overclocking tips

[outraged]

i currently have a Biostar M7VKD KT133A SND running a AMD 800mhz Duron i was wondering what would be a good and safe speed to overclock it to where i wouldnt have to spend much money on cooling or any other items

[The Spyder]

Well..... welcome to the forums! How big of a cooler do you have on it now?> If you could i would spend $20 on a thermaltake volcano 7- and after unlocking one of my duron 850- i was able to do 1125 (something like that over 1.1gig-) For unlocking all that you need it a pencil or try www.tomshardware.com for a guide-
Spyder

[outraged]

well right now i have this cooling off my cpu http://www.tcwo.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi...gi2Ty0VwL@t38e its a cheap fan that came with the motherboard cpu bundle but i know im gonna need a better fan right now i have a power supply fan blowing on my video card and my sound card

[akaBruno]

It's unlikely that your duron will do more than 1000. SOME GIRLS DO...SOME DON'T.

The 1st thing you do is check temps now. I use CPUCOOL because it's also an overclocking tool, for raising the fsb.

Search and research...remember cpu(mhz's)=fsb X mutiplier ratio.
So you're probably running at 100x8=800 now.

Keep those cpu temps below 50C and you'll be on the right road.

Nuthin to it.


BRUNO

[outraged]

well my bios has a cpu temp thing in it and it says it runs at 43C not sure if i can do any overclocking without buying a new fan/heatsink

[Pinky]

Originally posted by outraged
well my bios has a cpu temp thing in it and it says it runs at 43C not sure if i can do any overclocking without buying a new fan/heatsink

You MIGHT be able to get 1000 mhz from it without needing a new heatsink if the voltage required is only 1.8v (see my signature below).

43C isn't terrible, my duron hits 50C on a regular basis with a lapped Volcano II and arctic silver II

What's the stepping on the chip? Mine tops at 1053mhz@1.86v and 1150mhz@2.06v with a stepping of AKCA.

[outraged]

im not sure all i know is its a 800mhz AMD Duron i would look on the site i bought it at but they dont have 800mhz anymore only 900 and up

[SteveI]

e-tailers rarely even know the stepping they carry. The only way to know for sure is to remove the HSF and look directly on the CPU for it. I've had or helped build w/ 3 AGKGA durons, none wanted to go over 1ghz. I was using good air cooling and 1.85v. I also got very little extra speed for the extra voltage. Going from 1.6v to 1.85v only allowed another 50mhz or so.

If you don't want to spend extra, try upping the fsb without touching voltage. Depending on stepping, you might get to 1gig with low voltage, and less heat. Just keep an eye on your temps. At least see what your chip is capable of. You might be happy with the simplest and easiest o/c.

[outraged]

ok i added another fan from a power supply to the back of my computer right now i have it blowing air out of the back (sucking air from inside) should i change it to blowing on the inside, and my cpu is running at 38 39C should i add more cooling before overclocking or will that do it

and also what would be a good speed to o/c too?

[mookydooky]

39C is fine. You don't really need to worry until you start hitting 60C and over. I presume that the 39C is at idle which would probably translate to about 45C at load.

[outraged]

well i played counter strike with some programs like irc, firewall, and some ie windows and reboot and went in bios and it was reading 38 and 39C im gonna go download mbm and check it out from that

and can somebody tell me a program to tell my cpu temp besides my bios

[Kaitain]

and do any of those cpu cooler programs really work is that all fake

Ah, they work, but not in the way you'd think. They basically suspend your CPU during idle moments so that it consumes no power if it's not doing anything. That allows it to cool down. If you start playing CS or summat, it'll heat back up again pretty sharpish


(Does anyone know a good way to clean scorchmarks off a chip so I can RMA it?)

[outraged]

so what all do i do when i overclock just change jumpers or what and how fast do you think i could o/c too with it running at 801mhz at 41C at highest temp

[mookydooky]

Originally posted by outraged
so what all do i do when i overclock just change jumpers or what and how fast do you think i could o/c too with it running at 801mhz at 41C at highest temp

Duron 800 almost always OC to at least 1Ghz. You may need to up the voltage to 1.85. Your temp will also go up by 10-15% which is no biggie if your highest temp has been 41C so far.

[outraged]

well theres one other thing that might stop me my power supply is only 250W and i know that AMD recomends a 300W will this hurt anything or not?

[mookydooky]

Depends on your other hardware. I had an AXP 1600 OCed to 1600Mhz running on a 235 Watt PSU but that machine only had the basics. ATI Rage video card and NIC were all it had. It used the onboard sound and had a 5400 RPM HD. It ran fine like that. Eventually stuck on a better video card, DVD player and CD burner and upgraded to a 350 Watt PSU. I didn't try it, but I don't think that setup would have worked with the 235 Watt PSU.

[outraged]

i dont have alot but i have a cd-rw floppy sound card 3dfx voodoo3 2000 video card network card and two power supply fans plugged into the power supply cables

[akaBruno]

Idlers only work when idling. They shut down when your cpu is maxing. So think about a better fan for your heatsink. I've had problems w/ shutdowns over 50C, the reading is not that accurate.

It could be your P/S, but a good fan costs less to try.

BRUNO

[outraged]

so i should get a new fan/heatsink before i o/c or would it be fine to do it now? the max my cpu has ever got was 41C thats after gaming usually hangs around 39 to 40C