Figured I'd write this up, and hopefully some folks might be interested and/or can pick up some information worth having.
A few weeks ago I hosed my Duron somehow - I'm pretty sure I shorted it out, maybe through static, because the motherboard, an Abit KT7-RAID, was hosed as well. I RMAed the mobo with SMK Components and they were great about it, but when I plugged the Duron in, no go. Nothing. No video. So, I figured, what the hell, it's an excuse to get a Thunderbird.
I bought a 1 GHz, 200 MHz FSB Athlon TBird from TCWO.com on May 29. Very good price ($116 + $7 shipping), quick delivery, the whole deal. I plugged it in, and bang, it posted right away. Once I verified that it was working and stable, I started overclocking it.
The CPU is a week 11 AVIA TBird. With the latest BIOS, the KT7-RAID will go up to a 13 multiplier, and after much testing with optimal memory settings, I've determined that in my hot 2nd floor apartment (85-90 degrees farenheit right now in Madison, WI - hot night!) it maxes out at 1352MHz (13x104 / 1.8V / 3.6V), with idle temp ~50C and load temp 56C. Not bad, for a KT133 motherboard; at least, I'm happy. I have 2 128MB DIMMS of Mosel PC143 and one 128MB DIMM of PC133 cas2 with Samsung chips. I'm pretty sure that if I traded the Samsung in for a nother Mosel, I could squeeze another 5 MHZ or so out of the bus, but it's not worth it to me; 1352MHz is MORE than fine until I get a way faster hard drive (single IBM 75gxp right now). I'm also pretty sure that with all top-notch memory on a KT133A or DDR board, in a cooler room, this chip could get over 1.4GHz with relative ease.
It's also worth mentioning that I have a new case, which I got from Directron.com, and which I've modded extensively. I bought a cheap Foxconn mid-tower, which if you're looking for a cheap case is highly recommended, and Directron is a great vendor. The case is reasonably large, and totally no frills, but it's easy to work with, well-built, and VERY cheap.
However, there isn't NEARLY enough ventilation, so I went to work on it with my dremel and cut a bunch of holes in it
. To make a long story short, I now have seven fans on the case: two 80mm in the side panel, blowing at the CPU and the video card; one 80mm in the front blowing in; two small fans in a 5 1/4" mount blowing in; and two 80mm on the top blowing outwards (exhaust). At this point, I think that's as good as I can do with this case. Without this ventilation, the CPU was maxing out above 60 degrees C; now, at 1352 MHZ, it's at 56C under full load (Prime 95) despite the high room temperature (again, 90F). Once I get an air conditioner (this weekend!) I'll feel MUCH better about the CPU's stability, as room temperature will probably drop 15 degrees on hot days. I'll also feel better about the current stability when it's been running Prime95 for a couple of days (one hour so far with the current config, and stable).
Anyways, hope some people are interested. Thanks much to all the Anandtechers for good advice and info.
-brennan
A few weeks ago I hosed my Duron somehow - I'm pretty sure I shorted it out, maybe through static, because the motherboard, an Abit KT7-RAID, was hosed as well. I RMAed the mobo with SMK Components and they were great about it, but when I plugged the Duron in, no go. Nothing. No video. So, I figured, what the hell, it's an excuse to get a Thunderbird.
I bought a 1 GHz, 200 MHz FSB Athlon TBird from TCWO.com on May 29. Very good price ($116 + $7 shipping), quick delivery, the whole deal. I plugged it in, and bang, it posted right away. Once I verified that it was working and stable, I started overclocking it.
The CPU is a week 11 AVIA TBird. With the latest BIOS, the KT7-RAID will go up to a 13 multiplier, and after much testing with optimal memory settings, I've determined that in my hot 2nd floor apartment (85-90 degrees farenheit right now in Madison, WI - hot night!) it maxes out at 1352MHz (13x104 / 1.8V / 3.6V), with idle temp ~50C and load temp 56C. Not bad, for a KT133 motherboard; at least, I'm happy. I have 2 128MB DIMMS of Mosel PC143 and one 128MB DIMM of PC133 cas2 with Samsung chips. I'm pretty sure that if I traded the Samsung in for a nother Mosel, I could squeeze another 5 MHZ or so out of the bus, but it's not worth it to me; 1352MHz is MORE than fine until I get a way faster hard drive (single IBM 75gxp right now). I'm also pretty sure that with all top-notch memory on a KT133A or DDR board, in a cooler room, this chip could get over 1.4GHz with relative ease.
It's also worth mentioning that I have a new case, which I got from Directron.com, and which I've modded extensively. I bought a cheap Foxconn mid-tower, which if you're looking for a cheap case is highly recommended, and Directron is a great vendor. The case is reasonably large, and totally no frills, but it's easy to work with, well-built, and VERY cheap.
However, there isn't NEARLY enough ventilation, so I went to work on it with my dremel and cut a bunch of holes in it
. To make a long story short, I now have seven fans on the case: two 80mm in the side panel, blowing at the CPU and the video card; one 80mm in the front blowing in; two small fans in a 5 1/4" mount blowing in; and two 80mm on the top blowing outwards (exhaust). At this point, I think that's as good as I can do with this case. Without this ventilation, the CPU was maxing out above 60 degrees C; now, at 1352 MHZ, it's at 56C under full load (Prime 95) despite the high room temperature (again, 90F). Once I get an air conditioner (this weekend!) I'll feel MUCH better about the CPU's stability, as room temperature will probably drop 15 degrees on hot days. I'll also feel better about the current stability when it's been running Prime95 for a couple of days (one hour so far with the current config, and stable).Anyways, hope some people are interested. Thanks much to all the Anandtechers for good advice and info.
-brennan
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