Well one of the things with overclocking is that you want to remove as many variables as possible each step of the way. So when overclocking the FSB your variables are memory voltage, cpu voltage, PCI peripherals, memory quality, memory timings, cpu core quality, heat, and probably some others.
If you want to figure out the highest possible overclock for your computer you first want to isolate your memory. If your CPU is unlocked lower the multiplier to something way low so that no matter how much you overclock your FSB you will still be safely under the actual rated core clock speed. This effectively eliminates the CPU and CPU voltage variables.
Now it's also a good idea to remove every PCI peripheral in your machine except for your video card when trying to find your higest possible overclock. Take all unecessary PCI cards out, and leave your case open to keep temps cooler than normal.
Once you're at that point then you can start trying to isolate your memory. First bump up the mem voltage by .1 or .2V. I believe default DDR is 2.6V? So bump it up to 2.8V for now though some might tell you to max it to 2.9V or whatever the highest setting is. The amdmb.com Epox forums has a warning against that somewhere.
This is THE thread for the Epox 8kha+. Reading through the big posts at the top will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about your board.
Anyway now that things are setup, start bumping up your FSB. A 10Mhz jump from 140 to 150Mhz is pretty large. Overclocking will have to be done in baby steps the closer you get to your max. Start out by bumping up to 145Mhz, do stability testing. Then probably bump up to 147Mhz, do stability testing. Then start bumping it up in 1Mhz increments as you near 150Mhz since that was your original crash point. Just do stability testing every step of the way or else you can't be sure that your computer will work after 15 minutes or during some intense games, activity.
Once you find your max memory/FSB overclock, drop back down to 133Mhz, max your CPU voltage to 1.85V and start increasing the clock multiplier on your CPU if it's unlocked. Keep increasing the multiplier and doing stability testing in .5X increments until you crash. Once you find the max CPU overclock figure out what the multiplier should be if you ran your system at your max stable FSB and then set it to that and bump up your FSB and reboot. You should be good to go then though once you max both your memory/FSB and CPU you may have to back off on the FSB a little bit. Now you can start adding in your PCI peripherals one at a time and doing more stress testing. Usually you'll have to back off a couple Mhz FSB if you have a bunch of peripherals. If things are stable and settling down then you can start to back off on the CPU and Memory core voltages a little to see how low you can go with them. This will help minimize heat and wear on your system though you will likely not be able to lower either much.
If you overclock this way you will be able to find your maximum stable FSB, max CPU clock, maximum total overclock, and minimum stable voltages. You will also see which peripherals are your problem ones holding you back and can make good decisions on whether you should get a new NIC or more tolerant sound card for example.
Good luck and let us know what you end up with!
🙂
Gaidin
Edit: Forgot about memory timings. Check that thread on the amdmb.com forums for detailed explanations of all the BIOS memory timing settings along with a list of optimal settings if your RAM can handle it. If your memory fails at a certain FSB you can sometimes back off on the memory timings to get stability at that FSB however your system might actually be faster at a lower FSB with more aggressive memory timings. Only memory benchmarks can tell you for sure. You won't be able to notice the performance difference in casual usage. IMHO go for the fastest memory timings you can and only make concessions if you really want to reach a certain FSB point and even then benchmark it to make sure it's worth it.
