I wrote this to help someone on here to overclock his duron. He thought it was helpful so I thought I could post it here and it might help someone else too. I am not affiliated with any of the sites that are listed here. It is just where I got my stuff and people always ask.
Here is an article on oveclocking a duron that I like: http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/articles/amd_oc_10-00/3.shtml
Do not worry about anything bridges but the L1 bridges. If the L1 bridges on you cpu are cut, you must color them back together with a pencil. You have to make sure that the coloring of each bridge does not touch the other bridge. It is not that hard to do and will take you about 5 mins. It is somewhat tedius and requires a steady hand. I did mine with a mechanical pencil wih #2 lead. I even colored with the pencil at an angle on another piece of paper to get a sharper point. If you make a mistake do not worry. All you have to do is use an eraser and erase the pencil marks. You can then start over. AMD cut the bridges to stop people from overclocking but this is real easy and the pencil lead conducts enough electricity to close the gaps. This must be done if the bridges are cut.
Once you have done this you should be able to change the multiplier. For example, your cpu runs stock at a fsb of 100mhz with DDR memory so they call it 200mhz. The multiplier is set at 6x to give you a speed of 6x100=600mhz. Try to change the multiplier to 7. Then see if your computer will boot at 700mhz. You may need to change the jumpers on the motherboard or do it in the bios to change the multiplier. I am not sure which is necessary for your motherboard. Look at the manual to see or go to the site. This is assuming your motherboard has multiplier control. It probably does but I am not sure. I will look in the mean time. If your computer has multiplier control and the bridges are colored correctly, it will boot at 700mhz. If it does not and the motherboard supports this feature then you will need to color the bridges again.
The amount of overclocking that you can do is limited by the cpu and heat. This cpu that I have will do 950mhz but I run it at 900mhz because it runs cooler and I can not tell the difference. I have built 4 other computer and all did at least 850mhz with no problem. I know some people claim to have them running at a 1 ghz, but I think the limit for the vast majority of chips is between 850-950mhz. I would recommend that you get motherboard monitor. It can be configured to give you the cpu temp in you taskbar. Otherwise you have to go to the bios to see the temp of the cpu. If at all possible you want the cpu to stay under 45C. I think the chances of errors increases as you go above 45C and above 50C could cause damamge but I really do not know. Here is a link where you can download it: http://www.tweakfiles.com/diagnostic/motherboardmonitor.html
Once you have this you can see how the temp of the cpu. I have heard the regular stock cpu fan/heatsink is not very good. I never used mine. I got the best. It is an alpha pal 6035. I would not get the one with the delta fan because it is real loud and drives some people crazy. Here is where I got mine. http://www.pcnut.com/parts/memory.htm
If the temp is still high when you run the cpu at speeds of around 850mhz, then you might want to get a new case with better air flow. I got a fong kai 320 because it was recommended by anandtech. Here is the link of where I got mine: http://directron.com/fk320w.html This case even has a fan in the back that is inside a duct that fits over the cpu to pull heat from the cpu out of the case. It is a real nice case. Before I had this my cpu ran at 850mhz at 42C at idle or surfing and 46C under load. It would not boot at 900mhz if it had been running for a while. With the new case it runs at 900mhz at a temp of 38C at idle or surfing and about 42C under load. Sometimes it will get to 43C but not that often. I had a small case with real bad airflow before. I bought the case without the power supply and got an antec 300w power supply from www.onvia.com with free shipping. It is approved by AMD for use with their processors but may not be necessary. I also got pc 133 ram from www.mushkin.com that is AMD tested. Also, this may not be necessary. I do know that nvida geforece cards suck a lot of juice but the duron is not as bad as the athlon about it.
I am sure this is something that I did not cover.
Brian Bowles
Here is an article on oveclocking a duron that I like: http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/articles/amd_oc_10-00/3.shtml
Do not worry about anything bridges but the L1 bridges. If the L1 bridges on you cpu are cut, you must color them back together with a pencil. You have to make sure that the coloring of each bridge does not touch the other bridge. It is not that hard to do and will take you about 5 mins. It is somewhat tedius and requires a steady hand. I did mine with a mechanical pencil wih #2 lead. I even colored with the pencil at an angle on another piece of paper to get a sharper point. If you make a mistake do not worry. All you have to do is use an eraser and erase the pencil marks. You can then start over. AMD cut the bridges to stop people from overclocking but this is real easy and the pencil lead conducts enough electricity to close the gaps. This must be done if the bridges are cut.
Once you have done this you should be able to change the multiplier. For example, your cpu runs stock at a fsb of 100mhz with DDR memory so they call it 200mhz. The multiplier is set at 6x to give you a speed of 6x100=600mhz. Try to change the multiplier to 7. Then see if your computer will boot at 700mhz. You may need to change the jumpers on the motherboard or do it in the bios to change the multiplier. I am not sure which is necessary for your motherboard. Look at the manual to see or go to the site. This is assuming your motherboard has multiplier control. It probably does but I am not sure. I will look in the mean time. If your computer has multiplier control and the bridges are colored correctly, it will boot at 700mhz. If it does not and the motherboard supports this feature then you will need to color the bridges again.
The amount of overclocking that you can do is limited by the cpu and heat. This cpu that I have will do 950mhz but I run it at 900mhz because it runs cooler and I can not tell the difference. I have built 4 other computer and all did at least 850mhz with no problem. I know some people claim to have them running at a 1 ghz, but I think the limit for the vast majority of chips is between 850-950mhz. I would recommend that you get motherboard monitor. It can be configured to give you the cpu temp in you taskbar. Otherwise you have to go to the bios to see the temp of the cpu. If at all possible you want the cpu to stay under 45C. I think the chances of errors increases as you go above 45C and above 50C could cause damamge but I really do not know. Here is a link where you can download it: http://www.tweakfiles.com/diagnostic/motherboardmonitor.html
Once you have this you can see how the temp of the cpu. I have heard the regular stock cpu fan/heatsink is not very good. I never used mine. I got the best. It is an alpha pal 6035. I would not get the one with the delta fan because it is real loud and drives some people crazy. Here is where I got mine. http://www.pcnut.com/parts/memory.htm
If the temp is still high when you run the cpu at speeds of around 850mhz, then you might want to get a new case with better air flow. I got a fong kai 320 because it was recommended by anandtech. Here is the link of where I got mine: http://directron.com/fk320w.html This case even has a fan in the back that is inside a duct that fits over the cpu to pull heat from the cpu out of the case. It is a real nice case. Before I had this my cpu ran at 850mhz at 42C at idle or surfing and 46C under load. It would not boot at 900mhz if it had been running for a while. With the new case it runs at 900mhz at a temp of 38C at idle or surfing and about 42C under load. Sometimes it will get to 43C but not that often. I had a small case with real bad airflow before. I bought the case without the power supply and got an antec 300w power supply from www.onvia.com with free shipping. It is approved by AMD for use with their processors but may not be necessary. I also got pc 133 ram from www.mushkin.com that is AMD tested. Also, this may not be necessary. I do know that nvida geforece cards suck a lot of juice but the duron is not as bad as the athlon about it.
I am sure this is something that I did not cover.
Brian Bowles
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