AMD AXIA and ABIT KT7A RAID mobo

[ecnirp]

Just purchased an AMD ATHLON AXIA 1Ghz CPU and ABIT KT7A RAID mobo, with a coolermaster fan rated upto 1.33Ghz. Plan to build at the weekend, was wondering how far i could overclock the CPU, and the best way to do it....... first new system build since a Pentium 166, so not had much experience of this new hardware :o), all help much appreciated rather than frying all my savings on a rainy day in England :o)

[UnseenMenace]

is the CPU unlocked if not you need to unlock the Level 1 bridges.
You can get a good indication of possible speeds from the CPU database on the front of overclockers.com, however nobody can tell you the best way to overclock as all CPU's are different, and the performance obtained by other may be not obtainable by yourself.
I would suggest reading the beginners guides on the front of overclockers.com as these will inform you of the task a head. If you have any specific question we will try to help you..and please try to give us as much information on your system as you can.. what speed ram are you using?, what PSU are you running? what tempratures do you have.. etc.

A good bit of advice though is read the manual carefully and get the system running first before attempting to overclock

[Fjeld]

Hi!
This is my experience:
I have to say that u won´t get very far above 12-1300 mhz, due to the fact that the coolermaster won´t give u enough cooling, if u are planning to stay in the low 40 degrees C @ 1300mhz! (full load) My advice is to get a better cooler, or take the step into a watercooled system! I finally did, and my AVIA "Y" 1,133 runs rock steady @ 1490 :) 42C full load. Touched 1563, but with some instability :(
But anyway, give it a shot! You may be luckier than me!

[Megahurtz]

Hi, I am going to suggest another route. I would opt for a more robust heatsink before you begin your build...Why? Because it is during the removal and installation of the heatsink that the die is most likely to be damaged, so the fewer times that you have to violate this interface the better.

Buy the best heatsink now, as you'll be ready when it comes time to push the clockspeed. You'll need to address the connection of the 'L1' bridges as noted above. You should look at the highest performing HSFs available, as you may be dealing with a thermal load of ~100Watts.

The Millenium Thermal Solutions Glaciator, ThermalRight SK6, would be excellent choices.

Because this is your first venture into the AMD side of the fence, you may want to consider making certain your system is extremely stable at default settings prior to embarking on your overclocking attempts. I do, and I think that it's sound advice.

If you run into issues, you'll have the knowledge that your system ran with stability during a non-overclocked state.

Have fun, and no running with scissors!!

T