overclocking my computer - newbie

Hey there. I saw a lot of stickies and threads and so on and so forth. And I was confused as to where to start with overclocking and such.

So, I decided to just start a thread. I invested recently in a new computer (well, assembled..my friend assembled it for me). And I spent some money on it, so I just wanted to be on the safe side and ask you guys how to go about doing this then reading the FAQ's. With the FAQ's there is always a risk that it may not work with my computer, and so on and so forth

So, first I hope you guys wouldn't mind this thread.
Second, my computer specs

Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (has a heatsink on it - thats what I think its called)
Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X
Video Card: MSI FX 5600 (has a fan on it)
RAM: 512 DDR RAM
Dual Fan's at the back
420 power supply
Standard ATX Case

Well, I guess that's all the information you guys need. So, first, I want to do some "overclocking" on the software side. That means not actually opening up my computer again. Stuff from the BIOS and programs in Windows and such.
I do preferably want the best performance from these as well.

Now, I don't know how to go on about doing so.
Another thing. When this computer was all assembled and setup. I installed windows and then popped in the ASUS CD. I installed it and I learnt that it had the nforce2 unified drivers. So I went ahead and thought that maybe there are more updated drivers. So, I went onto the nvidia site and downloaded the latest ones from there. And I also got my video card drivers from the nvidia site (but it says MSI on the box. Which driver should I get? the one from their site or nvidia's site).

I installed all the latest windows update. and latest unified nforce2 drivers and latest geforce fx 5600 driver both from the nvidia site.

However, I then noticed that when I do click on My Computer and select properties. All I see under system is 512 RAM, not AMD Athlon XP and 2.08 Ghz (i think). Is it because of the drivers? However, when I do look into the windows device manager, I do see amd athlon xp under processors.

So, I know it's there. Just dont know why it doesn't show up in System in the control panel.

Anyways, how should I start with this. As you can see, I am not much of a hardware man. So I really dont know much about hardware. But I am willing to learn.
If you guys need any more information, just tell me, and I will gladly post it.

Ok updating drivers is great .

Second its good to know that you know your system specs.
Personally i was and still am terrifie (oh god im gonna get raved on for this) but its just i didnt wanna fry a processor. NOW DONT BE SCARED OF THAT LOL. thats the first mitake.

ITS THE HARDEST THING TO DO! with all these damn temp sensors and what not...its increasingly hard to fry your chip...as long as you montior your temps..now remember idle temps are BS, its all about LOAD TEMPS...this means after you overclock your system run a program that will keep your processor at 100% for a time. I personally like toast, others prime95, or [email protected] i personally dont thing does the greatest job.. (use toast or prime95, hell use both)

But basically your ready, once you know how to monitor your temps , go to the bios and go to chipset settings (i can use the exact stuff cuz wel...i forget the exact words) advanced chipset settings i think. Then find your Front side buss and up it. Depending what your multiplyer is and if your unstable try lowering your fsb (front side bus) or upping your vcore.

LMK if thats unclear or not, and if your having trouble.
REMEMBER MONITOR YOUR TEMPS..i personally hate being past 50° but my load temp is 38.

anyways enjoy and be safe

~Zoltan

step one. back up any software/data you cannot live without.
step two. read the motherboards manual
step three. find out what heat sink fan combo you have. No point in overclocking if you are already running too hot.


Like Zoltan said just overclock through the BIOS. the exact options vary from motherboard to motherboard but its all in your manual.

since i have the same mobo i should be able to help you if needed, just post replys

Thanks. I am not really sure what heatsink I have. Is there anyway to find out without actually opening the case?

Not if your friend doesnt remember what he put in there or if you have a window.

LOL Dude seriously.. you cant check it unless you go under there, well maybe by temps but hell nah, open your case..dont be scared lol. Just let us know what it looks like..better yet take a pic!

your MSI drivers aren't really any different than the nVidia ones.. maybe the date.. or maybe they include some of their own "goodies" inside which you can live without.

here's some good links:
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=207088 (kinda long but you'll understand overclocking a lot better)
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=44 (a special forum for your motherboard brand!)

As mentioned previously you might want to check your temperatures right now and make sure you're not over 50C or so. There is a good temp monitoring program called motherboard monitor 5 that will tell you your processor temps in windows so you can keep an eye on them. Second Do you know what type of RAM you used in the system? i.e PC2100, PC2700, PC3200? if you don't have 2700 or better then overclocking your system will be very limited. Once you have covered the previous bases go into your BIOS and look for something that says FSB speed or CPU host clock. It will be either 133 or 166 already. adjust this setting up by a few mhz at a time (2-3mhz) then save and exit the BIS then start up windows and check your temps. Then run Prime 95 or toast and watch your temps. If it rises much over 50C then you're pushing it. if the system runs stable for 1 hour or so of it then push it up some MHZ then repeat the last steps until the system becomes unstable and back off a few MHZ. You may also have to increase your VCORE to reach a higher overclock but this will also put out ALOT more heat than just upping the processor speed. Don't raid the Vcore anymore than you have too and only increase by .1 incriments to avoid overvolting the thing. If you're getting too hot then a better HSF would be in order. The more popular models are the sk-7 and slk-800. That will take care of the processor so now onto the video card. You'll want to look for something called COOLBITS. This is a registry hack for NVIDIA video cards that allows overclocking through the desktop properties. Once it's installed you can open your display properties and go to settings then advanced and then at the top there will be be a tab with the name of your video card there. opent hat tab and there will be an option clock frequencies. you'll have to enable clock changes then restart the system. After you have if you go back there will be two sliders that will allow you change your RAM and GPU speeds. As with the processor take it SLOWLY!! Now to make sure you're card isn't over heating use a program 3dmark 2001 or 2003 and run it after each speed increase. If you start getting random shapes and colors on the screen the card is too hot or fast. Just back the speeds off until the atrifacts go away. You'll then be about as overclocked as you're going to get without some more sever measures like watercooling and voltmoddingthe video card. Have fun with it and don't be affraid of it!! If you keep an eye on the temps everything will be fine. PM me or report back if you need any other info.

EDIT: phew long post

im gonna post here cuz hell im gonna post here lol.,

you say up a few mhz at a time..why cant i do that lol i have 3 choices 100,133,166,and 200...any idea why..oh and thats it nothing more nothing less.

Lord_Zoltan said:

im gonna post here cuz hell im gonna post here lol.,

you say up a few mhz at a time..why cant i do that lol i have 3 choices 100,133,166,and 200...any idea why..oh and thats it nothing more nothing less.

Click to expand...

I'm not completely farmiliar with how the A7N8X board's bios works. All the boards I have used have given me the option of 1 mhz increments increases. Perhaps someone else can give more input on that situation?

kaltag said:

I'm not completely farmiliar with how the A7N8X board's bios works. All the boards I have used have given me the option of 1 mhz increments increases. Perhaps someone else can give more input on that situation?

Click to expand...

hmm weird..i should make a post of it in the a7n8x board in the specific location..bah to tired i do i tlater lol i can barly time sorry for not re reading this post

there should be something that says optimal right above the FSB. Adjust that to expert and then you can adjust it. I believe anyway. I can't remember the exact wording tho.

I guess it's time to open up the case and look at what heatsink fan I have. However, thanks for the advice so far. I'll keep you guys updated and will look for my advice