powerful and cool?

[Mr CabDriver]

I have a 2500 barton with a7n8x (not deluxe) mobo and 512 ddr400 ram.

I plan to use 200*11 as my settings.

very new to overclocking and just wanted to ask some questions.

what are the main components that I need to get started in overclocking as it purtains to power supply and cooling?

Is a 300w power supply and stock fan good enough for over clocking?

Or would I need to change my power supply and cooling to work well with the 200*11 settings?

[gingo]

A good 300W power supply would be enough (PCP&C quality).

But I would suggest at least a 400W just to ensure enough juice.

And I would never use a stock heatsink and fan on the processor if you play to OC. I'm not sure what heatsink is king of the market now, but I like my SK-7.

[FunkDaMonkMan]

Welcome To The Forums!!!


The stock AMD heatsink should be enough for a mild O/C. If you went with something like an SLK-800 and a decent fan you could probably get 200x12 to 200x14 out of that xp2500.

How many other devices will you be running in the computer? If you are only running 1 hard drive, a video card, and a cd-rom drive, I don't see why a decent 300w powersupply from a "name-brand" company wouldn't be sufficient.

[Mr CabDriver]

How many other devices will you be running in the computer? If you are only running 1 hard drive, a video card, and a cd-rom drive, I don't see why a decent 300w powersupply from a "name-brand" company wouldn't be sufficient.

thanks for the welcome!

I'd have all those devices that you mentioned plus a 52 CD-RW drive and modem.

What would be a good fan to go with that SLK 800? And how would I know what fans are good for overclocking?

[Mr CabDriver]

I found a heat sink and fan called thermaltake volcano 10+.

How far can I push the overclocking with this cooling system?

[gingo]

Fans are measured by CFM, get one that pushes alot of CFM, but can be adjusted for noise concerns.

And OCing is different all the time, how far you can push it depends on many things. But I would visit some CPU forums and find out what people with similar setups are getting outa that chip and what sort of cooling they have.

[squeakygeek]

You should be able to get away with 11x 200 on stock cooling, but if not, I recommend an SK-7 with a Smartfan II. Nobody can really tell you what you're going to get out of it, but I got 2.3ghz out of my 2500+ at 1.8v with the above mentioned cooling.

[Mr CabDriver]

Hey Guys,

thanks for all the quick replies and tips. I actually got the guy at the comp store to let me hear the volcano fan at the store and it was so LOUD!!! dont think i can handle that much noise.

Squeakygeek,
does that smart fan 2 make that much noise as well?

[squeakygeek]

I always run my Smartfan II at max speed because I don't have a problem with the noise. Some people are quiet freaks, but the smartfan works for them too, because it comes with a knob to turn it down to practicaly inaudible levels. It also comes with a thermometer that automatically adjusts the fan speed based on temp. You can't go wrong with the smartfan II.

[Mr CabDriver]

sounds pretty good......im gonna go and see if thats available at my local comp store.

thanks again for the help.

this forum ROCKS!!!!!

[AMD_Me]

Originally posted by Mr CabDriver


thanks for the welcome!

I'd have all those devices that you mentioned plus a 52 CD-RW drive and modem.

What would be a good fan to go with that SLK 800? And how would I know what fans are good for overclocking?


Thermaltakes are all low quality in my experience besides the Volcano 7+

[pik4chu]

I like my sunon tornado myself.. though its noisy as hell (if your bothered by those things)

[sithian476]

I have the exact same situation as you, 2500+ Barton... w/ a Volcano 11, and considering I DONT have air conditioning, i can't OC in the summer but I bet I easily could during the winter...

[gingo]

Sunon fans are my favorite.

[john240sx]

if your planning to overclock from the start i would go with atleast a thermalright SK7 (though a SLK900 w/92mm tornado & rheobus would be my choice). i've owned a few thermaltake heatsinks and although they are inexpensive you get what you pay for, the cooler your processor runs the higher you can overclock and the more stable your computer is going to be.

if you are willing to shop at online stores (some people are not comfortable, i know i wasn't for a while) then i would take a look at http://www.heatsinkstore.com they have some of the best prices for top performing heatsinks and fans and generally a pretty reliable store. they will also be much cheaper then walking into a store and buying the same product.

good luck with your XP2500, if you run into any problems or have any questions this is one of the best places to find answers. don't be afraid to ask what you think is a dumb question, nobody knew everything as soon as they got into computers (actually, nobody still knows everything). that's what makes this forum soo great, the collective knowledge from everyone here can solve virtually any problem, plus the people here are always willing to help :D

[squeakygeek]

lol, I was about to say www.svc.com is probably cheaper, but I guess they're the same place. :p

[Mr CabDriver]

wow,

really overwhelmed with how helpful and how much you people know about these things. thanks again for the tips guys!!