Overclocking my AMD Athlon XP 2000+

[XA04]

Hi guys.

Well it looks like I won't be able to go 64-bit this Christmas, so I decided I might as well try and get a bit more out of my current processor. I'm willing to buy a few bits and bobs for it (thermal paste.. new heatsink fan), if I can overclock this thing higher.

I know that in my BIOS I can tweak with the FSB speed, and that seems to make it go higher. Is that all that's involved in overclocking it?

I havn't overclocked my processor before so any help is apreicated, also I'm not using any thermal paste atm, and am using a stock heatsink fan so I might need something better..?


Thanks

[tino]

You deffinantly need thermal paste. The stock heat sink is ok not great but it will do the job,

What speed is your ram? Is it the Thoughbread A or B core that you have?
It's the number on the CPU die. If its an B you should be able to get 2.0GHz out of it easily.

[XA04]

Right, first on the shopping cart.. thermal paste .

My ram: 768mb DDR PC2100 (One 256mb stick, one 512mb stick), not the fastest RAM I know..

And it is Thoroughbred-B


Edit: Also, what type of thermal paste do you recommend? Or are they all pretty much the same?

Edit2: Are any of these decent?;
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Amazing-CPU-Th...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Antec-CPU-Heat...QQcmdZViewItem
http://froogle.google.co.uk/froogle?...Search+Froogle

[sawyen]

AS ceramique, or AS5 if ur careful enuf..

Other goo from Akasa or Antec should be fine as well..

Strictly, they are pretty much the same, maybe >3C give or take..
U will also need a capable cooler, AXPs tend to run pretty hot I remember.

[XA04]

OK, well, I just ordered a new PSU, as the one I have now is crappy, and I have about £21 left. I can easily get some thermal paste for that, but if you were to suggest a heatsink/fan what would it be?

Edit: Any of these?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Near-Silent-Co...QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HEATSINK-FAN-F...QQcmdZViewItem

[dave87]

I personally wouldn't go for either, I've used the second one and the fan is annoying as hell. Try getting yourself an Thermalright SI-97 as thats probably the best Socket A heatsink around (I've got one) and use a 92mm Vantec Tornado if you want performance or a 92mm Papst or something if you want silence. Thats the best short of watercooling, but I doubt your budget now stretches to that

Dave

[XA04]

Hmm, I think I'd like to have a fan on the heatsink though.. and yeah my budget isn't large enough for water cooling , although I'd like to do that I can't.

Edit: Oh, nevermind, it does come with a fan. Shall look onto the prices.

[XA04]

What about this?
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage?AKA-AK825

Supports A socket and upto a 3400+ so that must be good for overclocking?


Edit:
I like this too: http://www.misco.co.uk/productinform...affiliate=2019

[XA04]

OK, well I'm going to stop spamming with URL's , I bought the Antec thermal stuff off ebay (gave the link above).

Now what other heatsink fans do you guys suggest for overclocking this thing? I want to keep it cool as possible without blowing it. A decent heatsink from a decent manufacturer.

Thanks

[Dark Horse]

[QUOTE=XA04]Right, first on the shopping cart.. thermal paste .

My ram: 768mb DDR PC2100 (One 256mb stick, one 512mb stick), not the fastest RAM I know..

And it is Thoroughbred-B

[QUOTE]

I had a go overclocking an old thoroughbred b over the summer, I think I hit a limit at roughly 160x12.5 which was limited by the fsb on the cpu not the board. Thats 2ghz so it was a nice overclock. Thats roughly xp2600+ territory.

I wouldn't get some pc2100 ram, that will stuff your overclocking straight away. If you get pc2100 it will run at 133mhz (i think thats your stock fsb) but will not run much higher. You would therefore have to use a divider if you up the fsb as you may be able to up the cpu fsb to 160ish but the ram probably wouldn't go past 140.

You would therefore have to run the two asynchronously which is a bit of a Killer on an Athlon XP. If you were to get pc3200 ram you are guaranteed up to 200mhz fsb with the ram and it will also downclock to 133mhz and anywhere inbetween. Another positive is that it will give you much better performance when you upgrade to 64 bit over the pc2100 ram and also that it will allow you to run tighter timings on the ram as it is underclocked. Aslo believe the price difference is minimal ~£1.

For your cooler I would think about something that is compatible with a 64 bit system too as that will save you money in the long run. An SI-97 would definately get you the best performance but you would have to get rid of it when you upgrade to socket 939 so it would be a bit of a waste of money.

Off the top of my head the gigabyte g power pro is a universal cooler so would be worth the extra pennies I think. Apologies for the link to overclockers but it was the first place I saw it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal..._Gigabyte.html

[XA04]

Hi.

You must of misread, I already have 768mb PC2100 RAM, I know it's not the best but it will have to do for now. I do plan the next upgrade to be faster memory, but for now I have to stick with this...

Thanks for the post though, interesting read. I'll stick some of that thermal paste on it, and I guess I'll just raise the FSB to 140 using the stock heatsink and see how it goes. What would happen if I tried to raise it higher than 140? (And yes.. it's on 133 by stock).

[XA04]

I might be able to get this sometime soon;
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...roductID=79913

That look good for my plan to go 64-bit and for overclocking my current processor?