CPU Voltages and Ocing for the first time

[Gotenks]

my cpu voltages are at 1.712..is that normal voltage for a cpu that hasn't been over clocked...and i was wondering...what do i do to overclock my cpu and what type of HSF should i get if i over clock..

[$0m#0n#]

I dont think its normal, but I cant say anything till I dont know what ur CPU is.

[craig588]

Some bartons run that as stock.

Some coppermines run that as stock.

Some Tbreds...Some palimanos....

[Lithan]

There are thousands of pages of info on overclocking available. A start is telling us about your computer. If you don't know what computer(cpu/motherboard/ram/etc) you have, sorry to say this but stop right there. You should not be doing this if you don't know that information.

If you do have that information, post it and we'll give you some basics, and try to help you with specifics as much as we can. If you are running an Athlon, that voltage should be perfectly fine. If you are running a williamette, that's fine, if it's a northwood some will tell you that might be too high. This is just general statements, we can't really say anything certain unless we know more details about your system.

[Gotenks]

Sorry, here are my pc specs
Processor- AMD Athlon XP 2500+ @ 1.8 Ghz
Motherboard- Asus A7N8X-X
Ram- 512MB PC3200
Graphics- Geforce 5200 FX
Hard drive- 45GB Sata

[LilGator]

1.65v is usually the default voltage for a barton, but 1.7v is no problem.

I'd say up to 1.9v-2.0v is fine with decent aircooling :)

I've put 2.2v+ on my SP-97 ;)

And thats the HSF I'd recommend for overclocking, Thermalright SP97 :)

[Gotenks]

What would be " decent " air cooling?

[LilGator]

a solid aftermarket heatsink, with a 80mm fan at least pushing a good amount of air...

[Gotenks]

What would that be?

[craig588]

Just pick up a SP97 and a 92MM tornado if you want the best, it will only be like 50$ in total.

[Lithan]

First Download and install this.
http://www.cpuid.com/download/CG-NVNF2.zip

Next download and install this.
http://radified.com/Files/MBM_5370.exe

Then download and install this.
http://mersenne.org/gimps/p95v238.exe

Then download and install this on a floppy (Run the exe with a blank floppy in drive) http://www.memtest.org/download/1.20/memtest86+-1.20.floppy.zip

Then go into bios. Make certain ram is set to 1:1, 2:2, 3:3, 4:4, 5:5, 6:6 Or whatever setting makes it run at the same speed as the FSB. Set it to use SPD timings for the moment.

Now, boot into windows, start motherboard monitor, prime95, and clockgen. Run the high cpu usage/heat test in prime95, and slowly increase FSB in clockgen. I like steps of 5FSB at a time. So something like 166 to 170 to 175 to 180, etc etc etc. Give it about ten minutes of priming minimum between adjustments. Watch your temps, if you break 55*C on cpu, you need better cooling. If you error in prime or reboot or lockup, you probably need more vcore (which you can give if temps are good). Once you reach 200FSB, let it prime for a few hours. Once that is done, reboot to bios, set FSB to 200 and insert the memtest floppy. Run memtest at least two loops (15-30minutes I'd guess), then reboot and set user define ram timings. Let's assume you start at 8-4-4-3 ram timings (Start at whatever spd had you set at)

8-4-4-3 memtest
8-3-3-3 memtest
7-3-3-2.5 memtest
7-3-2-2.5 memtest
6-3-2-2 memtest
5-2-2-2 memtest

Go through those settings one by one. If you error in memtest after changing the value, you can try more voltage or you can return whatever value you last changed (say 3 to 2.5 on the fourth setting) back to what it was before and continue changing the other settings. Most ram won't take very tight timings... so if you can't tighten yours up, don't worry about it too much. Once you have found the tightest setting that survives memtest for 2 loops. Run it for two or three hours. Now boot back into windows and play some warcraft 3 or diablo 2 or farcry or some other game. If you crash, lockup, or get an error while doing this, your Northbridge or southbridge can't run this high... so you will have to back down on the FSB a little and try again. If you can game fine then you are good to go. I'd personally try running prime overnight just to be sure it was completely stable at this point.

This assumes that you have a recent 2500+ and it is multiplier locked. If it isn't multiplier locked you can overclock by raising that as well. You can also raise your FSB above 200, but not many a7n8x can do very much more than 200... so you should probably get familiar with overclocking before you bother trying that.

[CrunchTime]

yep there are plenty of guides on OC if you search this forum, but thanks for stopping by!! Welcome to the XS!

[Gotenks]

Thx for the welcome....After reading that guide i decided not to overclock my pc in case i do something wrong...I'll just tell my uncle to do for me cuz he knows how to overclock...Thanks for the help