Plastic Surgery: Releasing The Athlon XP To Hit 2000+

Conclusion: Athlon XP 2000+ Performance Already Available

Our guide will definitely help you to unlock the clock multiplier on any AMD Athlon XP/MP. Provided that you have the right tools and accessories, you can use conductive silver lacquer to connect L1 contacts on an Athlon with a Palomino core.

After modifying the contacts, you're free to set the multiplier in BIOS or on a DIP switch. However, the maximum setting is currently limited to 12.5X, which allows you to reach a clock speed of 1666 MHz (12.5 X 133 MHz = 1666 MHz) without having to increase the front side-bus clock speed. This guide has shown you how to obtain a powerful Athlon XP 2000+ , a processor that AMD won't even officially introduce for another 6 weeks.

If you're still hungry for more, you can eke the very last spark of performance out of your system by gradually increasing the FSB speed. By setting the multiplier to 12.0X and pumping the FSB speed to 153 MHz, we managed to overclock the Athlon XP 1900+ (clocked at 1600 MHz) to 1836 MHz (12.0 X 153 MHz = 1836 MHz). This clock speed might be equivalent to a performance rating of 2200+ . However, we only managed to reach such a high clock speed by using a perfectly adjusted water-cooling system. Anyone planning to reach this kind of speed with a standard cooler is daydreaming!

Here's an example to illustrate this fact: even when we used a powerful Silverado cooler or the Swiftech monster (MC462), it was still impossible to stabilize the system at 1836 MHz.

To reach lightning-fast clock speeds such as 1836 MHz, a powerful water-cooling system is an absolute must.

CPU temperature of 29 degrees Celsius with our water cooler.

In addition to our instructions and hands-on tips, we've offered an exclusive benchmark test of the Athlon XP 2000+ , which isn't slated to be introduced by AMD until January 2002. The diagrams clearly prove that the Athlon XP 2000+ beats its arch-rival, the Intel Pentium 4/2000 in all the disciplines. It now remains to be seen which of the two manufacturers will take the first step and introduce the next CPU generation.

Please follow-up by reading Second THG Video: Unlocking The Athlon XP/MP