I'm looking to get the fastest speed possible with this set up. I've never OC'd before and am unsure as to the specifics. Specs: Windows 2000 SP4 Athlon XP 2600+ Barton 512MB PC3200 400MHz ECS L7S7A2 Socket A Mobo If I need to post more, let me know. Eagles may soar but weasels never get sucked into jet engines

Overclocking isn't an exact science, it's trial & error. What works on one system won't necessarily work on another, so you're gonna have to experiment. Do you know how to recover if you over-overclock & the system becomes unbootable? All you'll need to do is unplug the power cord, then use the ClearCMOS jumper to reset the BIOS to the defaults, then you can start all over again. To start off, your 333MHz FSB CPU runs at 166MHz frequency, your DDR 400MHz RAM runs at 200MHz frequency...you need to get them in sync (both at 166MHz). The AXP performs best with the CPU/DRAM ratio at 1:1. Here's some recommended BIOS settings. Advanced Chipset Setup Menu: CPU Frequency - this is where you'll make the bulk of your changes. Start by going from 166Mhz to 175MHz** (see note below) Over CPU Vcore Function - this is where you'll adjust the CPU voltage. "Normal" will run the CPU at it's default of 1.65v. If you choose a percentage such as 5%, the voltage will increase to 1.7325v. Don't increase the voltage unless it's absolutely necessary. (see note below) CPU/DRAM Clock Ratio - 1:1 Clock Spread Spectrum - Disabled Auto Detect DRAM Frequency - Disabled DRAM Timing Configuration - Normal Mode (this can be changed later) Graphic Win Size - 128M DDR CAS to Latency - SPD (this can be changed later) AGP Fast Write - Disabled (you can try enabling this later) PCI / Plug and Play Setup Menu: Plug and Play Aware O/S - No Primary Graphics Adapter - AGP (I assume you have an AGP video card?) **NOTE: when increasing the CPU freq, do it in small increments, say 5MHz at a time. The jump from 166 to 175MHz *should* be safe, but from there, try 180, 185, 190, etc. After each change, save the settings & boot into windows to test for stability. If you encounter problems, try increasing the CPU voltage (Vcore). Make sure to monitor your CPU temp.

Thank you, you've been a big help. I managed to get it running stable at 185MHz, 57 degrees C and am now running at 2127 MHz which is an 11% increase and right where a 2800+ should be. Thanks again. Eagles may soar but weasels never get sucked into jet engines

57C is pretty warm. If that's the temp at idle, you need to take a hard look at your case cooling setup & your CPU's HSF.

That was after an hour of playing Halflife 2. And yeah, I'm looking into upgrading my HSF since I'm running it so hot now. Eagles may soar but weasels never get sucked into jet engines