New Kid…

Hi People, I was just after a bit of advice… I’ve never tried over clocking my pc before and after reading a few of the tips in the forum I thought that I would give it a go…

My current system is an AMD K2 Athlon XP 2000+ running at 1.24Ghz with 512mb of DDR Ram. If I go into the bios and increase the following from…

CPU SPEED 100/100MHZ
1.744 VOLTS
CPU FREQUENCY 100MHZ
DRAM FREQUENCY 100MHZ

To…

CPU SPEED 133/133MHZ

I restart and the processor speed is increased to 1.7mhz ;) However the cpu temp also increases from 50 oc to 57 oc ;( I was just wondering if this is running to hot and may fry my processor?

Any advice?

Cheers,

dEVS!

Well for starters your CPU is meant to run at 133FSB. You were basically underclocking it running at 100FSB, so at the moment you haven't really overclocked anything ;).

Increasing the FSB will also increase the memory speed, it should also now be running at 133 (266DDR).

57c isn't too hot, but if that's an idle temperature, it's going to go a lot higher under load. What cooler do you have on the CPU?? and if you're new to this I'll guess you're not using any Artic Silver on it either.

Once we get the basics sorted out we can take it further, but first thing I'd say is get better cooling.

devs as well as getting a decent CPU cooler I would reccommend some case fans to draw hot air out and blow cool air in. You will only be able to overclock to a limited extent by increasing the FSB after this you will need to consider unlocking the multipliers on the processor.

I've used many times in the many systems the alpha pal-8045 heatsink with a 30 mm delta fan works great (about 5500 RPM) then I tried the Thermaltake Volcano 6, crazy set up, nice copper heatsink nice 45 mm fan! And it runs at almost 8000 RPM plus there is a switch to change speeds when you don't need massive cooling.

Hi Violator and Jonathant, many thanks for the reply's! I had a feeling that it should run at 133mhz it was set to 100mhz when I bought it for some reason? Trust its okay for me to also increase the memory speed to 133 (266DDR) - that’s not going to cause any problems?

The temp went to 57c after running a couple of pretty heavy apps. photoshop / illustrator etc. (is there a way to check the temp in XP other than in the bios?) so I hope that it won't get much hotter than that?

"What cooler do you have on the CPU?" mate I no that this sounds lame as fcuk but I have no idea? I'll try and find out tonight when I get home from work! I'm more of a computer user than into the hardware side of things, the most I've ever done in the past is bang in a scsi card and a bit more ram. Yet I'm pretty interested in learning more about this!

No mate I've not got an Artic Silver on it - what is it and where can I get one?

Jonathant I'll take a look into buying some case fans is there any that you would recommend? Also how do I go about unlocking the multipliers, do I need some software?

If I did everything possible to overclock my machine what would be the fastest speed that I could get the processor to before it becomes unstable?

Many Thanks!!!

dEVS!

OK let's take this one step at a time :)

First of all, you want to get a temperature reading of the CPU while under 100% load i.e. while it is doing something particularly intensive, not after it's finished as the temp will drop then.

Motherboard Monitor will tell you this, go here, click downloads and get the latest version (5.2.1.0). Then download toast and run that for a bit. Keep an eye on your temperatures.

Increasing the memory speed to 133 should cause you no problem at all. Since you're running DDR, you must at least be using PC2100 memory which is rated at 133Mhz.

Artic Silver is a heat-transferring compound that overclockers tend to use on the core of the CPU. Used thinly with a good heatsink/fan combination, it can greatly reduce CPU temperatures.

Case fans, this depends on how much noise you want. If you want power and good cooling, but noisy, get Delta. If you want a more stable balance I'd look at YS-TECH (I use these myself). As for CPU coolers there are a wide variety available at widely varying costs, however if you're looking at overclocking, buying a good one now will save a lot of hassle later on.

Unlocking the chip actually requires you to join some bridges on the chip itself, and in the case of the XP, fill in the pits inbetween. It's fiddly but not that difficult, but I think it might be something to look at later for you. Right now you can adjust the FSB and this will allow you to increase the CPU speed (up to a point).

System stability is where you start increasing voltages to compensate, and once you start doing that, you need good cooling. So get that sorted before you increase anything else :). The 2000s can be OK overclockers, it depends on the chip stepping (think of that like a revision). I've seen anywhere from 1700Mhz to 2100Mhz (that's with water cooling), I'd expect anywhere between 1700 & 1800Mhz as a reasonable guess.

The overall system speed doesn't just depend on the CPU however, raising the FSB increases both CPU and memory speed, as well as the AGP/PCI bus speeds, this has a greater overall effect than just raising the CPU.

Now, if you're not confused yet, good :D. If you want to know anything else just ask :)

Wow Violator - Top post mate, okay for starters I'm off to d'l those apps. I'll come back as soon as I can yet it may be on Wed. because I'm off out later tonight!

Many Thanks,

dEVS!

P.S. I had a look at the fan on my CPU and it just says “Cooler Master” on it if that means anything to you?

Cheers,

dEVS!

Hi Violator - I've got both of those apps dows now mate - yet I can see where it tells me the temp in MBM? I thought it would be under system info? Yet this is all that it says...

