100% Bonified newbie..

[Postal]

Ok, just a moment to introduce myself... I'm a 26 year old ISP Tech, who can tell you anything in the world that you want to know about modems, ISDN CABLE, T1, DS3, Routers, hubs/switches, or any of the like. However I know nothing about over clocking my own PC...
I'm just looking for a tutor to teach me the over clocking for Dummies way. I've searched the web high and low and I cant find a single post or "how to" about over clocking my 800mhz Coppermine. If someone would be kind enough to lend me a hand, Id greatly appreciate it. I'm a fast learner, so I shouldn't have to many stupid questions *shouldn't*. Also note: I saved up for 6 years suffering with a 233 until just last year. I really don't want to burn system by my own faulty mistakes. If anyone can honestly say they know what they are doing, I'd kill for some help. If you would be so kind as to drop a line, via ICQ, E-Mail, or on here, Id owe ya big time :)

Postal

-A tech's job is to help you, not listen to you scream at him because you can't surf your porn...

[Phil]

read your motherboard manual to find out how to change bus speed and voltage, is it an secc processor or an fc-pga in a slocket?
if it's in a slocket then you should be better off as it is better to change the voltage on a slocket than through the bios. what heatsink and fan do you have? if it's the intel one that comes with the retail package then that will have to be the firstthing to replaced as these just don't do the job at speeds around 1ghz. you should be aiming for around 1ghz+ on a 125mhz+ fsb maybe using up to 1.9v. Have you any idea what the default voltage is? there should be a screen in your bios that will tell you temps and voltages, like I said the first place to start is the motherboard, you will need to get to know a lot about this as that is where most of the work is done

[Mr B]

Welcome to the forum!

You might want to start off be reading some of the FAQ's and performance tips listed on the left side of the home page here.

This will give you and idea on how to go about things a little bit. Then, start asking questions! We were ALL "newbies" at one time or another, and there are a LOT of really great people in here that will help you to find the way to overclocking nirvana.

Read thru the posts, and you will get a feel for who knows what. I'd say the majority have a wide base of knowledge, with a bit more indepth know-how in certain areas. (eg.. I've got a reasonable understanding of what to do with a Celeron, but know little about AMD chips. (I do know there's some voodoo with a #2 lead pencil that can do wonders, but don't ask me how...=) )) After a bit, you'll start remembering what everybody's running even!

Great site, here. Good luck w/ the P///800.

Mr B

[Newbie_Doo]

<<<<Still a newbie. Welcome! Once you have absorbed the basic concepts on the front page, you will need to know what-EXACTLY- you have in your current system. You need to Identify the Motherboard brand and model , processor speed, type and FSB Speed, what BIOS version you have, how much and what kind of memory (PC-100, PC-133, cl3, cl2, etc.), and your peripheral expansion cards (AGP, PCI, ISA). With this in hand, you should be able to provide background for the questions that you ask and so help us help you.

Ex: "I have a Celeron2-600@810 on a Soyo socket adapter, a Soyo SY6-VCA (BIOS revision 2aa4) and 256MB of Crucial PC133 CAS2. Whenever I try to raise my Front-side bus (FSB) speed above 90MHZ, my machine gets unstable. I am still at the default voltage, do you think I need to increase the voltage? I think I have to change the jumpers. What do you suggest?"

By being informative up front, it really helps us help you faster by narrowing down problems that you might encounter. It also helps you know more about your system and its potential weak spots regarding overclocking. Hopefully this makes it a more enjoyable hobby for you and it will definitely help you understand the workings of your system better.

I hope this helps.

[Door Knob]

As a fellow p3 800 guy welcome. My suggestion to you on getting into overclocking is do a lot of reading, ask some questions, then start tinkering. Small adjustments at first and build from there. Like you said you don't want to hurt the thing. Also when you post a question first thing people will be asking is your system and settings so if you have them posted right off the bat the faster people will be in helping you. You deffinatly came to the righ place for help though. Everyone here try's there best to answere any questions that you may have. I use this forum as my first reference place for any question or problem, even if it doesn't exactly have to do with overclocking.

[Postal]

Thanks guys I really apreciate the informitive help and advice. I took a look at the system BIOS and its not a jumperless motherbord. There are no settings for voltage regulation, or anything of the sort. Like I said before its a Coppermine 800, and its running with a FSB of 133 *I understand this complicates things?*, running 128 megs of PC 133 Ram, its a 30 gig 7200rpm HD *unknown brand untill I remove my case*. Im also running the GeForce2 Anialator 32 meg video card *sold by Creative Labs*. Im not to keen on the processor deal, but I know its not a slot 1, if I had to guess I would say its a Socket 7? Like I said Im not to keen on the deal since the last time I built a computer there were two sets of power wires to the motherbord, now they got all this newfangled stuff. I bought a fan from a friend of mine for $20 he paid much more for it, but its a 1ghz processor fan *It wouldent fit on his :)*

I read in some reviews that the coppermines run cooler than most other porcessors in thier league. Is there truth to this? and should my 1ghz fan be enough for OCing it to 1ghz? If there is truth to the coppermine running cooler, and with the 1ghz fan should that be enough?

Thanks again for helping me with my new addiction :)

Postal
- Some where over the rainbow, skys are ... filled with bong smoke!

[Phil]

it's not a socket 7 it is the s370 socket, if there are no voltage settings in the bios then you will have to wire some of the pins together if you need a higher voltage for stability, there is an article on www.hardocp.com which has directions. You should be cautious attempting this, though I doubt any permanent damage could be done you should always be carefule doing this sort of thing, if you did get it wrong then simply removing the wiring should fix it. I would say that you should be able to get up to a 150mhz fsb quite easily probabally with out any extra cooling or voltage, above this is where you start to get problems with other components and also the cpu may be maxing out, 1ghz (6x166mhz) may be possible with a good cooler, hardrive, video card and somewhere around 1.9v

[Newbie_Doo]

Before you start wiring things, make a list of what you have. You can get the Motherboard manufacturer info by reading the BIOS ID on bootup. Go to Award's site and look it up (if it's an award or Phoenix BIOS). Write the info down. Check that your CPU is really 133 mhz, not 100mhz. Gently remove the heatsink, get a magnifying glass and write down all the serial number info on the label of the chip. This is a good starting point. Information is crucial to your success. Insufficient informaiton will have you making very interesting keychains. I hate to sound apocalyptic, but if you have a major goof...no more CPU. Learn first, take baby steps, THEN put the hammer down.