OC Newbie - What must I avoid doing?

[ShiftyGeezer]

Hi all,<BR><BR>A little while back I was here asking about what hardware to get, only to back out due to shortages of cash <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0"> Then my pay-check came in and I found some back-dated pay! So my gear's in the post from Overclockers.co.uk and'll be here early next week. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0"> <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0"> <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0"><BR><BR>Hardware is...<BR><BR>Athlon 2500+ Barton<BR>ABit NF7<BR>1 Gb TwinMOS twinned 2x512Mb PC3200<BR>Thermaltake AK-7 HS (slightly smaller than SLK-800 at half the price)<BR><BR>I'm getting a quiet Panaflo L1A 80mm fan to go with the HS.<BR><BR><BR>Before I go frying my hardware, can you tell me what NOT to do!? Is there any chance of damaging RAM just be messing about with timings? I don't believe so but a friend (same rig) won't try it. So long as I keep the voltage reasonable will there be any problems?<BR><BR>Secondly, what top temperatures should I be avoiding? I've kept an eye on both overclocking forums and silent PC forums as this baby needs to be quiet, and they've coped okay with low-airflow cooling on the Thermaltakes. I'll run the fan full speed probably and still have a suitably quiet setup so heat shouldn't be a problem. Am I right in thinking the NF7 will cut out if the CPU gets too hot, so I can't fry it?<BR><BR>I'm looking for a minimum 11x200 clock, and hopefully the RAM's improved since Colin's review last year so I can get it up to faster FSB speeds. But I DON'T want to damage anything in the process! I can't afford anything anymore - I'm going without food for a couple of months to pay for this, and am moving to a cardboard box to save on rent, so please help me avoid any tragedies.<BR><BR>PS Where should I go to get the testing software like CPUBurn. Is there a nice locale of utilities or must I look around? What SW do you recommend?<BR><BR>Thanks for your help,<BR><BR>ShiftyGeezer

[Avid6eek]

If you push any of your hardware too far from overclocking, they system will fail to boot. The only thing you shouldn't do is set voltages to the max. That is one thing that really will kill your hardware.

[Ginsu543]

Hey shifty,<BR><BR>I was looking at your set up and your greatest enemy to overclocking will be heat generated by the cpu. The cooler you can keep the cpu, the more likely you'll get a higher overclock that will still be stable. I don't know how good a heat sink the AK-7 is, but you should check the amount of air (cfm) that Panaflo can push. While I love quiet fans as well, you should get a fan that can push at least 3000 cfm. Otherwise, it won't blow enough air over the heat sink to cool the cpu enough. Most people around here who overclock opt for either the Vantec Tornado or the Thermaltake SmartFan II, because both of these can push a LOT of air, thus maximizing overclocking potential. However, the drawback is that both are extremely loud (over 40 dB) at their maximum settings. One thing nice about the Thermaltake SmartFan is that it has a built-in potentiometer to adjust the fan speed. Or like me, you can invest in a rheobus mod to control your fan speeds.<BR><BR>As far as voltages go, shiz is right. Don't go higher than 1.85V for the cpu core. Most ram seem to be able to take upto 2.7V. The key is to go slowly, test things out to make sure things are stable, and increase in small increments. At some point, you'll reach a point where your computer won't boot anymore. That is the upper limit, so back down the overclock a little to get a stable configuration.<BR><BR>Finally, you should get a host of programs to test/benchmark your oc. They are 3DMark2001SE, 3DMark03, PCMark02 (all three from Futuremark), Sandra (the latest incarnation), and Prime95. All these programs are freeware, although they can be upgraded to pro versions at a cost. The 3DMark programs will benchmark your videocard, the PCMark will benchmark your cpu, memory, and hard drive. Sandra also benchmarks your cpu, memory, and hard drive, as well as give you a host of other interesting information about your setup. Prime95 will burn-in your system to see if your overclock is stable. You should be able to get at least 24 iterations complete if your overclock is stable. If it isn't, Prime95 will crash and tell your that there may be a hardware failure. Prime95 is very sensitive to fluctuations in stability, so it's a great test program to have.

[Avid6eek]

<br><br><< <i>While I love quiet fans as well, you should get a fan that can push at least 3000 cfm.</i> >><br><br> Holy $hit....that's a whole lot of airflow. Unfortunately, your aren't going to see an 80mm, or even a 120mm fan push that much. 100cfm is way more than enough, and a fan that pushes that much will be extremely loud.

[TranceJunkieXL]

LOL! You know he meant rpm. Rpm, cfm, you know, same difference (not). LOL!<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"><img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif" border="0">

[Avid6eek]

Whatever <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif" border="0">