AMD O/C with a KT7A

[Andystyle]

Ok so I'm going to get one of those spiffy 133A boards for an AMD and want to see if I can use that 133Mhz bus to fry something other than my celery 300A from way back when. What is the best chip to do this with? I hear that on at least the Abit KT7A you can't POST with a clock setting under 7.5 so that leaves.. 8x133? 8.5X133? I haven't done the whole overclocking deal since my Celeron 300A that is currently running at 450Mhz. That was basically a gimme. What's the best chip to overclock these days that will give you the most processing power for the buck? Do Durons OC better than TBirds? Does that 133Mhz guaranteed bus speed on the new 133A systems rock? Help me out guys! -Andy

 

[VidmanII]

Depends what kind of $$ you want to spend. I was fortunate enough to get a factory unlocked 1.2, 100FSB, B series, but it runs like stink at FSB speeds well over 133 ( currently 9.5x137, 1302 ). If money is a consideration, I'd recommend either a 800-850 Duron,900 or 1 gig T-Bird and just do the pencil trick to connect the L1 bridges on the cpu. That, in essence, gives you an unlocked cpu and a host of choices with respect to clock multipliers and FSB speeds. I can't imagine anyone, that intends to overclock, building a system that would be running at less than a gig (7.5x133) so that shoulnd't be a big issue if the mobo doesn't support any multi's lower than that. I have the KT7A and I didn't really notice what the lowest multi was to be honest with you !

 

[Blundar]

I posted fine with a 150x6 to test out my tbird on kt7a yesterday

 

[Andystyle]

Thanx for the lil bit of input.. now my question (though probably a pretty typical one) what's the best way to do the clock unlock pencil trick? Anand recommends some funky pen that i'd have to order but i've heard the right type of pencil works. So.. how exactly do I do it right?

 

[Miraluka]

Duron's are great overclockers. You can usually get a Duron 600, 700 up to a gigahertz no problems. My 800 had no real problems to get above a gigahertz. And it is really stable. Like a rock. I've heard some stories of Thunderbirds overclocking pretty well, but they cost quite a bit more, and supposedly create a lot more heat(can someone verify that for me?). If you are on a budget, and are planning to overclock for sure, i'd get a Duron. Don't get the 850. Extra money for nothing. Highest you should buy is the 800...thats what i got. I got it for 72.95, and with AMD price drops, it should get cheaper.


Best ways are either Conductive Pen, Loctite Rear-Window Defogger Repair Kit(one step), or conductive tape( plycon.com has it. Looks like it would work well.)

You can TRY the pencil trick, though i don't recommend it. I tried it with at least 7 different types of pencil lead (my sister has art pencils and such), none of them worked. Even tried each pencil multiple times. Nothing worked until i got the conductive pen. Unlock hasn't faded out since i put it on. Works great, and wasn't too hard to apply.

 

[gtd2000]

You can clock 133FSB with any mulitplyer on my KT7A - I had the same worry before I got it too!
Maybe that is for genuine 133FSB CPU's?

 

[gtd2000]

Btw my Duron 700 will run all the way up to 1000Mhz with 133FSB - but my RAM does not like CAS2 settings with 133FSB so I run at 950Mhz with ram (host clk + pci clk) running at 143Mhz (CPU 100FSB) and CAS2 with Turbo settings
It is rock solid and by dropping down 50Mhz, ensuring complete stabilty