How good of a cooler do I need before I overclock this?

[dezroba]

Hi all. I'm a complete newbie, but I'm planning on doing some research myself, so I'm begging not to be mocked or put down.

First of all, I intend to get a new cooler before I overclock my 8 years old computer.
Here are the specifications:
motherboard MS-6330 ATX
processor AMD Duron Spitfire 900MHz, Bus speed 100MHz.
128MB SDRAM

As you can guess, it's rather slow and weak. I was thinking of adding 512MB more of RAM, and since I can only find PC133 in local shops (I'm from Croatia), I was thinking I'd overclock the CPU so it would fit... Before I do that I must install a new cooler. Would it be enough if I got a passive cooler and used thermal grease? (in these 8 years I did nothing in that matter. CPU's temperature is 47°C at normal usage.)

 

[Xtreme Barton]

well this will be a good learning point for you .. i wouldnt buy a new heatsink personally .. id just get some good thermal goop and make sure you have the best fan in your machine cooling your heatsink .. ill look up your mobo just to see whats available in the options .. but work with what you have first .. putting money into really wouldn't be the best idea in my opinion unless once you get access to classifieds and get stuff for dirt cheap and want to do some super duper fast web browsing D) ..

 

[dezroba]

Thanks for the reply!

Err, I wouldn't mind it being able to play and burn DVD's (which it can't at the moment, and not only because it doesn't yet have the DVD-ROM in it).

Yes, I didn't mention that working with what I have is the primary option. Cause I'm cheap, there.


But how long will the CPU last once it's been overclocked, especially if I only use the paste? (It said it could go as far as 1,4GHz, but I'd be happy with anything, I guess.)

 

[Xtreme Barton]

as long as your temps and voltages are good then you can plan on having it work as long as you did without overclocking .. thats what we generally like to think anyways

id just start and play around with what you got ..build up some post and then access to classifieds and if then you still want to put money into it you should be able to find some cheap parts for it ..

allot of us here understand the $ thing .. some of us don't (cough cough krag.. he has a money tree i just know it )

so by fiddling around with what you got and getting a good "fell" for things before putting more money into and then playing with it (weird things sometimes happen when you fist start messing around, at least for me it did) .. i hate to see you upgrade it then something go wrong as opposed to something going wrong before more money is spent ..

 

[dezroba]

Thanks a lot, you're very kind!
So (*did* I get you right? D: ) you're suggesting that for the start I just get some grease and overclock it? No new cooler before I start?

 

[dezroba]

Could I perhaps increase fan rpm? D:

 

[ezcharlie]

thermaltake has a lot of solid copper socket a / 462 coolers.
like thermaltake volcano and big typhoon.
excellent socket a coolers. then do the pencil trick to get 133mhz fsb from your 100mhz
cpu. (unlock your cpu)
so that should make use of your pc133 ram you buy.
make sure you have a decent true-rated psu. (300w is fine)
w/ generic psu's, mobo atx connectors will easily burn out.

if you have a generic psu, don't bother overclocking.
just save your money and buy a new computer.
overclocking w/ a generic power supply will almost guarantee burning
a power connector or two on your computer.

 

[dezroba]

Thanks, charlie! I believe that psu (I've changed it a few years ago) is of 420W, but I'll have to check. I just found some PC100 SDRAM in classifieds. How much do you reckon would its performance improve if I just added 512MB of RAM?
I checked local suppliers, there's Thermaltake Volcano 7 in stock, is that okay? I don't get these specifications...

 

[muddocktor]

dezroba, those old Spitfire Durons weren't great overclockers. Depending on the stepping, you might get up to 1.2 or maybe 1.3 with the later steppings. I remember messing with a few back in the day that were some of the earlier steppings and they didn't go much beyond 1.0 GHz. If I were you, I wouldn't put much money in that old system trying to get a few more Mhz out of the old girl. Your overclocking luck will also depend on the board you have too. If your board has the original KT133 chipset and not the KT133A chipset, you will be lucky to get much past 120 fsb speeds with it. Try upping the fsb speed with your present cooler and watch temps closely and see how far you can get before you need to add vcore to the processor.