Overclocking for n00bs

[Wally Simmonds]

Im trying to overclock my duron as fast as it will go. Im a real n00b when it comes to this sort of thing so bear with me
Anyways, I have a soltek drv5 with 512 mb ddr 2100.(dont know what brand) with a duron 1ghz. I havnt had a great look in the bios but i have noticed that my fsb is at 100mhz. I can crank it up to 132 (which I havn't done yet) however I have tried it at 120 and when i reboot the mhz rating is 1200. Obviously the multiplier is set at 10x 120 to get this - using this method I will be able to get this duron up to 1320 mhz without actually touching the motherboard (provided the cpu doesnt fry with my thermaltake volcano 7). Do I need to unlock the cpu or anything to make it go higher?? I am also looking to upgrade to a XP 1800+ in a couple of weeks and I would like to clock that up some as well - in your guys opinion is the soltek drv5 a good board for that purpose? Cheers

[Antallica]

I have the DRV2 with the KT266a chipset, I believe the DRV5 is not a really good oc'er because of the KT333 chipset. Soltek is a good brand but overclocking is not as good as others. Still I got my XP 1600+ (1.4Ghz) to 1900+ (1.6Ghz), that was after ram/agp voltage increases.

yep, unlock that durrie and crank up those multi settings

[Wally Simmonds]

So I have to unlock it? Whats the best way of doing that? I heard you could do it with a pencil or something like that. If not where can I get a conductive pen in the wellington area? Last but not least, how high do you think I could clock up my Duron?

Cheers

[Antallica]

Yep, good old pencil works via covering the L1 bridges. However the conductive pen is better and I would go with that, I dunno where u can go in welly as I'm way up north, one of the senior members will fill you in on that very soon I'm sure.

[Wally Simmonds]

In regards to the AMD XP 1800+, how fast do you reckon you could go with a thermaltake 7+ on my mobo? Do you think the benefits are worth it? What about the t-breds? I heard that they weren't that overclockable, aye.

[Wibber]

I'll tell you when i get one... don't bother unloacking you duron if you can get to 1.3ghzish as thats about a high as it will likely go

[t3ch_d0g]

Originally posted by Wally Simmonds
In regards to the AMD XP 1800+, how fast do you reckon you could go with a thermaltake 7+ on my mobo? Do you think the benefits are worth it? What about the t-breds? I heard that they weren't that overclockable, aye.

Welcome...

Get an XP1800+, great bang for buck. I recently got one, they oc to XP2000+ no worries due to the new steppings. Look out for a green one that says "AGOGA" on it. Unlock it with a conductive pen from Dickless Smiths. The v7+ is all good too.
As for overclocking your mobo you'll be limited by your pc2100 ram. Just make sure all the ram timings are set as low as possible.

Hope that helped...

L8r.

[SilverPriest]

Check to see if your northbridge (lil thing with heatsink and fan under your cpu socket) is CE or CD revision.
If you plan to oc via FSB heavily, and have the CD revision, you are effectively screwed.
Would pay to check ;)
Just take off the heatsink and fan off the NB, wipe off the thermal paste, if any, and see what it says.
Alternatively take a foto of it.....

[Wally Simmonds]

Why? Whats the difference? Is there any other way to tell which one you have? i got my board about a week ago from paradigm pcs.

[SilverPriest]

CD revision northbridge cant Overclock for the life of it.
CE revision northbridge overclocks damn well.
Afaik there is no other way to find out other than physically looking....

[Humantuckshop]

^^^^^^
What he said.

To find out what revision of the Northbridge you have, you will have to take off the HSF that is on the Northbridge this is easy as but a little time consuming considering you have to take the mobo out of the case etc.....


Here is a picture to show you what you are looking for, note the letters 'CD' before TAIWAN. What you are praying for are the letters 'CE'. CE = good. CD = bad.

[Wally Simmonds]

I emailed PP and they reckon its the earlier design, the CD. Which is the bad one, I guess. Oh well. Why are these earlier boards so bad, then? I will have to confirm it is the earlier version tonight by taking of the Heatsink....