Stupid Newbie very confused, doesn't know basics...

[Aftershock]

Okay I really don't know where to go to ask these questons so I'm gonna give this forum a shot.

Basicaly I have a P3 700 100fsb computer.
Now for Pentiums you can only change the bus speed right?

So...
what affect will changing hte FSB on my system do besiedes RAM (just buy 133 ram and it will be ok right?)
and total CPU speed? Everything should be fine, since there's 133 bus speed out.

Next Question, what fan do you guys recomend? I hear golden orb is tough to get in, I want something really easy to snap on, and cool pretty well (hope to get in the 900's)

I have a DELL XPS T700r... i the mobo's on dell sucks, I will probably have to get a new one since you can change fsb on dells (can you?). Can I get a 133 fsb mobo and run my 100 speed ram and 700 on that? Everything would run @ 100 though, but I could change the bus speed to 100 without worrying that the mobo will fry.

Oh, and do all mobo/ computer cases have the same mounting? Is there a standard? Because I hope to just get a new mobo, and keep my dell case (200w) and save some $$.

The only thing I've ever overclocked is my video card, so I don't know anything. And whats this about AGP slots having problems w/ FSB or something?

[surlyjoe]

if youve got a dell its probably a LPX format ,meaning the case and board and PSU will be different from an ATX

[Aftershock]

how do I find out for sure?

[[OC]_SR20DE]

Aey Mr. Aftershock,

It is very likely that your Dell Case is probably not ATX. And if that is so,.. you'll have to buy ATX(which is well known and most overclockers use it anyway) based CPU case.

Some PC100 Rams can do 160+mhz FSB.
Some Mobo w/100mhz FSB will do 150+mhz FSB.
Some PC133 Rams can't do jack **** by upping more than 133. Some do fabulous!

Hey, I can tell you a lot more but I have to go to school , damn... I'll try to come back here and see what I can do for ya! :)

[Aftershock]

well I plan to just go from 100 -> 133
933 is good enough.

Hmm... new case hu? What are some good cases? I like how dell's have the quick slide off feature and such, mini-tower's a good size, I don't like them too huge. And I was thinking of an ASUS mobo, don't knwo which model, just one that allows me to adjust the bus speed, (voltage maybe)

i hear when you start to overclock via bus speed, you should NEVER touch the voltage....only if you can change the clock

[markedmundb]

Upping the bus speed will increase (depending on chipset) will increase your CPU speed, your RAM speed, your PCI, ISA and your AGP Bus Speed.

Have you heard about a program called softFSB? It will allow you to change the Bus speed (if your Board's supported by it) in Windows.

most 8Ns PC100 RAM will run at 133, cas3, as far as I've seen. If your PC's a modern one (i.e. last year, there's a good chance you're mobo will support 133Mhz Bus.)

As long as your careful and don't overdo it, you wont fry anything.

I personally like GlobalWin Heatsinks. Decent cooling at a decent price.

Some CPUs require a voltage upping to get them over the speed hump. Increasing Voltage increases the clarity of the signal through the CPU.

[DennisC]

Aftershock, as far as case recommendations, a good mid-tower case is an Enlight 7237 (I used one before I went full-tower). It's a quality case and has been modded nicely by a lot of folks.

If you want an ASUS mobo for overclocking a PIII700, I must say I love my CUSL2. It has all the tweakiness you need, and you can set up different FSB and memory ratios if you're worried about that. I ran my 700 up to 143 FSB with generic PC100 memory on the 133:100:33 setting. (I've since gone Crucial PC133; see the sale notice on the front page of the site)

You're doing all the right things, and asking all the right questions. Go for it, and good luck.

[Aftershock]

I tried that softFSB
and it doesn't have my mobo.... although it has a Dell XPS D3xx
thats an older model....

when I boot up it says "PhoenixBios 4.0 release 6.0"
so i'm guessing that my bios/mobo?

Are there any other FSB utilities that could possibly detect my mobo and change the FSB?