Help for AMD64 3200+

[Madmox]

Lo all, i'm after help on overclocking my system. After lot's of reading i still cannot make sence of alot of the jargon.
System :- Asus k8v se deluxe
AMD64 3200+ (754) Clawhammer
2 x 1Gb Corsair CMX1024 (matched pair)
200Gb HD
ATI RADEON X800 PRO/GTO 256Mb AGP (with Artic cooler4)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy

I know it's not the best system out there but it put's up a good fight. I have only got the stock cooler on the cpu at the mo but have got a Arctic Cooling PRO CPU Cooler with Heat pipe coming.
I have looked at upping the FSB in the Bios but not 100% sure how far to take it and i have also read that i'll have to up some of the voltages.
For my X800 i use ati tool and have got it up to 530 on the core and 560 on the memory. Max temp on that seems to be 51'c , 35' min and a average of 41'. I'd like to know if that's good-bad- or normal
Thank's for any help given Paul

[casecutter]

Well, first thing you need to do is find the Clear CMOS jumper and learn how to do that. Basically, when you push it too far it will fail to boot up and you will need to clear CMOS to get it to cooperate again. Just upp the HTT by 1 and leave the Vcore stock. Use Prime95 to check for stability, if it passes an hour then I'd up the HTT again. Do that until it either errors out in prime or won't post/boot. Then it is time to raise voltages, but only alittle bit at a time. Just take it very slow and don't forget to drop the HT multiplier to 3. If your ram is not high end ram, you might need to put a divider on that too.

[Madmox]

Well, first thing you need to do is find the Clear CMOS jumper and learn how to do that. Basically, when you push it too far it will fail to boot up and you will need to clear CMOS to get it to cooperate again. Just upp the HTT by 1 and leave the Vcore stock. Use Prime95 to check for stability, if it passes an hour then I'd up the HTT again. Do that until it either errors out in prime or won't post/boot. Then it is time to raise voltages, but only alittle bit at a time. Just take it very slow and don't forget to drop the HT multiplier to 3. If your ram is not high end ram, you might need to put a divider on that too.

Thank's for that but wot is the CMOS jumper ? and any idea's were it'll be ? Also why do i have to drop the multiplier ? Also the RAM is Corsair Platinum Series 2GB TwinX2048 3200C2PT DDR so i think this is at the higher end.

[Yawgm0th]

Look in your motherboard's manual to locate the CMOS jumper. Alternatively, you just simply pull out the CMOS battery (a circular piece of metal in a clip on the motherboard; looks like a watch battery) and put it back to clear the CMOS. If you overclock goes to far and the system fails to boot, this is what you do.

In the BIOS, try taking the FSB up 5 or 10MHz at a time. You'll need to increase voltage a little every so often. Check your CPU temps and run Prime95 (google it) to test for stability. Also, you'll want to lower the video card overclock, because overclocking the CPU will increase the system temperature and probably cause your video card to produce artifacts or become unstable.

[Madmox]

Look in your motherboard's manual to locate the CMOS jumper. Alternatively, you just simply pull out the CMOS battery (a circular piece of metal in a clip on the motherboard; looks like a watch battery) and put it back to clear the CMOS. If you overclock goes to far and the system fails to boot, this is what you do.

In the BIOS, try taking the FSB up 5 or 10MHz at a time. You'll need to increase voltage a little every so often. Check your CPU temps and run Prime95 (google it) to test for stability. Also, you'll want to lower the video card overclock, because overclocking the CPU will increase the system temperature and probably cause your video card to produce artifacts or become unstable.

Hi again, so do i have to do the CMOS thing before i do any sort of overclocking on the CPU ? If so i'll wait till the new cooler turn's up. Also wot is the CMOS for as i have read that it holds the time and date on your m/c.
Even though i have a Artic cooler on the video card will i still have to drop the setting's ? At the moment i have a motherboard temp of 25'c / cpu temp of 44'c and video card temp of 32'c.
Also when will i know when to up the voltage's.
Thank's all

[Yawgm0th]

You don't have to it beforehand. As I said, you only need to remove it if an overclock fails.

CMOS stands for complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor. It stores BIOS settings, including the time and date.

If you're video card is 32C, you're fine. The CPU temp is unacceptable for overclocking, but it should be fine after you install the replacement. If you test the system for stability every 5 or 10 MHz, you'll know when to turn up the voltage. If the system fails to boot or crashes in Windows, you probably need more voltage.

You'll also need to set a divider on your RAM. There should be an option that either allows you to set it to 333MHz or one that gives you a RAM:FSB ratio, such as 1/1. If this ratio exists, set it to 3/4 or something similar, the lower number being the RAM speed.

[Madmox]

You don't have to it beforehand. As I said, you only need to remove it if an overclock fails.

CMOS stands for complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor. It stores BIOS settings, including the time and date.

If you're video card is 32C, you're fine. The CPU temp is unacceptable for overclocking, but it should be fine after you install the replacement. If you test the system for stability every 5 or 10 MHz, you'll know when to turn up the voltage. If the system fails to boot or crashes in Windows, you probably need more voltage.

You'll also need to set a divider on your RAM. There should be an option that either allows you to set it to 333MHz or one that gives you a RAM:FSB ratio, such as 1/1. If this ratio exists, set it to 3/4 or something similar, the lower number being the RAM speed.

Thats why we have forums, So that dumb folk like me dont fry there systems. Thanks for that i'll wait till the new cooler comes before i do anything.
Also if i lower RAM will that not slow thing's down or reduce it's performance ?

[Yawgm0th]

Nah, RAM speed matters almost nothing on Athlon 64s. Besides, as you overclock the processor you'll also overclock the RAM. You'll probably get the RAM to or around DDR400 speeds anyway.

[Madmox]

Nah, RAM speed matters almost nothing on Athlon 64s. Besides, as you overclock the processor you'll also overclock the RAM. You'll probably get the RAM to or around DDR400 speeds anyway.

Right, so i'll be lowering one to raise the other then that will re-raise the first one. Sounds mad but i'm willing to try anything once. I'll wait till the new cooler come's before i do it though.
Why does th RAM speed not matter on Athlon 64's ?
Thanks all

[Yawgm0th]

Sounds crazy, but you've got it exactly right. You're right to wait as well.

It just doesn't. Athlon 64s don't need a lot of memory bandwidth to perform well. RAM speed can affect things other than processing performance, but even there, it's a negligible difference at best.