A few questions from a beginner/intermediate oc'er.

[abaez]

Hello, my first experience overclocking was with a celeron 300a awhile back but then I bought a p3 450 and never oc'd it.

Now I just got a p3 700e, week 20 from malaysia and everyone says that you can oc these almost guaranteed to 933. Well I'd like to try it but first I have a few questions:

1. I have an abit bx6 rev 2 mobo, and an enlight 7237 case and a abit slotket. When I try to oc my processor right now. I can boot into windows at 933 (This is with the retail fan/heatsink). But when I try to start a program like quake 3 or some others. My comp just freezes. Now I don't think my cpu is overheating since *right* when I start the program it freezes. BUT I do have two sticks of pc100 ram (1 128 and 1 64). Could this be the problem why my cpu is freezing since the ram can't handle the bus speed? Or is my cpu already hot just from booting up?

2. I have heard of many solutions to keep my cpu cool and the place that I seem to see has alot of different types of fans/ heatsinks:
Plycon socket coolers.
Now I'm not too informed on which heatsink/fan is better. But that copper hedgehog looks like a winner. Just that it looks like the fan is quite loud, and 50$. Eesh. The pep cooler I've also read is pretty good. But I really don't know. If anyone could help me figure out which one I should get, it would be appreciated.

3. If I bought one of the fan/heatsinks from that page will I have to drill holes in my comp and get all sorts of cooling? Or will the fan/heatsink be enough and I can just close my case? I know air will have to circulate, I think what I could do is have air come in through the bottom, and out the powersupply. (if that would work)

4. I know I'll have to buy some pc133 memory to oc to 933, now if I just bought *any* pc133 memory will it be guaranteed to work at 133? or should i pay a little more and get good pc133 memory. (I know the obvious answer is pay a little more, but if I can oc with the cheaper mem, I'd like to do it)


I think thats all the questions I have right now. If anyone could help me with any of these (especially # 2 and 3) It would be greatly appreciated.

aldo

 

[PistachioByAzul]

1) Yeah, sounds like the RAM
2) Get a Golden ORB. Cheap and good.
3) Most likely not, your system should be fine with the case closed. Just make sure you have a case fan in the front bottom and the PS fan blowing out.
4) Mushkin Budget PC133 is good and pretty cheap

 

[abaez]

1. Ok, I'll have to get some good ram. Its expensive .

2. Is golden orb my only option? Will it for sure keep things cool? or should I spend a little more?

3. I'll probably buy a new power supply then.

aldo

 

[ErikaeanLogic]

um, I think the magic word here is VOLTAGE.

You've made no mention of it in your post, which means one of two things:

either: you're adjusting the voltage to get your CPU to post @933 and you haven't mentioned it

or: you've overlooked it, and you're a lucky mofo to have a 700 that'll post @933MHz with the default voltage, 1.65 Volts!

If the latter is the case, then adjust the voltage(to 1.80V would be considered very safe, IMHO) to achieve the desired stability, either on the slocket or the BIOS. I prefer the hardware adjustment on the slocket.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[abaez]

oh, I didn't adjust the voltage. I got it to 933 on the 1.65 default voltage. But could that be the problem why its freezing whenever i start most programs? or is it still a memory issue?

aldo