Athlon XP 2000+ overclock?

[Nive11en]

I'm interested in overclocking my AMD Athlon XP 2000+ (1.67 Ghz). How should I start about it? Increasing it's value by a few mhz every boot and see how it works? If I could squeeze it up to 2Ghz that would be great, even better with my current fan that came with the processor.
Will it be worth it? Will I see a decent improvement, should I try overclocking my graphics card maybe too? (Or should I first buy a 512 ddram chip because currently I have 256 dd and it sucks..)
Give me some suggestions guys.

[citrixmeta]

hey Nive11en! welcome to icrontic


first off, we need a list of your hardware

cpu model, motherboard, ram, video etc..

[stoopid]

Karatekid wrote a tutorial (http://www.icrontic.com/index.php?module=articles&&id=765) that would be helpful... and there's more information in the FAQ (http://www.icrontic.com/index.php?module=faq&&id=1470) I had written...

[Nive11en]

Here I go:
AMD Athlon XP 2000+ (1.67ghz)
GeForce 4 TI4200 (ABIT)
256 DDRAM (333mhz)
mobo: MSI KT3 Ultra 2 Series (VIA KT333 Chipset Based) MS-6380E v1.X
Using 2 HD's, 20gig and 40gig (both 7200 rpm)
Chieftec Dragon Medium case (my preciousss..)
I built this computer myself, or rather rebuilt, before it was a different motherboard with a slower processor and ram. I'm a newb when it comes to overclocking.

And.. just read the article by Karatekid, great one. Now I'm all worried about buying new *good* ram. Since my current is a noname one. Maybe a new heatsink also LOL.
Ya think a good brand ddram of 512mb will work out with a noname 256 to do 768 without much performance decrease?

[Nebulous]

Hi Nive11en, welcome to Icronic Forums :D

The XP2000 isn't an overclocking chip ( well compared to the 2100 and the 1600) I'm assuming it's a Tbred B and not an A will make it a more stubborn chip to oc. Also in order to have a successful oc you'll need the following:

1) Good cooling
2) A mobo with oc features in bios
3) A good power source(Psu)
4) Quality ram ( suggested 2x256mb sticks)
5) Plenty of patience

With the xp2000 you'll need to unlock it ( close the bridges) in order to have access to the lower multiplyers therefore being able to get a higher FSB which is the key to overclocking.

The FAQ stoopid put together has a wealth of great info, but be advised not all machines can overclock and when you do overclock you can and will fry something. I can attest to that and stoopid can vouch for it too, lol .

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Nive11en]

Originally posted by Nebulous
1) Good cooling
2) A mobo with oc features in bios
3) A good power source(Psu)
4) Quality ram ( suggested 2x256mb sticks)
5) Plenty of patience

Good cooling.., ok I'm starting to worry about that copper plated heatsink and very big fan on it.
Mobo has the right oc features.
My psu is a 350W Chieftec, and chieftec has an opinion of making good quality psu's.

Quality ram - now this is the one I'm having problems with, tell me, how come you suggest 2x256 instead of a single 512+256? (what is twinmos btw?). I know for sure I will be buying a new ram chip because my *noname* 256 deserves a flush down the toilet. What kind of ram do you think I should buy? the current 256ddram chipset I have, should I keep it and add it to the ram I will buy, or just buy good quality ram and throw away (sell) this one?

[Nebulous]

Well like i said, even tho your mobo has the ocing features, the cpu won't overclock unless you unlock it. As for ram i would go with these brands:

Corsair XMS Platinum series
http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/xms.html

Twinmos:
http://www.twinmos.com/dram/dram_p_dt_dualchannel_ddr400.htm

OCZ:http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/

Buffalo
Kingston HyperX
Mushkin

All can be found here: http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactory.asp?catalog=147&DEPA=1

I'd stay away from GEIL. GEIL and AMD don't play well togther.

[stoopid]

Originally posted by Nebulous
The XP2000 isn't an overclocking chip ( well compared to the 2100 and the 1600) I'm assuming it's a Tbred B and not an A will make it a more stubborn chip to oc.

