OC or Upgrade?

[mihasya]

i am currently running two AMD XP socket A systems

Now dont laugh at me but @ the time i build these i didnt know these forums existed and it has been 2-3 years now and i spent about 1k for each machine.

PC 1:
*********************************************************
CPU:

AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2500+ Barton (AMD CPU Fax)
Clock Speed 1837.5 MHz
Clock multiplier x11.0
Front Side Bus Frequency 167.0 MHz
Bus Speed 334.1 MHz

Chipset:

Northbridge nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 rev. C1
Southbridge nVidia nForce2 MCP-T rev. A3
Graphic Interface AGP
AGP Revision 2.0
AGP Transfert Rate 4x
AGP SBA supported, not enabled
AGP Aperture 64 MBytes
Memory Type DDR
Memory Size 512 MBytes
Memory Frequency 167.0 MHz (1:1)
CAS# 2.5
RAS# to CAS# 3
RAS# Precharge 3
Cycle Time (tRAS) 7

RAM:
Size 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2700 (166 MHz)

VIDEO:
LeadTeck Geforce 3 500 TD 64DDR

HD:
MaXTOR 60 GIG ATA 133

MOnitor Read outs:
Temperature Readout[1] : 28
Temperature Readout[2] : 46
Voltage Readout[1] : 1.616
Voltage Readout[2] : 1.68
Voltage Readout[3] : 3.248
Voltage Readout[4] : 4.8384
Voltage Readout[5] : 11.7344
Voltage Readout[6] : -11.2032
Voltage Readout[7] : -4.84032
Fan Readout[1] : 4326
Fan Readout[2] : 4017
*********************************************************

PC 2:
*********************************************************
CPU:
AMD Athlon(TM) XP 2000+ Thoroughbred (AMD CPU FAN)

Clock Speed 1666.7 MHz
Clock multiplier x12.5
Front Side Bus Frequency 133.3 MHz
Bus Speed 266.7 MHz


Chipset:
Northbridge VIA KT266/333 rev. 0
Southbridge VIA VT8235 rev. 0
Graphic Interface AGP
AGP Revision 2.0
AGP Transfert Rate 4x
AGP SBA supported, enabled
AGP Aperture 64 MBytes
Memory Type DDR
Memory Size 512 MBytes
Memory Frequency 133.3 MHz (1:1)
DRAM Interleave 4-way
CAS# 2.5
RAS# to CAS# 3
RAS# Precharge 3
Cycle Time (tRAS) 5

RAM:
Size 512 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC2100 (133 MHz)

VIDEO:
RADEON 7500 64 DDR (PUT CHIPSET FAN ON IT)

HD:
MAXTOR 80 GIG 133 ATA
MAXTOR 200 GIG 133 ATA
*********************************************************

i have read the OC guide and the CPU guide and got good information but very uncertain.

All Gaming system:
I know about AMD 2500 xp that you can oc it well especially with n2 mobo, its bios allows me to increase all i need.
is the ram inuff for me to OC this CPU?
what cooling do i need to proceed? is my current original AMD fax good inuff?(my case air flow is good)
do i need to get better ram than the old crap im using?
can i oc this video card?
my PSU is crap its 420 watts came with the case but its alive and kicking, do i need to upgrade it?

Full Time Downloader + Gaming System(barly holds in on all low settings for CSS) + Storage:
Now regarding the AMD 2000 XP can i OC this one or should i just upgrade to a better Socket A CPU 2500+ or more?
i dont like via chipset but this is all i got here, based on the mobo guide i can easily increase all the multiplyers etc.
now this machines ram is worse then my first PC so again do i need to get better ram?
i know this Video card sux badly but its all i go here, is there a way for me to oc it? like increase voltage? and what da heck is this AGP voltage settings in bios?
again this PSU is crap its 400 watts came with the case but its alive and kicking and has been working none stop for 1 year and half, do i need to upgrade it?

overall what is worth doing with this system? Upgrade CPU or OC?

I am beginner with OC and am foced to go back to highschool education in math and science to understand things like voltage and ratios. even though am a programmer this is whole new world for me.

i would love to squeez all performance i can out of these old boxes.

thanks

 

[o1die]

If you have a cpu voltage adjustment in the bios, try upping the cpu voltage to 1.65 and set the fsb at 200 for pc1. If it doesn't post, try upping the memory voltage to 2.7 with the same settings, and try again. Before doing anything, locate the cmos jumper on the motherboard. You can reset the bios with it to the default settings, if it won't post. You move it over one position for a few seconds with the pc off and the power supply unplugged, then return the jumper to the original position.

 

[mihasya]

thanks i will try that, MMONITOR says its currently @ 1.61 +-v.

would my slow ram conflict? do i need PC3200 ram for it to run at its full potential or is my current pc 2700 good inuff?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mihasya on 03/04/05 04:13 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[o1die]

Sometimes ram will overclock with a voltage boost. You'll just have to try it.

 

[mihasya]

2 years i think. how can i find out? is there a version number on it ir the only way to find out is on physical chip itself? (i think i saw that somewhere before but cant remmember)

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mihasya on 03/04/05 04:59 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[mihasya]

thanks, i will try that.

any idias or suggestions about the AMD 2000 xp chip?

 

[mihasya]

lol, im officialy a newb now hehe.

 

[mihasya]

my 2000 xp chip is @ 12.5 multiplyer and voltage is set @ 1.7 +-v can i go any higher with this or this is already @ its full capacity?



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mihasya on 03/04/05 05:28 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[mihasya]

its a tb.

i OCed my 2500 xp to 1996.3 Mhz Mult. X 12.0 voltage @ 1.675 and FSB still @ 166.

i tried to set all to max and could not boot pc i had to reset CMOS, funny thing is it preset defaults for a 3200 xp chip and system loaded fine but CPUz gave error and showed 1099 Mhz.

i set FSB to 200, Mult. to X 13.0 and voltage @ 1.70 did i do something wrong or do i also need to configure my ram ratios?

 

[Nights_L]

tb, revision A or B ?

 

[mihasya]

thanks i will try that with ram ratio.

im using the HSF that came with the CPU.