How to Maximize your FSB - Page 1

EDITOR'S NOTE: Edited and reprinted with permission by Martin Krohn.

We frequently get asked things like how can I get the maximum FSB speed possible from my system? Here we will try and fill in at least the basics on what you need to be familiar with in order to achieve your max FSB. I'll try and cover as much as I possibly can without being too technical.

CPU stuff

If you have an AMD CPU make sure that you unlock it. This is because it is very likely that you will reach the maximum speed of your CPU before you will hit the top bus speed of your system. Drop the multiplier to your CPU down as low as it will go. I usually go ahead and drop it all the way down to 5. This will let you achieve your max bus speed and still stay well below the max speed of your CPU. If your CPU is in fact multiplier locked then you're going to have to beef up your cooling!

With CPU cooling, you really get what you pay for just like with RAM and most other PC parts. There's always a good reason if it's CHEAP! Thermaltake provides more low end CPU coolers than anybody that

I know of with products like their orb line of coolers. Many people think things like the super orb and dragon orb provide good cooling but I'm going to say they aren't nearly enough if you want to do any overclocking at all. There's a reason why they sell those things for $10 or less. The Volcano 7+ is the first and only Thermaltake CPU cooler that I would suggest using. It uses two great things - thin fins and copper :).

Chipset cooling

There are often times, a board manufacturer will not even apply thermal paste to their chipset heatsink! Before you try for high FSB speeds you will want to remove your chipset cooler and at least lap it so that it's nice and smooth to get as many of those cracks out as possible. This one in the picture was not only lapped but polished. The polishing was just to show you a nice mirror finish so that you can see how smooth it is.

If you really want to beef up your manhood you will want to consider adding better cooling to your chipset too. There are a few companies out now who are producing copper chipset coolers. Until they drop in price and come a bit more mainstream, I'm going to avoid them. Until then, the copper base of something like the Crystal Orb will have to work.

Thermaltake is currently the leader in manufacturing aftermarket chipset coolers. We have a pic of their Blue Orb and Crystal Orb side by side. They are certainly not the best, but due to Thermaltake's low costs, and large distribution channel, you'll be able to get a hold of these quite easily. These ARE a lot better than the stock heatsink on your North Bridge. The blue orb will need some serious lapping, but the crystal orb might be fine to use right out of the box.

Also, a company called Arctic Silver is the leader in designing thermal pastes. They have marketed their Arctic Silver compound which actually contains Silver. Silver is a great conductor and helps the heat transfer a little bit better than the cheap white paste (Zinc), but as with anything that's the best... It comes with a very hefty premium price tag. Many other companies have copycat products that aren't quite as good but are considerably cheaper. The copycat ones are improving their compounds, and will work at least a bit better than the regular white paste. If you want to get extreme and maybe add an old 486 heatsink you've got sitting around to your chipset, you very possibly could, if your board has enough clearance around the chip. You will run into problems with mounting the heatsink, but Arctic Silver also has a thermal adhesive that will bond the heatsink to the chipset. This however is a VERY permanent solution. You won't want to mess with anything like this, unless you are SURE things will fit very well, and you know you will never want to remove it. You won't be able to ever pull it off without bringing the chipset with you! It's just that strong. The adhesive works a little too well, but as long as you don't use it as finger paint and end up with a heatsink bonded to your finger it shouldn't hurt you too badly :) Just so you know.. I have had my finger bonded to a heatsink.... It is a LOT worse than super glue to remove.

Memory Cooling

If you are going to do anything like increase the RAM voltage beyond the default 2.5v I would recommend that you use heat spreaders on your RAM. This is basically like a heatsink for your RAM but not quite the same thing. I have also seen some companies provide an active cooling solution for your RAM but I do not believe this is necessary nor does it truly help. Maybe when we get up to DDR 500 active cooling will be needed, but certainly not yet.

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