Overclock Warehouse System Bundle
Overclock Warehouse System Bundle
 

 

Written: 9/18/00

Reviewer: TronŽ    

Provided by: Overclock Warehouse  

Price:  $745 (Special deal here for Tech Zone Readers)

Introduction

 

Overclocking is not for the timid. Doing the "homework", learning what to look for in components, BIOS tweaking, and lots of prayer are required. Some of use just don't want to that so we took a look at some goodies from Overclock Warehouse that are pre-tested and warranted! Overclock Warehouse System Bundle consist of:

First off, just wanted to hand out a big thanks to  David Foong of Gen-X Tech/Overclock Warehouse for supplying the bundle for review.

I'm an overclocker from waaay back. The first computer I ever built was the cheesy Timex Sinclair ZX81 Spectrum, back in 1980. It was an old clunky Zilog Z80 microprocessor based computer running at 1mhz, with 4K of RAM (although I had the 12K Ram expander on it not too long after building it, taking it to a massive 16K). The BASIC interpreter on the machine had one neat little quirk, a "turbo" mode which clocked the CPU at 2mhz, but shut down the display (TV) whilst it was in that state....Just about every piece of software I coded utilized the "turbo" mode as much as possible, and from then a pattern was born. Overclocking became a way of life for me, and after overclocking nearly every computer I have ever owned since that day, you'd think that I could just sit down and overclock anything at will. The problem is that overclocking, at least in today's realm of multiple bus speeds (Frontside, mem, AGP, PCI) and a virtual plethora of hardware manufacturers, is a true science, indeed an art form involving putting together "just" the right components to pull it off successfully.

The goal of overclocking is simple enough. The idea is of course to attain the highest possible CPU and system speed, while maintaining system stability. It's all about "bang for your buck." Attaining the goal can be a long drawn out process of experimentation, and even failure. I've toasted memory, ruined mainboards (what I get for trying to use resistors to pull up core voltage :D), and spent hours and hours chasing ghosts in the machine, in the BIOS, in the OS install, ect... The whole process of getting a good combination overclocked and running stable can be nightmarish. Or, it can be relatively easy. "Doing your homework" by reading techsite articles (hmm....like this one :D) newsgroup and forum posts, ect, can ease the process a great deal.

As the "art" of overclocking has taken a foothold among the PC elite, specialist companies, started by guys like you and me, have started popping up, catering to the needs of the overclocker.  These companies do the hard work of finding workable combinations of system boards, cpu's, memory, and heatsinks, and sell them as a bundle, often with a warranty. The whole idea of course is to make the process of building an overclocked system generally as painless as building a regular system, albeit at an additional cost. The guy that's done the homework for you certainly deserves a buck or two for his troubles. Enter OverclockWarehouse!

OverclockWarehouse is a spinoff of Gen-X Tech, a PC retailer that's been specializing in overclocked systems since 1996. David Foong at OverclockWarehouse sent one of their bundles my way. I've gotten an opportunity to take a look at some of their offerings, and build a nice system around them. What did they send me?

Next page: A closer lookk

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