Uh, go drink some coffee dude! :p

2100 and the 1700... (if referring to "B" stepping cpus, there was never a 1600 B)...

or a 2000 "B" stepping released in the states (heard of some 1800 and 2000 in Europe/Asia, but only the 2100 and 1700 in the US). The 2000+ you have is likely an older Palomino core, which will reach its max at 1.7-1.8ghz

[Nebulous]

Originally posted by stoopid


Uh, go drink some coffee dude! :p

2100 and the 1700... (if referring to "B" stepping cpus, there was never a 1600 B)...

or a 2000 "B" stepping released in the states (heard of some 1800 and 2000 in Europe/Asia, but only the 2100 and 1700 in the US). The 2000+ you have is likely an older Palomino core, which will reach its max at 1.7-1.8ghz

Um......going for my..forgot which # cup..of coffee now ;)

And yes you're right, there was never a 1600 B. I was just referring to the 2000 compared to the other 2 as overclocking potential :o

[stoopid]

Also, the Tbred A's were poorer overclockers than B's... I know you know all of this, guess you require more caffeine than you used to! :p

[Nebulous]

Originally posted by stoopid
Also, the Tbred A's were poorer overclockers than B's... I know you know all of this, guess you require more caffeine than you used to! :p

Yeah, just got up too. Guess i'm losing my touch eh? lmao !!;)

[Nive11en]

---------------------
Ok, my motherboard is:
MSI KT3 Ultra 2 Series (VIA KT333 Chipset Based) MS-6380E v1.X

From the mobo manual:
CPU specs, supports up to 1.8GHz (Athlon XP 2200+).
Chipset via kt333, fsb @ 200/266 MHz
Supports AGP 2.0 1x/2x/4x
---------------------

So does that mean the max FSB of the processor is 266 MHz? And that if my ram MHz is above 266 (333 like now), I am actually losing those 67 MHz??

On the motherboards CD there is a program called FuzzyLogic4 attached, which enables you to oc from windows. Installing it now.

[Nive11en]

Installed Fuzzylogic. I can change the FSB but not the multiplier with it.

It also shows that my low cpu load temperature is 50-51 celsius, which is really bad I'm guessing. The current thermal paste between the proc and heatsink looks like a gummy sticker from what I remember. I will try to go out and search for a Zalman heat/fan near me in a shop.

Attaching a pic of FL4.

[Nive11en]

Also a WCPUID screen. I suppose that to know the realm model of my athlon xp I will have to take off the heatsink.

[citrixmeta]

you need to invest in a nice thermalright Heatsink.
it will help with your temps.

then you can start OCing.

[Nive11en]

What about the thermal paste? Does it usually come with the heatsink or should I buy a separate high quality one?

[citrixmeta]

artic silver 3 or Artic silver 5 will be great

[Nebulous]

Originally posted by citrixmeta
artic silver 3 or Artic silver 5 will be great

I cuncur, You can also use atric silver ceramique or what's that other stuff that cam out? Shin itsu?

[Nive11en]

You lost me there, how does the stuff your talking about look exactly? (Ahhhh just checked website, it's like glue you apply it on the processor)

I just visited a local shop, and they have CoolerMasters, I will get this one tomorrow (http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=CP5-8JDIF-0L&other_title=+CP5-8JDIF-0L+CPU%20Cooler). It has lower RPM but it is wide and big so I hope that will make up for it. On the bottom it has a copper plating circle, and in the middle of it there is a white square made of some material <- whats that called? (???).

[citrixmeta]

trust me man, get thermalright , a world of diff.

[stoopid]

Originally posted by Nive11en
On the bottom it has a copper plating circle, and in the middle of it there is a white square made of some material <- whats that called? (???).

We refer to them as "copper slugs" and the white pad is a "thermal pad" (which stink). The copper translates the heat faster to the aluminum (which dissipates heat better, is lighter, and cheaper).

I used a decent, all copper heatsink recently made by coolermaster, but it was a rare find as most of their stuff, sadly, stinks. I'm with citrixmeta, get a thermalright if at all possible.

[Zuntar]

Nive11en,
I have the same mobo and I HAD the very same CPU. I overclocked my system without unlocking the multiplier to 1.875Ghz (150Mhz FSB X 12.5 the multiplier) and that was tweaked and unstable.
I have decent RAM and a decent heatsink. If you want to go farther you will need to spend some bucks and follow what these guys are saying! If you want to overclock your system thats killer go for it, but the Fuzzy Logic program SUCKS. Do is SLOWLY from the bios.
You can also flash the Bios and go up to a XP3000+ Barton core, if that is what you want. Check it out here....MSI.com (http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_cpu_support_detail.php?UID=341)

Keep us posted on what happens!

[Matt]

Originally posted by stoopid


2100 and the 1700... (if referring to "B" stepping cpus, there was never a 1600 B)...

or a 2000 "B" stepping released in the states (heard of some 1800 and 2000 in Europe/Asia, but only the 2100 and 1700 in the US).

WTF at micro center they had like 50 2000+ xp cpu's, i got one and this was like 7 months ago (AIUHB)

[stoopid]

Originally posted by matt
WTF at micro center they had like 50 2000+ xp cpu's, i got one and this was like 7 months ago (AIUHB)

That was an exception rather than the rule, there weren't many 2000+ made let alone distributed, and most were through the european channels (perhaps that's where microcenter got theirs...).

