Need advice on Overclocking...

[Kickin_Wing]

Let me start my saying that YES I READ ALL THE BEGINNERS GUIDES and by giving a description of the computer I'm trying to OC:

AMD Athlon T'Bird 1.33GHz
Swiftech MCX462 HSF*
ASUS A7A266 (ALi MaGiK 1) Motherboard
300VA Power Supply
512MB DDR2100 SDRAM (Crucial)
Hercules geForce2 MX400 64MB
1 Intake Fan
1 Exaust Fan

*Still Need to Buy (it's $80!)

Now, I have read the manual and have a couple questions before I mess with my computer:

My motherboard lets you set the CPU Internal Frequency, should I change that OR set it to [manual] and change the System/SDRAM/PCI frequency?

Are ALL AMD T'Bird 1.33GHz chips unlocked? I know how to unlock it if I HAVE to.

When I change the heatsink should I clean off the current Arctic Silver with some nail polish and then re-apply it?

What's the best way to apply thermal grease? I used a business card the first time.

How high can I up the voltage?

That's it for questions. When I do finally get this computer successfully OC'ed I will post my results in this thread. I will also be writing a Beginners Guide for Overclockers.com explaining my experiences overclocking a computer and I will thank everyone who replies (with helpful advice) to this thread. The only thing between me and overclocking is getting that Heatsink, it's one of the only good ones that will fit on my Motherboard (there are a couple capacitors in the way). So hopefully for Christmas I'll get $80 and buy the sucker.

Thanks in Advance,
Kickin' Wing

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AMD Athlon XP 1900+
AMD Athlon T'Bird 1.33GHz
Intel PIII Mobile 850MHz
Intel PIII 800MHz
Intel PII 300MHz
Sun Ultra 5 360MHz (think you can OC this :) )

[LinkStatic]

nice rig...:)

Regarding the CPU Freq... u should be setting it to manual if your overclocking unless your OC'ng with the multipliers only...One good way to OC is to OC your whole system ( AGP/PCI/Mem ).

Regarding AS2 application its a good practice to re-clean the Heatsink and CPU surfaces. Just make sure no AS2 residue is left from the previous application, it might affect the effectiveness of the bond....

Goodluck:cool:

[dugans]

Welcome to the Forums!

I'm not familiar with the Asus mobo, but:
as stated in the above post- FSB (system freq) OCs everything,
cpu internal does just the cpu; May take a combination of both to achieve your best oc.

Not sure about the 1.33 TBirds being unlocked(?) I'm sure someone will reply though- If you change the multiplier and it works, its unlocked! If it stays at default then get out the magnifying glass!

I always clean off thermal compound- in fact I started to relap ( just lightly) my sinks every time I pull one out. Couple of swipes on the extra fine grit keeps temps as low as they go.

I use an old atm card for applying as2, plastic-no fibers.

Voltage: this is one of the more potentially dangerous areas of OCing, and my rigs are mostly maxed out on volts, but have only been that way 3 to 7 months: no trouble yet, but the temps are cool.

Take it one step at a time and remember that HEAT is your enemy!

[David]

Some tbirds are unlocked. To check, take a look at the L1 bridges on the CPU surface. If they are all closed - its unlocked.

Voltages:
Tbird voltage is usually 1.7 to 1.75V. THis can be safely upped to about 1.85V or 1.9V. With a bit of modding and a lot of luck, this can be taken up to about 2V.

Rogerdugans is right - avoid heat. Don't OC until you get that big fancy HSF, make sure you have at least 1 or 2 fans, more if possible. When testing your OC, run the rig with the sides off, to minimise heat (My friend had an Athlon1200 system. Even with a case fan and HSF on the CPU the temps reached 52C! In the end the HSF failed (dodgy gear), the CPU blew, the HSF is scarred and the CPU socket melted. Let that be a lesson in what NOT to do :D