You'd be surprised at the performance gains for only 37 Mhz. 3dMark 2000 score goes up almost a hundred points based on that little upgrade. Ever seen the difference between a 90Mhz Pentium and a 133? It's not that significant, but it is noticable. FWIW, overclocking is my hobby. Upping the FSB by 7 Mhz hasn't caused any probs yet (running for 5 mo.) and I keep it cool enough to save any probs. I can't go any higher than that 'cause it won't post (FSB issues). My CPU temp at both idle and high-load is not bad at all. Cooling wise, I've got enough fanage (12) in my PC to cool all of San Antonio. I have a 52nd week Athlon (.18 micron), which is one of the best weeks for o/cing (I know it sounds weird, but the fab week is important). When I scrounge up enough cash, I'll be purchasing a golden fingers card (a special card for Slot A Athlons which allows you to change the multiplier on the CPU as the classic Athlons are locked) and I should be able to get around 850 without any significant cooling changes. If I build a waterblock (unlikely 'cause Slot waterblocks are hard to build) I may be able to go above 950 (from other o/cers stories of the same system). The other key component is the motherboard. The K7V is the nicest (and most expensive!) Slot Athlon mobo you can buy, and it's got excellent overclocking stability. The 3dfx card's overclocking is also /very/ noticable. 3dmark went up 400 points from my first score (sans o/ced processor) just due to this. Cold Hard -- as far as building your own PC, it's really easy (I used to build/repair systems), especially with the newer motherboards . . . no jumpers to set or anything. And overclocking Socket A systems is /really/ easy, as you can change the multiplier with a no.2 pencil And YES, I AM A GEEK ------------------ "I am who I am, who I am, well who am I?" -- Dave Matthews Band "Dancing Nancies" [This message has been edited by Vengeance (edited December 12, 2000).]
