Want to Try Overclock - Please Help to Understand

[PoxMeister]

I currently have a MSI Ultra AR board with a P4 1.8GHz 400MHz FSB processor, 768MB of Crucial PC2100 RAM (CL=2.5) and a Radeon 9700Pro video card on it. (Power supply is 420W Thermaltake)

I'm thinking of upgrading soon to an Athlon64 939 & PCI-Express, but I wanted to try some overclocking on what I have now to see what I can squeeze out of it for now.

The FSB in the BIOS is currently set at 100MHz, so I assume that the CPU clock ratio is locked at 18 on this processor (not sure if it's a Willamette or Northwood, how can I tell?). I have the RAM frequency manually set to 266MHz in BIOS.

However, from what I read on the OC'ng thread here, doesn't this mean that my PC2100 RAM is really only running at 200MHz instead of it's capable 266MHz since the FSB is set at 100MHz?

If that's true, can I just start bumping up the FSB in the BIOS slowly, just being sure I stay under 133MHz, to overclock this thing? I know it's probably not worth the trouble, but I just want to see what it can do for a slight boost.

And what about the video card, will it get burnt, or is there a BIOS setting to keep it in sync? Please advise, thx.

 

[LTC8K6]

Yes, you would slowly increase the FSB to see how far it can go.

The multiplier is indeed locked at 18.

If the board has a PCI/AGP setting or lock, you want that set to 33/66 mhz.

You can run the ram and the CPU fsb out of synch, which it sounds like you are already doing. You can change the CPU/FSB ratio.

Download CPU-Z to learn a lot of stuff about your CPU and your ram and the ratios they are running at.

If CPU-Z shows 256K cache for your processor, then you have a slow old Willy. If it shows 512K cache, then you've got a speedy Northwood with potential. Come to think of it, it will actually say what chip it is, I believe.

 

[PoxMeister]

Thanks a million for the reply LTC8K6. I ran CPU-Z and yep, it's a slow old Willy Oh well, not worth messing with really, I'd probably burn it up anyway. Guess I'll be going for my upgrade sooner than I thought, but hey, that's a good thing right!?

CPU-Z did help me with my RAM timings too. That's a pretty nice utility. Again, thanks for your reply, most appreciated