Wanted. Idiots guide to overclocking, or help from member

[PATo355]

Originally Posted by topgeartom right an update. Just after i posted i had a crack anyway. My bios isnt that complex, and i couldnt find anything that clearly gave the indication that it was either the FSB or clock multiplyer, but there was a setting for directly changing the clock mhz. I bumped it up from 133mhz to 143mhz, and this sent my overall speed from 1.6 to 1.8 Ghz. I already had speed fan, which sense the temps, and there was only a degree change - up to 41 on a general run. I still need to know how to reset the CMOS bios, in case i really screw it up, but i think i know what i am doing enough to have a go. I really didnt have much time yesterday, but when i get home today i will have another go - just increasing it in 1 mhz increments. Also gona have a look at getting another fan, to improove the airflow over the cpu.

Check the stability with superpi , dont know which memories are you using , but 10mhz in the FSB can be dangerous for the memories

superpi isnt the greatest stability test, use Prime95 for a real stability test.. if you can run that on torture test for at least 12 hours then you're ~stable

BTW.. don't put too much stock in the cpu temps reported by your motherboard, different boards can easily report 10-15°c different... the best test is system stability

[PATo355]

I would suggest changing the Multiplier instead of the FSB , check if youc an control the FSB apart from the Memory bus , and also check your memories speed , if they are 166mhz ( 333DDR ) , try putting the fsb to 166 , but slowly upping from 143 , if the system comes unstable , up the Vcore in 0.025 intervals , till you get the system running stable

[topgeartom]

Right. I got myslef another fan today, so that means i now have a fan low down on the front sucking in cold air, another on the back, blowing out hot air, a fan in my PSU, and a fan on my CPU. At steady tickover at the moment, running at 1.8Ghz i am at roughly 37C.

So, as you heard i have managed to alter the FSB (im learning the lingo now ) to 143, so my overall speed is just under 1.8 - i think i am going to pusha little harder soon, with a final goal of maybe 1.9Ghz.

As pato requested though,
1) cpu-z results:
CPU-Z Report

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU-Z version 1.24.


CPU(s)
Number of CPUs 1

Name AMD Athlon XP
Code Name Thoroughbred
Specification AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2100+
Family / Model / Stepping 6 8 1
Extended Family / Model 7 8
Package Socket A
Core Stepping B0
Technology 0.13 µ
Supported Instructions Sets MMX, Extended MMX, 3DNow!, Extended 3DNow!, SSE
CPU Clock Speed 1787.5 MHz
Clock multiplier x 12.5
Front Side Bus Frequency 143.0 MHz
Bus Speed 286.0 MHz
L1 Data Cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size
L1 Instruction Cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size
L2 Cache 256 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64 Bytes line size
L2 Speed 1787.5 MHz (Full)
L2 Location On Chip
L2 Data Prefetch Logic yes
L2 Bus Width 64 bits



Mainboard and chipset
Motherboard manufacturer
Motherboard model K7VM2., 3.0X
BIOS vendor American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS revision P1.90
BIOS release date 08/28/2003
Chipset VIA P4M266/KM266 (VT8375) rev. 0
Southbridge VIA VT8235 rev. 0
Sensor chip Winbond W83697HF

Graphic Interface AGP
AGP Status enabled, rev. 2.0
AGP Data Transfert Rate 4x
AGP Max Rate 4x
AGP Side Band Addressing supported, enabled
AGP Aperture Size 128 MBytes



Memory
DRAM Type DDR-SDRAM
DRAM Size 1024 MBytes
DRAM Frequency 143.0 MHz
FSBRAM 1:1
DRAM Interleave none
CAS# Latency 2.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge 3 clocks
Cycle Time (TRAS) 6 clocks
# of memory modules 2
Module 0 Hyundai Electronics DDR-SDRAM PC3200 - 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz)
Module 1 DDR-SDRAM PC2700 - 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2700 (166 MHz)



Software
Windows version Microsoft Windows XP Workstation Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
DirectX version 9.0c

2) Motherboard
It is an ASrock K7VM2 with chipset VIA P4M266/KM266 (VT8375)

3) Memory speed
The max speeds are listed above, but they are both currently running at 143Mhz (i think/hope)

4) Fan
I have the two case fans - not sure what brand, and my CPU fan which is stock - i have not changed it. There is a ribbed metal thingy below the fan as well, which i presume is the heatsink. This is also stock

5) Temperature
I havent tried mobo monitor yet, but my current temp sensor shows about 37C after been run for a few hours, with normal usage.

Hope this helps!

{edit} WTF the ailien is doing in ym post i dont know - i think that i must have accidentally typed it's shortcut! lol

The motherboard model is K7VM2 3.0 X

[topgeartom]

well, it's running fine at 1.8 at the moment, and it's even cooler than at 1.6 wot with my new fan 'n' all.

I'll take your advice though, and put a new motherboard at the top of my shopping list! any good recommendations at a good price?

[topgeartom]

your a legend! when ido get some money in, i will name my budget!

So, expect to get a call from me in about 3 years!

{edit} i've just had a look at the otherboard you mentioned, and it is the exact same one i have been looking at on amazon! Roughly £50 so falls in the "maybe achievable" category.