My first overclocking venture

[wyrd_fish]

(this was a topic in BW/GAME, but the forum suddenly went dead...)

My first few attempts managed to fail
and a later attempt managed to underclock by about 500mhz
but i soon worked out how to overclock my Duron 1.6 to 1.75 at about 38'C

i was dead chuffed at this point

i later thought it would be a good idea to try and unlock the multiplyer settings, but alas after removing my HSF discovered that it already was, hunted for some HTC found some and put it back together

then returned to the default settings, as i'm a wimp... and my comp was rather warm when i came to remove the HSF to draw on my L1 bridges

the end

any pointers would be nice as I'm new to all this

Comp:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe (Revision 2)
AMD Duron 1600 (at 1600mhz)*
1x 256mb PC3200 DDRRAM**
PCI S3 (hold on to your hat...)***

*To be replaced when i can afford it
**to have another added for dual channel mode and maybe upgraded to 1GB
***to be upgraded to an ATI Radeon > 9600, if i can afford it

 

[Lam]

A very important thing if you really want to overclock is to have good memory modules.
Since you have a mainboard that supports dual-channel ddr I suggest you get some matched pair modules like the ones from Corsair.

These modules are sold as a pair and are guaranteed to offer the same performance and settings so they will give you the most out of a dual-channel setup.
Also these modules allow you to overclock your fsb more without your computer crashing.
The reason for this is that when you overclock your fsb you also overclock your memory and agp slots so if your memory isn't of high quality your computer will crash much faster.

 

[wyrd_fish]

the memorys fast enough...

but i'm unshure about cooling, theres no much space between PSU and HSF...
and the intake on the PSU is almost exactally above the intake on the HSF

i think a better laid out case is in order

 

[Lam]

Cheapest thing to do then would be to buya standard aluminium case and mod it as you see fit.

A nice way to improve the cooling for your PSU and case is to put your PSU in the top of the case and rotate it so that the intake on it ends up on top, then make a hole in the top of your case and put a fanguard over it (for looks and safety).
That way your PSU will suck in air from the outside which is way cooler then inside air.

Also a good way to improve case temperature is to put intake fans at the bottom in the front of your case and outtake fans at the top at the back of your case.
This will ensure that cold air get's sucked in and hot air (which rises) will get blown out creating a constant airflow inside your case.

 

[wyrd_fish]

(despite this being my first overclocking venture, i'm not stupid...
please try to be helpful without being condesending)

on a lighter note:

why mod a case? there are many cases ready to be bought at my convinience and the PSU don't get too hot, so it makes a good extractor

purchases to make:
1x as big a SATA HDD as i can afford
1x Asus 9600XT 256mb
1x half decent case
2x 80mmm case fans

 

[Lam]

Sorry if I sounded condesending but that was not my intention at all.
Since your topic title was "first overclocking venture" I just thought it would be helpful if I went into detail about everything.

You can indeed buy a premodded case.
Here are some of the better ones I've worked with:
http://www.super-flower.com.tw/sf-561t2s.htm
http://www.chieftec.com/products/Workcolor/ColorDX.htm
http://www.thermaltake.com/products/xaser3/v1000a.htm

As for the harddrive, at the moment I've got a Maxtor 7Y250M0 : 250 Gb (7200/150-8Mb) SATA harddisk in my comp for file storage and I'm very happy with it.
But if you want the fastest SATA harddrive then Western Digital Raptor series are the drives since they operate at 10000 rpm.

 

[wyrd_fish]

http://mooses.34sp.com/phonegallery/index.php?page=5

take a look at the second picture on this page

 

[Gurnox]

http://mooses.34sp.com/phonegallery/index.php?page=5

take a look at the second picture on this page

I like the 'mess of wires' picture. But hey, mustn't be condescending.....

 

[Lam]

http://mooses.34sp.com/phonegallery/index.php?page=5

take a look at the second picture on this page

Eek, that's indeed a lack of space.
Time for a new case indeed

 

[wyrd_fish]

I like the 'mess of wires' picture. But hey, mustn't be condescending.....

bah, it was only as i was tired and irritable... i now have coke to remedy this

 

[Gurnox]

i now have coke to remedy this

The liquid variety I hope