----MBM SYSTEM INFO-----

MBM 5.2.1.0
MBM 5 Core EXE : 5.2.1.0
MBM 5 Core DLL : 5.2.1.0
MBM 5 Settings DLL : 5.2.1.0
MBM 5 Dashboard DLL : 5.2.1.0
MBM 5 Hibernation DLL : 5.0.0.0
MBM 5 Ras DLL : 5.0.0.0
MBM 5 Logger DLL : 5.1.9.0
MBM 5 Mail, FTP and UDP DLL : 5.2.1.0
MBM 5 OSD DLL : 5.0.0.3
MBM 5 ASPI DLL : 5.2.1.0
MBM 5 Heat Up EXE : 5.0.0.0
MBMIO DLL : 1.0.0.2

DLL Folder Location : C:\Program Files\Motherboard Monitor 5\DLL\
Data Folder Location : C:\Program Files\Motherboard Monitor 5\Data\
Language Folder Location : C:\Program Files\Motherboard Monitor 5\Language\
Log Folder Location (Alarm) : c:\program files\motherboard monitor 5\log\
Log Folder Location (High Low): c:\program files\motherboard monitor 5\log\
Log Folder Location (Interval): c:\program files\motherboard monitor 5\log\

Selected Language : English

Info ChipInfo.ini : 16129 bytes 30/10/2002 14:57:36
Info shdn.ini : 388 bytes 12/10/2000 17:47:06
Info Language file : 22247 bytes 04/10/2002 07:35:54

Up Time MBM session : 00:00:03:55
Up Time MBM total : 00:00:03:55

------Sensor Chip-------

Main Sensor Chip : Sis950 / ITE8705F
SMB Address : $0C00
Used Bus : ISA
ISA Address : $0290

-Sensor Chip Selections-

Possible Temp Sensors[2] : Sis950/ITE8705F-1
Possible Temp Sensors[3] : Sis950/ITE8705F-1 Diode
Possible Temp Sensors[4] : Sis950/ITE8705F-2
Possible Temp Sensors[5] : Sis950/ITE8705F-2 Diode
Possible Temp Sensors[6] : Sis950/ITE8705F-3
Possible Temp Sensors[7] : Sis950/ITE8705F-3 Diode


Possible Voltage Sensors[2] : MBM Fixed

Selected Voltage Sensors[1] : MBM Fixed
Selected Voltage Sensors[2] : MBM Fixed
Selected Voltage Sensors[3] : MBM Fixed
Selected Voltage Sensors[4] : MBM Fixed
Selected Voltage Sensors[5] : MBM Fixed
Selected Voltage Sensors[6] : MBM Fixed
Selected Voltage Sensors[7] : MBM Fixed

Possible Fan Sensors[1] : Sis950 / ITE8705F-1
Possible Fan Sensors[2] : Sis950 / ITE8705F-2
Possible Fan Sensors[3] : Sis950 / ITE8705F-3


Possible Voltage Sub Types[0] : Sis950 / ITE8705F -1
Possible Voltage Sub Types[1] : Sis950 / ITE8705F -2
Possible Voltage Sub Types[2] : Sis950 / ITE8705F -3
Possible Voltage Sub Types[3] : Sis950 / ITE8705F -4
Possible Voltage Sub Types[4] : Sis950 / ITE8705F -5
Possible Voltage Sub Types[5] : Sis950 / ITE8705F -6
Selected Voltage Sub Type : Sis950 / ITE8705F -1

--Sensor Chip Readings--

Voltage Readout[1] : 1.75926
Voltage Readout[2] : 2.48
Voltage Readout[3] : 3.296
Voltage Readout[4] : 5.0434272
Voltage Readout[5] : 12.65376
Voltage Readout[6] : -12.146964

---------System---------

Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP (NT 5.1) (Build 2600)
User : User
Memory in use : 40%
Total Physical Memory : 523760 KB
Available Physical Memory : 313820 KB

----------CPU-----------

CPU Speed : 1662 MHz
Nr of CPU's : 1

-------3rd Party--------

ShutDownNow :

----Advanced Settings---

Fan Temp : 0
Startup Delay : 0
SMB Scan Range : $10 - $7F
Asus Geforce Scan : 1
Asus Geforce Path :

Cheers m8,

dEVS!

Any ideas Violator?

Cheers!

Hi Devs sorry for the delay :)

If you can't get MBM to display correctly, try MBProbe. Used to use it myself, should tell you the necessary. If you're using 2000/XP make sure and get the additional file required at the bottom of the page.

Hey no worrys m8!

I just downloaded MBProbe and installed it when I'm running it - it comes up with the following alert!

http://dital.co.uk/probe.jpg

Any idea what I need to do to rectify this m8?

Cheers,

dEVS!

Quote:

---

Originally posted by devs
Hey no worrys m8!

I just downloaded MBProbe and installed it when I'm running it - it comes up with the following alert!

http://dital.co.uk/probe.jpg

Any idea what I need to do to rectify this m8?

Cheers,

dEVS!

---

Just untick the vccp2 alert box, that's OK. I think tho' that the CPU and AUX1 settings need to be switched around, I think 51 is more like the CPU temp ;). You can do this in the properties section if I remember.

Great Cheers Violator!

How about the -5V is that okay mate?

dEVS!

Yeah no need to worry about that m8. The ones you want to keep an eye on are the 2.5, 5 & 12v lines. They power the memory, CPU and drives specifically. A drop of up to 0.15 is OK on any of those lines, any more and start worrying a bit :).

I noticed your system temperature seems really high, if you don't have them already consider investing in a couple of case fans, one to draw air in, one to blow out, it'll make a decent difference to your temps.

If you feel reasonably comfortable opening the PC and taking off the cooler from the CPU, applying some Artic Silver would be a great move too.

Cheers for the advice Violator - to be honest I didn't even know that the temp was real high? (I don't know whats the norm). I'll get hold of a couple of the fans and see if that can sort it out for me. Whats the ideal temp that it should be running it m8?

Thanks,

dEVS!

Your system temps should ideally be in the mid/low 20s. CPU temp (again ideally) should be under 50, but the lower the better basically.

Okay thanks for letting me know m8!

dEVS!