How did it clock? I heard these were basically the same clockers as the 2100's (and it sounds like the same AIUHB stepping).

[stoopid]

To get a final/decisive answer, I posted this over at overclockers.com (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=261200) to see what they have to say...

[c627627]

registered for your fine forum because of Pinky's post here:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2420304

Anyway,
Originally posted by c627627
Of course, tons of 2000+ B's right here in the United States.

I even saw a rare 1600+ Thoroughbred B.


http://www.c627627.com/AMD/AthlonXP/

I'll try to dig up a pic of 1600+ B for all you all.

[c627627]

http://www.ocforums.com/vb/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=184363

[stoopid]

Thanks!

[Nive11en]

Originally posted by Zuntar
You can also flash the Bios and go up to a XP3000+ Barton core, if that is what you want. Check it out here....MSI.com (http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_cpu_support_detail.php?UID=341)

Keep us posted on what happens!
Many Thanks for that info Zantar, now I know I can still upgrade to amd xp 3000+ barton without switching my motherboard. Ow, I would be so ignorant without these forums :p

Other than that, I have selected my course of action:
1. Buy 512 DDRAM Kingston HyperX
2. Buy a good cpu fan, probably now a thermaltake lol.

Once I get on with those points, I'll post to update. Thanks guys.

[Zuntar]

No problem, I am quite interested in what you find out, so post away!!:D

[Nive11en]

Ok, the temps I get with my current fan/radiator setup (a company called Q-Tec made it) are:
Right after boot up to desktop: 45 C
Idle after 2-3 hours: 46 C
100% BUSY with Folding@Home after 2-3 hours: 54 C

I will update once I use the Arctic Silver 5 (or whichever I get my hands on in the future) and a new radiator/fan (I'm not sure yet what I will buy).

[Nive11en]

I have updated my BIOS to the newest version, and the temperatures have changed...... heres the new stats:
Idle for 2 hours: 44 C (jumped to 45 at 1,5h and back to 44 at 2 hours ^_^)
Busy with Folding@Home for 2 hours: 52 C (After 4 hours it still is 52 C, so looks like a limit)

I have heard from a different person already that if you flash some MSI's mobo's BIOS the temperatures go down. Maybe it was a bug? Or some kind of new optimised code so the proc don't have to work as hard? No idea.


I will update this thread once I get my new Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste and the Thermalright ALX-800 that I have just ordered today. No idea what fan to use, though I will try using the Aero 7+ fan :)

[Nebulous]

Hmmm, I can't confirm the changes in the temps with the MSI board as i've never owned one, but some new bioses for other boards do have fixes and recalibrations for the temps sensors.

[Nive11en]

New Thermalright ALX-800 heatsink with Coolermaster case fan @ 2800 RPM (quiet) idle (none or low load) temps are:
40 C after 1-2 hours when my computer case is closed
35-36 C after .5+ hour when my case is open

The thermal paste (Arctic Silver 5) has only been applied 8 hours ago or so. After 3 to 4 days I'll post again with idle and full load temps when the thermal paste has set in.

I gotta figure out a way to lower my "closed case" temperatures, any ideas? (I already have a fan running in the bottom front, putting cold air in, and a fan running in the upper back at the level of the heatsink taking out hot air, those fans are running at 5 volts btw)

[Nebulous]

5 volts? You have 12v fans runnin at 5v? i dunno bro,you're just slowing down airflow.

You can do some wire management. Tidy up all the wires and cables with zip ties and tuck them away from the fan's airflow.

[Nive11en]

I don't remember whether they are @ 5 or 7 volts. I modded them a long time ago using one of Icrontic's guides. Anyway in the next couple of days I'm planning to clean up, oil up every single fan in my case (a black Chieftec Dragon midi tower btw - it has great potential for good airflow).
Will get round IDE cables too, my wide ones are really slowing the air flow. Now that I think about it I'm either gonna get 2 more case fans or put back my current ones to 12v or both.
Might even buy 4 sleek Zalman case fans. Dunno, will see.

[Nive11en]

Ok my official results of the Thermalright ALX-800 heatsink in conduction with the Coolermaster 80mm case fan SAF-B82 running at 2800 RPM (about 26 dba, so pretty quiet) are:

Idle or low load - 37C (2+ hours and stable*)
Idle or low load with an open case - 35C (2+ hours and stable*)
100% load (Folding@Home) - 45C after running for 1-2 days (for 2-12 hours its 41C)

The thing that I find strange is that when running Folding@Home for most of the day it would seem that the limit of max temperature is about 41C, only after running for much longer I got 45C.

My current goal is to try to make the closed case temperature as near to my room temperature as possible, with an open case the case temp is 32C, so the sensor must be placed in a strange place since my room temperature is at least 10C less.

