O/C-ing my new setup...

[Ohgr]

Hiya, I'm new here and kinda new to overclocking although I did do it a few times to my old K6-2 500 getting it up to 600 for a while. But I've recently ( as in yesterday ) built a new system ( details at the bottom ) and I'm just getting familiar with the new hardware I'm playing with. I'd just like to ask a few questions though...here goes -

My CPU is set at the motherboards automatic setting which I'm guessing isn't going to be its optimal speed, would I be right in thinking this? Should I figure out the best manual settings for the 1.2gig Athlon and set it to that instead, or just leave it for now ?

The CPU temperature averages at about 52 to 54 c. Isn't this quite a high temperature as I have a 1.4gig HS/Fan on it anyway ? What would be the highest stable temperature to work on ( in windows )if I O/C it with a normal athlon HS/Fan. I do plan on overclocking it sometime soon but I'll look into that at the time.

Thanks,
Ryan.

-My setup (used for Digital Art/Design)-
CPU - 1.2Gig 200FBS Athlon ( automatic MB settings )
MB - AUSUS / A7A266 DDR/SDR
RAM - 384 megs SDR
GFX - GeForce 2mx (32MBDDR)
SOUND - SBLive 128

[Yoric]

from what I have seen temps of over 50 make overclocked chips unstable so you probably should get a better HSF than the one you have currently. there are a number of them out there for under $30 that could do the trick.
The glaciator (http://millennium-thermal.com/start.htm)
thats my $.02

[dugans]

Welcome to The Forums!

First note: With an AMD cpu you'd be better off posting this in the AMD topics:)

Second: There are a bunch of beginner's guides on the front page with a lot of info that would help you out; also a cpu database that you can look at to see what kind of results people with similar rigs get.

And finally!: That temp is kinda high: I shoot for no higher than 44c TOPS under 100% load: when I get close to 50c I start getting stability problems. A better hsf will make a big difference- use some decent thermal compound ( Arctic Silver 2 is popular).

There are a bunch of other things you can do as well: lapping, case cooling, etc.

Read the guides and we'll try to answer any other questions you have:beer: :D