OCing a VAIO PCG FX401 AMD Duron 800

LifeofbrianLifeofbrian
edited April 2010 in Hardware
Hi,

I'm quite new at customizing computers and for a first try I'm trying to push my old (bought in 2001) laptop VAIO PCG FX401 to its limits. For the hardware, I'm still waiting for the 512MB RAM I bought but meanwhile, I would like to overlock the AMD Duron 800 and possibly the ATI Rage Mobility P/M AGP.

I'm aware that since it's a laptop I won't be able to overclock it that much but still I would like to see how much I can safely do and then I prefer to start with this laptop rather than with a new PC or laptop.

Anyway here's my problem, I'm using RM CPU Clock utility and Systool but they can't recognize my Motherboard and I don't know whether I can do something about it or if there's maybe another software I can use...So is there anybody who is used to overclock old PCs/LTs and knows how to fix this problem?

Many thanks

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    I hate to make a post that's so brusque and to the point, but: this laptop cannot be overclocked.

    Welcome to Icrontic, though.
  • LifeofbrianLifeofbrian
    edited April 2010
    Well, that could explain a lot of things. But could you maybe tell me why, so that I know for the next time. I read quite a lot of stories and watch some videos on youtube of people who overclocked an AMD Duron 800 so is it because it's a laptop? Because of a lousy cooling system? Or is it the motherboard? I was not expecting to overclock it to 1.5ghz, only to overclock it a little so that I can understand the process.

    And thank you
  • RyderRyder Kalamazoo, Mi Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    Yes to all of the above.

    Inadequate cooling to remove the heat from the overclock.

    The bios of the board does not support the tweaks and adjustments necessary to actually perform the overclock.
    Most of what you read will have been done on Desktop boards with bios file specifically opened up to allow overclocking.
  • AlexDeGruvenAlexDeGruven Wut? Meechigan Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    Overclocking a laptop is generally a bad idea to start with. They're built within pretty tight thermal envelopes, and adding more to it is only going to make them run hotter. Additionally, the BIOS settings (FSB vCore, etc) are generally locked out from userland, making most OC operations impossible.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    As Eric said: Yes to all of the above.

    Overclocking as a hobby or an experience almost entirely precludes laptops (there are a few notable exceptions, all recent). The older the laptop is, the likelihood of it being overclockable approaches infinitely improbable.
  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    Lifeofbrian wrote:
    Hi,

    I'm quite new at customizing computers and for a first try I'm trying to push my old (bought in 2001) laptop VAIO PCG FX401 to its limits. For the hardware, I'm still waiting for the 512MB RAM I bought but meanwhile, I would like to overlock the AMD Duron 800 and possibly the ATI Rage Mobility P/M AGP.

    I'm aware that since it's a laptop I won't be able to overclock it that much but still I would like to see how much I can safely do and then I prefer to start with this laptop rather than with a new PC or laptop.

    Anyway here's my problem, I'm using RM CPU Clock utility and Systool but they can't recognize my Motherboard and I don't know whether I can do something about it or if there's maybe another software I can use...So is there anybody who is used to overclock old PCs/LTs and knows how to fix this problem?

    Many thanks

    Whats wrong Brian, the Messiah can't overclock a little laptop :wink: (little python humor)

    That being said, what thrax said, its either impossible, or at least pretty pointless. Only really great option you have for performance boosting is more RAM. Also, if your just looking for a general productivity machine, you might consider a lighter linux distribution vs. windows. The bloat from windows makes a machine that came out at the dawn of the XP era pretty unusable. More RAM might help, but a Duron 800 and an old ATI RAGE are just going to be really limited. You might be able to find a replacement CPU, but its not going to be very good, probably a waste of money. More RAM, and if your not opposed to wiping windows, you could run a bit better on a low resourse version of Linux. Xbuntu
    (not ubuntu) could be a good option for those specs.

    Its not going to be a media machine, but for general productivity, office tasks, internet, email, xbuntu will be a more tolerable experience than XP in this case (just because of the hardware)
  • LifeofbrianLifeofbrian
    edited April 2010
    Whats wrong Brian, the Messiah can't overclock a little laptop (little python humor)

    hehe ;) and thanks to all of you for the fast answers, I was hoping against all odds that there would be a way...Actually I was thinking about a linux distribution for this laptop but I want first to optimize all that could be optimized. It seems that except the RAM there won't be that much to do...

    Thanks again
  • AlexDeGruvenAlexDeGruven Wut? Meechigan Icrontian
    edited April 2010
    Lifeofbrian wrote:
    hehe ;) and thanks to all of you for the fast answers, I was hoping against all odds that there would be a way...Actually I was thinking about a linux distribution for this laptop but I want first to optimize all that could be optimized. It seems that except the RAM there won't be that much to do...

    Thanks again

    Yeah, you're going to be served best by maxing out RAM and running a lightweight Linux distro. Xubuntu with 512MB RAM should run quite snappy.
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