upgrade

[Edzard]

681 means that your processor is a Thoroughbred B which is good. With regard to your temperatures, do this. FIRST, check your heatsink - if it is like probably 75% of the heatsinks on the average person's rig, it likely is very dirty. The dirt acts as an insulator and significantly detracts from the cooling efficiency of your heatsink. When overclocking a processor, heat must be very high on the list of considerations. And since you probably have a mediocre heatsink, this becomes especially important.

NEXT - Let us know what speed your memory is rated at - is it PC1600, PC2100, PC2700, PC3000, PC3200 etc.? If you can only overclock by upping the FSB then then your memory speed is an important issue. If you can only overclock using the FSB and you have PC2100 (or slower) memory, then essentially your only hope for OCing is to OC via the CPU multiplier and that may well be locked depending on when your processor was made. And even if it is unlocked but your BIOS won't let you change it, then IMHO things are looking pretty dim for overclocking.

NEXT - post EXACTLY what options you have for overclocking in your BIOS. Is the FSB the ONLY factor you can vary, and not the CPU multiplier and Vcore? And how high will it let you raise the FSB?

KEEP IN MIND that everyone here, including me, is telling you that a 6600GT is the way to go, at least for gaming. If you want to render faster then you are going to look at a faster CPU because rendering speed is most highly dependant on CPU frequency. My earlier statement about being locked into an AGP card is somewhat flawed given that nVidia has an AGP to PCI bridge chip which IMHO likely means that AGP will be an option for some time to come.

 

[Dark cowboy]

ok pc 2100 ram
yes fsb speed is the only cpu factor i can change

im saving up for a 6600 gt

just got me curios again in oc'ing my system and was hoping to pick up some good tips
i can adjust my ram timings as well

 

[Dark cowboy]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Are you looking for info on overclocking or something else?

overclocking

 

[Edzard]

Given the following:

(1) You have a motherboard that wasn't designed for overclocking;
(2) Due to BIOS limitations, you have no control over the CPU multiplier, even if the CPU were unlocked;
(3) You can only vary the main/front side bus (FSB) frequency in your BIOS;
(4) You are using PC2100 memory, which equates to a frequency of 133MHz/266MHz DDR, which means when you start upping the FSB frequency, you will be running your memory at a frequency that is above spec;

it is my opinion that it would probably be best that you NOT overclock your processor. Any overclocking you attempt by raising the FSB frequency will be at the risk of a loss of system stability which could corrupt your hard drive's file allocation table (FAT), forcing you to do a total software reload.

I think you have started on the right path by beginning to budget money for a 6600GT. This card should dramatically improve your Doom 3 frame rates and allow you to increase the resolution at which you play that game and others as well. But given your processor I think it unlikely you will be able to play Doom 3 with all the "eye candy" turned on above a resolution of 800 x 600 and perhaps not even at that resolution.

With regard to Doom 3, I suggest you read the following:

HardOCP Official Doom 3 Hardware Guide

and

AnandTech Article: Doom 3 Processor Considerations

With regard to a future upgrade of your motherboard, processor, and memory with the goal of constructing a budget gaming system that would also decrease your rendering time I suggest you read the following, which will provide helpful guidelines:

AMD Sempron 3100+ Overclocking

and

Sempron "E core" Overclocking

You could use a 6600GT in such a system.

If others feel I have erred, overlooked something, or can provide better suggestions re a budget gaming rig, I invite their constructive comments.

Good luck to you.