My rig is quite old. I'm trying to extend it's gaming life, as I don't play many new games except for World of Warcraft.
But before I splurge for a new PC, I'm tyring to improve this one for under $80. I'm going to get a nice 1GB chip via ebay on the cheap to boost my total memory to 1.25GB though I'd like to improve my cpu and gfx cards a bit. I've never OCed before so I'm new and have some quesitons about it.
My current gfx card is a MSI GF4 Ti4200-TD64. The software that came with it allows OCing though it lets the core jump by 10mhz and the memeory by 20mhz steps. Is this a bit big?
Also I am looking for some software that can monitor my gfx card's voltage, temp and speed, as the software that came with it MSI 3D! Turbo express doesn't do that (though it does show the current mem and core speeds). As I want to monitor my card to make sure it doesn't fry. Anybody know of some? Also if I OC my graphics card too much and it crashed what happens when I reboot? How would I prevent it from crashing again.
Finally my CPU is an old thunderbird C (1.33ghz) and they tended to run a bit warm. I'm thinking of OCing it. The current temp is 25C for the system and 58C for the cpu? I know it can stand upto 95C and the old thunderbird C was maxed at 1.4ghz before they came out with palomino. How would I know if I have to increase the voltage or not when I increase the bus speed.
Also I beleive the multiplier is unlocked so can I just set a higher multiplier say 5.5 (1.46) instead of 5 (1.33ghz). ALso what would the steps be if my PC crashes after I OC my CPU to get it not to crash (I'm assuuming lower the bus speed or setting the multiplier back tot he old value).
Finally, my CPU cooler is more or less a standard aluminum heat sink but it's pretty quiet 35db.
All help and comments are appriciated
1.33 ghz Athlon @ 266mhz (Thunderbird C core)
512mb Kingston memory
GF4 Ti 4200-TD64
DFI AK-76SN
other stuff that makes a PC a PC
But before I splurge for a new PC, I'm tyring to improve this one for under $80. I'm going to get a nice 1GB chip via ebay on the cheap to boost my total memory to 1.25GB though I'd like to improve my cpu and gfx cards a bit. I've never OCed before so I'm new and have some quesitons about it.
My current gfx card is a MSI GF4 Ti4200-TD64. The software that came with it allows OCing though it lets the core jump by 10mhz and the memeory by 20mhz steps. Is this a bit big?
Also I am looking for some software that can monitor my gfx card's voltage, temp and speed, as the software that came with it MSI 3D! Turbo express doesn't do that (though it does show the current mem and core speeds). As I want to monitor my card to make sure it doesn't fry. Anybody know of some? Also if I OC my graphics card too much and it crashed what happens when I reboot? How would I prevent it from crashing again.
Finally my CPU is an old thunderbird C (1.33ghz) and they tended to run a bit warm. I'm thinking of OCing it. The current temp is 25C for the system and 58C for the cpu? I know it can stand upto 95C and the old thunderbird C was maxed at 1.4ghz before they came out with palomino. How would I know if I have to increase the voltage or not when I increase the bus speed.
Also I beleive the multiplier is unlocked so can I just set a higher multiplier say 5.5 (1.46) instead of 5 (1.33ghz). ALso what would the steps be if my PC crashes after I OC my CPU to get it not to crash (I'm assuuming lower the bus speed or setting the multiplier back tot he old value).
Finally, my CPU cooler is more or less a standard aluminum heat sink but it's pretty quiet 35db.
All help and comments are appriciated
1.33 ghz Athlon @ 266mhz (Thunderbird C core)
512mb Kingston memory
GF4 Ti 4200-TD64
DFI AK-76SN
other stuff that makes a PC a PC