Overclocking Athlon XP 2800+ Barton

[johnvosh]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help. I want to overclock my friends computer which has an AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton CPU @ 2.08 GHz. It has a Gigabyte GA7N400 Pro 2 Rev.1 Motherboard, 1.5GB of PC2700 ram, 128MB PCI Radeon 9200se video and PCI Modem. He is using a standard AMD cooler with copper base. We want to overclock it to at least a Athlon 3000+, 2,167 MHz. I am new to overclocking and don't know how I would go about doing this. Thanks.

 

[ninja fetus]

with a retail heatsink don't overclock at all. They run way too hot and will likely fry it if you don't know what you're doing. It's not worth overclocking with that system anyway, video card is really holding him back and so is the RAM speed. Gigabyte's also aren't really motherboards to overclock with. I would say leave it alone, 2800+'s are plenty fast enough and not worth the risk.

 

[ProcalX]

First off NF is right about your HeatSink & Fan, the Stock AMD HSF is not good for overclocking at all, so you will need to get a good Socket A HeatSink & Fan, i suggest a CoolerMaster Jet 7+ or a Zalman Socket A Cooler - both very good and under £30.

Second of all i disagree with NF's opinion on your motherboard, the Gigabyte range of motherboards are just as good for overclocking as most Socket A motherboards, i've used them myself and you will have no problem with this.

Onto the overclocking, your limited by your memory - NOT your video card as NF says, overclocking your FSB (memory:cpu) will not effect your video card unless you overclock to far - which can harm / damage your cpu / motherboard / memory which inturn will effect your video card.

Check out these threads - and read my posts on overclocking:
http://www.hardwareforums.com/showthread.php?t=4030
http://www.hardwareforums.com/showpost.php?p=23752&postcount=6
http://www.hardwareforums.com/showthread.php?t=291

Also John on another subject, nice system that you've got :good:

Could we see some pictures of it? - You seem to update it with all the latest and best hardware available when ever it's released.. or is it just a "what i wish i had" signature.. (quite understandable loL!)

 

[johnvosh]

Yes, ProcalX it is just a "wish I had" signature! I am going to be hopefully be getting it sometime this month or next month though! All I have right now is a Sempron 3100+ computer W/ 1GB ram, DVD Burner, 2X80 GB Hard drives, 1X 200GB, 19" Monitor. And thankx everyone for the tips of overclocking. They are greatly appriciated :D

 

[ProcalX]

No Problem :good:

About your system your looking to get, that system will cost you over £2,000 - and really isn't worth it.

First off, don't get the AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 - it's exactly the same as the AMD Athlon 64 4000 but with slightly more cache.. and the cache difference is not large enough to justify spending £150 more on a FX-55.

Also.. your memory you have in the sig is very nice stuff but personally, i wouldn't get 4GB of PC3200 - in a few months their will be processors out that need more than PC3200 so it won't be very good for upgrading in the future.

Also 4GB of memory is really too much for any applications - even on a 64Bit Operating System..

Personally if i were you i would get this:
Your Chosen Case (Very nice :) )
Your PSU Neo Power is v.good
DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard
GSkill PC4400 - Best Memory Available cos of the Amazing timings..
2x 74GB WD Raptor (Raid 0) - 2x250GB Maxtor DiamondMax 10 - 16mb 7200rpm
ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum 256MB
NEC 3520 Dual Layer DVD-RW 16x16x

The DFI boards have to be the best 939 Pin boards out at the moment, they are just blisteringly fast, incredibly stable and are brilliant for overclocking..

The GSkill memory is new on the market, but is incredible - it provides High speed memory - PC4400 / PC4800 but with timings that are that of PC3200 Corsair Extreme Pro - which means same timings or better, but MUCH MUCH better for overclocking and upgrading in the future. - As for your hard drives 2 x 250GB Drives is plenty - even if your ripping DVD movies.

Just my 2 cents..

 

[ninja fetus]

Onto the overclocking, your limited by your memory - NOT your video card as NF says

sorry was kinda unclear, I was talking about total system performance on that one :swt:

 

[johnvosh]

First off, don't get the AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 - it's exactly the same as the AMD Athlon 64 4000 but with slightly more cache.. and the cache difference is not large enough to justify spending £150 more on a FX-55.

Actually the difference between the two isn't actually cache as them both have 1MB, but it is the speed and core. The 4000+ runs at 2.4GHz and uses the Sledgehammer core, while the FX-55 runs at 2.6GHz and uses the ClawHammer core.

As for your hard drives 2 x 250GB Drives is plenty - even if your ripping DVD movies.

Well, I figured I would go with at least 2X300GB hard drives as I already have a 200GB full, an 80GB full and another 80GB about 1/4 full. I am always imaging my CD's, etc. so I just want to make sure I have plenty of room! :D

 

[ProcalX]

Actually the difference between the two isn't actually cache as them both have 1MB, but it is the speed and core. The 4000+ runs at 2.4GHz and uses the Sledgehammer core, while the FX-55 runs at 2.6GHz and uses the ClawHammer core.



Well, I figured I would go with at least 2X300GB hard drives as I already have a 200GB full, an 80GB full and another 80GB about 1/4 full. I am always imaging my CD's, etc. so I just want to make sure I have plenty of room! :D

My bad, i thought the 4000+ and the FX-55 were similiar as i had been told the only difference was cache - never read into it, and on the hard drive front i suppose if you use that amount of room it would be wise :)

- You don't usually meet people who use their pc's enough to fill their drives (or that amount anyway)

In that case i'd get 2x 36.6GB WD Raptors (Raid 0) so u still have your 74GB WD Raptor but its raid, and then u can have something bigger than 2x300GB :D

Nice system tho - but please go with the Gskill its just unbelievably amazing.