Is it safe to overclock this and by how much?

[WillRivendell]

I am running

Mobo: Asrock K7S8X FSB333Mhz DDR 400 (Read that off the box)

AMD Athalon XP 1900

512mb ram

350W PSU.


I was going through one of the guides two things concerned me.

1. I do NOT know how to do a CMOS reset.
how do i find out?????? Manual says nothing

2. about that putty stuff that goes between the chip and the heatsink... when i first got all the stuff I opened that up and the putty stuff got scratched off, like a bit of plastic barely touched it and it crumbled.. there was three large pieces i salvage dand stuck back on there....in the middle and it pretty much covers the entire part it did before.. lil gaps in it showing the metal but doesnt come close to touching the chip...

let me know...is this safe (obviously I know it would be best to go get more stuff,) but is it fine like that providing the two piees are metal touching...the putty stuf fint here is working.....

also wats the 'putty' stuff called so i dont look like an newb next time i refer to it.....is ther anything I can substitute in there? playdoh? i have some of that kicking around i think...



3rd..

how much am I safe to OC?

I ahvent read thru the guide yet, if it's all then there then jsut say so.... but i wanted to know more before i proceeded..


Thanks..

AMD Overclocking Guide - October 2002 is the guide im looking at by the way...

[Zarathustra]

ad 1.) The manual says something about it. It is called "Clear CMOS". I looked it up on the Asrock-website. You can find it on page 12. Don't do any overclocking before you are sure you understand how to clear CMOS. Remember, if the system doesn't boot anymore, you can't connect to the internet to look for help.

Maybe I'm gonna write more when I got some sleep. It's 3 in the morning here now. Good night.

[Zarathustra]

ad 2.) You can find a lot of instructions how to apply the "putty stuff", i.e. the thermal compound, on the web. Try, for example, http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm.

ad 3.) Overclocking is rather safe as long as
- you know how to undo it
- you don't use crazy voltages for the CPU (1.8 should be the upper limit, for a start)
- you keep an eye on the temperatures

[Nosferatu]

I am no expert on OC'ing, but I have never had to clear the CMOS. If your motherboard has some sort of overheat protection you will have to do some serious stupid things before you damage your hardware. Just go easy when you start messing with voltages. A small increase in the voltage can cause a large temp increase.
Oh and forget the standard thermal paste you get with the cpu or cooler. Go with artic silver or even better the Ceramic.
But before you do anything, wait for some of the experts to reply to this post. :2cents:

[Neil2094]

Hi,

Firstly to reset the cmos there is usually a jumper below the battery on the MB which you need to short this to clear CMOS. Worst case just take the battery out.

Secondly you want to get rid of that bog standard putty stuff. Its crap to start with and seeing as its crumbled off and is not filling all those tiny little canyons in the heatsink then air can get trapped which will heat up. This will cause your CPU temp to rise. What you want to do is get Artic Silver 3 from reseller. Then you want to clean the heatsink and the cpu using a good cleaner.

With regards to overclocking I would suggest sorting out the Thermal interface material (Artic Silver 3 or similar) then overclock. Presumbly you are still using the standard AMD heatsink.