Newbie Overclocker

[nexar]

Hey all,

I just built my new system & wanted some advice on possibly overclocking it. At the very least I want it optimized.

My system is as follows
Mainboard: MSI KT4AV-L 333MHz FSB DDR 400 Memory support
Processor: AMD Athlon 2500+ 333MHz FSB
Memory: 256MB DDR PC3200 400MHz FSB
Video: Predator GeForce 4 MX440 8x AGP
Audio: Onboard AC97
Power Supply: 350W

So my question is recommend settings. I read a few posts & most recommend 1:1 ratio of the CPU FSB & Memory FSB. Should I lower my memory's FSB? Currently I am running the OE heat sink/fan with 5 case fans & the temp has been 116 degrees Fahrenheit. What settings would recommend for over clocking the processor & memory together? Most importantly the system needs to be stable & durable. I can't have parts dying monthly.

The current settings are:
Processor: CPU Mutiplyer-11 FSB-166 Voltage-1.850v
Memory: Voltage-2.5v Rest are auto

Also, would there be any point in increasing the voltage for the video card from 1.5 to whatever?

Well that's all for now.
Thanks for the help in advance!;)

[9mmCensor]

Welcome to the forums.

Is the barton new or old? This will determine weather its unlocked or not.

To overclock just bumb the FSB speed up bit by bit.

[c627627]

Welcome to the forum.
Get to know your system by reading the mobo manual and maybe something like this:
http://www.ocforums.com/vb/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=207088
so that you don't do trial and error overclocking.

Unless you have a cheap power supply, you can get a nice overclock since you have PC3200 RAM.

Post the markings on your CPU, that look like this: AIUHB 0248MPMW

Post if you'e using retail cooling.

Your mobo has no PCI lock so going over 228 FSB is not recommended (if you have ram that can overclock that high.)

[9mmCensor]

Hes using the stock heatsink.

"Currently I am running the OE heat sink/fan with 5 case fans & the temp has been 116 degrees Fahrenheit"

116.... is that the room temp? cause thats HOT.

I recommend removing the stock thermal pad and then lapping the heatsink for optimal preformance.

[nexar]

Thanks for all the quick replies & the welcome!

I just got the processor so I am pretty sure it's locked & next time I'm in the case I'll check the cpu's numbers. Is 116 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) really hot? I considered that pretty close to where it should be with stock heat sink/fan. Also, what is lapping the heatsink? I plan on getting a new heat sink/fan in the future when I have more spare cash (Christmas was very pricey). As far as the power supply it came with the case. I'm sure it's not the best ps, but it has been stable so far. I've seen ps in other computers spike then suddenly drop & this supply hasn't done that. I plan on upgrading a little at a time. I figured the system I built would allow for this. So I think i'm ok with oc'in the processor but am pretty lost with memory settings. could someone suggest a good setting for the memory. Not something over the top, but a noticeable increase.

[9mmCensor]

Here is a thread that provides links and info on lapping... and other related stuff to what you want (hopefully) to do.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=260456

Lapping and good thermal goo is a far more economical alternative to buy and new HSF.

ok thats not room temp.... thats about right.

lapping you will get a noticable drop in temps and allow more headroom for overclocking.

[nexar]

Thanks for the link on lapping! I've actually used thermal compound before & I have 2 types. I was woundering which you would reccomend. Artic Silver 2 or Stars 612 5% silver, 5%

Also, would a new heat sink need to be lapped?

Thanks for all the suggestions

[9mmCensor]

Yeah you should lap all heatsinks (except aby for swiftech ones as they are near perect and flat). use the AS2.

[vidgion]

unless that heatsink is pure copper i would consider lapping it straight out of the box because the way aluminum is manufactured it could be rough and have gaps you cant see with the human eye which voids full contact between the core and heatsink


and i suggest the compound with the most silver in it;)

[L337 M33P]

Definitely lap the stock AMD heatsink - I tried it in desperation with mine (crappy aluminium extruded thingy with 0% copper) and with only 320 grit I got a 10% reduction in thermal resistance. Of course now with my 400grit - 10 micron lapping kit all heatsinks are lapped to within an inch of their life muahah :D

That motherboard is a ViA KT333 chipset, and is already running at a maxed out FSB. You won't be able to get a 200MHz FSB on that board, maybe 190 tops. Any further and you risk hard drive corruption because of the high PCI bus speeds. You can however optimise your system. Run the RAM at the same frequency as the CPU but put the timings to as low as possible - there should be 4 timing values, and one of them should be CAS. Try for the lowest possible without failing Memtest86 (www.memtest86.com)

That video card, while sucky, actually overclocks very well. On mine I got 320/500 from 270/400 - these are the chip and memory speeds respectively.

