Overclocking suggestions.

[ShepsCrook]

Right now I have this setup.

Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev.2
AMD Athlon XP 2500 Barton 333FSB
Vantec Tornado which is doing anywhere from 5900RPM-6300RPM
And the Swiftech MCX462-V
Ram is just Corsair XMS Platinum DDR333 (Will go to DDR400) if need be which I'm sure is the case.

Now, this is my first full attempt at overclocking.
At normal temps it's running at about 32c
I overclocked it to 2.0ghz just to see, and it's at about 35c idle with windows.

Any suggestions? I'm definitely going to get some better thermal paste and coat that bad boy, but I'm just wondering if this is looking normal and what to try next in this case.

 

[Tordek]

The 2500+ can do a 400 Mhz FSB so go for it
But first get the ddr 400

since you wont be going much farther that 200 FSB do not go for expensive ram, instead just get a normal pc3200 or 3500 to be sure.

 

[ShepsCrook]

Well, I basically figured going DDR400 would be the main thing. But do you think the Vantec, and the Swiftech will do me good for some decent overclocking?

 

[Tordek]

Yes it will hold a good overclock. I don't know if you have the 80mm Tornado or the 92mm but either will do. The swiftech is the one with the pointy things going out, like a punk's head right?
if it is then you are more than ok
Put some artic silver 5 on it just to be sure. It gives you 5 degrees less or so.

 

[ShepsCrook]

I got the 80mm Tornado, and yes, the swiftech is the one with all the pointy looking things, but also the pointy things are like screws in this model so there's more surface area.

I haven't gotten around to getting some good thermal paste so I just orderd the 12gram tube of Arctic Silver 5 like you suggested.

As well as I have some Samsung PC-3200 512MB coming to match the spare one I have and so I can utilize dual channel mode. I'll have 1024MB of that.

Then the overclocking will begin.

How would you suggest I go about it?
Just play around with the multipliers?
I know my CPU is unlocked so that's not bad.

I just want to go 400FSB with maybe 2.0ghrz with this thing.
I've seen better but I don't feel like pushing it too much to start.
Also, what would you say I should change the VCore too for the CPU?

My computer's profile is in my signature also.

 

[rogue_jedi]

1.85 vcore should be fine with that cooling. then try setting 200fsb and see what happens. it may also help to increase the ram voltage a bit (2.7-2.8) good luck.

 

[ShepsCrook]

I put in the new ram, and switched up the FSB to 200, then took the multiplier down by I think 1x or 2x, can't remember, then started the computer up. The bios says it's running fine at 32-33c as a Athlon XP 3200 with 400FSB. No voltage changes to anything. Asusprobe says 30c but I believe the Bios before Asusprobe. I'm getting a new download of that anyways to hopefully fix that problem.

So right now, it's running at 2.2ghrz no problem. I could kick it up a notch or so even by the looks of things. I think I'll wait to see how this turns out.

Thanks for the help.

 

[ShepsCrook]

It looks as though I've got some system instability. Games as well as Windows will crash out at some point. And it looks as though my heat has gone up (I know with overclocking that happens), but since my original overclock to 400FSB it has gone up.

I'm not sure what settings I should be useing for:

Ram, or voltages for this setup. But right now I'm taking it back down to 2500+ at 333FSB to see if it is a stability problem or if this installation of windows is just fudged.

Suggestions?