total newbie OC question (Barton 2800+)

hi all, I was looking for some suggestions for a possible overclock on my PC. The idea is, if I have a DDR400 ram and a 333 processor (2800 xp), would it be possible to bring the fsb to 400 without frying my system ? and moreover, would I get some decent performance boost ? actually my ram is down at 333 to keep the 1:1 ratio in order to achieve the best performance (as it is said somewhere).

If I raise the fsb I will also have to lower the multiplier right ? will it be possible on my processor ? any suggestion would be really appreciated !

the main thing that worries me is the cpu temp .. with the stock fan I get ~50C when idle, which is not so good right ? considering that I installed it myself so I could have screwed up something

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XP 2800, 512 MB Kingston pc3200, Epox 8rda+ rev1.1, Powercolor radeon 9800 Pro

DO NOT try to overclock anything until you get that temp down about
15 deg. lower.
The first thing you should do is make sure your heatsink is set right
and making good contact with your CPU. It is possible to put it on backwards
so make sure you have it on the right way.
If your using the white goop for your thermal compound THROW IT AWAY.
Go to your local comp. store and get Arctic Silver compound.

After performing these steps report back with your temps to get more advice.

hm as I thought, I will check that. By the way, while I am at it do you think I should buy a better fan (if so which one?) than the stock one since I'm going to try to overclock or is the a.s. thermal compound enough ?
thanks !

I would definately consider upgrading the heatsink and fan when you
get your temp down enuff to do some overclocking.

Welcome to the Forums!

The stock HSF are not at all suitable for overclocking, even with AS-5. The first step should be to get the CPU cooled effectively. Here is a link to the current HS rankings from testing for Socket 462 boards.

http://www.overclockers.com/articles373/socketA.asp

The SLK-900 is excellent, even with lower noise 92mm fans. The Panaflow L1A and M1A fans are relatively quiet with high flow rates.

The SLK-900A is on sale at SVC for 19.99 plus shipping:

http://www.svc.com/thslcl.html

They are out of the Panaflow fans, but this Zalman has good specs at 53CFM for 36dBA.

http://www.svc.com/92zalzm.html

Add some AS-5 and you've got good cooling for a reasonable price.

thanks for your suggestions ! well of course -sic- SVC doesn't ship here in Italy but hopefully I'ill find a good alternative shop these parts. I'll let you know, thanks again !

hi again,
since I had to wait for the local shop with the heatsinks to open I looked a little bit around and tried innocently to underclock my barton 2800, which normally runs at 166x12.5. On the bios menu I tried to put it at 166x12.0, rebooted and then the bios recognized it as a 1250 mhz, 12.5x100 (?!) processor and stopped because of a "failed overclock". Now, doesn't this mean that my processor's multiplier is locked ? Will I be able to bring the fsb up to 200 keeping the same multiplier without burning down the whole thing with a simple air cooling system ?

Your chip may be locked. The newer Bartons are. I'll move this into AMD CPUs where you will get better answers to your questions. I'll also modify the title to be a bit more descriptive. Good luck.

Yeah, the CPU is probably locked. And unless you can squeze 2.5GHz out of it which, most likely won't happen then you won't be able to hit 200MHz FSB.

Xaotic said:

Welcome to the Forums!

The stock HSF are not at all suitable for overclocking, even with AS-5. The first step should be to get the CPU cooled effectively. Here is a link to the current HS rankings from testing for Socket 462 boards.

http://www.overclockers.com/articles373/socketA.asp

The SLK-900 is excellent, even with lower noise 92mm fans. The Panaflow L1A and M1A fans are relatively quiet with high flow rates.

The SLK-900A is on sale at SVC for 19.99 plus shipping:

http://www.svc.com/thslcl.html

They are out of the Panaflow fans, but this Zalman has good specs at 53CFM for 36dBA.

http://www.svc.com/92zalzm.html

Add some AS-5 and you've got good cooling for a reasonable price.

Click to expand...

Unfortunatly they are not $20 anymore but I highly receommend, and follow what these people say. I would touch the FSB at the temps that you have now unless you want to buy a cpu also. I have a locked Barton and you can go as high as your system can handle as far as the fsb goes. You really dont want your temps to go above 50C with a full load let alone at idle! And stick with the As5 and lap whatever hs you get just so you can drop the temps some more. Thermalright hs sometimes dont need to be lap but it sure doenst hurt.

You can easily hit 2.25Ghz with a 2800 with proper cooling. Just look at my sig.

yep but you know I felt like.. why if I have a DDR400 ram I can't make it run at 400 ?
Supposing I had the opportunity to exchange my barton 2800 with a 2700+ (non-barton I guess.. ? it is 166x13, higher freq than mine.. ) which *seems* unlocked (I tried loweing the multiplier to 12.5 and windows booted and recognized it as a 2.09 ghz proc, before it was a 2.16 or so, I didn't make any other tests ), would it be worth it ? could I make it run at 200 fsb ? would that be a waste of time with no difference with my barton @180 fsb ?

thanks for your help !