[PhireX]

I've just been reading a bit on here and upped the freq. on my motherboard from 200 to 230, making my 3.0 prescot run at 3.45.... im fairly happy

Ive got an 8IPE1000-G Gigabyte motherboard, it's a fairly standard one I spose nothing special.

It's in a "Coolermaster" case which has one internal fan near the HDD bays and one exhaust fan (dont know the exact size, but it's big) believe it has a 400w PSU.

Now, here's for the dont laugh part. It's got my old GeForce 2 mx440 64MB sitting in it, from my old PC. Will upgrade that, but im reading up on which one I should get....looking at maybe a 6200, something budget but good value.

Using a friends 256 MB DDR RAM (2 x 128 MB Dual Channel, 266MHZ)

Using the standard CPU fan..no system fan installed (yet)

So, now with the questions!

1. M/B comes with overclocking program, should I use that instead? Is that safe to just go as high as possible?

2. It's currently running on idle at about 38o, goes upto about 50o when being used. Any problem there?

3. I havent upped the vCore yet (to be honest im a little scared..

) before I do that would it be wise to install another cooling device?

4. The fan seems to run between 2500/ 2800 RPM's....the overl****ing util has a fan minimum option of 3,000 ....is my fan dodgy perhaps? (or could I buy an after market one that would have more RPM's/ better cooling?)

5. Any recommendations just from that info what a "safe" overclock would be? I'm not trying to get every MH possible out of it, just something in a safe level that would run stable and not require the use of a water cooling system to keep it stable. (vCore / Freq)

My vid card doesnt overclock very far...200 mhz to 220 mhz, once I jack the memory mhz up it just crashes and games end up with artefacts everywhere.

Thanks for any input!

Edit: Oh yeah im running a single IDE disk, Maxtor 160 GB 8MB Cache 7200 RPM

 

[steveo42024]

The ram you have is going to limit your oc but 3.45 is a good start and sytem fans will really help.
1.Bios is the best way to overclock and you will run into temp issues with the stock hsf.
2. As long as your not going over 60 on a prescott your good.
3.Upping the vcore adds a lot of heat. Installing better cooling is very neccessary especially if you want a decent oc.
4.Ditch the original heatsink fan. Good choices are Thermalright xp-90 or xp-120. If you dont mind weight thermaltake tower112 is a good choice.
5. Stock hsf will get you to 3.5 max. Better cooling and you might see 3.8
A video card upgrade would make a huge difference. If your on a budget take a look at nvidia 5700 and 6200. If you want really good performence for a good price take a look at the 6600gt.
Welcome to the forum!