Always o/c problems

[too_much]

Hi all.

I have read loads and loads of articles on overclocking over the past month. I consider myself to know my hardware for my age (Except ADSL stuff ,lol :D) and I do things carefully.

however, whenever I overclock my CPU at all, even something like 80mhz, it crashes after a bit on benchmarks. Same with graphics card, overclocking much just makes it crash, even if its a few mhz on the core.

All I can think is that perhaps my RAM is a bottleneck perhaps? :s
Are there any common causes of o/c ing ****ing up? I've tried lots of things, but even slightest increases in speeds seem to result in instability.

Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks, too_much

XP2100@1.73ghz (tbred A)
XP home SP1
128mb Radeon 9500pro (latest omega drivers)
768mb PC2100 ram, CAS2.5
Asus A7V8x :)

[Disk11]

After you save your OC settings, go back into the BIOS and look at the PC health settings. First check that your CPU temp is staying constant. Second check your voltage readings and make sure the voltage being read matches up (ie 12 volt rail should read about 12v, etc.). If your voltages are significantly lower than what they should be, you need a new power supply.

Otherwise, try relaxing your memory timings and see if your PCI componets are affecting your OC as well.

[Someone Stupid]

Did you try upping the vcore a tad?

Also try raising the multiplier instead of the FSB since you have 3 sticks of memory. What brand is the memory?

He's running on a fine line power wise if 80mhz brings the whole computer tumbling down. If overclocking a quality 350 to 400 should do fine unless you have tons of drives and stuff clogging your PCI spots, then go for the 400 from a good manufacturer like Fortron, Sparkle, or Antec.

[too_much]

Hmm, that's the thing, it's just standard crappy memory from Aria.co.uk

incidentally, I know for a fact that my mobo is best with high speed memory, so when I get round to it, I'm gona try and sell my current memory ,and get 512mb Corsair.

My fsb settings in the bios (Wehre you change them) are in a format like this:

xxx/xx

duno if they can be changed individually....

Power isn't a problem as I have a 360watt psu which seems to do ok, and my temperatures are like, 37 - 42c depending on load, and usually a fairly steady 30c on the mobo...

and that's with my fan on 3/5 speed :D

I really don't know, all I can think is that perhaps it's the RAM?

cheers, too_much