Overclock Warehouse System Bundle
OverclockWarehouse also sent us some memory, that
deserves a look at. I didn't have any standard PC133 available in-house in time
for this review, so no head to head comparison against my favorite Corsair PC133
was possible. Take a look at the specs!!
More on how far I got with FSB later, but running this
stuff at 133, CAS2, and fastest timing was a piece of cake. One area of a system
build you can really go wrong on is choice of memory. Prices do tend to vary,
but in my view, it's always best to pay the bucks and get what works. SDRAM is
not an area to trim the budget IMHO. This stuff isn't as cheap as good standard
PC133, but it's really got the headroom to take you farther than most PC133 I've
tested can go. Not a lot of places will guarantee PC150, and not a lot of memory
will run at CAS2 at 166mhz!
Intel's Pentium3 700 FCPGA represents, at this point in
time, the "sweet spot" CPU for the Intel CPU overclocker. With Intel's CPU's
having multiplier locks (and it appears they are on their way for AMD) all
overclocking is done via FSB. The now "cb0" stepping cores, which are currently
the cores of choice, appear to have a ceiling of around 1Ghz, perhaps a tad
more. The P3-700 runs with a 7x multiplier, on a 100mhz FSB (math even I can
handle). By pumping FSB to 133, you can theoretically get this CPU to 933mhz,
and on the VIA and i815 chipset boards, do so and leave AGP/PCI and memory bus
clocks within specs. With any of the faster P3's (750+) you are apt to run into
the chips thermal limits by running them at 133FSB. Indeed 3 of the P3's above
700 (some of the 800's, the 866, and the 933) are already at 133FSB, so there's
little room to gain, and of course those are all much more expensive than the
700. With the right components, getting a cb0 stepping P3-700 to at least 933 is
supposed to be a good bet. Let's take a look at one more piece of the puzzle,
before we go see how I did. One of the most important pieces, the CPU heatsink.
Alpha is a respected manufacturer of heatsinks. Included
in my bundle of goodies from OverclockWarehouse was an Alpha FC-PAL 35,
essentially a repackage of their PEP66, with tiny plastic feet for
compatability with the FCPGA CPU's. This Alpha lives up to the task of cooling
this P3. Believe me, you don't want any pesky OEM sink when you're trying to
overclock a CPU. The heatsink comes topped with a Sanyo/Denki 60MM fan, rated at
26CFM, which is quite good for a 3800rpm low noise fan. All in all, this is a
heatsink that should be up to the challenge.
Finally! Glad we got done with all that stuff aren't
you! :)
Next page: Putting it together
[Page 1]
[Page 2]
[Page 3]
[Page 4]
[Page 5]
[Page 6]
[Page 7]
[Page 8] [Home]
