The Motherboard, Processor, and Memory - Overclocking AMD Processors
(Page 17 of 18 )
Athlon processors can be bus overclocked just like Pentiums. However, it’s possible to unlock the multiplier on some AMD processors. This involves bridging a set of four tiny contacts. They’re called the L1 bridges, and they can be found on the top of the processor.
The easiest way to connect them is to use conductive paint, and draw a line from each contact to its opposite mate. It’s very important that you connect only the opposite pins to each other, and avoid connecting adjacent pins to each other. If you connect adjacent pins, you could short out part of the processor.
More recent Athlons have made it much more difficult to connect the L1 bridges. Using a laser beam, they’ve cut a divot in the motherboard between the contacts, and it can’t be bridged with conductive ink or paint. Various overclocking web sites suggest various ways to work around this, such as filling in the divots with a nonconductive heat sink compound and then bridging the gaps.
Is it worth the trouble when you can perform bus overclocking without worrying about the L1 bridges? Yes and no: While there’s the danger of shorting out your processor if you screw up and connect adjacent bridges, multiplier overclocking is gentler to the overall system as overclocks affect only the CPU, and not any related buses. However, you can bus overclock without fear of damaging your processor by shorting out the L1 bridges.
Typically, the most successful overclocking sees a maximum of only a 10 percent performance increase. You can also overclock your video card to increase 3-D gaming performance (see Chapter 4). Whether you overclock is up to you. There’s a lot of good information on the web at sites like www.hardocp.com, extremeoverclocking.com, www.tweaktown.com, and many more. Most of these sites offer forums where you can communicate with the overclockers’ community at large, which is full of friendly and mostly knowledgeable people whose need for speed is palpable.
 This chapter is from Build Your Own High Performance Gamers' Mod PC, by Chen and Durham (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004, ISBN: 0072229012). Check it out at your favorite bookstore today. Buy this book now. |
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