Safe Overclocking!   HA!

Mate, if you start overclocking things will never be the same, trust me.

You need a cpu temperature monitoring program (in bios, as well as real time like everest does), cpuz, memtest, prime95, everest home edition (majorgeeks.com), and you'll need to gain an intimate knowledge of how your mainboard/cpu/memory speeds are related to each other.

You need to get to know your BIOS and it's limitations.

You should find out if your CPU is a Thoroughbred "B" or a Barton chip and whether the CPU multiplier is locked or not.

You should find out what your ram's specification is.

You need to read about overclocking on socket A.

CTjoyce wrote a basic tutorial below as have others in the past.

Basically overclocking is trying to get the most out of your hardware while keeping it within a stable operating range.

The "Safe" aspect of it is that it is possible to do damage to your hardware through improper settings, but that possibility has been lessened by several measures to prevent it over the last several years.

You won't risk anything if you learn it first and just don't jump straight in and melt something!

Socket A introduced automatic thermal shutdown capability. When the CPU gets to a trigger temperature, the PC shuts down before damage can be done. I have seen this fail miserably on at least one mainboard with a new paperweight being the result.

Adjusting the PC's front side bus speed (FSB) or CPU multiplier upwards will overclock.
Usually, however, CPU multipliers are reduced and bus speeds are increased a lot.

The memory speed gets overclocked along with the FSB speed, so if the FSB is raised severely, the RAM will fail to operate if it's not designed to run at much higher speeds.

To remedy this, a RAM Divider or Ratio is set in BIOS, ie. you set the ram to run at the next setting down the list from it's original stock settings, so that when you overclock, the ram increases speed back to normal, or as high as it will function.

An example:

Let's assume you have a Thoroughbred "B" cored 2800+ with a 13.5x multiplier.

CPU speed is obtained by multipling the FSB times the CPU multiplier.

Your PC's FSB is 166mhz (believe me, it is....... that's 166.5 x 2 = 333mhz DDR speed).

So, 166.5 x 13.5 = ~2250mhz total CPU speed, or 2.2ghz

Meanwhile your RAM is set to 333mhz as well, but your ram is rated at 400mhz, so you won't need a ram divider as your ram is overspec at 333mhz and should easily handle the FSB overclocked up to 200mhz, (DDR400).

So, let's see what happens when we wind the FSB up to 200mhz.......

CPU multiplier 13.5 x FSB 200 = 2700mhz or 2.7ghz !

RAM is now at DDR400 or PC3200 or 200mhz (all the same thing). This is the ram's rated speed, it is not overclocked.

Now in the real world, a 2800+ will probably not run at 2.7ghz without special cooling equipment. It will simply fail to boot or be so unstable that windows won't load.

This is where REDUCING the cpu multiplier is beneficial. Let's drop it to 12x and see the result:

12 x 200 = 2400mhz or 2.4ghz...... and this is a more realistic overclock of a Tbred B 2800+  

So why wind the FSB up so high in the first place?

Because it increases memory bandwidth, or potential data throughput. It allows a lot more data to  be processed in the same period of time without bottlenecking on the bus.

The overclocker endeavours to obtain 3 main objectives, max CPU, max Memory speed, and max FSB speed. It is a delicate balance to max out all three for best performance.



The danger is heat. Heat wrecks PC's. So why is heat an issue with overclocking?

Lets say our 2800+ CPU is giving errors by crashing in our favorite game when o/clocked to 2.4ghz.

We cure this by adding voltage to the CPU, this makes it run stable at higher clockspeeds (up to a limit). Adding voltage immediately causes an increase in CPU temperature as more energy is consumed and needs to be dissipated.

This is where temperature monitoring is important. You need to be aware of sharp rises in CPU temperature as you get close to the maximum overclock values for your CPU. If you see temps getting too high, it's time to back off the voltage and overclock level until it's running at normal temps. To obtain an overclock, it's often required to get some added cooling solutions in place.

Don't run out and buy a fancy watercooling kit first though, it may not be required. Indeed, your CPU may be a hopeless overclocker and  not respond to higher speeds at all, regardless of cooling solutions, but this is rare. See how hot it gets first. If the CPU temp is pushing over 60*C, it's time to call it a day until better cooling can be fitted.

Similar heat considerations are relevent for chipset, video card and ram chips. Extra Voltage can be applied to any of the above to aid stability, but it's not directly supported in video cards and indeed it's rare in chipset options. RAM and CPU voltage adjustment is more common.

CPU and RAM voltage are adjustable in the BIOS of overclocking mainboard's.

Your mainboard may come bundled with a software overclocking package that auto-senses system parameters and makes the required adjustments within a pre-defined "Safe" framework. This is Boosting and is not true overclocking in the normal sense. Software overclocks are ok in some circumstances, but overclocking in bios is the correct way to do it.

The software I listed up the page are tools for checking parameters and stress testing components for stability. You may download them now and test your system as is if you like.

[img]http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/cpu1.JPG[/img]

[img]http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/cpu2.JPG[/img]

[img]http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/cpu3.JPG[/img]

[img]http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/cpu4.JPG[/img]

[img]http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/cpu5.JPG[/img]

AMD cpu's unofficially use a "P" rating that compares them with an equivalent Pentium processor, hence the 2800+ tag.

