Before beginning the overclocking, I flashed the bios to the latest version, 1010, on the Asus website.  The motherboard had come with version 1008.  This proved to be error number 3.  The Barton core Athlon XP 2500+ is currently manufactured as a ‘locked’ processor meaning that the multiplier is unchangeable in the bios so the only options I had was to raise the front side bus (fsb), increase the CPU voltage (vcore), and adjust the memory timings and memory voltage (vdimm).  I had seen several recorded oc projects running over 200 fsb with the 2500+ so that became my initial goal.  The first thing I noticed when I made a couple of 10MHz fsb changes was a rapid increase in temperature showing in PC Probe.  The original temp had been 38c but when the fsb reached 185MHz the temp had climbed to 48c.  I managed to quickly reduce the temp by 4 degrees by changing the rear case fan power source.  The Antec Sonata case has two ‘fan only’ molex connectors that are designed to run the case fans at low speed to reduce noise.  I switched the 120mm rear fan to a full voltage connector and began moving much more air.  Next problem I faced was the seeming lack of adjustability in the bios.  Every time I changed the memory option to ‘user defined’, it would change back to optimal.  I knew something was wrong and after visiting an AMD forum with an Asus guru in residence I learned that bios version 1010 was released too early and had bugs in it!  Great, now I had to flash back to 1008.  The flash came off without a hitch and I would recommend my method to anyone flashing an Asus bios.  Download the new bios to your desktop and open the zipped file.  Drag the bios file to the desktop.  Shut down your Antivirus program and any other running applications.  Use the latest version of Asus Updater and point it to the new bios file on your desktop.  Once the program verifies that the file is good and offers the Flash option, click the ‘Flash’ button and leave things untouched until the reboot notice appears.  Reboot and you are good to go.

With the bios back to 1008, the memory settings were easily set to ‘user defined’.  Continuing disappointment however; regardless of the adjustments, 195MHz with a multiplier of 11 (2145MHz) was the best I could achieve.  2145 was a reasonable oc, but I was unsatisfied.  I felt short changed without access to the multipliers and that was the condition that caused me to think ‘what if..’.  I wanted to experience more features of overclocking than just raising the fsb.  That’s when the curiosity factor kicked in again and I began to ponder ways to improve the project.

I reviewed some ideas with the Detroit Swami and he gave me some more great suggestions.  First thing I’d have to change was the case.  The Sonata just had too many drawbacks to provide good air flow from the front to the back.  The Antec name in bullet holes in each side provided an alternate inlet and thoroughly disrupted the air path.  Another disruption was the lack of an i/o shield at the back of the case.  The rear fan was able to pull air directly from around the i/o connections rather than through the case.  This would remain true in another case unless I obtained an i/o shield.  An email to Asus support solved the i/o shield problem.  They sent me shields for both of the refurbished boards I had purchased, at no charge.  Once I committed to changing the case, I figured I might as well REALLY experience overclocking.  That meant I would have to buy some more stuff!  The case problem was easy to solve.  The P160 that had an Intel based system in it seemed ideal.  Besides the same 120mm rear fan mount as the Sonata, the P160 had a front fan bracket right up against the front filter.  It also has a removable motherboard tray and plenty of room inside.  Next was a CPU with unlocked multipliers.  Easy choice; the Mobile 2500+ is unlocked and had shown to be a great oc’er.  Swami recommended a Thermalright SLK-800a heat sink and a Thermaltake 80mm Smart Fan. I figured the PC2700 memory would limit the oc so I ordered a 512Mb kit (2×256) of OCZ Enhanced Latency PC3200.   The P160 already had an Antec 350 watt power supply in it so no need to change.  Two Panaflo M1A fans would be mounted one in the front and one in the rear.  To control the fan speeds and further monitor hardware temps, I selected an Enermax model UC-A8FATR4 panel assembly.  The silver color matched the P160 quite well and the lighted front panel would add a little more colored light to the front of the case.  The P160 has a row of open slots around the perimeter of the case front that I had originally thought was lighted when I bought the case.  A little google search discovered a thin neon cable to place behind these slots and provide additional blue light to the front.  All this thought and preparation took place while I was awaiting arrival of the i/o shield.  A chance reading of a link at PC Mechanic forums showed how a case modder had gone to great extremes to hide all the wires in his case.  I figured I might as well take advantage of the time I had to wait and I tackled routing the case wiring in an effort to keep as many of the wires as possible out of the air flow.