what cpu/ram to overclock

[VTOL]

hi all, i've been looking around on these forums and see lots of people had successes in overclocking their computers.

i'm looking for a relatively low cost system so either a P4 1.6A or an Athlon 1800+ (Palomino) CPU is in my price range. i would like a P4 (seeing lots of high overclocks here) but does a 1800+ overclock well?

secondly, my local shops only have samsung pc2700 ram, micron pc2100 ram, and kingmax tinyBGA ram. i'm looking for a good 512MB stick to run at ddr333 speeds. i'm thinking of the samsung ram, again cause lots of people here seem to get good results with them, but samsung ram is only rated at cas2.5? what ram would you recommend for overclocking?

great forums btw

 

[VTOL]

anyone answer my question?

 

[CrazySaint]

If you get an XP, get a 1600+, the recent ones are overclocking to around 1.8GHz (25%/400MHz overclock). The 1600+ will be cheaper, but the 1.6A will probably be a little faster. You can probably OC the 1.6A to around 2.4 even with stock cooling, the 1600+ will require a good HS like a Swiftech or a Thermalright AX-7. The XP will be hotter and you might have a little more trouble with the HS, the 1.6A will be a more "effortless" OC but neither should be much trouble. Both will be extremely fast, and you will probably have a difficult time discerning the actual difference without using benchmarks, except for specific applications like Divx encoding, where the P4 will smoke the Athlon. As for the RAM, absolutely get at least PC2700. Before you buy the Samsung RAM, make sure its true Samsung on a Samsung PCB. There's a lot of cheap RAM out there claiming to be Samsung, but are actually using Samsung chips on third-party PCBs which limits their overclocking you can true Samsung for $72 shipped at newegg (make sure you get the "CTL" version instead of the "DTL"). True Samsung RAM should have no problems operating at CAS2. Corsair XMS is probably the best overclocking RAM out there, but its also pricey (and going up). Corsair XMS PC2700 CAS2 is $93 at newegg, a few days ago it was $85. Corsair XMS PC3000 CAS2 should operate at CAS2 at DDR400 and higher, but its $109 shipped at newegg.

 

[VTOL]

thanks for the reply crazysaint. i will try and get a P4 1.6A but i'll keep the 1600+ in mind if i dont have the $$ to buy a 1.6A.

how can you tell if it is 'true samsung' or otherwise? does it have "samsung" written on the pcb or on a sticker or some numbers that identify it as such?

as for the motherboard, i am looking at the Asus P4B533-V for the P4 or a EPoX 8K3A for the athlon.

if i slap on a PAL heatsink onto my P4, will it help overclocking a lot or just a little?

thx again

 

[CrazySaint]

The PAL might help some, but voltage seems to be the limiting factor more than anything else on 1.6A OC.

 

[edc03]

the question is how much do you want to oc? if you read the forums a lot of people are hitting at least 2.2 from 1.6a with stock hsf. lots of people hit 2.4 too. well i have a 1.6a and have gotten it to 2.4 but just running regular 1.6 b/c i don't need the power now. but 1.6a is a great cpu for a decent price.

also get the 533 asus mb. i've got the 266 and it limits.