Never overclocked before, looking to get my feet wet

[parkbench]

Antec SX630II, 300W
Barton 2500+
A7N8X Deluxe rev. 1
512MB Crucial PC2700
256 MB eVGA 6800GT
Maxtor 80GB 7200rpm
Western Digital 40GB 7200rpm
Soundstorm w/ either optical or mic/headset out
Pioneer 16x DVD
NEC 4x DVD+R/RW

I hear the 2500+ is an overclocking monster and I've been CPU limited in my gaming lately (GT is dying for more work).

Before I begin, I'd like to know what kind of performance to expect out of this overclock (to gauge if it's worth it).

Please understand that I only want to push my stuff to reasonable levels and not to theoretical maximums. I am considering doing this not for bragging rights, but just to get a few more months out of my old hardware before I figure out a way to get into PCI-Express system as painlessly as possible. My goal is to get a nice mix of eye candy and framerates.

My system is completely tweaked and runs rock stable. From registry to defrag, to swapfile on a non OS drive, to individual game tweaks I'm pretty maxxed out without upgrading.

Finally, since I've never done this before a step-by-step approach would be appreciated. If you're still reading and not rolling your eyes, I'm all ears!

 

[parkbench]

A few comments, again bear with me as I'm a n00b:

Could any changes stress one thing more than another? Like could I blow my video card or RAM?

Also, I bought some aftermarket heatsink and fan that was supposed to be a bit better than the retail AMD one. I *may* have used Arctic Silver as well.

 

[masshass81]

Overclocking Guide

 

[parkbench]

I made sure to do a search beforehand and I read that guide already but I couldn't follow it.

Can anybody help this poor noob?

 

[Concillian]

First thing's first before I give a lengthy reply. Is your processor unlocked?

There is one obvious way to tell, and that is just trying out a lower multiplier in BIOS (like choose 10x instead of 11x). If you end up at a lower processor speed, it is unlocked. If you do not, and it still tells you you have a 2500+, then you have a locked processor.

I would assume that since you have a REV 1 board, that the processor is older and unlocked. This is a good thing, as the older 2500+ desktops are unlocked generally overclock better than the newer 2500+ processors, especially since your board will likely not get to 200 MHz FSB speed... you'll need to increase the multiplier.

For performance, you're likely to be able to get into the ~2200 MHz range from 1833 MHz stock. How this ~20% CPU speed increase translates into actual performance increase depends on the applications you are using. As you say, your games may be CPU limited, though if you're running high enough resolution and AA/AF levels in certain games it may still be video card limited.

You will not be able to increase too much in your RAM speed, limited by your motherboard. Your RAM may reach PC3200 speed, but no way a Rev1 board will get there. Hard to say where exactly your RAM speed will end up, as I don't know the limitations of the Rev 1 A7N8X boards.

 

[Fern]

What heatsink you got on that Barton?

Download and install Motherboard Monitor 5. It's a free proggie. You'll need it to monitor temps and voltages. Get it HERE

Get Memtest86. You'll use it to test your ram (stability at OC speeds). Get it HERE

Get Prime95. You'll need it to test the CPU for stability at OC speeds. Get it HERE

Unlike those with the nForce Ultra 400 (or version 2) mobo and PC 3200 ram, you'll be OCing the cpu, ram and mobo simultaneously. Whereas they are (mostly) just OCing the cpu.

If your cpu has an unlocked multi, lower it. Then start raising the FSB. Keep your ram at "SPD". Raise FSB, maybe by 5 (ie 166+5=171) or 10. Then run memtest86 first. If it fails, up the vdimm (voltage to ram, this feature is in BIOS) a notch and retry. Eventually you'll may need to play with looser timings to enable it to run stabley at higher FSB speeds.

If it passes, run prime95 (torture test). Your checking the cpu/mobo here. If it fails. it's likely the mobo as the cpu's multi has been lowered and it's running below rated mhz of 1826. Raise voltage to chipset and try again.

After passing both, rinse and repeat untill are moving up or down by just 2 or 3 increaments in FSB.

When you find your limit on FSB, whether limited by ram or mobo, start upping the cpu multi and it's vcore to get it as fast as possible. BTW, I don't like my cpu hotter than 60c.

You should also go over nForcershq.com (HERE) and research your mobo, it's BIOS features and maybe modded BIOS to help it reach a higher FSB.

Good Luck

EDIT: I'd say your looking to get your cpu to 2200mhz up from 1826mhz

Fern

 

[parkbench]

How do I increase the FSB? My choices are limited to 100, 133, 166, and 200. 200 would obviously be too high. How are people increasing by 1Mhz?

 

[Fern]

In your BIOS, where there are the chioces you mentioned is likely an option for "User defined", "Expert" or something similar which will allow for the 1mhz FSB adjustments.

Does you mobo have a "Soft Menu III" section?

Fern