Upgrade Done ... Now I Have Some Questions Re: Overclocking My Duron.

[Dan]

Just did my smoothest upgrade ever. I'm now running a Duron 600MHz on an Abit KT7 with a Cooler Master DP5-6H11 heatsink/fan. (AMD-Approved up to a T-Bird 1.1GHz.) I also did the "pencil trick" but have not yet applied thermal compound.

Naturally, I'm ready to start pushing this new setup so I have some questions.

1. What's up with those 4 little "pads" on the CPU? It seems like those will defeat the whole point of thermal compound, which is why I haven't applied it yet. Can I remove them?

2. I used the Soft Menu in bios to reset the CPU speed. The system runs fine with bios settings of 700 and 750. The POST however says it is still at 600 -- and SiSoft Sandra confirms this. I've haven't played with any of the other settings, e.g., voltage, yet.

Where do I go from here? What are my next steps?

 

[wviperw]

Woh, Woh, Woh. You're trying to run the processor w/o thermal paste. Not a good idea. That's a good away of burning it up. Just put the paste on the middle of the HSF, where it makes contact with the actual Duron chip.

As for the pads, you need those to balance the HSF on there. You want to keep those on. Just make sure the heatsink is touching the chip.

Sounds like you didn't do the pencil markings right either. When you pencil it right, it should be able to change speeds.

 

[pdo]

You need to redo the penciling tricks. It takes my a couple of tries to get it right, and now I'm running at 900MHz. Still a little disappointed, but not that bad.

 

[BlackMamba]

I concur with -paldo. Your penciling was not done correctly. You can go back and erase them with a rubber eraser, and do them over, making sure that none of the pencil marks overlap.

Best Regards,
David @ www.cputester.com

 

[Dan]

Okay. I pencilled over the L1 bridges again and applied thermal paste. Still no go. Apparently I haven't succeeding in unlocking the clock multiplier yet. (I can get some modest gains by increasing the FSB but that's not going to cut it.)

Where can I get a conductive pen? Radio Shack? Fry's?

 

[BlackMamba]

You dont need a conductive pen. Just try again until the penciling works. I once had to redo it 5 times to get it right (my first CPU .

Best Regards,
David @ www.cputester.com

 

[ride525]

Radio Shack has conductive pens:

Radio Shack - Circuit Writer



<< Precision Conductive Ink Dispenser. CircuitWriter applies instant traces on most surfaces (including epoxy, glass, plastic and metal). Allows you to draw traces on circuit boards, repair defective traces, make jumpers and shield electronics, design prototype circuits and repair rear-window heater traces. *Note: Hazardous Materials surcharges/restrictions may apply for air shipments -- call before ordering. >>


$9.95 Reg. Price
Cat.#: 910-3890


Has anyone used these?

 

[Dan]

Success!! You guys were right: it took a few attempts! (That and I caught 4 hours sleep and thenpulled out a magnifying glass so I could get a good look at what I was doing. )

I'm at 800MHz with a core voltage of 1.6.

Now that I've &quot;got it&quot; I (naturally) want to start raising the bar. Where do Durons top out voltage-wise?

 

[pdo]

Congratulations Dan. Feels good to succeed don't it? You have a good chance of getting to 950MHz. I think it tops out at 1.85V. I woulnd't try higher if I were you.

 

[Dan]

You're right -paldo it feels great. I'm now up to 900MHz and 1.8v. At 950MHz the system hangs during the POST, even if I up the voltage to 1.85. Guess I'll sit on 900MHz for the time being. (Still, not too bad for a $57 chip, is it?)