advice on socket 754 overclock

[youph]

Ok I have a socket 754 Athlon 64 3000+ @ stock 2 ghz with stock cooler. Since I can?t afford a proper upgrade (mobo, cpu, ram) I am considering overclocking my current cpu.

I have an epox nforce4 socket 754 8NPAJ motherboard and one gig of budget corsair ddr400 memory. I want to overclock as much as possible to the point where the system is still totally stable. I imagine an overclock from 2 to 2.2 ghz on the cpu and ddr466 on the ram should be attainable, but am not sure.

Any suggestions on how to approach this (i.e. do I need an aftermarket cooler which I would be ok with getting as long as its not like $50) and tips are appreciated.

 

[f4phantom2500]

an aftermarket cooler would be ideal, but basically that would only be to ensure your processor doesn't get too hot and can thus overclock farther.

http://www.short-media.com/articles/overclocking_on_754939_platform

read that if you're really serious about it.

 

[Zap]

Which 3000+ core do you have?

That motherboard should be capable enough to hit the limits of your CPU regardless, but knowing which core you have should give us a ballpark number to aim for.

If it is an original Clawhammer, well, don't think those clocked too well but you may see 2.2GHz or more. If it is a Newcastle, then you may see 2.4-2.5GHz. If Venice, some have run those at 2.6GHz+.

Do your testing on your stock cooler. To avoid corrupting your Windows install, perhaps boot onto an Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD, search for it) and run some stability tests on those. If CPU is unstable, it'll probably fail within first 1/2 hour. If it fails past 1/2 hour, then may be heat related.

Settings: For HTT up to around 240MHz set RAM to 166MHz and manually set RAM timings to CAS 3. Set HT multiplier to 3x. Increase Vcore by 10% over stock. If it is stable and you go over 240MHz HTT, then drop RAM to 133MHz. Once you find your CPU maximum, then you can fine tune by testing higher RAM speeds, lower vcore or tighter RAM timings.

 

[youph]

Thanks for the info fellas, much appreciated