AMD Overclocking Guide

RAM Tweaking

Which Codes Mean What

AMD Stepping's

Beginner's Guide to Overclocking

Overclocking Basic Traning

Testing Stability

Very Important Tips!

Fanbus Mod

Clear CMOS Switch

XP 1700+ Clocks

This is the Overclocking Guide that I use

Overclocking your Processor:

First you'll need to make sure your motherboard allows changing of the front-side bus and multiplier in the BIOS.
the clock speed of the processor is the FSB x Multiplier.

A lot of people over clock just by raising the FSB, but you can only raise your FSB until your RAM, Northbridge or PCI cards can't take it any more. If you use a Sound Blaster Live, do not raise your FSB. Those are very sensitive and are known to fry easily. Most video cards and ether net cards will be fine though, it's just that the SB Lives are notorious for spazzing out and dying when the FSB is raised.

Raising your Front-side Bus (FSB):

The advantage of raising the FSB is that you get more memory bandwidth, since your memory will be running faster, but it stresses memory and every component on the board more, and the weakest link will cause instability if the FSB is too high.

RAM is usually what holds you back when you're trying to raise the FSB. Most generic RAM won't make it very far past it's rated factory speed, but every once in awhile you'll get lucky (for instance, I have a normal, generic stick of pc2100 DDR RAM that made it to 157 FSB). Nowadays people sell RAM guaranteed to run at faster FSB speeds. For DDR RAM, pc2100 is the normal ram for a 133 FSB. pc2400 corresponds to 150, and pc2700 corresponds to 166 FSB. For normal SDRAM, the "pc" rating is the same as the FSB speed it's rated for. pc133 is standard, and pc150 can also be found. The "PC" rating on DDR RAM indicates it's bandwidth. Not sure why they use different naming schemes.
Sometimes RAM getting too hot will hold you back. There are heat spreaders made by companies like Thermaltake that help. Expensive RAM will often come with heat spreaders already installed.
I haven't mentioned command timings. I can elaborate on that if you'd like, but I think Buddy J has more experience with RAM timings than I do. I usually set them to the most conservative settings and roll with it.

Your chipset will get hotter when you raise your front-side bus. Sometimes it gets too hot, and causes the errors that keep you from getting a stable over clocked speed. There are alternative heatsinks that can be bought for your Northbridge of your chipset to cool it better, an especially good one is made by Zalman. Don't get an "orb" style chipset cooler, those bite. In fact, it's unlikely you will need to get a new chipset cooler, for moderate FSB-raising, but it would probably come in handy for large raises, like to 166 and beyond.

Your PCI bus is supposed to run at 33 MHz, and it gets that number by taking your FSB and dividing it by a number. If your FSB is supposed to be 133, then it will divide your FSB by four. That divider doesn't change when you raise the FSB, so that means the PCI bus increases when it increases (note, on newer motherboards, some switch to a divider=5 for FSB at or above 166 MHz). Not all PCI cards can take the increase in the speed of the PCI bus, like the SB Live I mentioned. But in my experience, I haven't had any problems with cards malfunctioning at a higher FSB.

Changing the Multiplier:

Let's assume that there's a sweet spot that a processor can be over clocked to. You can get to whatever that # of MHz is through manipulating the FSB or multiplier or both. By sweet spot, I basically mean, the fastest it can go stably.
Raising or lowering the multiplier can be helpful in over clocking.
To get a higher processor speed without raising the front side bus and running into other stability issues, you can raise the multiplier.
If you want more memory bandwidth, you can lower the multiplier so you will be able to raise the FSB more before you hit the sweet spot.

Intel:
On all Pentium 3'S and 4'S, and most Celeron's and Pentium 2'S, the multiplier is locked, meaning it can't be changed. There are ways to change the multipliers on Pentium 3'S, but it'S a little tricky, and Since you're probably interested in how to OC your Athlon XP, I won't go into Pentium's.

AMD:
On a K6-2 or K6-3 processor, the multiplier can be changed after you've booted into Windows with a program. Overclocking on the fly, doesn't get any better than that.

