How much of an OC to expect?

[Howard]

Athlon 64 3200+ (not sure which core)
Crucial Ballistix [Tracer] PC4000
FSP ATX-400PN http://www.sparklepower.com/pdf/ATX-400PN.pdf

Taking the motherboard out of the equation (it hasn't been chosen yet), what's the highest guaranteed CPU clock I (well, a friend) can reach?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that stock cooling will be used.

 

[Howard]

^

 

[GuitarDaddy]

2.4 is pretty much a guarnatee
2.5 is about avg.
2.6 is very possible
2.7+ is possible but highly unlikely

I have an earlier Winchester and it hits 2.6 barely.

Some of the newer Venice cores can get in the 2.7-2.8 range, but not many

 

[Howard]

Great news. Do most good brand PC3200 RAM sticks reach 250MHz?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Higher end PC3200 will, value ram won't

But overclocking ram on the A64 platform provides almost zero real world performance increase, only synthetic benches show much of a difference. I would recommend getting the cheapest name brand value PC3200 you can get, like Corsair value select or PQI optima and using a ram divider to keep your ram running at stock or below

 

[Mucker]

These sticks do: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231021

I heard that Crucial is not making Ballistix anymore......

 

[Wentelteefje]

Corsair ValueSelects are good brand RAM too... Most of the time they won't hit the 250MHz... You really don't need to do a 1:1 overclock with an Athlon 64... Setting a divider won't hurt its performance (much)... If you do want that speed, look at RAM sticks with a low Cas Latency, or buy some PC3700 or PC4000 RAM...

 

[Wentelteefje]

However, using PC4000 sticks like the ones Mucker shows (which are very good) in combination with a decent overclocking motherboard, will give you serious overclocking potential...

You could always take cheaper RAM, and buy a very good aftermarket heatsink with the money you save... It'll pay off when you'll overclock, and 'll be much quieter...