hey, new to this... wondering if someone smarter than me would explain the overclocking procedure to me with the 3200+. i have an a-bit kv7 motherboard with the easy overclocking through bios. proc is air cooled with a volcano 12 extreme, also cheap ram pc 3200.. it runs cool now, right now its at 34C but i would like to get it up to 2.4 with it being stable. i got it up to 2.4 the other day but hl2 didnt seem to like it.. . anyways help me!

i would sugets a better cpu cooler, perhaps a switech MCX http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...108-020&depa=0 with a good 90/92mm fan, or something from thermalRIGHT.

the old thermaltake coolers just arent enough to cut it.

cooler and better ram is where to start, but to see what she willdo now I give you a quick run down. try our search feature on the board for more details.
first losen your ram timings.
second drop multi to 7 or 8 and up the fsb to 200
if stable start bringing the multy up 1 notch @ a time till pc is unstable.
bump up voltage to cpu a tad and retry. once stable try uping the multi again
adjust voltages and watch temps as you go
once you find the sweet spot for your system start tightening up the ram again. adjust ram voltage as needed.

good luck

whats a good program to use to find out how stable the system is after overclocking... iv'e used prime 95 is that the best one?

Quote: Originally Posted by f1233k whats a good program to use to find out how stable the system is after overclocking... iv'e used prime 95 is that the best one?

Yup.

I usually prime for about 20 minutes when I am looking for my best stable OC. When I think I have found the spot I will prime it for 24 hours. If it primes for 24 hours it is stable.

Some people use F@H, but I find that Prime will stress the system faster and give me the info I need (stable or not?)

Memtest is another good tool for seeing if your RAM has any errors when running faster than stock (or at stock for that matter) I have some kingmax RAM that will boot and seem fine at 235mhz but has serious errors in memtest. That can lead to serious issues down the road, and it would be my guess as to why HL2 was running funky for you.

When getting your feet wet in OC'n I can't stress this enough, BABY STEPS. Take it slow, test, check temps and try for higher.

> Increase vCore from 1.65 to 1.85
> Change multiplier from 11x to 12x
> Leave the front side bus speed at 3200+ default of 200MHz.
> Ensure the AGP Bus Speed remains at 66MHz after O/C is set.
> Ensure performance options such as CPU Interface are Enabled.
> Ensure that the RAM runs in syncronization with the CPU bus speed.
> Ensure all Cacheable & Spread Spectrum options are Disabled.

With the above settings & clockspeed, you should be able to run anything stable, and once it passes
12~24HR of Prime95 Torture Test // Blend, error-free, raise the multiplier 0.5x and repeat stability testing.

Good luck!

well i upped the v core to 1.85 and then turned the muliplier up to 12 and it is running at 2430 mhz stable so it seems.. the temps are 33c with cpu idle and 42c with no load, no cpu idle, and under load its 48c. im not sure but from what i have read in the past these are decent overclocking temps..would it be foolish of me to up the muliplier again???

Quote: Originally Posted by f1233k well i upped the v core to 1.85 and then turned the muliplier up to 12 and it is running at 2430 mhz stable so it seems.. the temps are 33c with cpu idle and 42c with no load, no cpu idle, and under load its 48c. im not sure but from what i have read in the past these are decent overclocking temps..would it be foolish of me to up the muliplier again???

Try 12.5x, then possibly 13x. (Which is 2.6GHz, the typical 2500-M O/C ceiling that you may not be able to run.)

Well, @ 12.5 with a vcore of 1.85 my 3200+ seems to be stable and cool i didnt notice to much of a temp change from 2.43 ghz to 2.53 ghz the load temp is still around 47-49 c. I tried the muliplier at 13X, winblows didnt want to start. any more advise??

Quote: Originally Posted by f1233k Well, @ 12.5 with a vcore of 1.85 my 3200+ seems to be stable and cool i didnt notice to much of a temp change from 2.43 ghz to 2.53 ghz the load temp is still around 47-49 c. I tried the muliplier at 13X, winblows didnt want to start. any more advise??

You've hit the end of the line on air, 1.9-2.0v would possibly allow for 2.6GHz but the extra heat just isn't worth the minimal performance increase. You should be satisfied, 2.53GHz on a barton is nothing to sneeze at.

You could try a low multiplier and overclocking via FSB, but I would not recommend it because of your RAM.

thanks alot... u were alot of help for me.