Can anyone offer me a little advice please

[Guest]

I have a 1,000Mhz Athlon and I have be looking into overclocking. I have read a few sites guides but I don't want to do anything drastic like opening up the CPU's case just yet, though I am interested in messing about with some of the multiplier/voltage settings from the BIOS.
I understand that CPU clock x Core/Bus ratio = CPU speed, but I don't understand the settings in my BIOS.

I my BIOS, in the Frequency/Voltages menu I have this sub menu;

"CPU Host/PCI/Spreed Spec."

Which can be set to a number of values which are;

* Defualt
* 100/33Mhz/-0.5%
* 100/33Mhz/+0.5%
* 102/34Mhz/off
* 104/35Mhz/off
* 106/35Mhz/off
* 107/36Mhz/off
* 108/36Mhz/off
* 109/36Mhz/off
* 110/37Mhz/off
* 111/37Mhz/off
* 120/37Mhz/off

My PC came with the setting at default. So I changed it to 110/37Mhz/off then rebooted. My PC is now being reported as being an Athlon 1,100Mhz. I have not tried all the settings but most other settings seem to either have no effect or turn my PC into a Athlon 360Mhz!

Could someone explain what these settings mean and if possible tell me what settings it should or should not be.
I quite like the idea of having a 1,100Mhz Athlon but am I going to fluff things up.
Please don't post telling me that I need extra cooling etc, I know all that, i would just like to know what these BIOS setting are all about.
My Mainboard is a Micro-Star MS-6340 which uses a VIA KT133 chipset.
I think the 110 bit is the FSB frequency bit but I don't get the 33Mhz etc. The sites I have looked at refer to multipliers like 7.5, 8.5 etc. and what does Spreed spec. mean?

Cheers in advance.

PS remember, we were all new once!

 

[kal326]

To change anything other then the fsb you are going to have to open the case and close the l1 bridges if they are already not closed. As for the list of settings those are for the fsb and the resulting PCI speed. The PCI bus is what most of you expansion cards run on. If you have a NIC or a SCSI card then having the PCI bus at anything then 33 can cause problems. The last % thing is the spread spectrium setting, according to my Abit manual its has something to do with electro-magnetic compatitbility. So my best guess is that this has to be enabled in some cases for stability. The best thing to do would be close the bridges, up the multiplier and just run a 100 fsb.

All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!

 

[Guest]

Cheers for the reply mate. So are you saying that I best leave those settings in my BIOS well alone, even if I am getting a speed increace? could it do damage? or shall I just leave it running at 1,100Mhz or set it back to 1,000Mhz?

 

[kal326]

If you have the option to change the multiplier in bios some where then close the L1 bridges on the CPU and raise the multiplier. If not i would just leave well enought alone and run it at 1000Mhz. The little bit extra of 110*10 isnt really going to be noticeable for the trouble.

All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!

 

[Guest]

Ok, some questions seeing as you are so helpful

1) How do I close the L1 bridges - does it involve taking the CPU casing off?
2) Do I have to close the L1 briges before I can increase the multiplier?
3) How do I change the multiplier if I can't do it from the BIOS - does this also involve taking the CPU caseing off
4) How far can a 1000Mhz Athlon be pushed?

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

1.Tom had a how to on athlon/duron overclocking you need to look at to learn how, and yes it does.
2.Yes
3.Also in the the how to
4.Depends on cooling, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE REALLY GOOD COOLING IF YOU WANT TO OVERCLOCK AN AMD. With good cooling you can probably reach 1200mhz