The AMD overclocking guide

[FortunateSon]

I got a couple of questions...is the only way to check the stepping to remove the heatsink and actually look at the chip?

And I have a stock HSF combo and my cpu (not OC'd) temp reads at 55.5 idle and about 60 running a game. Is this abnormally high? It runs at 51c with the chassis open btw

Also when I OC'd my 1800+(i know i need a better HSF) to 1.63 the temperature remained the same... looking at other people temperatures i was surprized that mine reads so high at spec speeds even with a stock amd HSF combo...anyone got any info abou this?

 

[Emericana]

Yes the only way to check the stepping is to remove the heatsink... go do it , it is good practice. i remember when i used to be scared to do it but now i have installed and removed hundreds of hsf units and waterblocks....

if you run non overclocked, those temps are fine.

when you run it overclocked, those are WAY to high. ESPECIALLY if you increase the voltage. i would invest $25 in a AX7 and use a spare case fan or any 80mm to cool it and i am sure you could get your chip to atleast 1.67ghz (2000+)

 

[FortunateSon]

Thanks for responding so soon, actually, I am pretty familiar with taking and putting together PC's so that's not the problem, I put this system together as well...I was just hesitant to take off the HSF as the thermal tape that comes with the chip stock tends to get dry and I didn't want to mess up a good contact without having a new HSF and some Arctic Silver ready to go. From what I hear cleaning off the tape is sort of a pain, but very necessary.

I was pleased with how easily I was able to achieve the small OC to 282Mhz FSB as on my KX7-333R this resulted in my memory bus running at 352Mhz which really gave me a good boost in performance. I have gone back to spec speed though until I get that new HSF....i was just testing how much hotter it would be, and like I said, the temperature was only 1c hotter if even that.

I have a spare case fan around but will that even fit on that Heatsink? I also am using an older Aopen 250W P/S so that needs to be replaced as well, I think. The 5V line on it reads 4.83 on average which, I believe, isn't well suited for OC'ing.


Abit KX7-333R
Athlon XP 1800+ (bought from Newegg last Nov, so a good stepping I hope)
256MB GeiL PC2700 DDR333 Ultra (CL2 2,5,2 1T)
GeForce4 MX420 64MB
WD 40GB 7200RPM (no raid yet)
Win98SE

 

[NO LIFE]

283 fsb!?!?!?! Is that a typo?

An 80mm fan will fit on the AX-7, they come with the proper clips.

-JP

 

[FortunateSon]

Sorry, i meant 141... x 2 would give me a 283 Double Data Rate (I was thinking FSB was = to the speed between CPU and memory like on my last PIII system), however, since I had originally set my memory bus up to 166 to make use of my DDR333 memory it boosted my memory bus to 352 which was a surprize to me (I guess that the seperate memory bus that my motherboard has simply uses a multiplier of about 1.25x or so)


Ok I got a few more questions since Im getting such good answers here:

Are standard case fans (I have some around) 80mm? and do they work decently? Or should I just get a good HS fan? I need a quiet one that still has max performance.

How about stacking 2 stock fans? does that help for cpu? I see you did it for your video card...

Will a 350W Power Supply be enough, and what is a good quiet one?

I think Im gonna have to cut a hole in the side to blow cool air right down on the CPU.

Ack! so far I need a new P/S, HSF, case fans, some chassis modding, and I wouldn't mind a better video card (though this one actually works pretty good for my mechwarrior games) and 3 more identical hard drives for RAID 0+1 ..Help, I need more money!!!
Oh, and May the DSL gods smile upon me soon.

On a budget, but still dreaming

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Why in gods name is this not stickied anymore?!!

 

[Emericana]

Are standard case fans (I have some around) 80mm? and do they work decently? Or should I just get a good HS fan? I need a quiet one that still has max performance.

Yes standard case fans are 80mm.... AX7 and SK7 are 80mm heatsinks so they only accept that size fans. A great fan that is quiet w/ good performance is the sunon 40CFM 32dba fan

How about stacking 2 stock fans? does that help for cpu? I see you did it for your video card...

Stock fans are 60mm so wont fit on those heatsinks... stacking fans is generally a bad idea though and really does not give any positive thing

Will a 350W Power Supply be enough, and what is a good quiet one?

SHould be fine but remember you are still taking risks at that level of your psu limiting your overclocking. if you can recomend getting 400w or more. directron.com has great PSU's

I think Im gonna have to cut a hole in the side to blow cool air right down on the CPU.

Great idea. this will give you 2-5C decrease in temps

Help, I need more money!!!

Sorry i cant help you there

 

[NO LIFE]

Go to www.2dcooltek.com/

They have lots of fans in all shapes and sizes. You can find whatever you need.

As for a HSF, www.crazypc.com always has sales on thermaltake products and you can find a really good deal.

I recently got a 450watt psu from newegg. It was only $41. Now Im not sure about the quality, but all I know right now is it is quiet, has 2 fans, has at least 400 watts of true power, looks good, and powers 5 80mm fans and an asus a7v333 no problem.

Heres the psu I got. Its an allied and says True 450 but I doubt that as most PSU except for the most expensive are actually less watts than advertised. But I am nearly positive it is 400 watts or maybe a little more. Im happy. Check out the place emricana mentioned 2. Im just giving you another option.

-JP

 

[Conan]

well i also liked this guide very much, maybe it's just me but after reading this i feel that all my questions concerning oc' have been answered...

i have a question now about the voltage. I got 5 case fans and an enermax 350w psu. I get 4.84 in +5V and 11.86 in +12V do u think this is ok and i am also planning to unlock my xp2000 proc. so after that will i have problems? Btw. i also got the kx7-333 mb...

 

[Emericana]

It is not great and if you are running stock voltage's right now, that will significantly hinder how high you can oc... your lines get worse and worse as you increase more voltage to the processor. Try seeing how far you can get on stock voltage. if you have a AGOIA/AROIA you could very well get 1800mhz... then slowly increase the voltage until it becomes unstable.... if you hit a brick wall or all of a sudden everything becomes really unstable, it is likely that voltage could be the reason

 

[Evnas]

Why in gods name is this not stickied anymore?!!

Was just wondering the same thing, hehe

 

[NO LIFE]

Emericana = GENIUS

 

[Pinky]

Bump

 

[vegabond21]

Hot, this is mad hot thanks alot your work is appreciated by the way anyone know which one the AIRGA # is on a 2200+? thanks

 

[Emericana]

The "number" you speek of is diff on each cpu.... assuming you mean something like 0240, that represents the year it was made in "02" and the week of the year it was made in "40".... for the most part the newer the better but that is not true for all Chips...

for example the AGOIA Y 0212/0213 and AROIA Y 0220 were by far the best palomino steppings even though some palamino's were produced as late as week 30.

on the TBred A, the best stepping is AIUGA 0241/0242.... these can EASILY do 2ghz whereas the later weeks can not do 2ghz without a lot of volts pumped through

on the Tbred B the best stepping so far seems to be AIUHB 0250 or AIUGB 0245