Well, Skylane, it's your lucky day  

You see that first screen you posted there?

The values are incorrect, which means that your PC is severely underclocked, so get ready for an instant performance boost if you fix it.

The stock CPU multiplier is 12.5x on that chip.

12.5 x 166.6 = 2080mhz

Your FSB speed is set to 99mhz (100mhz) when it should be 166mhz by default.

The 199mhz is your bus speed in DDR, in other words it's 200mhz, should be 333mhz.

Your CPU speed is currently 1.25ghz instead of the normal 2.08ghz. A big difference.

Your Slot1 ram stick is indeed PC3200 so you are in luck, use CPUZ again and check that the second stick is identical.

Oddly, your Memory Bus (RAM Speed) is 133mhz, which is a top divider that is normally never used.

There will be a memory speed setting that says something like FSB + 33mhz and some other similar things, set it to equal the FSB speed @ 166mhz

You want the CPU/FSB/RAM speed all in sync at 166mhz for now.

The final screen shows your ram's rated timings at 3 different bus speeds, often, ram will go a good deal faster than the SPD settings shown there.

The right hand side is what you are after, a full 200mhz bus speed, with timings as shown, but if you successfully get timings in one of the other coloums stable, you have great ram, so touch wood!

That Barton may be unlocked if you are lucky, if it's unlocked, you can change the CPU multiplier up to 13 or possibly 13.5 for an instant overclock, but it may not be stable without a Vcore increase as I explained above.

Don't go adding Vcore without someone helping you.

Your current Via KM266Pro chipset supports some overclock options, you need to go into the bios anyway to set your system up properly.

Before you go into BIOS making changes, learn how to do a CMOS jumper reset. It's important you learn this or you'll be calling me names one day.  

It might also pay you to disconnect the hard drive you are booting from until you are sure the PC will boot properly at the correct settings, make sure you have the PC unplugged before connecting/disconnecting anything.

WARNINGS:

Two rather disturbing things can happen. If Windows freaks out at any incorrect settings you make, it can render the OS inoperable, that's why I said take the hard drive off (unlug it) until you are seeing perfect boots with the new settings. 1 short beep is a perfect boot and there should be no freezes etc, just a normal boot into a black boot screen, read the info, it tells you  what your memory and CPU speeds are.

The second thing is no boot at all. This will require a CMOS jumper reset. (sounds bad  but it's not at all so don't worry). When a CMOS clear rtc jumper reset is done,  ALL BIOS SETTINGS return to factory defaults for your mainboard, including the time of day.

Now, I can't assume the current BIOS settings are correct because your rig is so far out of whack, someone has been messing with it.
So, get to know your entire BIOS before changing things, so you know how it was, and write it all down just in case. It may be all wrong, but the current settings actually work, so it's a start point.

Most likely the system will boot fine after a CMOS jumper reset. In fact, it may auto-configure to the correct settings with a CMOS clear.


IN CASE OF SYSTEM FAILURE:

Find the Clear CMOS jumper, it's probably near the battery on your mainboard.

To clear CMOS, unplug the PC from mains power. Unplug the monitor just in case any power is bleeding in from that, though it's not likely. Unplug the hard drive's power cable (not the IDE ribbon).

move the Clear Cmos jumper to the CLR position and leave it there for now. Take out the coin-like battery.

Wait a few minutes then replace the CLR CMOS jumper back in it's original ON or RUN position. Replace the battery.  Replace the monitor cable, Plug the PC into the mains power.

Reboot. Go into BIOS and set the correct parameters for your PC.

Save the BIOS settings and Reboot.

If all is good, turn the PC off and replace your power cable to the hard disk. Reboot.

Do it EXACTLY as I said above.

If you can  do a CMOS clear and set your bios up within usable parameters so windows loads, you're all set to overclock. All you need is knowledge.

Learning how your system works IS overclocking really, once you know how it works, it can be safely done.

Systems are all underclocked to a certain extent, so your average joe doesn't fry things I guess. Overclocking is not really an apt description, it should be called "unlocking"  

well, i just bought this motherboard after my other one went to heaven. it was a abit nf7s2.
I wonder if the computer store messed around with my bios.
It may not work at higher speeds. would that be weird.
Is there anything good about this PC and is it worth overclocking?
I believe my cousin has overclocked and has some type of certification (A+ or sometihng)
I only have 1 stick of ram

Just do as I said above and see if you can bring the PC up to it's correct settings, take it from there.

Your motherboard WILL work at higher speeds, as well as the speeds it was designed for. If they guys at the PC shop messed with it and set it like that, they are either screwing you over or they are incompetent.

Sure, your PC is fine, the only thing it doesn't have is dual channel memory.

Certification is just dandy, it won't help you o/clock your PC though, you need specific knowledge for your PC, not the general knowledge of an A certification.

I'll have a look, be patient - it might take me 5 or 10 minutes.

Could you please be specific about the jumper?

Ok, I found the jumpers, get your manual out handy and add me to msn messenger, see PM's

If you don't show up in a few minutes, I'll post back here as soon as I get the info together.