Hey guys Sorry, this post may have been answered elsewhere, but I've done a bit of searching and can't find anything concrete. I've got an AMD Athlon Barton XP 3000+ cpu fitted with a Coolermaster Aero V, running on a GigaByte GA-7VAX motherboard. (currently runs at 38C @ idle, and doesnt raise much at all when playing Battlefield 2) I've got 1024 mb ram (512 stick @ PC2700, 2x256mb @ PC3200 - this is all being swapped for new stuff shortly) A new 480w PSU And a Geforce 6600GT 128mb My Mobo came with a program called 'easy tune' which is supposed to be an overclocking deely. I've run it, and I can change a few things. Looks as though the multiplyer is locked, as that's unclockonable, but the FSB can be changed, as well as voltages (I think). I've had a bit of a play, and raising the FSB raises the speed of the cpu - which is fine, but when I reboot the settings are lost. Also, I put the FSB upto 175 from 167, and the PC just rebooted - I guess this means I pushed it too far? I guess I've got a couple of questions: Firstly, can anyone point me in a begginers guide to Overclocking - I.e. what does what. Secondly, can anyone suggest how to get the most out of my CPU. Sorry for such a newbie post - I hate having to ask such lame stuff, but I'll never find out if I dont. Thanks for your time. Alex.
im not an expert in overclocking the athlon but it seems ur cpu will hold u back and also ur mixed memory will work against you....sell ur cpu and get a mobile athlon cpu and get a decent set of memory ddr400 atlest..then set fsb and multiplyers as much as you like but im not sure about the mobo you have as the abit nf7-s and asus a7n8x were the best skt a boards avail for that platform edit: i just saw the specs for ur mobo...ur overclocking is gonna be seriously limited on a via chipset...get rid of ur mobo and get one of the two board suggested...and if ur super serious about overclocking then get the abit board..as it is a ledgendary OC'er
It looks like you can overclock in the bios on the GA-7VAX so thats the way I would do it. I don't think you are going to get a great improvement out of your set-up because of the set multiplier of x13 and your not far off the limits of the chip. (But Anything for nothing is good) Front side bus X multiplier = Your speed (Mhz) So standard, in your case 166 x 13 = 2167 MHz If I remember correctly with playing with Barton's, they maxed out under normal cooling around 2300. So 2300 / 13 = Around 176FSB as your maximum but that would need an increase in your Vcore to achieve a stable overclock. Quick and dirty guide. Download something to make your PC work hard, maybe prime 95 and 3DMark 05 Before doing any overclocking make sure you can run the above at stock speed. Monitor your temps and set yourself a limit, maybe low 50's on-load. Increase your FSB in bios from 166 in 2-3fsb increments, then test again, if it fails then increase Vcore a little and so on (until you reach your set temp) You may also need to increase your Voltage to your memory as well, IMO its not really a bad idea to increase this anyway, standard is 2.5 I would set it to 2.7 ish If your computer will not boot after maybe going to far, you can reset your bios with a Jumper on your Motherboard (remove power lead when doing this) and start all over again
Brill - That's the kind of reply I was hoping for. I know I'm never going to get groundbreaking power from this PC - but I just want to mess about with it. Thanks Matt! I'll reply later / tomorrow with how I get on. -Alex.
If you get stuck on anything just post again. I found This guide that goes into more detail although it maybe a little heavy going
Hello! I've had a bit of a play now, and after messing around with everything, and testing (boy, it takes an age!) I've managed to get a safe reliable speed. I've gone from 2167 MHz to 2314 MHz, which runs at 52 on load, and 47 at idle. Not a massive gain - but at least I sort of know what I'm doing with it now. I think I could push it further if I could cool it. Maybe in a few months I'll try watercooling. Cheers for the help. -Al.
