hey all...i was jus wondering about what you think about my rig

[Nishant]

hey all...i was jus wondering about what you think about my rig

[AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton @ xp3200+ at 2.20ghz (200FSBx11 multiplier]
[Thermaltake volcano cool mod 9 hsf]
[Asus A7N8X-X motherboard]
[768MB ram - generic...not that good but hey its my first comp]
[PC Color radeon 9200se videocard]
[160GB 7200RPM Maxtor HDD]
[60GB 7200RPM Maxtor HDD]
[LG dual DVD + DVD RAM writer]
[sony dvd/cdr/cdrw combo]
[40ºC Idle/43ºC Load]

[4512-3DMARK03]

so how would you guys rate it? as its my first computer

EDIT:hey all i got me a radeon 9800 pro and ran a few benchmarks and this is what i got

[3DMARK01 - 15243]
[3DMARK03 - 5680]
[Aquamark03 Triscore - 38039]

 

[dicecca112]

5-6. But a heck of lot better than my first rig.

 

[WyrmMaster]

5-6. But a heck of lot better than my first rig.

aww, only 5 - 6... you hurt my computers feelings (cause my system is almost the same)

j/k man, i know my system isnt top of the line anymore... but whatever.

Nishant: not bad... should do everything you want it to do, and will be a good starting point to learn from.

 

[Nishant]

thanks for the 5-6 rating dicecca112...i just built this system 2 months ago and after reading a lot about overclocking mainly from here...i took the jump to see what i can do...and yeh this is what i got...by the way..i was just wondering..can i take the fsb higher than 200 coz i have a feeling it will run fine but since the motherboard says 266/333/400 fsb..what'll happen if i go above 400 mhz??

thanks

 

[Restorer]

What speed is your memory? Is it running 1:1 with your FSB?

 

[hkh]

The only thing that is really hurting performes is that 9200SE if you have the money a 9800pro is a good buy or waight for the X700 line of cards.

 

[dicecca112]

I'll tell you why only a 5-6. The video card, the heatsink, and the amount of ram. I mean it's a great rig, but not the best. Upgrade that Video and Heatsink, and I'd give it a 7-8.

 

[Nishant]

yeh im saving up for a radeon 9800pro but for now im stuck with the 9200se...and the heatsink..i might upgrade to a better one after the video card....any suggestions for the hsf?...oh and as for Restorer's question...well im not too sure but its on auto..hope that helps.

 

[dicecca112]

sp-97 on the heatsink if you can find it. and for a fan couple it with a Tornado on a fan controller.

 

[Nishant]

what would you say about a radeon 9600xt as its in my price range or should i wait until i have enuf for the 9800pro....as its about a $100 cheaper

 

[daniel_dynasty]

grab the 9800 pro 128 version. the 9600xt is bout the same price... 43 C is great i dont see anything wrong with his temps

 

[Nishant]

nah the 9800pro is nz$380 here and the 9600xt is nz$280

 

[stompah]

Get the 9800pro.

I have a 8500 and had a 9600xt. There wasnt a huge difference between the two for me. Now if I jumped to a 9800pro it would have been a huge difference. I think the money is well spent this time.

 

[Nishant]

in response to Restorer...my ram is running at 6:5 ratio with the fsb...so can i take my fsb over 200? but what happens if it goes over 400mhz...and i was just wondering..what happens if i take it over 400..will it damage my system?

 

[iNterBeiNg]

so can i take my fsb over 200? but what happens if it goes over 400mhz...and i was just wondering..what happens if i take it over 400..will it damage my system?

It won't damage your system, people run at over 200mhz fsb all the time. The worst that could happen would be needing to jump the cmos due to the computer not posting, but that would be due to either your memory not being able to handle the speed or your cpu not having enough voltage.

You should really see if you can run the ram and fsb at a 1:1 ratio if you havent tried yet, as running an athlon xp based system at anything other than will give you a pretty big decrease in performance due to the loss of memory bandwidth.

 

[Nishant]

You should really see if you can run the ram and fsb at a 1:1 ratio if you havent tried yet, as running an athlon xp based system at anything other than will give you a pretty big decrease in performance due to the loss of memory bandwidth.

hi..i am not too familiar with the ram : fsb ratio and how would i change it...under the ram frequency setttings there are options like ...by sdp, bunch of percentages and auto...which one do i choose?

 

[iNterBeiNg]

set it to 100%
btw what kind of ram do you have? pc3200, pc 2700 etc. If your ram is too slow it may not be able to handle 200 mhz fsb at 100% You should have at least pc 3200 for it to handle that speed, but some good pc 2700 is quite capable of 200 mhz.

 

[Nishant]

ive got pc2700..

 

[iNterBeiNg]

ok I would suggest setting your ram at 100% and your fsb at 166 in the bios, leave your cpu voltage where it is for the time being, from there go up in 2mhz increments on the fsb, checking to see if it will boot into windows before moving forward. If your computer doesnt post try increasing the voltage to your memory or increasing the timings and then start again from where you left off. Hopefully you will get to at least 200 mhz stable that way you dont lose any cpu speed. Be sure to run some stability tests once you find your limit and back down if necessary.

 

[Nishant]

ok i jus tried changing it to 100% but after doing that internet explorer crashed on me twice and i went back and changed it back to auto and its running at 6:5 ratio...but shouldnt pc2700 run at 333MHz?