Can I overclock prebuilt machines?

I was about 20 minutes in to my research when I realized I didn't really know what I should be googling.

Is there a way to overclock PC's that don't have overclocking options in BIOS. Perhaps flashing it with a new BIOS?

I realize it probably depends on the motherboard but a blanket solution would be great.

asked May 05 '11 at 21:24

Illusion Slayer
(suspended)

4 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

Yes, it's possible. I flashed an old Emachine desktop after finding the newer BIOS for the ECS motherboard. If you can properly ID the motherboard, you can flash it with the board manufacturer's BIOS. However, it is advised to back-up the current BIOS- "just in case" you have any issues afterwards.

HYH

answered May 05 '11 at 21:36

geekomatic
1.8k●11●13●36

How would I go about backing up the BIOS?

(May 05 '11 at 21:43) Illusion Slayer

some boards don't allow you so if you don't have the option, and it fails to flash then you will need to buy a new flash chip if the board doesn't offer a crash recovery for the bios.

(May 05 '11 at 21:49) Razor512

Backing up your BIOS is offered durung the flash procedure of whatever program it is you're using to do the flash. Do some more research into it- sounds like you need a bit more info. Have you checked to see what motherboard is actually in your pre-built? You may be able to find out using the free Belarc and/or Everest Home programs.

(May 05 '11 at 21:59) geekomatic

"Hypothetical situation as I have some old p4 and ahtlon machines in the basement. I'd feel bad about getting rid of them without at least breathing new life in to them."

(May 05 '11 at 22:18) Illusion Slayer

There is no blanket solution. It's highly relient on your motherboard. Do research and see if there are other people that have achieve positive results. :-) You could pass along your information here to us and we might be able to help you. What do you have?

answered May 05 '11 at 21:39

djmoore711
2.0k●22●34●54

Hypothetical situation as I have some old p4 and ahtlon machines in the basement. I'd feel bad about getting rid of them without at least breathing new life in to them.

Not sure what mobos they are and cba to go check right now. Will post more tomorrow.

(May 05 '11 at 21:42) Illusion Slayer

Okay. Will be watching.

(May 05 '11 at 21:48) djmoore711

Sometimes manufacturers use a bios that doesn't permit overclocking, so there's no blanket statement whether it's possible or not. Sometimes there's a bios patch, and whether that enables or disables overclocking is pretty much up to the manufacturer.

For the most part, I wouldn't recommend overclocking a laptop because they have considerable heat issues already.

answered May 06 '11 at 10:51

Duodave
4.6k●40●49●98

wanted to also add, while many can be overclocked, the cooling used for many prebuilt systems is generally worst than the stock cooling that comes with the CPU, for example, companies like dell will try to have a single fan double as CPU, case, and chipset fan all at the same time. Overclocking those systems will generally cause them to overheat.

answered May 06 '11 at 20:58

Razor512
15.8k●35●81●247

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