On Athlon XP'S, you can unlock the multiplier by connecting the five metal bridges marked "L1." If you look closely, you'll notice they're all cut by a laser, and look Something like this :::::
To connect them, you'll need patience and a Steady hand. There is a video online that SeverSphere at Icrontic made of the whole process I'm about to describe that is really helpful. You can download it from his link in the IC forums or I could Send it to you on ICQ.

First, you need to tape over the dots (Scotch tape) on each Side of the bridge, but leave the middle, laser-cut area open. Take a very Small amount of Super glue and Spread it over the laser cuts. The best way to do this is by getting a Small little bubble at the end of the Super glue tube and dabbing it on the open area. Spread it over all 5 L1 bridges, let Set briefly (less than 30 Sec), and peel up tape. This will leave Small ridge of Super glue. Take a razor blade and carefully level the Surface of the processor by cutting off the Super glue. That leaves only the Super glue that has filled in those laser-cut pits.
Now that those are filled in, you will need Rear Windshield Defogger Repair Kit. You know those electric defoggers on rear windows? Apparently you can repair a broken part with this liquid Stuff that dries to be electrically conductive. Neat Stuff. I found mine at AutoZone.

Now you'll be connecting one bridge at a time. With Scotch tape, you want to isolate each bridge as you do it. So, leave the dots and the area in between exposed, but tape off the area around it So you're only working on one bridge at a time. Magnifying glass may be helpful here.
Dip into the Small vial (filled with orange fluid, Shake well) with one end of an Straightened paperclip. Spread over exposed area, let dry for about a minute, and CAREFULLY peel up tape, one piece at a time. Doing it too quickly will pull up the orange Stuff you just put on. Using a high, almost Straight-up-and-down angle is helpful. After you do each one, it'll look like |||||

After you reinstall your processor, you Should have the ability to change it'S multiplier in the BIOS.
I highly recommend the video by SeverSphere, as he covers a lot of details, and it helps to actually See how it'S done before you try.

Oh, and for older Thunderbird Athlon's and Duron's, connecting the L1 bridges is a lot easier. It can be done with normal pencil lead instead, as there are no laser-cut pits to fill in. The laser cut pits are an exposed conductive layer in Athlon XP'S and if you used pencils on them, they would Short out and you wouldn't get the desired results.

Voltages and Heat:

When you raise the Speed of the processor, it needs more electricity to run. It will run at the default voltage for Slightly higher Speeds, but eventually you'll need to increase it's voltage to be Stable.
Increasing the voltage will increase heat output from the processor.

In the BIOS, "Vcore" is what the CPU'S voltage is usually labeled as. RAM voltage can also be increased to give it more juice when it'S running at a higher FSB, and RAM voltage is usually called "DRAM Voltage" or "Vmem." Not all boards allow you to raise voltages, but it'S been getting pretty common. Some boards can be modified to allow for even higher voltages than the choices it gives you. That'S Something I can elaborate on if asked.

To dissipate the extra heat you'll be producing by over clocking, you'll need a decent Heat Sink. Good ones can be had for cheap. I recommend the company Thermalright, although their products are generally more expensive. Their best HeatSink's are the AX-7, the SK-7, and the SLK-800. I have the SLK-800 and am VERY happy with it. It allows me to use a larger, quilter fan and Still dissipate enough heat to over clock well. A great resource for comparing HeatSink performance is Dan'S Data.

Overclocking the Video Card:
Download PowerStrip and have at it.
When either your GPU or RAM gets too hot on the card, you'll get artifacts. Artifacts are basically errors that can express themselves in Several differ ways, depending on the card.
Three ways I've noticed:
My Gforce 256 SDR: Green dots that Start making things look like the Matrix.
BJ'S Radeon VE: Polygons that just disappear.
My Radeon 8500: Some vertices of polygons get extended, So Smooth Surfaces look hairy, or Max Payne has a huge, cancerous leg he drags behind him.
Changing the crappy HeatSink that comes on a card will void manufacturer'S warranty but will probably help over clocking, as would adding HeatSink for the ram, cleverly termed "RamSinks."

Thanks to Gargoyle for writing this one up for me before I Started !