Athlon XP please help

[The Mechanist]

Allright boys and girls i just got myself the perfect Athlon system and i want to give overclocking a try but i'm a newbie !! here are the specs:

Athlon XP 1700 with Swiftech MC462a HSF
Abit KG7-RAID mobo
512 mo DDR Crucial RAM pc2100 2 CAS
Geforce2MX 400 64mo Visontek
2 x Maxtor 40 gig 7200 ATA100 ( RAID-0 setup )
SoundBlaster Live 5.1 platinum
3Com 3c905tx NIC
Antec SX 830 Mid-tower with all five fan slot properly filled
( yeah this baby is cool !! )

Now lets just make one thing clear i don't want to fool around with this pencil trick to unlock the multiplier !! the swiftech is bolted to the MOBO and besides..i don't want anything to happen to the CPU..i dished some serious cash on this so please don't call me a chicken allright :)

All i want to do is fool around with the FSB speed but i don't know the rules about voltage adjustment and other tweaks so any advice will be welcome.

Thank you guys !

[Placid]

Since your motherboard has a max voltage of 1.85 you can use that if needed without worry.
So just set the cpu to 1.85v then raise your fsb slowly 3-5mhz a time and run 3dmark 2001.
Repeat until you get a problem then back down to the highest setting that you can run thru without a problem.
When you get that then comeback and post with your memory settings and maybe adjusting those might get you a bit more.
Always keep an eye on your cpu temps while doing this, with your heatsink you should not have any temp problems.

If you dont have 3dmark 2001 you can get it here:

http://gamershq.madonion.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml

[Scann69]

welcome to the forum. u seem to have very nice setup there. one thing though, u'll better make sure that the HSF is nicely fitted to the MoBo and the chip. i'm having the same heatsink and the 1st time i set it up, i almost fried the chip. apart from that u should not have much of a problem overclocking with that heatsink. if your temp. is anything higher then 50C then u'll better check the HSF. all the best. i'm not a pro at this but hope this helps.

[Kendan]

Plycon.com now has the trace tape for the xp's.
http://www.plycon.com/trace.htm
And in case you haven't found it already here is great site for the KG7. http://www.viahardware.com/faq/kg7kr7/kg7kr7faq.htm

[The Mechanist]

but what kind of speed can i realisticaly reach using only FSB overclocking with the kind of rig i have... i got to be honest here i just wanna beat a few scores i saw on madonion.com...my maximum 3dmark2001 score is 2535 and i see some OCed system beating the cr... outta me !!

And thanks for the warm welcome Placid ! i feel a bit stupid beeing a newbie at this...i've been working as a computer tech for years now but never got around to test overclocking.

Thanks !

[Placid]

I am getting 1702mhz 148fsb from my XP1800+ not unlocked yet.
Raising to that from the default speed gave me 350 points in 3d mark 2001 on a GF3.

[wizardloader]

Yeah Placid is cool, always sound advice. Nice systems both of you........I know fsb is usual way to o/c but on my 1.4 I backed off fsb and uped mulitplier and got more mhz thats very stable.

Seems theese AMD's all have a "mind" of their own

[Tomas]

Originally posted by The Mechanist
but what kind of speed can i realisticaly reach using only FSB overclocking with the kind of rig i have... i got to be honest here i just wanna beat a few scores i saw on madonion.com...my maximum 3dmark2001 score is 2535 and i see some OCed system beating the cr... outta me !!

And thanks for the warm welcome Placid ! i feel a bit stupid beeing a newbie at this...i've been working as a computer tech for years now but never got around to test overclocking.

Thanks !

those mx cards are getting a bit old so i wouldnt expect much more of them. Also make sure you have installed the via 4-1 drivers + the latest nvidia detonator drivers gfxdrivers: www.nvidia.com via 4-1 drivers: www.viatech.com