I have an unlocked 1800+XP TB, and with the NF7-S V2.0 Abit MB, and today I got the thermalright Sp-97, installed everything ok, and it works brilliantly. I have managed to overclock my cpu to 2.43ghz (FSB 142, Multiplier 17) I have managed to get it upto 2.5ghz, but I have a question for everyone. I have 3 sticks of ram in my pc (DDR) which is total of 1.25GB, but they are all different PC speeds. Will this affect my o/c capabilites? Ie if i buy 3 sticks of 512MB all the same PC speed, will I be able to overclock even further? Any help is appreciated

Also, which are the best sticks of ram I can buy? Ie high PC speed, FSB and at an acceptable price?

God bless you, Lord Kram; To be able to run at 17 multi. In your case the low FSB does not even matter. The system will take the slowest speed, in this case 143mhz. The total or highest speed is naturally the combination of multi and FSB, i.e. what the processor could take. If you up the FSB you would have to lower the multi. Don't be greedy my Lord.

What do you suppose would be the faster...2.43ghz (17 x 142) or 2.1ghz (12 x 175)? Lower thy multiplier, & higher thy FSB...a higher CPU speed does not always a faster system make.

I overclock because 1) I am cheap, 2) I like to experience and 3) I am stupid. The point of being stupid should be better put as stubborn. 1) I don't like paying more for memory than my precious CPU (being the heart). 2) I cannot stand paying for heatsink when the unit comes with the retail pack looks perfectly okay. 3) I totally could stand paying a video card at half the system cost. This is the same reason I am running two P4 2.4C with PC2700. Yes, the 3rd P4 is using PC3200. The difference in speed is; PC2700 5000 mb/s PC3200 5800 mb/s Do I FEEL the difference? NO. I already own the PC2700, do I go spend another $110 for PC3200 to get 800mb/s more....hell no. There is nothing that I could not run .....FAST at 3.3Ghz 5000mb/s in memory, HT enabled In your case, you are lucky to get an AMD that runs at 17 multi, with 1.25GB of ram you are running hell a lot faster than people with two stick of 256 at slightly higher FSB. That is if you look at your total system investment. If money is not a problem, get the A64 do some overclocking and no one would dare to comment negectively on your rig in this forum. If higher FSB is faster, go Intel. I am running 1080 FSB. I am also running a XP1700+ @2.18, a 2500+ Barton at 2.2 Ghz. Frankly, I could not tell the difference. And, another stupid part of me is to use bench marking program to tell me which is better as if I have to ask my friend to taste test my bottle of 12 year-old brandy.