PCA Forums

Hi everyone, i'm new here, i been doing some research on the overlocking scene..and it's great

But since i am a noob on putting together a pc, i was wondering if anyone has any advice on this set up, or any possible conflicts i might have.

is this setup OC'able?

Lian-Li PC-60+USB Aluminum Cases
SOYO K7V DRAGON+ Plus VIA KT266A ATX
ATI RADEON 8500 LE 64MB DDR
ENERMAX EG365P-VE( FC ). 350W Power supply
AMD ATHLON XP 1900+/266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU
CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x64 PC 2100 DDR RAM
Seagate Barracuda IV 60GB 7200RPM ST360021A Hard Drive
Thermaltake VOLCANO 6Cu. Heatsink + Dual Ball-Bearing Fan, FAN Speed: 4550±10% RPM. Max. Air Flow: 32CFM. Pure Copper base
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition


Is the 1900+ xp unlocked? ( i think i know what unlocking means..hopefully)

Do i just have to do bio's changes to OC?

Any ideas and inputs would be greatly appreciated. You guys are very knowledgeable in here.


P.s. are there any guides out there to show how to put a pc setup like this together from scratch? with minimal amount of headache to a noob


Thanks in advance for your time and consideration. maybe one day i can learn how to mod, and make awsome case's like you guys.

ectoblast.com

Whats a good setting from looking at my cpu config? as far as the multipliers? and voltage (terms i see flying around all over the place)

anyone have a safe set of #'s for me to try out.. i heard i need a good heatsink but i only have a 4800 rpm fan anf HS

thanks again

hello ecto, i'm new here as well but not to overclocking.

first off, as a noob. the more problems you have, the more you'll learn.

1. Is the 1900+ xp unlocked?

if the processor is unlocked, meaning the L1 bridges are connected, you will be able to change the multiplier.

no need to unlock the XP processor for now. you'll need to find the max oc-ability of chipset, processor, memory, and HDD. for now, you'll be using the front side speed (FSB), Vdimm (memory voltage), Vcore (core voltage) to acheive the processor, motherboard, and memmory's potential. keep in mind that overclocking by FSB will also affect the PCI, ISA, AGP, as well as HDD. overheating may be an issue, so you'll have to keep an eye on the processor temp. note that when you first oc, only use the processor, 1 memmory, HSF, HDD, floppy, and AGP. you can install the rest of the hardware when you know you rig is stable.

2. Do i just have to do bio's changes to OC?

i don't really understand that question. but make sure you have the manual, flash to the latest bios and know where you can change the front side bus speed and voltages. it's in the manual somewhere.

Originally posted by ectoblast.com

P.s. are there any guides out there to show how to put a pc setup like this together from scratch? with minimal amount of headache to a noob

ectoblast.com

go to google and search for SOYO K7V DRAGON+ Plus, athlonxp 1900, overclocking, review

you'll get a few hits and that'll get you started.

good luck to you
r0l0e

thanks rol

really appreciate the input, what does it mean to flash the bio?

and is the vocanoe 6cu sufficient to cool a 1900+athlon xp?

Originally posted by ectoblast.com
thanks rol

really appreciate the input, what does it mean to flash the bio?

and is the vocanoe 6cu sufficient to cool a 1900+athlon xp?

the motherboard manufacturer comes out with bios updates. you'll have to check the soyo site and look for a current bios update. they usually have a read-me section to tell you how to update the bios. read them carefully!

the the volcanoe 6cu is rated to 1GHz- 1.4GHz. i will not be able to tell you cause the performance of a HSF combo is dependent on different scenarios. case, system temp, ambient temp, thermal compound, and how high your overclocking the cpu.

my rule of thumb is to have good ventelation, and keep the case cavity temp as low as you can. try to get the system temp a few degrees from the ambient temp.

keep in mind that those cuda ata IV get pretty warm. i have two in my case and they are at 39c a peice.

I would look for a better heatsink than that. the 1900+ is rated at around 1.67 Ghz. Although the new XP's run cooler than original T-Birds, it will still create a lot of heat..If you plan to over clock, find a more suitable heatsink..

i am running a volcano 6cu fan/heatsink with a 1400mhz amd tbird. temp is 122f after 3hrs of quake.102f at idle. if this info helps at all, your welcome. :-0

Two things that may let you down in your overclocking. The power supply, cause 350W is not a lot, and the RAM, the RAM may do, but I would have suggested to try some DDR 2400, to get best results from that beast of a processor. Make sure you have sufficent cooling, if you've got enough room, you could try a Coolermaster HHC-001 super Heat-pipe (if it fits!). Good luck anyway.....

