PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

[Fenix_2]

I recently bought my new Athlon 64 3200+ PC a month ago and I feel like overclocking it. I dont know too much about OC (overclocking) just the rough basics like FSB and Multiplier but i dont know what to do exactly. Here are my PC specs:
Processor: AMD Athlon64 3200+ @ 2Ghz, Clawhammer, 200Mhz FSB, 10x Multiplier, L1 cache: 64kb, L2 cache: 1024Kb, 754 socket.
Mobo: MSI K8MM-ILSR (MS-6741). Chipset: VIA K8M800-AMD Hammer.
Ram:512Mb DDR-SDRAM 3200 @ 200Mhz, i dont know the ram manufacturer(Kingston,Corsair, etc), is there a program to tell you your RAM manufacturer while in Windows?
HD: Western Digital 160Gb @ 7200rpm
Video: 128mb GeForce FX 5200.
I wanna know if i can OC, should I, and how do I OC if i can(Which programs to use and such). Thanks a lot for your help!

[sr4470]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

VIA K8M800

That chipset doesnt have the required features for overclocking, it is a value chipset with integrated graphics designed for use with Sempron-based systems being sold by OEMs and the like. You can use CPU-Z (do a google search) to identify your ram.

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

If there is any overclocking potential in that board it will be shown in the bois, personaly that is not one ofthe boards I would deal with.
That is a very nice processor, I was trying to get one of those for this rig but they were nowhere to be found at the time, so the 512 cache newcastle had to do.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

If I remember correctly, the K8M800 has the same limits as the K8T800 and the nForce 3 150 for overclocking, which means you shouldn't even bother.

Edit: As for Newcastle vs. Clawhammer, I would only want Clawhammer on socket 754 for a system not going to be OCed (with the exception of a 3700-based system), because Newcastle will get to much higher clock speeds, which mean much more performance improvement for AMD K8 CPUs than increasing L2 cache. This is proven by the fact that a 256KB L2 cache Sempron 3100 can outperform a 1MB L2 cache A64 of 100MHz less clock speed.

[Fenix_2]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

I dont know about the fact that this mobo cant OC, becuase I went into my BIOS and found the place to edit my FSB. I changed it from 200Mhz to 201Mhz (the limit on the FSB is 280Mhz) just to check if it would work, and it did. When I went into Windows and right clicked "My Computer" it read 2.01Ghz so I know that it CAN oc. Why shouldnt I bother Yawgmoth? Becuase I may not get great results? I dont want much, any increase is pretty much fine, I'll be happy with anything from 2.1 to 2.8Ghz, if it'll go that high. Do you know what is good FSB to set it to? Also does anyone know the recommended temp for my processor; its temp is usually siting at around 40-44.
SR4470, I already have CPU-Z and it doesnt tell me my ram manufacturer.
BTW - I didnt custom build this PC, I bought it from a store.
Plz help me out, thanks a bunch!
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #d1d1e1 1px solid" width="100%" colSpan=2>


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

If you can overclock it, it is not a OEM manufacurer, good job not getting one of those ;)
CPU-Z sometimes wont tell you, in your case you probably need to look at the sticker on your memory, or heat spreader if it is really nice memory.

As for temps personaly I never let mine get above 50C max load(sittin around 25 right now at stock) You are probably going to want to make sure you have good airflow through that case of yours(fans in front pulling air in, fans at the back pushing air out)
I have 7 case fans and 2 PSU fans so that is the main reason it stays so cool, if I turn all of case fans off the temps rise to about 60 at full load so you can see the diffrence in making air flow count...

In other words get some case fans for that beast before you overclock it to any thing above 210HTT, just my opinion, im sure it would be fine up to about 55 or 60C.

[Fenix_2]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

Thanks for the help AMD_lover (i also love amd) but what is HTT --> (is it the FSB?)210HTT. Also do you or anyone know what is the death temp for my processor? When I say "death temp' I mean the temp at which the processor dies or crashes and burns. My PC is usually at 44C at low load, is that ok or higher/lower than recommended. Also can anyone reccommend me on how to OC now that I know my chipset/motherboard can support OCing. Any recommnedations on which software to use and how to go about OCing.
What is the deal with pins and sockets? I dont get it, what are they.
THANKS AGAIN

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

HTT is the A64 equivilant of FSB, the temp that the CPU shuts it self off is around 65-70 I think though I have never reached it personaly.

Those temps are a bit high for a non overclocked system, do you have any case fans at all? You may want lower you temps by getting a friend that has hands on experiance with computers to re-apply your heatsink, and you will probably get a lot better temps, then you wont have to worry about that as much.

There are two differnt pinn configurations for A64 based systems socket 754 and socket 939.

