overclocking fsb for the first time need some tips =)

[Lynch03]

have a couple of questions about ocing my fsb for the first time

i have an amd 1200mhz cpu and i wanna know how i overclock my fsb. i have an abit kt7 mb.

do i use the ' cpu fsb/pci 'option or the 'cpu fsb plus (mhz)' option?

do i need to connect those L1 bridges or whatever before i try?

If yah..well i dont know if they are or not so if they are not and i tried to oc could my cpu die forever or will i just have to go back to bios and put it back to norm?

[moonunit]

I'd use the fsb/pci option to select a higher speed, as this reminds you how hard you push the PCI bus. The further from 33MHz you get, the lower your chances of success go, and the chance of cooking your videocard, harddrive etc. go up exponentially. I'm not very sure about the cpu plus option. It seems to work well (I managed +10) and is easy to use. I guess they're sort of equivalent...

L1 bridges are for multiplier. (FSB x multiplier = clockspeed), so you don't need to do anything to them, unless you're after big FSBs.

If its not unlocked, changing the multiplier in the bios will be ignored, and it'll boot as normal or bleep at you a bit. Just don't try x14 first time.

Multiplier is less dangerous than FSB, as multiplier only makes the cpu a lot hotter. This is why I tend to only use the multiplier, because I am a chicken-wuss, with nowt but a student loan to live on.

[rogerdugans]

Welcome to The Forums!

First off, my standard bit- There are a bunch of Beginners' Guides on the front page, a bunch of good information and the best way to review if you're out of practice with the terms etc (imo).

That said, the questions:

I try to get the most out of a system by using as much fsb as possible- it does also speed up the pci/agp buses and these cards may be your limiting factor.
Cpu FSB/PCI is the way to oc the fsb and the pci numbers let you know how far past spec you are going.

Cpu FSB Plus adds FSB on the cpu side only, if the cards are holding you up. NOTE: on my Abit KT-7a this option does nothing but create instability!

The L1 bridges are used for unlocking the multipliers- not needed to do an FSB oc.

As far as danger- overclocking carries some danger with it, period.
You are more likely to damage something when you are new at it and even when you are experienced it is more likely to cause damage than running at manufacturer approved speeds.

That does not mean that you will wreck it immediately or that it will be broken in 6 months!

Be cautious and take the time to research exactly what you are doing and why FIRST and you can have a stable, safe overclock.

And remember: Heat is the ENEMY

[Big Sando]

If you have an T-Bird 1.2 - 1.4 GHz, they come factory unlocked. Therefore, I don't think that you should have to mess with the L1 bridges. However, they started locking the CPU's again with the newer XP's.

Also, in regards to what moonunit said: If you want to achieve big FSB speed, you may need to drop you multiplier as the high FSB x stock multiplier may exceed what the chip is capable of.

Lastly, I would increase the FSB a little at a time (~2MHz) and then run a some benchmarks (3DMark2001 / SiSoft Sandra). This will show the gains in performance. I would also run a stability check such as Prime 95.

Another thing to realize is that you may need to increase your DIMM voltage to get the RAM stable.

Like rogerdugans said: "HEAT IS THE ENEMY". Be sure that you have sufficient case cooling as well as a good HSF combo.

HAPPY OC'ING

:)

[moonunit]

Originally posted by rogerdugans

Cpu FSB Plus adds FSB on the cpu side only, if the cards are holding you up. NOTE: on my Abit KT-7a this option does nothing but create instability!



I've used it up to +11 (don't know about more than that) with no noticeable instability. How strange. Maybe it's down to odd chips that can cope with the buses running out of sync?

[rogerdugans]

Originally posted by moonunit


I've used it up to +11 (don't know about more than that) with no noticeable instability. How strange. Maybe it's down to odd chips that can cope with the buses running out of sync?


It could also be that I didn't mess with it until I had the other specs set and was trying to get just a few more mhz out of it (which I just remembered!) I might have just hit the limits of my chip.:cool: