I've finally broken down, did alot of research and have made my first overclock attempt.

I was curious if anyone knew, or where I might find, the safe operating temps. for Athlon64's, specifically the Athlon64 3200+ Socket 754 processor.

I've been nudging my External Clock upwards at about 2mhz at a time, rebooting, and testing my system's stability and performance in games and benchmarks. I've currently overclocked from 200mhz to 205mhz on the external clock, resulting in a core clock speed of 2.05Ghz over the original 1.99Ghz before oc'ing.

Before I started this, it ran at about 45°C, and the case temp about 8-10 degrees cooler. Now it's up to 49°C. I'm considering pushing my system to 2.1Ghz and stopping there to give it a full test. I'm using the stock HSF, which the Bios says it's at 3,500rpm. I'm using a Shuttle AN50R Motherboard (nForce3 150 chipset) and my system is cooled by 2 intake 80mm 3000rpm fans and 3 exhaust 80mm 3,000rpm fans.

Would I be alright if my cpu ran at say 55°C and furthermore, should I go ahead and get better cooling parts before pushing it any farther than my 2.1Ghz goal? I've read a few PC mags, MaximumPC included and I've seen 3 Athlon64's oc'ed to 2.2Ghz with stock cooling and no voltage changes, one of them was even on the same mobo as mine.

Thanks for any feedback.

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www.mozilla.org' ">http://www.mozilla.org
AMD Athlon64 3200+ @ 2.3Ghz (230 x 10 @ 1.65v) 3500+ PR
|- ClawHammer Socket 754 1mb L2 Cache (SH7-CG Revision)
Shuttle AN50R (GigaBit Ethernet / 3x DIMM / 5 PCI / 1 AGP 4x-8x)
|- Nvidia nForce3 150 chipset
1024mb PC3200 | Patriot (2x512) @ 195mhz | Latency 2-3-2-5
Western Digital (8

First off, please be aware that overclocking will void your warranty.

Max temp for all current Athlon 64 models is 70°C and as long as your system is stable, there is no need to worry - you will usually get stability-issues before your system overheats to a point that might potentially cause damage.

Furthermore, Athlon 64 processors have a built-in hardware-enforced thermal protection that will shutdown the core if it exceeds its maximum specified temperature - this is completely independend from any motherboard-circuitry.

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The opinions expressed above do not represent those of Advanced Micro Devices or any of their affiliates.

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AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 89W :: Asus M2N32SLI Deluxe :: 2x1024MB Muskin XP2-6400 DDR2-800 :: BeQuiet! Darkpower Pro 530W :: 2x WD Raptor 74GB/10k rpm, RAID 0 :: ATI Radeon X1950XTX

Thank you Grey, 70°C eh? Smokin... My mobo is set to shut it down at 65° anyway.

Actually, I just came up on the 2.1Ghz mark and my system is settling around 48°-50°C and is very stable. I have games like UT2k4, Halo, BFV, Far Cry and Doom 3 to test that out.

I am aware this will void my warranty, but it does not concern me. I custom built my system, trusting that AMD's would perform well even in the worst conditions. I have plenty of money to replace my CPU and Mobo should anything happen to them and I always have my trusty XP2400+ system stowed away. I also found out my HSF is actually at 3,800rpm.

I am pleased with the results. I am looking to squeeze more power out of my system, without damaging it, and see it excel in games and apps.

Thanks again.

-------------------------
www.mozilla.org' ">http://www.mozilla.org
AMD Athlon64 3200+ @ 2.3Ghz (230 x 10 @ 1.65v) 3500+ PR
|- ClawHammer Socket 754 1mb L2 Cache (SH7-CG Revision)
Shuttle AN50R (GigaBit Ethernet / 3x DIMM / 5 PCI / 1 AGP 4x-8x)
|- Nvidia nForce3 150 chipset
1024mb PC3200 | Patriot (2x512) @ 195mhz | Latency 2-3-2-5
Western Digital (8