Also DUDE! Lower that core voltage! - is it really 1.85? If so then you definitely don't need it as 1.65 is the standard :eek:

[nexar]

Ok,

I tried to oc the processor a little bit & had problems. I started a new post here.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2419820#post2419820

My core voltage is 1.65 I was in the fuzzy logic 4 program that came with the board & you can modify the settings there. It listed 1.850 as the starting point but certainly not there.

As far as the video card, I wasn't planning on changing the card just yet & save up for a better one later on. When building the computer, the system wouldn't turn on & once the video card was removed it started up!

[Dragonprince]

You do NOT want to run the FSB and Ram in sync. You have a VIA KT400A chipset so in your case Ram should be run as fast as possible regardless of the CPU FSB. Unlike nForce2 chipsets the VIA ones dont care about being in sync with the ram, they just want to go as fast as possible.

Set the Ram to DDR400 speeds with the best (lowest) timing possible.

As far as the CPU your only going to be able to manipulate the FSB settings so remember to do the math on your PCI bus so as not to OC it too much. After about 36Mhz (33Mhz is stock speed for the PCI bus) the PCI/AGP bus' will start getting errors and you'll have stability issues. Also the PCI timing affects your hard drive so you might get data corruption on the drive, be careful with your FSB changes. If memory serves the KT400 chipsets have a 5/1 divider so at 166 FSB the PCI clock is 33 Mhz. At 180 FSB / 5 = 36 PCI Clock so I wouldnt be trying any 190 settings unless you dont mind a trashed hard drive and killing anything plugged into the AGP/PCI slots....

[nexar]

I think I got it now! So according to the numbers, I should be able to put the fsb upto 180 which would bring the CPU to 1980MHz. I already tried to Oc the processor to 175 & it was stable for about 10 minutes. Any idea what would contribute to that? Does the voltage need to be upped? Currently the processor hasn't gone above 120 degrees farenheit according to PC alert 4 being worked hard! However Mother Board Monitor has shown upto 10 degrees less than PC Alert. What program should I be using?

[Dragonprince]

Originally posted by nexar
I think I got it now! So according to the numbers, I should be able to put the fsb upto 180 which would bring the CPU to 1980MHz. I already tried to Oc the processor to 175 & it was stable for about 10 minutes. Any idea what would contribute to that? Does the voltage need to be upped? Currently the processor hasn't gone above 120 degrees farenheit according to PC alert 4 being worked hard! However Mother Board Monitor has shown upto 10 degrees less than PC Alert. What program should I be using?

I would say that you need to adjust the CPU voltage up until your stable, but more importantly for OCing you need a better heatsink than the stock one. Its sounds like your system had problems at the 10 minute mark due to heat build up that the stock sink cant handle. Lapping will only get you a small increase in a heatsink....you really need a better one to OC with.

The Barton 2500 you have should be able to handle up to 2200-2300Mhz, but your board can NOT do that (you need an nForce2 board for those kinds of OC's) so I would say your heatsink is holding you back from getting good results with your current set up.

So, get your hands on a heatsink rated for XP3000's and higher so you'll have extra cooling ability to handle the OCing you do and then try boosting you CPU voltage up by small increments until your stable. Your Ram voltage should stay at 2.5v since your actually under clocked on the ram.

As far as software to monitor your system I would go with Mother Board Monitor5 since it is the recognized standard and deemed reliable by most folks.

One final thing I would do is to read up on optimized placement of case fans. 5 fans is a lot of air being moved but if they are not blowing correctly it wont help cool anything. I believe the thinking today says that 1 or 2 intake fans on the lower front and 1 intake on the side window feeding air into the case combined with 1 or 2 blowing out of the case at the top rear is the best setup....