Newbie overclocking questions

[MaGiQ_]

I was thinking of buying a new computer. Because my budget is very tight, I though of buying a slower processor and overclocking it. I read a lot of posts and guides but I am still confused about some little things about overckocking. First of all, is it easier to overclock a P4 of an AMD XP? I'd have an Asus P4S533 motherboard with a 1,8 P4 if, of course, I go with P4, and a Soltek 75DRV-5 Via kt333 if I go for AMD. Are those motherboards overclockable? Is there better motherboars in this price range? Can I overclock them by changing the FSB in the BIOS?
I read that you need to ''unlock'' and AMD xp CPU to overclock (does this apply to P4 also?). What does that mean? (heh sorry I'm new to overclocking)

For the cooling, is a Volcano7+ enough if I want to overclock by about 300-400MgHz? Do I need a second fan?

Oh and I saw some people mentioning some kind of AGOGA or AGOIA codes for AMD CPUs. What does that mean? Does it man it's more overclockable or it's a special kind of card?

Thanks

 

[CMRvet]

is it easier to overclock a P4 of an AMD XP?

Yes, P4 is easier to overclock and you’ll get better results.

Are those motherboards overclockable?

Yes

Is there better motherboars in this price range?

For the KT333: MSI KT3 Ultra (not the ARU one)
For the Asus: don’t think so

I read that you need to ''unlock'' and AMD XP CPU to overclock (does this apply to P4 also?)

Yes and no, depending the method that you use to overclock:
Overclock by FSB: Both Intel and AMD processor don’t need to be unlocked.
Overclock by CPU Multiplier: you cannot unlock an Intel (Pentium) CPU. All AMD processor can be unlocked by closing the L1 bridges (not sure with Tbred)


<font color=red>Overclocking is not a game and has some risks. You can damage your system. You should get more info before to Overclock</font color=red>


<b>(<font color=yellow>as good as it looks</font color=yellow>)</b>

 

[Jawsome]

I have been experimenting with my athlon 1800 1.53 ghz. And without any unlocking, a 300w power supply, 256 kingston ddr, and my shuttle ak31 board, i've been able to get it to 1.69 ghz, just overclocking the bus. But after that I cant squeeze much more. I'm thinking about unlocking it, but i too have a budget and cant afford another athlon 1800 if i wreck mine. But either way, the budget system has to be athlon xp's. Don't worry about getting a fast processor, an xp 1600 will do nicely. Also, if you are looking for a very quality board thats also overclockable, go with the Shuttle AK31 ver 3.1. Its awesome, cpu clock and cpu ratio options right in the bios. Shuttle has gotten way better at making boards, and its only like 59 bucks on newegg.com. The processor is what like 80 bucks? Dont worry about buying a cheap athlon to overclock it to compete, you'll find that it will compete just fine with stock settings and minor clocking. Also, my volcano 7 keeps temps stable around 42-44C in an air conditioned room, even when i turn the vcore up a tad and run my clock 150 mhz over. Grab a Geforce 2 GTS for 45 bucks on newegg, and you have the ULTIMATE budget system. I also have an EVERCASE E4252WEF5 thats 41 bucks on newegg right now, comes with a 300w ps, side intake fan that blows on processor, which is nice for moderate overclocking. There you have it, the ultimate budget system.