OCing a 3200+

[Slayertime]

I would love to get the most out of my CPU and computer so i was wondering if I could get some help from exports here to tell me what is the best way to OC my 3200+ to get a little increase in performance. Here is a pic and my specs of what i have.





AMD Athlon 3200+@2.2ghz
Asus nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "A7N8X2.0" (New Version, now support AMD Barton 400MHz)
Bios V1006
Fan is a Thermaltake Silent Boost T1
120GB 7200RPM
Ati Radeon 9800 XT 256mb @364/418
1024MB PC3200 DDR Corsair XMS Edition
Audigy 2 7.1
Windows XP Home Edition

[tony_j15]

your chip is probably locked, so the only way you can OC is by raising the FSB. Make sure AGP/PCI lock is enabled first.

[poopeyhed2]

Nice XP style, looks like a Mac -

Anyway, you have a better chance of getting a better heatsink, since the Silent Boost will get you no where in terms of overclocking. Tons of heat will be coming out of hte chip and your current heatsink won't be able to cool off the chip.

[Slayertime]

What Heat Sink do you recommend then?

[poopeyhed2]

An excellent air cooled heatsink, that is if you don't mind mounting a heatsink through the motherboard would be any Swiftech unit or ThermalRight products, like the SP97 with heatpipes.

Watercooling is a fun alternative to air cooling. I'm using a Corsair HydroCool200 right now, but I plan to purchase a Swiftech one of these days to try them out.

[Slayertime]

I am looking at swiftech's website right now anyone of them on there that you think would be best for me.

http://www.swiftnets.com/

[jmichna]

Originally posted by Slayertime
What Heat Sink do you recommend then?

ThermalRight brand, especially the SLK900A (3-lug clip), SLK900U (4-bolts), and SLK947U (4-bolts). All of these take 92mm fans.

[douglas55]

You can raise the fsb and all of that but definitly get a SP97 with a vantec tornado for cooling. If you want to unlock the multi then you can try the bridge trick if you have steady hands and a little cash to spare if you mess up. My suggestion, sell the 3200+ and buy a Mobile 2600+. They come unlocked and require a lower vcore than desktop chips and can also withstand more heat. I've seen em go all the way up to 2.7 and still be somewhat stable. No 3200+ will ever achieve that.

[jmichna]

Originally posted by douglas55
...but definitly get a SP97 with a vantec tornado for cooling. ...

Re the Vantec Tornado... that depends on your noise tolerance. It moves a lot of air BUT there are also many 92mm fans that deliver airflow better 55cfm air flow with relatively little noise. I try to keep fan noise below 40dBa, and preferably below 37dBa.

[douglas55]

Vantec Stealths move a decent anount of air and are pretty quite