Q: I have Win98SE running on an ABIT KR7A-Raid with an AMD T-Bird (1.4G) and 512M of PC2100 CAS 2.5 (critical). My system seems quite stable until 1.47G (slightly more than that and it will not boot, or will be re-started), but so far 3DMark and UT, both through haflway crash had prior to this they were working fine. This is a decent setup, I think thats the OS for some reason does not work, so I: Do certain OS better in overclocking?
Best Answer: Your motherboard and CPU are socket 939. You really shouldn't bother upgrading the CPU in your situation without upgrading the motherboard as well. The spec. sheet that I'm looking at ( http://www.support.acer.com/acerpanam/de… ) also shows that your motherboard uses DDR, which is pretty slow. You do, however have a PCI-e graphics card, which is good. You won't have to upgrade that (though I suspect that is your bottleneck, and not the CPU).
Here's what I would do first:
Check your capacitors on your motherboard > http://www.badcaps.net
If they all look good, then I would suggest overclocking your CPU slightly. I have my socket 939 Athlon 64 X2 3800+ OCed from 200×10 to 220×10 (2.0 GHz to 2.2 GHz) with 100% stability and no temperature issues.
Run the game in a Window and use the task manager to watch your CPU usage. I wouldn't be so sure that your CPU is the limiting factor in your machine. Actually, it looks pretty balanced overall.
What CPU are you looking at upgrading to?
I would suggest this setup ($240 upgrade using your existing case GPU, PSU, HDDs, etc.):
MotherBoard – MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…
Processor – AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…
RAM – 2 GB single stick DDR3 1333 Cas latency 7 (upgrade with a second stick of *SAME*, later)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…
I would suggest that you upgrade your PSU as well:
PSU – Thermaltake 430 Watt ($40 and free shipping…)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…
That setup would be seriously limited by your video card. Upgraded to 4 GB of RAM and a capable video card, it could play any game out there right now on high settings at a good frame rate…
Edit:
The trick for you if you're intent on keeping the rest of your set up will be in finding a socket 939 processor. newegg, for instance, no longer carries them. I did a quick search and couldn't find anything better than a 3800+… If you have a source lined up and for a decent price, then i don't see any reason not to go for it.
On a bit more looking, I did see a couple of 4600+, but they were priced higher than the entire setup that I mentioned above for just the old obsolete processor…
_
Raiding For Noobs
Re:i may be the exception but i don't think winxp o/c very well
for example, with winme i had my fsb @ 115 (kt133 non A) but after installing xp it kept crashing till i pulled it down to 107mhz
The Ultimate Starcraft 2 Guide
Re:well, it isn't the heatsink that is loud (it is just a hunk of metal) YOU get to decide the cooling vs. loudness equation because you pick the fan (purchased seperately)
the nice thing is that this Heatsink is so effective, that even a panaflow L1a (which is VERY quiet will keep you pretty cool) It takes quite a fan (like a Delta) at 80mm to get very noisy. for the most part, you don't really need that much fan unless you are shooting for extremes.
I compromised between the two (noise:cooling) extremes with a Sunon 40cfm and am very happy with my temps. and noise levels.
Another factor (obviously) is how well your case is ventilated. I have Antec cases so they stay aired out very nicely and make the job of the HSF just that much easier
Starcraft 2 Mastery Guide
Re:I've heard that Alpha's are pretty damned loud though?
Express Guitar Volume 2
Re:yeah, there are about a zillion to choose from… I'm using an Alpha PAL8045 and like it a lot. (KG7-Raid mobo) The screw mounting worried me because I had not done it before, but if you follow the directions, it is very simple and I love it now (not so worried about giggling my system when I move it.. fall over it… ect.
)
edit: note that any HSF with a 7Krpm fan makes a "tone" that will drive you up a tree unless you have the patience of a lamb (or are deaf). That is what
prompted me to get the alpha… 80mm fan is not too loud
Starcraft 2 Strategy Guide by StrategyMasters
Re:All I have is a Volcano 5, I know I should up grade but I havne' been able to decide on which one to go with.
Joana’s Starcraft 2 Strategy Guide
Re:Are you using any kind of cooling for the CPU besides/beyond the retail Heatsink? If not, you may just need to work on getting the heat out before you can OC much (with any OS)
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