First time overclocking

[imported_ninex]

This is my first time overclocking, so here's what I'm looking to do. Basically I'd like to overclock to around a 200fsb with the normal 11x clock multiplier to acheive 3200+ speeds. I plan on upping my vcore to around 1.70, as I've heard thats a good setting. I dont really know too much about what to do with the CAS latency on my RAM, so any feedback would be appreciated. Here's what I've got.

Current:
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton with stock heatsink and fan
MSI K7N2 Delta-L
2x256 PC3200 Kingston Hyper-X
120GB 7200RPM Western Digital Special Edition
128MB ATI Radeon 9600XT
40GB 7200RPM Western Digital (for backup)
IOMEGA 12x cd burner thats about 4 years old
Some old 80mm Antec ball bearing fan that I had lying around is my only case fan at the moment

Parts I'm Getting:
Thermalright SLK-900A Heatsink (my mb doesn't have mounting holes)
Vantec 92mm Tornado fan to go on the heatsink
Vantec Nexus Fan Controller
Ceramique thermal paste
10 Speeze sleeve 80mm fans, 3 of which I'm planning on using, unless I can squeeze another one or two in (2 in back for exhaust, 1 in front by hard drives)

I THINK that I'm good to go, but I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else I needed or anything I should change to better the cooling in my system. Post any feedback please. Thanks in advance.

 

[Nemesis2038]

I have a Athlon XP 2400+ using a Speeze CPU cooler running around 2800RPM at 1.65v doing 211FSB on AIR. I rate it at 3300.

I think you will find you dont need that much cooling to get there as I believe all BARTON cores are 200FSB capable without a bump in core voltage. I think you will find that you can run that CPU with a 6.00 Speeze CPU cooler with something like a 28dba without it ever breaking a sweat. Even If you have to jump it to 1.7 for stability but I doubt that is necessary.

I believe your machine will be making much more noise than necessary and there is nothing better than a little silence.

In fact I have put 47 Ohm 3 Watt resistors in line with my case fans to cut back on the noise because there wasnt much heat at all to remove. If I put my hand in front of the fan its not even warm. 1-Intake, 1 Out, 1 Power supply fan, and 1 CPU fan, 1 video card fan built in is All thats needed.

 

[imported_ninex]

Noise is really the least of my concerns. In addition to the overhead ceiling fan, I have an old box fan and another loud fan running on full blast 24/7.

I also bought a Vantec Nexus fan controller to cut the fan down if it does happen to get too loud.

 

[Fern]

ninex,
Since ur ram is rated for FSB 200, I wouldn't worry about the cas latency etc.. Just set it to SPD/optimal, which is the stable/relaxed timings and have a go at bumping that FSB speed up. Later, you can focus on better timings after reaching your OC FSB speeds.

Sorry to say it's been sometime since you could count on reaching 3200 speeds with the desktop Bartons, even with a voltage increase. My desktop needs about I.8v just to reach FSB I90. Many others report the same.

You may wish to d/l memtest86 and Prime95 or whatever software you will use to test for stability.

Most OC guides suggest an initial FSB speed bump of around I0, w/o increasing vcore (cpu voltage), then test for stability. Then go up in smaller increments, 3, 4, or 5. Testing after each increase for stability. Only raise vcore when needed to attain stability.

I've also tried the "just go straight to FSB 200" approach, didn't work on my desktop Barton (wasn't stable in P95). Did work on my mobile barton, saved a lot of time.

Take ur time and do a good job with applying the thermal compound. a fan on the side panel blowing in around the cpu area of the mobo is helpful for cooling too.

Seems like you've got all the parts, just gotta do it and see results you can get
Good Luck with ur OC

 

[LIVAN]

I think the recent Fry's batch of Retail 2500+ are very good overclocks. I am runing mine at 2.315 at stock voltage.

 

[imported_ninex]

how do i know whether i have a fry's or not?

 

[mrwxyz]

frys is a place where u would buy one....if u bought it at frys u got one