got a new computer!

[Russian Assasian 0]

Awhile ago I made a compute for my bro with an AMD athlon 2700 XP and a Geforce FX 5600 256MB. I was very dissapointed with its performance and serched on for my own computer. Anyways I found a killer deal at CC. An HP computer, AMD Athlon 2800 XP, 1GB od PC2700 Ram, ATI Radeon 9700 Pro. Everything is smooth as silk . and it was only $1250.

So I have a few questions.

First of all, how do I over my Barton core Athlon 2800+ XP (I have no clue what brand my Motherboard is, all I know is its Nforce2.)

2nd, is there a way I can OC my 9700 Pro to 9800 Pro levels. If so, How?

And 3rd, How do I find my Motherboard brand?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Edited August 20, 2003 by Russian Assasian

[Specter 0]

If you got an HP machine, DO NOT OVERCLOCK IT ! ! DONT ! ! It will trash your replacement warranty with HP, and the low end mobos they use cant handle it, and neither can the generic RAM they use, not to mention the low end fans and such.

The mobo brand will be a low end model designed for HP. It wont be one that you would buy. The only way I know to find that out is to take it out, get the numbers off of it, and Google them. Maybe, if you're lucky, there will be a name on it. I know they use generic Intel boards for their Intel procs.

As for the ATI card, you need to find one of the ATI enthusiasts around here.

Over clocking in my book is a bad thing and risky.

[RooK 0]

I doubt you could overclock the cpu anyway. Most prefabs lock the bios with the options they want, and you can't do anything about it (almost). There maybe a slight chance that someone has released a hacked bios for your model to allow overclocking, but with it comes two points: If it works, overclocking will be limited, void any warranty and is just a bad idea with a prefab board. If it doesn't work, chances are you tried to install the wrong bios, and now your board is dead and you have to send it off to HP for fixing (if they do it under warranty depends...). Might I mention that generic ram (what prefabs use) don't overclock well.

The 9700 you can overclock though, with no more risk than traditional overclocking. Just download powerstrip or Rage3d Tweak (google them). Just follow the instructions and you should be fine, working up slowly on core and ram till you can run through all of the futuremark benches without artifacting (image distortion). If you get distortion, back off. You might be able to equal a 9800, but I don't know, Ati did make some changes to improve the core a little.

Now the warning: Overclocking a graphics card can lead to a shorter life span (usually not a problem unless you planned on using it for 10 years), and you have the potential of burning out the memory or core. The both can be helped by installing after market heatsinks/ramsinks on them, but heat is still an issue and should be kept under check. How you do that is up to you.

Remember, prefabs are cheap for a reason!

[Crimson 0]

Remember, prefabs are cheap for a reason!

Cheap? You can build the same computer for at least $100 less.

As for the RAM, RooK nailed it right on. Nice rig.

*Wishes for a gig of RAM.*

[Russian Assasian 0]

First off, I found out I have an ASUS brand Motherboard, which I heard Is the best AMD Mobo around.

2nd my 1GB of Ram is Kingston Ram, I upgraded it from 512MB of nameless Ram

[BlueRose_76 0]

Congrats on your new compu.

Asus rules big time. Beware of overclocking. Unless you place your compu in a refrigerator, i would be very carefull and experiment first on an oldie (your brothers? )

Also get yourself a decent anti-virus progm. Its virus all over the place.. Too bad to get your fresh compu infected.

Regards, BlueRose_76

[Russian Assasian 0]

I tried to OC my 9700 Pro to 9800 Pro levels, but the card got so hot, you could cook bacon on it .

The only thing that makes my computer an HP is the case!

[BlueRose_76 0]

Check out Overclockin for pro's.