Newbie: need some tips about overclocking xp mobile

[TipsyMcStagger]

looking at trying out the XP mobile

would be doing this on a fairly limited budget - poor college student who likes games :/

anyway was hoping to get something around the 2400mhz range maybe 200x12

I was reading some comments on here, some people were saying the newer mobiles dont OC near as well as the old ones, so an xp 2400 mobile from newegg may not do the trick. And since the 2600 mobile is only $5 than the 2500 mobile, figured i'd go with that.

As for board, i saw the AN35 and ive read it has a decent selection for the multiplier

Board - AN35
CPU - 2600 mobile

Now i need to find some decent ram... If i wasnt going planning on pushing the FSB much over 400 if any, would that kingston ram in the hot deals section be ok? its some Value ram, PC3200 512mb sticks for ~72 AR each link
Figured i'd buy 2 of those and to dual channel 1 gb. But speaking of dual channel, I was wondering how i can tell which sticks of ram are actually capable of dual channel, aside from those that come in pairs.

Any tips/comments appreciated. Thanks guys

 

[Mik3y]

well, if you want a budget overclock, you'll have to get the abit nf7, 512mb ddr of good ram, at least an antec 430W power supply (for the 5V rail), a good cpu cooler, and the cpu of course. this will cost about $350 for just these. slap on a cheap case and old harddrive and etc, you'll be fine.

 

[myocardia]

All Value Ram is total crap. Kingston is actually big enough to state right on the retail package of their VR that it does not support dual-channel operation. And even if you didn't run it in dual-channel mode, a CAS of 3 will destroy your performance, guaranteed. Don't get value ram, or you'll be very sorry! Here's some very good ram, at decent prices: Buffalo Tech. PC3200 at $59 per 256MB stick, and here it is in 512MB sticks: link. It says that it's got a CAS of 2.5, but everyone who has bought it says that it will do 200@2-3-3 or better. It's got Winbond CH6 chips, which are the best that are available right now. Here are a few other links for you: Antec TruePower 430 for $66-- that is an awesome deal for a psu, Shuttle AN35N for $64 (I think this will be as good as an NF7, since you aren't planning on going past 200fsb), and here are some heatsinks that will work with an overclocked Barton: TT Volcano 12 Extreme, which is my recommendation, TT Volcano 11 not as good as the Volcano 12, but will suffice, and the cheapest decent one: Speeze FalconRock for $11.99. I hear the Speeze is good for somewhere between 2.3 and 2.4ghz, if you don't mind having a fairly warm cpu.

 

[CHarrington]

I have a limited knowlegde of AMD overclocking, but I do know from experience that AMDs benefit from a low CAS. I'd really say wait and save those pennies; it'd be a shame to drop your hard earned (and hard to come by) cash into such a system and be bottled up by the quality of your ram.

Good luck all the same!

 

[TipsyMcStagger]

Thanks for the advice guys. That buffalo ram looks pretty cool, and I'll stay away from that value ram. I am still curious though as to how you know if the ram is capable of running dual channel or not, aside from those that are sold as matched pairs.

As for heatsink, how do you guys feel about the Vantec Aeroflow $25 @ newegg I read some reviews, was decent for overclocking and not particularly noisey. I looked at the volcano 12 extreme I dont mind paying a little extra for it. Just one thing, is it loud?

I really appreciate the help

 

[myocardia]

What it amounts to, Tipsy, is that good ram will always run in dual-channel, even if it's not matched sticks sold as a DC kit. Sh*tty ram will hardly ever (there's an exception to every rule) run in DC, because running in dual-channel requires more voltage from almost any ram than single-channel operation requires. As far as heatsinks, the Thermaltake Volcano has an awesome heatsink (looks as good as my Thermalright that cost me $40 without a fan), and a completely adjustable fan. If it is too loud for you, you can just lower your overclock, and lower the fan's speed. The AeroFlow isn't as good of a heatsink, no matter which fan you install on it (which, btw, would bring it to the same price as the TT Volcano 12, that already has a very good fan).

 

[selfbuilt]

I've got a Vantec Aeroflow on my mobile 2500+ (week 08/2004) running prime95 stable at 198x12 1.65V (set) on my Asus A7N8X dlx (it naturally overvolts ~0.05V) - it works great. Depending on room temps, idles around 38-40C and peak load 45-48C, according to AsusProbe (using AS5 on it). Not exactly quiet, but quite reasonable.

And I agree about the ram - never liked Kingston value ram much (currently running Corsair twinx 1024MB PC3200 low latency - 2-3-2-6, dual channel). As long as CAS lat is <2.5 and tRCD and rRP are <=3, you should be ok. I know everyone raves about CAS 2, but I honestly don't see much of a difference running at 2.5-3-3-7 on games or synthetic benchies (although I grant it may matter more for video encoding, etc.). But you did say you were a gamer on a budget - so go with the Buffalo mem myocardia suggested, and stick with the Aeroflow - you'll be quite happy!