[Virtualacorn-list] Overclocked processors...

[Roger Darlington]

## This is for your information only, there are no questions here: ##

One of the effects of over-clocking that is not immediately apparent 
(once you have settled on an over-clocking rate to run VA-RPC on) is 
that over-stressed components (especially processors with their 
ultra-fine lithography) 'wear' more quickly.

Eventually, because of this gradual 'wear', the over-clocking rate 
that you settled on (which was just below that which caused 
malfunction) will be over-taken, and your PC may well start 
mal-functioning again.

This happened to me. All of a sudden the Windows screen (nothing 
whatsoever to do with VA-RPC), started to look as though screen memory 
was being used for program data and other functions, very much like 
the old BBC-B or SA-RPC could do once in a while. There were regularly 
spaced blocks of graphics (copied from some other window) all over the 
place, as well as horizontal black lines in groups. The regular 
graphic blocks were all re-arranged, as if into some large jigsaw 
puzzle that no one had yet started on.

Nothing happened to any programs. No other malfunction was occurring 
(luckily, it could have been much worse). Investigations began over 
two days. We were just about to replace the graphics card when 
everything went back to normal.

It seemed that the computer CPU processor clock rate had decided to 
jump down from the resident CMOS settings to a lower range.

So, it wasn't the graphics card at all, it was the over-clocked 
processor that was making the 'video' memory get all mixed up before 
being sent to the graphics card for display.

I will now suss out a lower range for the over-clocked processor to 
work over. One that is at least 2 notches of clock-rate down from any 
graphics refreshing problems.

## This is for your information only, there are no questions here: ##
-- 

Cheers
Roger
A piece of string has two ends but no beginning