*By a stable temperature I mean it stops there, 37C stable means even after a week it will still be 37C :)

Please note that I have 3 other fans in the case, 2 case fans and 1 psu. One case fan is running in the front low putting cold air in (at 5-7v), second is in the upper back taking warm air out (at 5-7v). I have enough space to have 2 case fans in the back and 2 in the front. At 12V the case fans work at 3100 RPM and are very loud. No idea what RPM they have at 5-7V. I might buy 4 more coolermaster case fans because they do 2800RPM at 12V and are far more quiet. You can check out how my case looks at Chieftec.com, case is in my sig.

[Brian420]

This is an old thread but I've got a some info that might still be of use.Im using an Athlon XP2000+ T-Bred-B. I found a site a while back that can tell you exactly what Athlon XP you have according to the numbers on your cpu.
http://www.hwspirit.com/tools.php?m=cpu This is how i came to find out what I have.This is a damn good processor for overclocking.I have it up to 2.2 gig with heatpipe cooling.I'm currently using the ThermalRight SI-97 with a Delta 92x38mm FFB0912EHE 110 cfm Fan,Pretty loud but its cooling is like no other.Steady 40c under load with a Gigabyte GA-7VT600P-RZ MB,1024 mb of Kingston,and a GeforceFX5200 Ultra with a ThermalTake ExtremeGiant 2 thats overclocked to 377mhz on the core and 754mhz on the memoryclock.

I'm damn curious as to what you have achieved with your 2000+ and wether you have found out its core type.Try that website and It can tell you.Post back with your results!

Brian

[Nive11en]

Damn, you've dug up a hell of an old thread. I had a Athlon XP 2000+ on the Palomino core, which pretty much sucked for overclocking. From what I know, all other cores overclock much better than the Palomino.

[Brian420]

Yea My First was a Palamino and it was a horrible one.It ran hot when it was running at normal speeds.I ended up getting mine from a friend that upgraded to an Athlon 64. Needless to say you junked the Palamino eh?I used mine as a test subject and did a cache hack on it (to 512)and unlocked the multiplier,put a peltier on top of it and overclocked the shit out of it!!!ran pretty stable at around 2600mhz till the peltier froze over one night and fried everything LMAO!! It was an experience that was priceless.

[Northstar]

I love MSI motherboards, and I had the same one once upon a time Nive11en, but since then had upgraded to the Nforce2. There are many that would say Asus makes a better board for OC'ing, and they'd probably be right because on the average they do perform better. The thing I like best about MSI though is the level of quality and stability. MSI will never make the fastest board (nor are they a slouchy board either), but check out reviews on Tom's Hardware and you'll see they are decent boards. Or at least they used to be. You have a great board there, in my opinion.

I used to be into OC'ing a lot more than I am now. I'll occassionally play around in the bios to squeeze out a little extra, but nothing major. All in all I get the performance I need out of a barton 2600, so I'm not investing a ton of money until I'm ready to make the jump to 64bit, which won't be until I see what Microsoft releases for an OS.

Good luck with the OC and keep us posted.

[Nive11en]

Athlon Xp 2000+ cache hack + peltier? Hehe now that sounds interesting. If I ever have to ditch my Palomino because of age, I might try that.

I use the AXP 2000+ Palomino still, it's a secondary rig though. And yes, I never had any problems with the MSI motherboard or the whole system itself. Always stable. It's the same with my current DFI + A64, stable, no problems whatsoever. Both of these motherboards, and I'm very happy for that, were good choices.

[Brian420]

Ive been using Gigabyte boards for as long as I can remember.They always support overclocking(changing fsb and vcore) and they have a Revolutionary Bios update Feature called @Bios that allows you to update the Bios While in Windows.No need for a floppy drive and no need to change the boot orders around and all that.I'm currently using their Apollo600 platform and it performs quit well.

The cache Hack was pretty nice.It didnt seem like a palamino anymore after that!It was tedious tho and very nerve wracking,I dont recomend it on a good processor!

[Northstar]

By update the Bios while in Windows, do you mean flashing? If so, that's pretty cool, but maybe that's becoming more common (see how old school I am? -- I gotta start reading up more on hardware to stay current).

[Your Amish Daddy]

My ECS board supports hotflashing, but it's not something one would do if they had common sence. "The bios is locked during use in most implementations, and in order to make it flashable, the bios data must be in memory, or you will fail each time. You wanna flash your bios? Use a floppy. You wanna do it right? Buy a chipburner."

I tried flashing mine hot with the software provided by Nvidia. I had to send my board back to newegg, and the one they sent back hates everything I've put in it. -Lesson to be learned, ECS Sucks.