This is a pin configuration for the socket 754 A64's
http://www.dscnet.de/catalog/images/...d-athlon64.jpg

An accual 754 pin motherboard socket:
http://img.hexus.net/v2/motherboards...mages/s754.jpg

This is a pin configuration for the socket 939 A64's
http://www.zive.cz/files/obrazky/200...d/DSC03689.JPG

An accual 939 pin motherboard socket:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/200...socket_939.jpg

The diffrence... s939 CPU's have a built in dual channel memory controler as the s754 versions have onle single channel versions.
The s754 CPU's have a 200 MHz advantage over the s939 CPU's of the same proformance rating....
E.g., a s939 A64 3200+ runs at 2.0GHz as a s754 A64 3200 runs at 2.2GHz, both are about the same, but the socket 754 CPU's that are out right now are all that there will ever be, eg no higher than the 3700 willl be made.

[Fenix_2]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

Newcastles OC better than ClawHammers and mine is a Clawhammer so.... However the Clawhammers have 1024kb l2 cache, which i dont think is noticable. I OCed mine to 2.05Ghz and the temp stayed at (low load) 44C (havent tried full load). There are 2 fans in my PC, 1 for the CPU and the other 1 (I think) for the mobo. My cpu temp is usually 44C at low load and my mobo temp is 36 at low load. HD0 (whatever that is) temp is 33C. BTW which programs do you use to OC? Or do u go into the BIOS?
Thanks for the info Whats CMOS??

[Yawgm0th]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

I dont know about the fact that this mobo cant OC, becuase I went into my BIOS and found the place to edit my FSB. I changed it from 200Mhz to 201Mhz (the limit on the FSB is 280Mhz) just to check if it would work, and it did. When I went into Windows and right clicked "My Computer" it read 2.01Ghz so I know that it CAN oc. Why shouldnt I bother Yawgmoth? Becuase I may not get great results?

The board has no PCI lock so don't expect much of an overclock, but you can get something (maybe 100MHz).

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

Newcastles OC better than ClawHammers and mine is a Clawhammer so.... However the Clawhammers have 1024kb l2 cache, which i dont think is noticable. I OCed mine to 2.05Ghz and the temp stayed at (low load) 44C (havent tried full load). There are 2 fans in my PC, 1 for the CPU and the other 1 (I think) for the mobo. My cpu temp is usually 44C at low load and my mobo temp is 36 at low load. HD0 (whatever that is) temp is 33C. BTW which programs do you use to OC? Or do u go into the BIOS?
Thanks for the info Whats CMOS??

You should really look into an exhaust fan or two.(depending on if yor case has the mounting holes required)

HD0 is your hard drive...

Bios would be your best bet for overclocking, unless you know your limits already then dont use windows programs, there is a chance you can corrupt a .sys file or somthing if it crashes on you while in windows.

CMOS(complementary metal oxide semiconductor) the Bios chip as it is know by many, the newer ones have 4 megs of space for future expantion, one of the reasons I love Gigabyte motherboards is it has two of these chips and you can load two diffrent bios versions and it boots off the other bios if the main one gets corupted.

[Fenix_2]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

Whats a PCI lock?

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

When you move your FSB, or HTT in this case, the PCI frequency moves along with it... at 210(maybe 220 cant remember) I think it is about 37.**MHz, when the components on the PCI bus cant handle those frequencys the system becomes unstable, a PCI lock keeps the PCI bus frequency at 33MHz unless you change it your self(if the option even exists on the motherboard).

With your motherboard there is no PCI lock and therefore your PCI clock will move up along with your HTT.

[Fenix_2]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

Does the PCI frequency only apply to my case if I use a PCI card? Or does it matter anyways whether or not I use a PCI video card because I have a AGP card. I OCed my Processor to 215 HTT (FSB) or 2.15Ghz and the temp still stayed at 44C (low load) plus when it was on full load its max temp was 48-49C, an improvement over last time at which I had it 210HTT and the max temp went to 50-51C. A friend of mine told me that 44C on low load was way too hot and that at 55C my processor could die but you (AMD_Lover2004) said it would "turn off" at 65-70C not "blow up" at that temp. Im thinking about whether or not to see what happens at 220HTT. Should I try it?

[Amd_Lover2004]

Re: PLZ HELP! NUB Overclocker!

There are many other things that are on the PCI bus, not just PCI cards. Some of these things include your IDE headers and sometimes your built-in ethernet adapter aswell, there are others but I dont fel like listing all of them ATM. Your AGP moves along with the PCI aswell but 90% of the overclockable motherboards have AGP locks so you wont have to worry about that.

About you trying to go higher.... I would hold off untill you get a better cooling solution for your CPU, 44 at idle is way to high for my likeing, mine is 25C at idle @ 230HTT while it only gets up to about 40-45max... It is running 38C as I type and I have been running it at full load for over 3 days now.

Again if it gets to high it may not shut down or die but it very well could lower the life expectancy for your processor/motherboard even more than overclocking does.

Im not sure if the stock voltage for the Clawhammer cores are the same as the Newcastles, but it should be check your Vcore voltage in the bios and report back with the reading, one of my thinkings is that it is set to high for some reason therefore you get higher temps than normal. If voltages are normal than you will probably want to reapply your HSF and/or get a new and better one.