Hi everyone. Just getting into overclocking i have picked up a couple of things but am still unsure on a lot of others so please help to answer the following questions. CPU Questions: My new setup athlon xp1800+ and msi 745 ultra mobo the multiplier setting is in the bios. It will not let me increase this, does that mean i will have to connect the bridges if i want to overclock by multiplier? Got any detailed sites on how to do this? I just increased the cpu bus by 2mhz to see if it would overclock this way and it did from 1.53ghz to 1.55ghz. Is this method less stable than the multiplier? My ram is only unbranded 266 DDR and i dont want to stress it, however my mobo will support 333. Is there a way of o/c my cpu but not the ram i can change the ratios. I am also unsure about the cpu voltages people increase which i have read about in other forums. Any tips would be appreciated. How do i find out what type of athlon xp i have i have read that their are different types like TBred. Some better for o/c than others. Fan Questions: Does anybody know or know of a site which will tell me the specifications of the cpu fan which came with my retail version 1800+? I would like to know its noise levels. My CPU runs at an idle temp of approx 50oc and a load temp of approx 53oc according to PCAlert III which came with the mobo. Is this acceptable. I have been looking at the volcano cpu coolers would they improve on this? However i would not like a louder fan. There are two case fans in my computer but i disconnected them because they didn't effect the cpu temp and only the case temp by 2oc also the sound they made was annoying. I have always wondered about the rear case fan near the cpu should i have it blowing cold room air on the cpu or sucking case air out. I did have the front fan sucking into the case and the rear fan blowing out before i disconnected them. I have also been thinking about getting thermal grease as my cpu fan only came with a pad. If i was to use thermal grease would i have to remove this pad? Also does the thermal grease go all over the CPU or just the core (I think the core is the shiny bit and the coloured bit around it the die? Is this correct) Or do i apply it to the heatsink? Thanks for reading this post it's probably the longest i have ever posted. All help is greatly appreciated. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays CJackway Athlon XP1800+ MSI 745 Ultra 256mb PC2100 DDR 30Gb 7,200 rpm Western Digital Caviar HDD

increase voltage for more overclocking and more heat - good if you have good cooling Set the ratio to 'auto' so your ram stays below 266 nomatter what. But you could try to overclock the ram to 333 like I have. tomshardware.com has shown how to connect the bridges, though overclocking by FSB works perfectly. The case fans have to be installed properly, check that the air holes are not blocking the air passage, usually that creates a lot of noise) Thermal grease should be applied to both the cpu and heatsink, though some will argue with me. The perpose of grease is to fill the microscopic valleys with a substance that conducts heat better than air. The microscopic valleys are found on both the heatsink and the cpu so its better to apply on both. You should rub the grease on both such thatit forms only a very thin layer. Remove the extra grease as the heatsink metal conducts better than grease so no point in applying too much grease. CPU temo. is very important while overclocking, esp. with AMD cpus as they will simply fry if they become too hot unlike intel cpus which have temp. protection and will decrease speed or shutdown.

there's a very informative video review of how to Unlock an athlon xp at 3dgameman.com the video is perfect for first time unlockers. like Balram said, make sure the fan are installed properly. Maybe set one for intake and the other for out. Put one at the front button of the case and the other at the top of the case next to the PSU area The AMD stock fan are good if the cpu in question is not overclocked. think they run at 4800rpm and are somewhat quiet. I wouldn't really know, cuz i never owned a stock amd fan. (i only buy OEMs :)..). With some nice thermo grease, arctic silver and you'll be on your way to overclocking