[UV_Power]

Hey everyone.

I was just chatting with a couple of my techie friends and they told me that my processor is wonderful for overclocking. They said that my CPU is a very stable one at the beginning of it's series. As posted below, my CPU is an Athlon XP 2600+ Barton 333.

Anyone else care to comment on this? Shall I invest in a high end CPU heatsink and fan and OC? Suggestions?

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Well that is a great processer to overclock and yes if you do i would get a higher end CPU that will be able to cool much better- but what are you OC'ing for and how much are you going to do it?- u need to be very careful when doing this as it can fry your chip

[Hemal]

Well that is a great processer to overclock and yes if you do i would get a higher end CPU that will be able to cool much better- but what are you OC'ing for and how much are you going to do it?- u need to be very careful when doing this as it can fry your chip

[Doby]

Yea your board will oc very well to, I have a 2500 barton and Abit KV7 I had it up to 3200 speeds with some cheap ram. You will need to increase vcore to get a decent oc though and increased vcore means increased heat so yes invest in a good hsf.

I recomend this one it comes with its own fan controller to help with noise and keeps things really cool.

Rick

[Rockster2U]

Only question I have is related to your memory - is it PC2700 or PC3200? If its 3200, you can probably set your processor to 11x200 with a slight boost in VCore. If its 2700, you may have some problems. Doby referenced it earlier - that board is an awesome OverClocker with good memory. I'd also direct your attention to the Thermaltake SilentBoost HSF which is a lot quieter than the Volcano fan on that HSF Doby linked to. Check it out if noise may be a concern.

Most Bartons from 2500 and on up are excellent Overclockers and if you want some real incredible stuff - look at the AMD mobile chips from 2200 and up. Most are 35W and 45W variety and even though rated to run on a 266MHz bus - they'll handle 400 without breaking a sweat.

[UV_Power]

My memory is 3200. I am glad to hear that my processor is good for OCing. I may get that $35 volcano that Doby was talking about but I will look around a bit more.

So, I will wait till I get something better than my stock heatsink, but is the best way to OC my CPU thru the BIOS? Or is there a good program I can use?

[Rockster2U]

Use your BIOS and set it at 11x200 for 2200MHz or 3200+ speed. If you wind up unbootable at any point, just clear CMOS. One of my common builds is an NF7s Version 2 with a 2600+ mobile set at 12x200. Nice 2.4MHz machine that screams but stays smooth, stable and cool.

If you encounter any problems post back. I've done a lot of 2500's and more recently, have been doing a lot of 2600M's.

[UV_Power]

You got it!

I will keep everyone posted on my progress....

[UV_Power]

UPDATE:

So, I ordered that Extreme Volcano 12 and I am going to take my chances with the noise, because my computer is already running a bit loud anyways and I may not notice much difference in dBs. If I am wrong, then there is always that fan controller it comes with.

BUT, I have just notcied that my CPU currently runs about 50 degrees Celcius when it's IDLE . This seems a bit high to me, and although I haven't tested it, I'm guessing it runs about 7 - 10 degrees hotter under full load. Does this seem high to anyone else?

[Rockster2U]

Yes, its a bit high. Hopefully you'll get that down when you add your new HSF.

[UV_Power]

Yeah, now I am thinking that I should hold off the overclocking until I get like in the low 30s IDLE. Like you said, we will see how the new HSF does...

[Doby]

When you get the hsf install the fan controller there are other options with the Termaltake volcano but its better to manually controll the fan based on room temp and cpu temp. With a room temp of around 70f to 75f even with a overclock you should be able to keep the temps at least in the low 40c at idle with the fan on low witch is quiet.

I ain't currently doing any OCing because the cancer project I run has my cpu running at 100% all the time. My room temp is usually around 77f to 80f ( its summer here) and then I need to turn the fan up to around 4000 rpm witch does start to get a little noisy but on my 2500+ barton the temp stays around 43c to 45c even with the high room temp and 100% cpu useage. If I turn the cancer project off I can turn the fan down all the way 2100 rpm (nice and quiet) or so and have a cpu temp of 38c, pretty good for a socket A/462 system considering the room temp.
Now in winter when the room temp is a steady 68f the fans are down all the way and I barely crack 40c under full load

Also some atrtic silver5 to go along with it is better then the paste that comes with hsf.

One other note Abit boards are notorious for giving false high readings of the cpu temp so maybe that 50c your seeing now ain't accurate, a digital thermometer that mounts in a 5 inch bay can give you accurate cpu and other system temps.

Rick

[Rockster2U]

Just a teaser for you - finished it earlier this evening. ABIT NF7-S with Thermalright HSF and 80mm x 25MM dual ball bearing variable speed fan currently at 2500 rpm with 80 to 60 reducer on the heatsink. 266MHz 2600+ Mobile running at 400MHz equivalent to 3600+ (12x200). 37C at idle and re: weather - its cooled down to 88F tonight as of 11:00 PM.

Nice and quiet too.

[UV_Power]

Just a teaser for you - finished it earlier this evening. ABIT NF7-S with Thermalright HSF and 80mm x 25MM dual ball bearing variable speed fan currently at 2500 rpm with 80 to 60 reducer on the heatsink. 266MHz 2600+ Mobile running at 400MHz equivalent to 3600+ (12x200). 37C at idle and re: weather - its cooled down to 88F tonight as of 11:00 PM.

Nice and quiet too. whistling.gif

Sounds more like a fantasy that I will never see. Teaser?!? more like a slap in the face.

Abit boards are notorious for giving false high readings of the cpu temp

Oh. Well, that's good to hear. At least it's not giving me false LOW temps.

Anyways, my HSF has arrived, but it's late here now so I will install it tomorrow. Doby, you make a good point about how I should control the fan manually to adjust for noise vs. temp since where I live it's summer and actually varies between low 70s to high 90s (F). So, I think I should control it manually. See you soon!

[Doby]

Yea Rockster that combo you put together is a animal, I see why you like it so much, that combo has to be the best price + performance on the market right now.

I know you like OCZ ram but what are running to get it that high?

Just in case I need to recomend a good OC'er or get someone who wants one.

[Rockster2U]

Its actually not much of a stretch at all. Admittedly, the 2600+M has to be one of the best 462s ever made. I used to used plain old regular Samsung PC3200 (2x256) which ran fine in dual channel setups (3-3-3-8). Lately, have been running OCZ PC3200 EL Dual Channel Platinum Edition 2-3-2-5 (2x256) and it can be had cheap these days. (It runs better than Corsair XMS 2-3-2-6 dual LLPT and every bit as good as XMS 2-2-2-5 XLPT) I'll push core voltage to 1.625 which is still lower than most socket A's running stock. The better processors will run at 1.55 but not all of them are rock solid at that voltage when pushed above 11x200. I've found 1.625 is flawless for 12x200 with this chip. It may sound like a big OC but it isn't - this is one great processor and yes Doby, I think its the best price + performance combination available today. The NF7S is also a tremendous board for this setup but one has to be careful because there are three different varieties of NF7 boards on the market today and two of them don't hold a candle to the third one, which is the more expensive of the three.

Regards