Everyone does it ... but how?!?!

S

spuff

Big Geek
Before people think I'm an idiot, I just want to say now that I'm a newbie to overclocking and that I want to learn about it before doing something stupid like blow my CPU through my bedroom wall!!
Everyone is always talking about overclocking but I have one simple question ... how the hell do you do it??? If anyone knows a website that has a 'dummy's guide to overclocking', I'd appreciate it! I have an AMD Athlon 2400+ CPU, MSI K7N2 Delta-L motherboard and Sapphire Radeon 9200 (soon to be 9600XT :chk: ) graphics card. Are these ideal for overclocking? All I've managed to do so far is set the FSB from 100 to 133 but I don't know if it makes a difference ... does it?
Anyway, thanks in advance for any help! :good:
 
It should be running at 133MHz to have the CPU running at its offical speed. If the board unlocks the multiplier, you might be able to raise it. If your RAM is good enough, you can try raising the FSB (after making sure the PCI/AGP busses are locked if you have to set it). The changes you made do make a difference, but the graphics card you have is likely limiting it somewhat. If you have something faster than PC2100, you can go about running the FSB faster than 133MHz.
Take it in steps. First, the stock Athlon coolers (that come with the retail packaging), aren't that great. Coolers from Thermalright are considered to be some of the best. Their SK7 is pretty cheap for what they have, but I've also found ThermalTake to have some nice coolers as well. If you don't have a heatsink with at least a copper insert, you will want to purchase one.
Prime 95 and Memtest 86 are your friends for stability testing. You can test every single MHz bump along the way, but that takes awhile. I keep going until I find the system crashing in 3Dmark and start backing off. Overclocked stability is generally defined as passing Prime 95 with no errors for at least 24 hours. I also run Memtest to make sure my memory is up to par, especially if you run with lowered timings.
It's guess work and luck. Just because some guy got a 1GHz OC off his chip doesn't mean you will. Also, some chips...speed grade and stepping...overclock much better than others.
 
i have a amd 2400 and it aint worthe ocing just get a cheap cel or p2 cos the 2400 is very complicated cos you have to unlcok the cpu
 
Some motherboards will unlock processors, but that's mostly the nForce 2 crop of them. You don't need to unlock the CPU to overclock, but it does help.
 
How do you unlock a CPU and how do you change the multiplier? Also, I know have my FSB set at 133 ... would it be worth setting it any higher at all and it is safe to do so?
 
Like I said, you probably won't have to unlock the CPU itself as the motherboard should do that for you already. With your current video card, you're probably already hitting a bottleneck with the CPU in it's current state, so you're less likely to notice the effects of the overclock.
Operating the CPU, or any product, beyond its maximum specified speed does carry some risks and no guarantees. However, if you take it slowly, you'll know if the system is stable or not long before you fry something. Do not go any higher than 1.85V with aircooling on the CPU.
It's worth trying out, but again, with your current video card, you're probably not going to notice the extra speed in gaming for one.
 
you cant overclock a unlocked 2400+ i have tried it continuously and the nforce2 on my mobo didnt unlock the cpu so if you cant tell me how you oced the 2400 with out unlocking please enlighten me
 
You can OC it without unlocking it. Will you get a very high FSB without doing so? Probably not. Some motherboards may not automatically unlock it though, and not every CPU is the same.
 
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