RAM and Overclocking Durons

[zision]

I posted a couple months ago, I was planning to get a P3 700 and OC it to 933, but I ended up quitting my job and money was tight anyway, I've got some cash again and am ready to buy. The prices on Durons are very tempting, and for just a little more than getting a P3 800 to put in this motherboard, I could get a new motherboard and Duron, and I'd have this motherboard and CPU lying around for when I finally get the parts together for a 2nd system. Now for the question I've been wondering for a while, but never came accross a solid answer. What FSB do Durons and Athlons run at!? I've seen some places saying they need PC100, others saying they need PC133. Right now I have 128MB PC133, but it was pretty generic stuff. Are Durons picky about quality? From most retailers saying "reccomended for AMD systems" I've been believing they are. If this will work, will adding another 128MB from another manufacturer cause problems? I could probably find someone to buy this from me and I could get 2 identical 128s. Lastly, how are Durons overclocked? It seems like the technique changes weekly, can anyone point me to solid and detailed information? Thanks!

 

[fs5]

I'm sure someone more informative will come along and post a reply but...
Durons run on 100 mhz FSB. Durons are normally overclocked by multiplier (by connecting something on the top of the CPU to "unlock it&quot. So my Duron600 (6x100) is overclocked right now at (10x100). I just had to increase the voltage a tad.

Memory: you can buy pc100 memory and it'll run fine because like I said you'll be overclocking by multiplier not by increasing the bus. Although you could and get increase performance between cpu/memory, but I choose not to do that. Call me stupid. So if you're planning on overclocking with a combination of both multipler and FSB then it would be a good idea to get some PC133 memory. There is an article over at www.firingsquad.com regarding the difference between CAS2 and CAS3 memory, but the performance gain is less than 10%. So in short, the memory you have is fine.

Sorry about the haphazardness of all that.

 

[Jackcat]

Get the Duron, my little 600 runs fine @1G with halfway decent aircooling. Your RAM is almost irrelevant with the Durons, you can run it at 100 or at 133 but usually you will only squeeze a few extra mhz by changing the fsb speed. The Duron only requires the "pencil trick" or conductive pen to unlock it and then you can change the multiplier on the Asus A7V or Abit Kt7 or KT7-raid, the ONLY two motherboards worth buying for the Duron in my opinion. If you need any more info I would suggest heading over to www.atlonoc.com go to the forum there and all will be revealed. Good luck

 

[goofy2000]

www.atlonoc.com, I can't get to it..
Are u sure u got the right address?

 

[L3]

Try adding an 'h' to the url to make it athlonoc.

 

[stonythug]

Yeah I asked a similar question and was told that the memory could run at 100 or 133 independently of the FSB. So if you get 133 your Ram will run at 133, if you get 100, your ram will run at 100. Of course this is disregarding any overclocking which could complicate this.

Jackcat what about the MSI Pro 2A as a mobo? I've heard it's more stable than either the ASUS or the Abit and it has a lot of overclocking options in software similar to Abits softmenu

 

[paulip88]

About the RAM:
The AMDs currently run on a 100MHz FSB. However, unlike the Intel platforms, the RAM and the FSB can run asynchronously. This means that they don't have to run at the same speed. Specifically, you have the option to run the RAM at FSB x 1.33 (FSB + PCI clock). This option would let you run PC133 on the 100MHz FSB. However, this also means that upping the FSB stresses your RAM a LOT.

Generic RAM should be OK as long as they made sure that the RAM can be detected properly. Some cheapo stuff cannot be detected properly by the AMD (KT133) boards.

How Durons are OCed:
Mostly by multiplier like fivespeed said. Then you can still tinker with the FSB.

About motherboards:
Yeah, the A7V and KT7 are good boards, but there are some nice more out now. I'd go with the MSI K7T Pro2A (not to be confused with the Pro or the Pro2). The new AOpen board also seems interesting, though I am yet to see a review of it.

 

[zision]

Thanks guys. I actually found a buyer for my RAM today, so I'll be ordering 2x128MB of something name-brand. I've found some cheap Micron PC133 that runs CAS2 at 100MHz, so I'll probably be ordering that. that will probably be my biggest speed increase, Wink2k is eating all my RAM. I rarely have more than 18MB of my physical RAM free.

Is it important to buy retail Durons? I already have a heatsink, I want to modify my PEP66. There seems to be about a $25 difference between the OEM and retail 700s, which is a lot for a $50-70 CPU.

I know this has been asked a million times, but I'm sure one of you knows off the top of your head, how much heat do overclocked Durons put out? 700@900-1GHz. I don't have much in my case for cooling right now, and I need to see if I need to order any more fans. I'm probably going to cut a 120mm in the front while I have everything taken out of it.