Steps to overclock my CPU

I've just assembled this computer and i'll like to know how to overclock my AMD 2600+ processor. Im using Asus A7N8X Deluxe MOBO. What should i do to overclock my processor to its peak? I've tried setting to agressive thru BIOs but it doesnt really help much.

Details of my AMD processor:

Processor #1 : AMD Athlon XP (Model 8) / 61B801FC
Platform : Socket A (Socket 462)
Vendor String : AuthenticAMD
CPU Type : Original OEM Processor (0)
Family : 6 (7)
Model : 8 (8)
Stepping ID : 1 (1)
Brand : ----
APIC : ----
HT Log.CPU Cnt : ----
Name String : AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2600+

Internal Clock : 2130.10 MHz
System Bus : 266.26 MHz DDR
System Clock : 133.13 MHz
Multiplier : 16.0

L1 I-Cache : 64K Byte
L1 D-Cache : 64K Byte
L1 T-Cache : ----
L1 Cache : ----
L2 Cache : 256K Byte
L2 Speed : 2130.10 MHz (Full)

MMX Unit : Supported
SSE Unit : Supported
SSE2 Unit : Not Supported
MMX2 Unit : Supported
3DNow! Unit : Supported
3DNow!+ Unit : Supported

Host Bridge : 10DE:01E0.A2 [NVIDIA nForce2]
South Bridge : 10DE:01EB.A2 [NVIDIA nForce2 MCP]
VGA Device : 10DE:0170.A3 [NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 460]
Memory Size : 512M Byte
Memory Clock : ----
##--- Date 09/07/2003, Time 02:06:32

Read your mobo's manual.

We can answer specific questions. There's only one way to answer "How do I overclock" question though, by reposting what's already in here:
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=207088

Your mobo is fine. 2600+ T-Bred B is overkill. 1700+ T-Bred B overclocks the same. 2500+ Barton would have been a way to go if you wanted to spend $.

It's important you list all parts of your system. You can't overclock with retail heatsink or $10 power supply no matter how many Watts it has.

RAM tells us how high your FSB can go.

Welcome to the forums. Post the rest of your system parts and we'll help you get an idea how far you can theoretically go.

Details!!
Mobo: ASUStek A7N8X (NVIDIA nForce2) Serial ATA-150+DDR400+AGP8x
CPU: AMD K7 Althon XP 2600+*
RAM: Kingston DDR 512 MB 266MHZ PC2100
Display: Nvidia GeForce 4 460
HDD: Maxtor 80 GB 2 MB buffer
P.S: ICUTE 450Watt

*Actual CPU speed @ 2.13GHz -266MHz FSB (EV-6 DDR) -QuantiSpeed™ Architecture -384K(256kb L2) Total High-Performance, Full-Speed Cache -Advanced 333 Front-Side Bus -3DNow!™ Professional Technology (72 instructions, full SSE compatibility) -Support for Double Data Rate (DDR) Memory -Established Socket A Infrastructure.

Okay so where do we start of now? And is memtest86 and Prime95 a software? If its so where can i get it from ?

The wisest thing to do is to spend some time reading before you touch anything. Of course, you're impatient as are most people, myself included. We then learn through mistakes instead of reading things first. And that's OK. It's a matter of choice.

All right: PC2100 is 133 FSB memory. To put things into perspective what that means click here: http://www.pbase.com/image/19261650/original

So PC2700 is 166 FSB which would mean you can overclock it, maybe 180ish FSB.

You and I both have PC2100 RAM. That means it'll max out low 150s FSB.

Look at my sig to see what info is relevant for overclockers.

Cooling is most important. Did you buy a heatsink or are you using a retail AMD heat sink? It's only made to do just enough for default speeds. When you raise FSB and Vcore voltage you heat things up. Retail Thoroughbred CPU heatsink is no good for overclocking. Heat is the enemy. It can kill.

Be sure to read http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113773 otherwise we would just have to retype here what's already written there.

