newbie needs advice about overclocking Durons.

[polypterus]

I need some quick advice on overclocking a Duron. I plan on getting a Duron 700 or faster with an msi k7t pro2-a, enlight 7237 (300w, extra fan), 128mb Corsair pc133 cas3, and a geforce 2 mx. Good choices? I'm willing to sacrifice a little performance for cost and stability.

I have a few questions about overclocking though. First, what hsf should I get? As a newbie I've heard to stay away from Chrome Orb because they're really hard to get on and off. I've heard fop32 is really loud. What's good? I've heard of people oc'ing using the stock hsf. Would something like coolermaster DP5-6H51 be good enough? Also, can someone tell me about the "interface material." I know what it does, but if you take the hsf off to do the pencil trick won't you have to apply new material? How important is that stuff for Durons? Please help, I couldn't find much info that. Thanks.

dc

 

[paulip88]

HSF:
I would stay away from the Orbs in general. The Golden Orbs are not designed for the socket A chips, and have been known to damage them. The Chrome Orb is for socket A's, though they offer only mediocre performance. The best value would probably be a Taisol if you can find one. The Alpha PAL6035 and FOP32/38 are pretty loud, but are decent HSF combos. Tough to find a good one that is quiet though. These AMD chips put off a good deal of heat and it takes some airflow to cool off the heatsinks efficiently.

Interface material:
<deleted definition, since nowI read that you know>
I think it would be best to apply a fresh layer when reapplying the HSF, just to get a good contact area. Its pretty important stuff, since the Durons put out a lot of heat through that small contact area.

 

[Maximus96]

i say go with a taisol cgk742 with some artic silver...it helped my duron 750 hit 1 gig. the stock fan on the 742 works pretty well and maybe you might want to lap the 742 a bit, i did and it dropped my temp a couple of degrees, not too much, but any drop in temp is always good...it dropped 4-5C when i attached a 92mm fan that was sitting around onto the taisol

 

[Ulysses]

If you're going to overclock, then I'd recommend the GlobalWIN FOP32-1 HSF, which is versatile, cheap ($20 US), and not too noisy (36 Dba) IMO. As for &quot;interface material&quot; I'd use Arctic Silver, which is expensive, but can be easily reapplied. Remove the stock thermal pad with alcohol.

Also see:
http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.html?i=1345
http://www.aceshardware.com/Spades/read.php?article_id=20000178
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&amp;category%5Fname=CTLG%5F005%5F012%5F000%5F000&amp;product%5Fid=910%2D3890

 

[JustStarting]

Taisol 742- its great! You can find them online at various e-tailers. Taisol site has them for around $33. Read anand's review on HSF's in Nov.,2000.

 

[006agent]

hey now. don't down the orb... i have my chromey on a 700 @1050. the idle is 29c and 43 full load. has a little goop. i also have a 80mm pana right by it. and a 92mm antec for a breather.

not bad....