Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking.amd (
More info?)
mercury wrote:
> Athlon XP 2800+ on ASUS A7V600-X with 512 MB DDR400 RAM. Setting in BIOS
> are:
>
> CPU SPEED: 2083 MHZ
> CPU FREQ. MULTIPLE: 12.5x
> CPU EXTERNAL FREQ.: 166/33
> MEMORY FREQ.: AUTO
> CPU VCore SETTING: AUTO
>
> 1) What is the FSB? FSB = 2*(CPU External Frequency)??
The the FSB is the CPU External Frequency. It is DDR. If you see it as
333MHz, thats wrong. It's 166MHz DDR. 333M transfers per second.
> 2) How far can I overclock my PC?
Depends on your other components. And your luck.
CPU should go in excess of 2.4GHz if it's recent, and you can cool it
sufficiently.
> 3) And how do I modify the settings in BIOS to obtain the maximum
> performance?
Carefully. Start by looking at your CPU diode (not socket) temp. If it is
less than around 50°C, then increase your PCI divider (so that it remains
below 33MHz) and up your FSB to say, 180MHz and check stabilty and temps
using Prime95 torture test and say, MBM5 after 10 mins of Prime95. If it's
unstable, up Vcore ONE notch and test again. Repeat such that temps don't
exceed 60°C (to give you a safe margin). 1.8Vcore is loads, I wouldn't
suggest going that high until you are confident that your temps are good and
your cooling is reliable, and that your board will power off before damage
can be done.
If you get stable at 180MHz, repeat until you reach 200MHz. (with a locked
multiplier, I doubt you'd get this high without lots of cooling and luck)
Beyond 200MHz, you will also have to check your RAM stability using
something like memtest86+, or run it out of synch with the FSB. Also, you
may not be able to reduce your PCI divider, if you run the PCI bus too fast,
hard disk corruption and other problems may result. Ensure you have a
backup.
If your multiplier is unlocked, you can reduce it such that FSB can be
increased, whilst limiting your total CPU clock. This will increase memory
bandwidth (assuming the RAM is running at least as fast as the FSB)
I thoroughly recommend you read up on the architecture of a computer,
knowing that the FSB connects the CPU to the Northbridge, that the
Northbridge is connected to RAM via the RAM bus, that increasing voltage and
frequency increases temperatures, etc, can be extremely useful in diagnosing
errors. Essentially memtest86+ stresses the connection from the RAM to the
CPU (via the Northbridge and associated buses), and prime95 tests the CPU
arithmetic functions. Of course, there is some overlap, you can't transfer
to/from RAM without a CPU and you can't do processing without RAM, so it's
not entirely straightforward - you'll have to experiment with changing
frequencies and voltages up and down to determine any potential problems.
Once you have found the maximum stable overclock, I recommend backing off a
couple of percent to make sure. When you have an overclocked system, it's
something you should keep a close eye on, a failing fan can cause much more
problems than when you run stock.
Ben
--
A7N8X FAQ: www.ben.pope.name/a7n8x_faq.html
Questions by email will likely be ignored, please use the newsgroups.
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