If you have good cooling expect very similar results to mine:

_____________________
2100+ AIUHB 0248 MPMW
256MB Crucial PC2100 + 2x 256MB Kingston (Hynix chip) PC2100 @ 6 3 3 2
[152] FSB x 15 = 2280 MHz @ 1.8 Vcore with memory frequency at 100% [152] @ 2.77 Vdimm
37(min) C to 46(max) C Winter ; 42(min) C to 50(max) C Summer
Epox 8RDA+
Thermalright SK-7 with variable speed 80x25mm YS-Tech FD1281259B-2F
BFG GeForce4 Ti4200 8X 128MB; Antec SX-835II case ; 350W Antec SmartPower SL350
Five 80x25mm Ultra Quiet 18CFM Case Fans (NMB C3110KL-04W-B19)

Aha okay i've readup, i'm currently on a retail sink, Thermaltake Volcano 7+ heatsink is what i have in mind to buy, heres its specs: http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/articles.hwz?cid=22&aid=277&page=1 ... Any other recommendations before i purchase my heatsink?

Yes. You were smart and asked q before purchasing. That way, if you're the US and have access to US internet retailers, you can save yourself from doing something stupid like buying Thermaltake.

Heatsink: all copper Thermalright $10-$15 SK6+ or $20-$30 SK-7, shipping extra.

http://www.svcompucycle.com/thersk7socco.html

You will not find a better value than $15.99 SK-7, look no further.

Don't forget a fan, nothing too loud, but pretty much any 80x25mm will do with SK-7.
http://www.svc.com/thersmarcasf.html
http://www.svc.com/80x25mmfans.html

Look for directions on how to apply thermal paste (it comes with sk-7) but this is a good one:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_alumina_instructions.htm
http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique_instructions.htm

Okay i have fully installed my new Thermaltake Volcano 7+ without any paste or anything. I hope its okay. My CPU temp is now at 32 degrees unlike in the past usually 45 degrees. Okay now the details and steps is all i need. Shoot me now =D

Installing without thermal paste (which is usually very cheap) is not recommended.

When you raise FSB and voltage those temps are going to shoot up.

Lower the multiplier and slowly raise your FSB to about 150ish FSB because PC2100 ram can't take more. Than raise the multiplier keeping in mind that resulting FSB x multi = 2.3 GHz max, but I think, you'll probably do closer to 2.2 GHz max.

Raise Vcore gradually to 1.8 volts.
Raise Vdimm as well.

If you go to far and can't boot, go back.

In the end Prime95 Torture test the final overclock. You need to have no errors in Prime95 program for 12 hours to start considering your overclock stable.

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm

To test the stability of overclocked CPU:

Double click on PRIME95.EXE to start the program.

Just Stress Testing (if prompted) > OK >
Options > Torture Test


The program should not give any errors.
It may be necessery to run the program 12-24 hours to make sure an overclocked system is stable (no program errors displayed).


If you get errors only after several hours, this is a result of slight instability because the system is running with little or no margin. It's stable enough to boot and to be moderately stressed, but as soon as the system is under enough load to go over that critical point, it will freeze. To be 100% stable, Prime95 should run 12-24 hours without any errors.

Okay mainly i had increased the voltage and left the frequency to 133 instead of going to the next OPTION which is 166mhz, because when i switch to 166, my computer wont start and i have to reset my cmos.

My CPU was 2130 before. Im not really impressed with it. What more can i do to increase my CPU? Heres the present oc results:

[ WCPUID Version 3.1a (c) 1996-2002 By H.Oda! ]

Processor #1 : AMD Athlon XP (Model 8) / 623A6764
Platform : Socket A (Socket 462)
Vendor String : AuthenticAMD
CPU Type : Original OEM Processor (0)
Family : 6 (7)
Model : 8 (8)
Stepping ID : 1 (1)
Brand : ----
APIC : ----
HT Log.CPU Cnt : ----
Name String : AMD Athlon(tm)

Internal Clock : 2271.81 MHz
System Bus : 267.27 MHz DDR
System Clock : 133.64 MHz
Multiplier : 17.0

L1 I-Cache : 64K Byte
L1 D-Cache : 64K Byte
L1 T-Cache : ----
L1 Cache : ----
L2 Cache : 256K Byte
L2 Speed : 2271.81 MHz (Full)

MMX Unit : Supported
SSE Unit : Supported
SSE2 Unit : Not Supported
MMX2 Unit : Supported
3DNow! Unit : Supported
3DNow!+ Unit : Supported

Host Bridge : 10DE:01E0.A2 [NVIDIA nForce2]
South Bridge : 10DE:01EB.A2 [NVIDIA nForce2 MCP]
VGA Device : 10DE:0170.A3 [NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 460]
Memory Size : 512M Byte
Memory Clock : ----

Next Question:
Under my ASUS PROBE 2 > INFORMATION > PROCESSOR: States that my MAX speed is 3000mhz and curret is 2266mhz, how do i increase my processor speed to 3000mhz !?

