield 2. I have attached the CPU-Z txt info about the machine as well.

Can I at least increase the FSB speed somehow?

[H-kon]

Hi timm3r Welcome to our little corner of the web

First of all, don't be embarrassed over your system, i am fixing a lot older computers that are still doing their job just fine The last one was a Pentium III 800Mhz machine

Dell's are tricky when it comes to overclocking. It really depends on what range it was when you bought it. I have the impression that mid to high end Dell's are mostly overclockable via the BIOS, while the low end aren't as willing. Dell's use a standard Intel motherboard for the most part which are very nice in the stability department, but not as great when it comes to features.

 I am typing this on a 3 year old Dimension 2100 which has a regular Celeron 2,4 Ghz in it. This one isn't overclockable at all, and there isn't a lot of performance left even if i could run it at 3 Ghz. (5-10%)

From what i can see, there isn't a lot that you can do except for trying out a software overclocking program like the following, or a similar tool :

http://www.techpowerup.com/systool/

(Warning, i haven't tried it, so don't use it on a "critical" system)

If you are desperate about getting the most out of your system, you might be better off trying to find a used Pentium 4 CPU for dimes and add another gig of memory instead, as that will result in a bigger performance boost than overclocking your Celeron D.

Hope this helps a bit

[mrcomputer]

When dealing with a Dell, the first thing you do is look on Dells site for a bios upgrade. All Dells have a system number on the rear sticker or on the side. The problem with your is you can't upgrade the video to Pcie-X or AGP. No slot for these vid cards. That limits the games you can play.

If you wish to become a low dollar gamer - Check for boards and video cards in New Eggs open box section. I have had good luck with this...

www.newegg.com

[timm3r]

Thanks for the suggestions. Instead of overclocking the mobo I reached to something a little less encrypted. My video card. I have a GeForce 6100oc pci (not pcie support) that came overclocked.
Now with that said this was no easy task either since most recent drivers for this card lock out overclocking thus halting your machine leading to the blue screen of death. But with some ancient forceware drivers I managed to increase the mem speed significantly but the core speed is practically unchangeable.

I have read in a forum that you can indeed flash the bios on the card to have the increased speeds start on every boot up with the latest drivers.  Heres where: http://www.devhardware.com/forums/video-card-overclocking-26/can-someone-tell-me-why-bfg-geforce-6200-oc-57979.html
But if I flash the card with incorrect speeds I have to flash back and forth in a trial and error fashion until things seem stable. How can I boot to dos with a cd since I do not have a 1.44 floppy drive?

[H-kon]

Hi timm3r.

I always use www.bootdisk.com for any bootdisks that i need. You will need a cd burner and a few blank cd's for the task.

You should also have a spare pci vga card, just in case the flash goes bad (power outtage, too high clock etc). I've done it once on an old vga card that failed to work.

I am not sure that you will gain any noticable speed gains by flashing your card if that is a PCI card due to the PCI bus already being bottlenecked by the low transfer speed (33Mhz) or 132 megs a second in theoretical transfer speed.

Is this a seperate card, or is this onboard video?

If you're looking for a cheap upgrade that will be much faster, maybe this is what you are loking for:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103031