I didn't know what overclocking was until the other day when I started researching how to give some new life to my dinosaur of a computer. I just ordered a X2 4200+ used box with oem heatsink and fan.

System Specs
VGA:Radeon HD 6450
MB:FIC KTBC51G
OS:XP
Memory:3GB (3200)
PSU:CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W ATX12V

whats the most I can overclock on the oem heatsink and will it even be worth my time? I just want to get the most out of my new cpu, but in a safe manner without pushing it to extremes, since all I will do on this cpu is blueray, surfing, light gaming

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

Your board is probably an OEM made for one of the bigger vendors, like hp/compaq etc. If so, the BIOS have very limited overclocking options.

KTBC51G

You might have some luck by using programs like ntune and clockgen.

older ntune

I do not know if clockgen has any support anymore, so you may need to try a few versions.

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anything is something, if I can just squeeze out a little more power from this old geezer, then I'm a happy camper.

I'll try those programs and see if they work.

What parameters do I need to fiddle with and by how much, like I said I'm a total wet behind the ears newbie when it comes to this.

The most important thing is the temperature of your cpu cores and the die. First you need to know what the max. Temp of your Cpu is. After this you should get two important programs: Prime95 http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/ and Core Temp http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/


Prime95 uses Lucas Lehmer iterations to get your cpu cores to 100% load.

While doing this watch your cpu temperature in Core Temp. It should not exceed the max. Temp determined for your cpu.

It should be pretty difficult to overclock and stay at a reasonable temperature with just the oem heatsink and fan.

For instant overclocking i use AMD Overdrive
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/d...s/overview.aspx


It allows you to make various changes and also has a 100% load program like prime95 and also can make a benchmark for your cpu. But after a system restart you have to start amd overdrive again because the changes arent saved to the Bios.

To overclock your cpu you have to make small changes to the multiplier and maybe to the vcore (Improve the multiplier first and run stability test. If it gets unstable improve the vcore a bit and test again). But be very careful with the last one as a too high vcore can damage your cpu. After a change make a run with prime95 or equal programs to look for system stability and temperature.

Have fun

Warning:

I would recommend that you "Do Not" set AOD to OC on start-up!!!

I have seen in the past where people have ticked the "Apply On Start-up" mode, thinking they had a tested 24/7 OC, just to have it Fail a few days down the road, then not be able to boot into the OpSys. to reset it. Requiring a reinstall of Windows!!!

AOD is a great tool for finding OC perimeters, then Hard-Setting pretested Voltages and Timings in the BIOS.


Happy OC'ing!!

UF

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Antec 1650B
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 910w
ASUS M3A79-T DeLuxe
1090T x6 @Boiling in the La-Boratory
Corsair H70
OCZ Reaper 8500 2x2 *Pending
ASUS 5970 (under OC investigation)
EVGA 260 55nm (holding pattern)
SeaGate 320x2 16GB Sata
Creative X-Fi Elite Pro
Logitech Z-5500
XP Pro SP2

i First of all drop the HTT multipier to 3x,
ii Then increase your vCore and watch your CPU temps while doing so,
iii try to keep the command rate set to 1T as A64 CPUs loose quite a bit of bandwidth when using 2T,
iv if you are not concerned about memory overclocking keep them set to DDR-400(200MHz) by using a memory divider.