I've had this rig for a while...it's basically a backup machine now. It's an Asus A7V133-C mobo, Athlon 1.33 T-bird (unlocked), w/512mb Kingston PC133 ValueRAM (2 x 256). I've been running it at 1400mhz (10 x 140FSB) for a long time. I decided to experiment with it a little last nite to see what I could get out of it. I'd already determined that 140 was the max FSB, especially with the ValueRAM...plus there's no way to lock the PCI/AGP. I tried the multiplier at 10.5x, bringing me up to 1470mhz...it booted fine & ran whatever I threw at it, but when I ran Toast, it crashed. I raised the Vcore from 1.75 to 1.80v & ran Toast again...I walked out of the room, forgot that I was testing, & came back 45 min later. Toast was still running, & my CPU temp maxxed out at 53C...great, no problem there! So I set the multiplier at 11x, bringing me up to 1540mhz. It booted up & everything seemed fine for a few minutes, then it rebooted itself. I upped the Vcore to 1.85v (that's as high as my board will go), booted to Windows & all seemed well. I played around online a bit with no probs...even played a quick round of Quake 3 (Phobos kicked my ass). My temp was 48C...again, not a problem. So I ran Toast...as soon as it started, you could hear all the fans change pitch. Asus Probe popped up, flashing that my 12v rail was running at 13.6v, then the system crashed. This all happened in less than 20 secs. I was using a cheap generic 300 watt PSU, so thinking that may be the problem, I replaced it with a "quality" 250 watt unit that I have. I booted up & tried to run Toast...this time, it ran for about 1.5 minutes before crashing. Ok, that's the story...here's the question: do you think a better PSU will allow me to run at 1540mhz? I suppose I should be content at 1470mhz (since it's just a backup machine anyway), but I'd like your opinions. Thanks....

Jam, I'm sure you have another rig with a more powerful PSU. Why don't you put that in and see what happens.

I have several 250 watt units laying around, but nothing higher. I don't wanna rip into my "good" system & pull the PSU from there, so I may visit my buddy & see if he can temporarily hook me up. I've read several reports that this CPU can handle 1.5Ghz...I really didn't wanna sink any money into it though, especially since I don't use it all that much.

jam, :) You could put it in the mail and I'll test some of my power supplies in it for a couple of years. My address is... Skip

Skip...lol...always the jokester :)

jam, It does sound like a power supply problem though. That flare on the +12v rail must have been fun to witness. Skip

Fun?? Not exactly the word I would use to describe it...lol. I'm gonna keep it at 1470 for the time being & see if I can come up with another PSU. Thanks for the input...