# AMD Athlon 64 x 2 3600+ overclocking



## djdynamite123 (Nov 7, 2009)

Hi,

I have a AMD Athlon 64x2 3600+ dual core, and I'm wanting to overclock it, maybe to 2.6 or around? to help with my gaming.
I have herd people clocking this CPU to a max of 3.2 (2.7 stable)
I have a large arctic cooling Heatsink/Fan idles at around 36C (maximum 48C) In Bios I'm constantly at 28C, so windows must be lying 

*Running*:
_Windows XP sp3 2009 dual booting with Windows 7 Home Premium (both 32bit). _
*AMD Athlon 64x2 3600+ dual core
3GB Ram
GeForce 8600GT 512MB DDR2 GPU PCI-E 
2x80GB IDE's
1x 320GB SATA HDD
1x 320GB external iOMEGA HDD
2x Sony DVD-Ram writers
Optronix RS-RX480SB400 motherboard*

My motherboard is pretty old now, and the BIOS is locked and I can't get to overclock nothing. 

These are the BIOS settings/specs

http://en.kioskea.net/guide/details/333209-eqs-m56k9-mlf
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2005/04/14/eqs_m56k9-mlf/2


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## djdynamite123 (Nov 7, 2009)

Sorry for double post, won't let me edit :/

PCU Spec (powerful enough):
Colors-it 500W Gold Silent PSU PFC 12cm Fan 20+4PIN SATA:


> http://www.digitalpromo.co.uk/colors...il-p-3497.html
> A quality 500W power supply designed for demanding applications.
> This top of the range Golden Silent power supply COLORSit Switching Power Supply is rated at 500 Watts with a nearly silent 12cm fan (under 20dB at nominal loads), it has temperature control for more efficient system cooling.
> This power supply provides an excellent price / performance ratio enabling the manufacture of highly reliable systems at an attractive price point.
> ...


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## Deji (Nov 7, 2009)

We have a similar BIOS. Your computer is much better than mine so you should already have a damn good computer in comparison...

What do you mean when you say the BIOS is locked? It may sometimes ask you for a password. You should probably refer to the manual for that or just try entering nothing as the password unless you've assigned one. But I don't really understand how it could be locked...


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

You need a new power supply, whether you overclock or not. That is not a good PSU, with less than half of its available wattage on the +12V rail. It may be able to technically deliver 500W, but when you look at what it can deliver under realistic usage patterns (+12V rail making up 80% of total wattage) it's more like a 300W PSU than a 500W. 20A x 12V = 240W, 240/.8 = 300W. Even if you add up the total amperage available on all primary power rails (+12V, +5V, +3.3V; -12V and +5VSB don't count) it can only deliver 480W, not 500W. 

Taking into account it was probably tested at room temperature (25C) rather than the recommended 40-50C, you have a 250W PSU in a system that should have a quality 500W+ PSU. You're going to burn out that PSU; I'm surprised you haven't already.


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## djdynamite123 (Nov 7, 2009)

Phædrus2401 said:


> You need a new power supply, whether you overclock or not. That is not a good PSU, with less than half of its available wattage on the +12V rail. It may be able to technically deliver 500W, but when you look at what it can deliver under realistic usage patterns (+12V rail making up 80% of total wattage) it's more like a 300W PSU than a 500W. 20A x 12V = 240W, 240/.8 = 300W. Even if you add up the total amperage available on all primary power rails (+12V, +5V, +3.3V; -12V and +5VSB don't count) it can only deliver 480W, not 500W.
> 
> Taking into account it was probably tested at room temperature (25C) rather than the recommended 40-50C, you have a 250W PSU in a system that should have a quality 500W+ PSU. You're going to burn out that PSU; I'm surprised you haven't already.


thanx for the hint, iv'e had it for about 2 years, and it's been fine, my PC is on about 15 hours a day, and iv'e never had a problem, I know that when i get a bigger/better GPU i'll be getting a better PSU/Motherboard.


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## Deji (Nov 7, 2009)

I'm pretty sure that with AMD's you can overclock without increasing the voltage. My PC is overclocked quite a bit without having a good PSU at all... Doesn't changing the FSB have no effect on voltage and not require a bigger PSU? Wheras changing the voltage is a whole different deal? AMD's are usually meant for overclocking safely in this fashion.


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

Higher FSB means the CPU cycles more times per second, which means more pulses of current per second, thus more heat generated and power consumed. I can raise my FSB without increasing voltage and still get an increase in temperature (actually with my cooler it stays at room temperature up until _after_ the point I have to raise voltage, but the point stands ).

Overclocking on a bad PSU isn't going to make the computer blow up right away. Overclocking stresses your components, most of all the PSU, and with the low quality one you have it will probably be the first part to fail. And that PSU has no overvoltage protection, so if your PSU goes to the great parts shop in the sky the whole rest of the computer goes with it.


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## djdynamite123 (Nov 7, 2009)

Phædrus2401 said:


> Higher FSB means the CPU cycles more times per second, which means more pulses of current per second, thus more heat generated and power consumed. I can raise my FSB without increasing voltage and still get an increase in temperature (actually with my cooler it stays at room temperature up until _after_ the point I have to raise voltage, but the point stands ).
> 
> Overclocking on a bad PSU isn't going to make the computer blow up right away. Overclocking stresses your components, most of all the PSU, and with the low quality one you have it will probably be the first part to fail. And that PSU has no overvoltage protection, so if your PSU goes to the great parts shop in the sky the whole rest of the computer goes with it.


that probably means i shouldn't overclock my GPU, but i have


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## Phædrus241 (Mar 28, 2009)

Then I recommend un-overclocking. If you still want to, well... Good luck, and I hope nothing else fries when the PSU does. :4-dontkno


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