PSU's play a factor but not that major of one... I have my 1.33 ahtlon at 1.6 with an Antec 300W supply. Epox 8k7a board and these are suppose to be hard on the 5v line... I have a Enermax 350W now and the 5v line is barely any better than the Antec was... I just built a XP1600 system for my dad.. I juiced it up to 1540 and the 5v line under load was 5.05. It has a 300 watt enlight PSU in it... Enlight, Antec Power and Cool i think they are all are good PSU's that are stable.. Sparkle are suppose to be good too... When i get the cash i'm going back to an Antec 400W supply.

PreDatoR braught up a good point about the psu. here's my Enermax EG465P-VE 431watts.



as you can see, the 5v rail isn't where i want it to be but it does the job. the higher the rails, the better off you are in overclocking.

i'd recommend the PSU that you can adjust the 5v and 3v rails with pots on its pc board. i'm sorry i can't recommend one cause it's hard to find one in my area. maybe a few members here can.

another PSU that's pretty reliable is the HEC 350w.

regards,
r0l0e

ectoblast.com:

You might notice some common themes from the group. I'd like to add my two cents, based on my experience of overclocking which started 2 years ago with the Athlon Classic (Slot A).

First and biggest issue - You need a decent heatsink. Screwy things start to happen to your system as the temperature goes up. My 1 GHz T-Bird system starts getting flaky around 56 C (CPU temp), and remember, that temperature is not accurate anyway. What ever your motherboard monitor / CPU temperature monitor / bios temperature monitor is reading, assume it's reading on the low side. Now I don't know much about your heatsink, and it may perform well. That brings us to the second issue.

Second issue - Maximize airflow through the case. Ideally, you would set up a laminar flow, with minimal disruption of the air as it flows across the CPU assembly. You are never going to see that with these cases. I still haven't found the ideal mounting locations / fan directions to achieve the best possible cooling with minimal noise. I did learn something though - go get that Rheostat bus (fan bus controlled by rheostats) from PC Mods. It's a good investment, because you can control up to four fan speeds (you vary the voltage the fan gets from the 12-volt bus). This means you can fine-tune the fan speeds to optimize air flow (within the bounds of what is achievable in your case), or just turn them down to lower the noise when you don't need extra cooliing (as in Winter time).

Third issue - The best power supply you can afford. Some people talked about power supplys, and I bet they are talking from experience. I had lots of problems with stability, using a Deer 300 W power supply that came with our $69 case for the T-bird system. I kept playing around with the fan locations, and then finally got a decent 475 W power supply. All of the problems went away, except for the relatively high CPU temperature that I have been fighting since I bought my T-bird / Step Thermodynamics heatsink assembly. That was the best investment I made, period.

Fourth issue - The rest of the items go here. Quality memory is going to get you farther than standard quality. I'm talking about getting DDR2400 vs DDR2100, or PC150 vs PC133. The lower the CAS setting (as in 2, vs 3), the faster the memory, as that relates to required latency time (time inbetween requesting reads / writes / etc.). So, a DDR2400 CAS2 is much better than a DDR2100 CAS3 stick. You'll pay the price for it too, so don't think this is a cheap upgrade. However, it's much cheaper now than it was a year ago! The mainboard (motherboard) needs to enable FSB changes, along with CAS changes for the memory, and voltage changes for both the memory and CPU. You picked a winner with that regard. Overall, your choices are not bad. You could make a few better ones, but if you already have that stuff, then by all means, try it out.

Regarding the Athlon XP CPU, it does not come unlocked from AMD, or from normal authorized vendors. You probably can get them unlocked for you, but you will pay extra for that. Unlocking this CPU is an order of magnitude more difficult than it was with the T-bird, which could be done with a lead pencil. You will need to get one of those unlocking kits, such as the one from High Speed PC (http://www.highspeedpc.com) for around $12. I suggest you try your system first, and see what it will do before trying to unlock it and increasing the multiplier. The Athlon XP procs appear to do well with FSB increases. I'm waiting on my Athlon 2000+ (due for delivery 1-18-02), and although I already have that unlocking kit, I'm going to try out the processor first before trying to unlock it. You probably know this, but unlocking the CPU voids your warranty. I only get a 30-day warranty with mine, so I don't want to mess with it until I pass that first month. If it's going to fail, it will probably fail within the first few weeks, based on those infant mortality reliability curves (the famous bathtub curve).

Ok, that's it. I need to get some sleep. Go ahead, and get that system put together.....

hey guys sorry i was away for a few days, But i just want to thank everyone who opened the door a little more for me to get into the world of oc

I really appreciate the feed back



you guys rock

oh yeah... umm... for a review of the DRAGON+...
PCA actually has one...
a really nice guy name Edward wrote it
http://www.pcabusers.com/reviews/dragon/d.html

keep us updated on your new system!

very nice and thorough read Bigal i hope you don't mind me quoting your post.

keep us posted ectoblast,
r0l0e

r0l0e: Well, thanks for the comments. I actually tend to write too much, and eventually forget what the issue was to begin with. No problem on quoting me, unless you see "(c) 2002 Big Al Productions". In those cases, it's probably not worth quoting.....