Help me overclock this Tbird/KT7A

[Felonious]

Hey! This is my first time. Please help me out here!

My 1.2 GHz came unlocked from the factory.
I'm using a FOP32-1 with Artic Silver and a DTS400 shim
I have 2 Sunon case fans at 42 cfm. And a Blue Orb on the NB.

I set it at 9 x 133 (1198.01)
Default voltage
It idles at 30c (like 37c at boot)

After a Quake3 online session it shoots up to 48c (MBM5.4)

How hot is too hot? I downloaded a little proggie called "Shutdown Now" Does it run in the backgrond? What temp should it shutdown at?

What's the next step here in overclocking? I tried it at 9.5 x 133 but the desktop froze. Should I up the voltage? If so, to what?

Please try to be specific if you can, like I said I'm new to this.

Thanks!

 

[TheSentinel]

Right now your temp's look pretty good, though you don't want them much higher. What voltage are you running? I'm not sure what the default is for your chip. You can go up to 1.85v and still be relatively safe. Just watch your temperature: once you get into the 50's, the system will probably become unstable. The more voltage and the faster you clock the cpu, the more heat you will generate.

Just for the hell of it, see if your system will boot and run stable at 12.5x100 (if your mobo allows this). Also, when finding the sweet spot for an overclock, set the memory to very conservative speed settings so it does not become a factor in regards to stability. Once you find that sweet spot, then worry about those bios ram timing optimizations...

FWIW, I'm running a Duron 700@900 (8.5 x 106) at 1.775v setting (bios monitor says 1.84 - 1.86v), and at idle, the cpu is 28-30c and 48-50c under an extreme load (running prime95, mmxburn, and p6burn at the same time).

 

[Felonious]

Hey! Cmon man.

 

[Felonious]

Doh! We Posted at the same time! I was trying to bump the post up.

Thanks Sentinel. Default voltage is 1.75, I/O 3.40

All my ram settings ar maxed at present.

 

[TheSentinel]

>>
Default voltage is 7.50 VCore 3.40
<<

You meant 1.75, right? Good! You still have quite a bit of room to go up with the voltage. Higher clock speeds on the tbird (>1.2ghz) will usually require a bit more voltage than 1.75.

Bump it to 1.80, and try 9.5 x 133. If that doesn't work, try 1.85v. Watch the temp's. I've heard people going much higher than that (>2v), but I don't recommend that, as I would hate to see you smoke that 'bird.

Good luck. With proper cooling and a bit of luck, that *sweet* cpu you have has the potential to hit 1.3-1.4GHz.

 

[Felonious]

Yeah I tried 1.85 and I/O 3.50 at 8.5 x 140 but it was too hot. I need somebody to walk me thru this on the phone man. I REALLY Don't want to toast this thing.

 

[TheSentinel]

Don't mess with the IO voltage. It should default to the 3.30 setting, leave it there.

You may want to read up on overclocking your mobo/cpu combo before you proceed; it's quite popular and there is a ton of information on it. It's not a complex topic, but you should really take the time to familiarize yourself with the basic do's and don'ts of overclocking.

And remember, even at your default settings (9 x 133), you're running much faster than most of us.... Great, now I want one!

 

[Felonious]

Yeah there's alot of material on the subject! Look at my specs. You can see I've done SOME homework. If it was a 60.00 Duron, I would not be so hesitant.

You are right though, I should be grateful that it runs Rock Solid now!

 

[MCS]

Same chip, same board, same settings, difference cooler though.

Mine runs about 50C.

 

[DaddyG]

First thing I'd do is remove the shim, they don't help cooling and many tests show they increase temps. If you want to OC that 1.2 gig, get the 37cfm fan for your FOP, its noisy but lowers temps. Upping your voltage to 1.85, either thru BIOS or by connecting all the L7's is a must. Additional case cooling helps alot.