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In the Forums... |
Posted: January 27, 2000 Written by: Keith "Farrel" McClellan Overclocking Generally, nowadays, CD-ROM and DVD drives are pretty good on the overclocking front - much better than they used to be. Rarely will you find that a plain, vanilla drive will cause you any problems with your need for speed. However, write-able CD drives are another story. They can take a rock hard, super stable OC'd system, and turn it into a bowl of lime Jell-O faster than you can say "muhahahahaha...it works!" What causes this instability? Unsupported bus speeds. Basically, here's my recommendation - unless your overclocked processor is on a supported bus speed (66/100/133), don't even try installing any kind of write-able optical media drive - you will lose one too many discs to the pretty coaster pile, and could very well suffer from unexplainable systems hang-ups as well. Troubleshooting a Failed Installation Things to check: - Are all the cables set properly in their respective ports? Push on each plug to check. - Is the jumper set properly? If you have another drive on the same channel, one must be the master, and the other the slave. - Is there power getting to the drive (does the light turn on at all?)? If not, try switching power cables. - Are you using an old IDE cable? If so, make sure you haven't plugged it in backwards in one or both of the ports (motherboard and drive). - Does the drive work, but you can't play any music CD's? Make sure the Analog I/O cable is properly attached to the sound card. If the sound card isn't dummy-proof enabled (it just has pins, but no "socket", try plugging it in the other way). Caring for your Optical Media Drive Here are a few tips on caring for your optical drive: - Wipe your discs off before inserting them in the drive - this will increase the speed of the drive and lengthen its life as well. - Occasionally clean the caddy. Dust and other particulates gather in there and can damage your discs and the reading laser. - Use a CD-ROM cleaner on your drive about once a month to clean off the laser. - Do not push the tray into the drive - using the button will extend the life of the drive and will make sure the disc tray sets right - allowing for optimal disc mounting. Conclusion Well there you have it. If you have any comments/questions, feel free to email me or post a message on our *new* message boards. Want to view this guide on one big, printer friendly page? Click here! |
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