Newbie questions for overclocking a Thunderbird 900

[ophidia]

Hello,
I am new to overclocking adn was introduced by a friend. I have an AMD 900 thunderbird processor on an MSI K7T Turbo board (supports 200/266 FSB). I have pc100 ram
I can overclock the processor by changing the FSB speed to 1054 (FSB of 117). My first problem is, when I set the FSB in the BIOS to 117, the machine tends to lock up during the memry count in POST (stops after the 1st 128 meg, has 256, 1st chip is 128 meg and supposed dual clock, 100 or 133, the other two are 64 each, and straight pc100). My first question is, if I upgrade all of the memory to 133, will I maybe be able to get the FSB higher? It almost looks to me that the memory is the problem, not the processor, but I am not realy sure.
The machine also locks when I use MSI's Fuzzylogic overclocking software that runs in Windows (if I set the fsb over 117).

Next, I have seen numerous references to using a number 2b pencil to draw lineson the CPU to unlock the multiplier. I have not, however, been able to find anything on HOW exactly to do this. Any links or info on how to do this would be appreciated.

My final issue is that the CPU overheats when overclocked to 1054 and under heavy load (i.e. Seti). I have a Cooler Master heat sink and fan. I have ordered a Swiftech fan to replace it (saw that it cools very well at tomshardware.com). Think this shoudl solve the problem?

Thanks for reading. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

[OpenFriday]

ok 1st off i think pc 133 ram would help. You say you have 1 stick of 128pc 133 and 2-64mb pc100? take the 64's out for now and see how high you can go with the 128.

unlocking the processor-use Sanford eagle #2 HB i got 48 for 3$.

http://www.cotty.btinternet.co.uk/unlock.htm

When you unlock you need to fiddle with the multiplyer AND fsb dont just oc the multiplyer.

Have you tried upping the voltage at all?
What are your temps?
Your ram=Cas 3 i assume?

*note- i STRONGLY suggest using a magnifing glass when connecting the L1's together. i just plain coulnt see them without one.

[ophidia]

THanks for the reply.

I tried removing the two sticks of the pc100 last night and the machine would not boot when I set the motherboard jumpers to 133 mhz FSB. I looked at the 128 MB stick and it is also PC100. I am going to go back and exchange it for what I was told I got next week.

I se the voltage to 3.45 volts (it was at 3.3 and those two are the only options). I can now set the FSB to 120 and get 1080 MHZ. I will try wrestling off the damn CPU fan later today and check to see if I need to connect the L1's.

Where did you find these pencils?

Thanks again for the advice,
Chris

[OpenFriday]

all pc100? too bad, the pencil i just got at Staples Buisness Deopt. Im in Canada so i dont know where you could get them. Well if you can get your hands on a #1 pencil or better yet a "defogger" kit. If youve got 8$ go down to local garages and ask for a "defogger" kit. Fiz told me he had to go to several. If you can find the Pencil's i mentoned above they conduct with about 122 Ohms. So you know do what youve gotta do.

[buginator]

A conductive pen is the tool of choice for bridging the L-1 cach, as a pencile can be messy. Heat WILL be you're #1 enemy look at getting a north bridge HSF too as this is where you're PCI and AGP busses are effected when O/C'n ( this is just MY opennion)

[ophidia]

Here's what I've got going on:

I tried the defroster repair kit, and found it to be far too messy to deal with. I got one set bridged, but I could not get small enough amounts of the paint on the proc. to do all of them.
So, I went and got some 2b leads for my mechanical pencil. This seems to have worked, as I set the multiplier to eleven and the machine came back with 1100 MHZ and started booting. Windows started blue screening at a frantic pace, though, so I tried 10.5 and it seems to have booted fine at 1050 MHZ (this is without manipulating the FSB).
Much better than before, with manipulating the FSB I usually could not get the machine to get to the Video Bios screen much less boot.
The temp is running at 123 F (51 C) at idle, and if it follows previous form, it will overheat when under full load (i.e. Seti) for a while. My Swiftech MC370-0A should be here Tuesday and solve that problem.

The only weird thing is when I reset the machine after the BSOD experience with 1100 MHZ, and changed the multiplier to 10.5, the machine cam back at me with 650 MHZ!?! I then shut off the machine, shut off the strip and held in the power switch to drain off al of the caps, and turned it all back on. Now it is at 1050 and seems stable.


Thanks for all your help
Chris

[ophidia]

Oh, and I set the Vcore voltage to 1.85, which seems to have somehow translated to 1.91.