OC-ing an 800 mhz PIII

[Mike]

I have a factory bought 800 mhz PIII HP Pavillion. It came with 192 mb ram and I added another 256. I was wondering how much do you guys think I could overclock this by. And how do I go about doing it?
Thanks a lot
Mike

[got_yogurt]

considering its an OEM Machine, it probably wasn't built for overclocking. Chances are, it will auto detect your speed for you. Also, OEM machines usually come with crappy fanz, so youll have to prabably get a new one. Also, Is it a slot, or a socket?

[Door Knob]

A couple things. First is it an 800E or 800EB which will make a difference as to how high you can go with this thing. The E runs at 100mhz fsb and therefor has a multiplier of 8, the EB at 133fsb and a multiplier of 6. I have an 800EB but I built my own computer and have to problem running the prossesor and ram at 150mhz fsb. I am waiting for more cooling before I go higher. These chips run hot so if it's OEM you are gunna need better cooling, especially on the processor. Also what is the ram you added rated for for speed? For overclocking purposes you might have to take out the OEM ram, besides after 256 the difference is nominal. Rember overclocking effects more than just the processor, with an OEM you will probably getting failures from other components before you actually get the most out of your cpu.

Now to overclock (assuming you have good cooling).

Your prossesor speed is determined by multiplying the fsb (front side bus) speed and your multiplier. You can't change the multiplier on pentiums so you have to up the fsb. There are two ways of doing this depending on your motherboard. One is in bios, the other setting jumpers. If you can do this in bios than stick with that. Otherwise bust out the mother board manual. Slowly increase the fsb speed and rember to give it some "burn in time". With an OEM I wouldn't be too surprised if you were maxed out with a 15 mhz bus increase. It all depends on your system. Rember to keep an eye on your temps. I don't like going any higher than 50+C under load. If you need to you can increase the voltage to the board to help gain some stability while overclocking but this also creats more heat and can do damage. For now I would say leave it alone. Well thats all I can think of now.

Good Luck.

[Mike]

Its a socket and a EB. If I overclock it a little like to 850 or 900, would that be safe? Or not? Can I do any overclocking without more cooling, or should I get another fan first?
Thanks
Mike

[[OC]_SR20DE]

Unfortunately the EB chips also have lesser room left for overclocking. If you manage to overclock, you maybe able to reach between 850 to 900, but 900 is very very intensive overclocking for your chip. it is not little overclock. it's biggy... some EB or E chips can run superbly even without any special fan. All chips perform differently. But usually the newer type(revision) or called stepping type and week batch numbers etc.. How old is your computer? When did you buy it? Get a "Sisoft Sandra 2000" to find out what steppin type you have.