OC Newbie... need advice

[Cube]

I have an AMD Athlon 1 GHz in an MSI K7T Turbo-R MB. I recently got some RadioShack thermal grease, and applied it between the heatsink and chip (after removing the "tape/sticky" substance from the Heatsink itself).

I go into the BIOS, into the "Frequency/Voltage Settings" menu, and here is what I have:

CPU Vcore [Default] (I just changed it to 1.850v)
CPU Vio [3.3v] (haven't changed this one)
Clock by Slight Adjustment [100] (I can change this to 106 without any problems)
CPU Clock Ratio [Default] (haven't done anything with this)

I'd appreciate some advice on how Fast I can get my CPU to go, and what do I need to change (in the BIOS) for it to work. Also, I've been reading about Unlocking my chip by connecting the L1 dots with defogger goo, would I need to do this as well?

I do have a jumper that sets the FSB frequencies from 100 MHz to 133 MHz. When I set it to 133 MHz, it boots up at 1333 MHz, says that the CPU has changed and to get into the BIOS. If I don't enter the BIOS it goes through the rest of the POST, but then can't read the harddrives to load Windows. I don't know what I should change in the BIOS, or if I should even mess with this Jumper, so right now it is still at the 100 MHz setting.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Jeremy

[Cube]

just bumping up so it doesn't go off the main page :-/

[Hugo 59]

First off welcome to the forums.

The first thing that you need to do to get the full potential out of that chip is unlock it. Do a search for pencil trick or read the beginners guide on the front page on how to do that.

Now that that is done you need to find out how overclocable the chip is leave the fsb at 100 and up your multiplier(cpu clock ratio) in the smallest increments allowed usually .5. Until you reach the chips limits. This will let you figure out what the chip can reach without other components coming into play. The 1 gig AMD is usually a very oc'able chip.

Now that you know what the chip can do go back and start to oc it by upping your fsb. You should be able to get roughly the same oc out of it if not you'll need to remove all your pci cards, just oc it with the video card and one stick of ram. Once you get the same oc as the chip by itself go back and add one card at a time until you figure out what is holding you back.

Btw I wouldn't up anymore voltage settings. In fact I would set that back to default and see how high you can oc it then up the voltage and see if it makes a difference. Voltage will usually help make an unstable oc more stable but you really shouldn't raise it till then.

The most important thing is to make sure your temps are ok. Check them constantly if they are to high you wont get a good oc out of the chip no matter what and you might just burn it up.

Good luck.

[Cube]

Mmmmm gravy...

Well I unlocked the chip, and used the Multiplier and got it up to 1.2g, and it seems to be working fine. I did try 1.3g, but Win98 decided not to load. The temps are still ok, avg of 54 Celcius for the CPU itself.

Maybe I'll up the core voltage to 1.85 and see if that helps the 1.3g become stable.

Thanks for the help :)