Buy better RAM if it won't go past 150FSB. Crucial are very good for the low-end and cheap RAM, my 2 Crucial PC2100 sticks get up to 185FSB without changing the timings or giving it more volts. Don't bother if you want PC2700 or above though, as they use the same chips but just change the default timings to looser ones on the higher speed sticks.

More FSB = better overall overclock.

Also change your FSB setting to "user defined" on the BIOS. This will allow you to get 1MHz increments in FSB speed. When doing this set the AGP speed to 66MHz, which will lock the AGP and PCI bus speeds.

My com went unstable, whenever i come into windows... and minutes later it doest freaking respond, thus i had switch the multiplier to 8.5* instead of a 9.5/*. There are actually serveral more multiplier options to choose which is 10x/ and more, but if i chose 10x/ or more, my monitor wont have any signal and i had therefore i had reset my cmos. Now it looks much stable, but CPU speed is at 2204 instead of 2271. Sad. aha at least its not 2130! aha =D Are there any others ways to improve my com's performance? I want to bring this com at its peak. By the way i had adjusted CPU to 1.8v, Graphics and another option to its peak... aint a problem eh? Whats the peak temperature for CPU idle?

* means something which i cant remember the actual figure.

L337 M33P said:

...my 2 Crucial PC2100 sticks get up to 185FSB without changing the timings or giving it more volts.

Click to expand...

Na-hah. No way Jose.

I used to sport 208 FSB with my PC2100's.

That's because my memory frequency was set to Auto locking in RAM to default memory bus. When it was set to 100%, max is very low 150s FSB.

JingYou should not have hit his system with 166 FSB. PC2100 craps out way below that.

He's using a Thermaltake and he's using it without any thermal paste.
His theoretical max is 150ish FSB. His overall max is expected to be below average of resulting 2.3 GHz.

If I had a digicam and a proper Pbase account I would prove you so wrong....

Anyway I really do think that running without a TIM is a bit silly, go buy some AS3 for $6. It'll reduce temperatures considerably.

Wait. I'm not at all interested in proving things one way or another.

Let's get to the bottom of this together. I don't need digi cams. I trust you man. I know you're reliable L337 M33P.

The premise here is that PC2100, any PC2100 can do 185 FSB when Memory Frequency is set to 100%.

So on mobo you have access to, the setting is different, but you get the picture: When Memory Frequency is locked in (Set to Auto) My PC2100 can "do" 208 FSB. Which is what I thought you meant.

However, when the Memory Frequency is set to 100%, meaning the memory bus is not locked but running in sync 100% with FSB. The FSB limit is 152 FSB.

Now, what you're saying is that PC2100 can do 185 FSB when memory bus is not locked?

True/False?

Yup.

And with stock voltage and timings too.

hehehe. ooh OK. Mobo details? You sure it was PC2100 and post the exact mobo BIOS setting that proves it was 100% in sync and not in Auto.

I'll be happy with just the BIOS setting info, no pics.

Then we'll stop hijacking this thread. Thank you for your info.

k then, last threadcrap

MOBO: as per RIG2 in sig.

BIOS Settings:

CPU external frequency: 186MHz
CPU multiple 11x
Memory frequency 100%
DRAM timings - SET TO USER DEFINED, to keep it at 2.5-3-3-6 cos it kept wanting to change at 166 and above.

Vdimm - 2.6v
Vcore = 1.55v

Sorry for the thread hijack JingYou

Thank you. I think there are more people who were not aware of this.
I think it deserves its own thread:

http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=229874

Jingman...

I would like to see you use some form of thermal cooling for that Heatsink/cpu... your unstable bootup into windows may be an indication that you cpu isn't making complete contact with the HS in order to cool it correctly. Get what you can for now, and If you so happen to stumble accross some Artic Silver (v2/v3) then get it and apply a thin layer accross the top of the square of the cpu. then mount HS correctly and this should and will correct you unstable computer. Good luck.

Okay i've added thermal paste using the instructions provided. Avg temp 49degress dropped to 45 to 46degrees. Umm..... With a 2.133GHz and a PC2100 512 ram.. how far would this baby go up to when i overclock my processor? right now 2.2ghz... aint much jump eh?