AMD overlcocking

I am planning on getting an AMD 2500+ and an Abit NF7-S v2
I know that modern bartons have a multiplier lock so i will have to oc the FSB.
However i am woried about this as i know the FSB controlls everything and i don't want to damage my HDD or graphics card.
I looked at te Abit motherboard spec, and i saw that part of the OC menu is a FSBCI:AGP ratio, what should i do with this?
should i gradually increase that? or what should i do, i don't want to overclock my GFX card PCI cards or HDD in anyway just yet!

A) Get a Mobile 2500+. They aren't locked.

B) The PCI lock prevents what you're worried about from happening. When you OC the FSB on that board it's not going to increase the PCI and you're not going to corrupt your HDD or anything. (Think this may be the case for all Nforce2 boards.)

so i can put anything in the FSB and it will be ok?
Also isn't a mobile 2500+ slower than a regular?

The PCI is locked no matter what at 33Mhz...the AGP can be set from 50Mhz up to 100...it is best to leave this set at 66Mhz...

As for the mobile being slower...on default yes...but it will out OC a desktop so in the long run...no its not...

Is it just the FSB and multiplier i should oc to speed it up? or are there any other settings?
Also i am abit worried abut fitting the HSF, as i was reading the manual to the MOBO i am getting and it said if it is slightly off postion then the CPU will fry instantly. How can i make sure that the HSF is on fine before i start? (i am getting a Thermalright SP-97)

I'm not sure, but I think the SP97 is using 4 bolt system for mounting. it should be much more secure than just clipping the heatsink onto the lugs on the socket.
you can check if you got contact by first mounting the heatsink with a little bit of thermal paste in the certner of the core, then remove the heatsink and check if the has made a good footprint in the base of the heatsink with the thermal paste. then clean both heatsink and core, then apply the thermal paste again, and mount the heatsink the same way you did before.
Also NF7 has overheating protection, which means it will shut down the computer far sooner than the chip will begin to fry.

anyone got an answer to my other question? is there anything else to overclock?

Also what do people mean when they say prime stable?

I got the Nf7-S rev 2 with a sp97 - it fits fine...you just need to do without one of the mb screw things.

One of the problems you will have though is if you change the cooler on the northbridge, as the sp-97 gets in the way of the swiftech mcx 159, microcool and i think the nb-1...among some of the others.... The Zalman NB47J will fit, but it's passive cooling - although i remember seeing a review where it drops the nb temp down by about 2-3 celsius over stock...which is good...

The only thing you do when you oc is adjust the fsb and the cpu multiplier....you also need to change vcore voltage depending on how much you oc...

200x11 (2.2 Ghz) - approx 1.6-1.65V
220x11 (2.4 Ghz) - approx 1.75V

The ram also has an affect on how much you can oc - the better the ram, the higher the oc....sometimes you need to trim the timings and the voltage....

The chipset temp might get real hot - the higher the fsb, the higher the chipset temp....

When you change the fsb, you change the speed that the cpu, ram and the chipsets run at.....

When you change the cpu multiplier you change at what speed the cpu runs at only.

Best results for SYSTEm speed is to have as high a fsb as possible.... Ex: 220x11 is better than 200x12

Forgot.... Prime stable is when you run the program called Prime 95 to see if your system is stable...You need to run the 3 torture tests (Small FFT, Large FFT, Blend). If you get any errors, your system is not stable...and you need to adjust ram timings, vcore, chipset voltage, ram voltage, get better cooling, any combination of these or as a last resort: lower or fsb and/or multiplier...

I found going up by 2 fsb or whatever a pain in the rear...so i just jump on up to 220x11, 210x11.5, etc...whatever i see in peoples sigs (I make sure these people are also using air cooling...)... has worked for me until now...then i increase here and there to see what MY system max oc is...

So if it is unstable, should i increase the RAM timings, RAM voltage, Vcore and Chipset voltage? (not necessarly all at once) And i will need a better chipset cooler? How will i be able to tell if it will fit with the SP-97? Also will this RAM be ok Adata 512MB PC3200 DDR 184 Pin Dimm? because all the other 512MB chips are over £100 on the site i am looking at

That depends on your current ram timings.

I have 500Mhz ram that i leave at 8-4-4-2.5 with stock voltage at 2.6 - which is no problems for these ram sticks.....

Just try the VCOre first....go up SLOWLY...also make sure you watch your temperatures.... if it's too hot - change your heatsink or lower the overclock....


As of right now, I know the Zalman ZM-47J will fit - only thing is that it's passive.... I also know the Swiftech 159 will fit BUT you need to trim 2-3 pins and shave a piece of one of the corners of the fan (just from the housing)....I don't know if the Thermalright NB-1 fits or not. That's the top 2 active coolers and the top passive cooler....

Also, set ram-cpu ratio to 1:1 (or 4:4, 5:5...they're all the same)
And you could probably go a tiny bit over the 200 fsb mark with that ram but don't quote me on that.... You should be able to get to 200 no problem (i think the cpu multiplier is at 11?) which will give you 2.2 Ghz (like 3200+).

Leave your AGP at 66Mhz... (PCI will be half of this speed - which controls the speed of HD, floppy, etc.)

What heatsink do you have on your cpu?

By the way, if you only oc to 2.2 Ghz, you won't need a northbridge cooler other than the one on the board now.... i may be a good idea if you go past the 2.4-2.5Ghz mark (which you won't be able to with that ram).

Is that the ram you got now or that you wanna buy?

If you're gonna buy new ram, go to the memory section and see what people there are saying is good at lower prices....

And just try increasing VCore for now....let me know what your ram timings are...