Tweakers Australia have thrown up their AMD Athlon XP-M CPU Overclocking Guide! Here's a snip.
Before jumping into the overclocking details, I am going to go over the specifications of the test rig that was used. Firstly though, let me explain why I chose to use the AMD Athlon XP-M chip. The main reason is that now both major processor companies perform clock-locking of their chips. This has meant that new unlocked chips can only be found in AMD?s top of the line FX series chips or pre-week 39 Bartons.
As I was upgrading from my old Athlon 2400+ Thoroughbred B, my only feasible option was to find a pre-week 39 Barton core processor, or to go for an Athlon mobile chip, which is left unlocked in order for the PowerNowtm power saving attributes to be utilized in laptops to extend battery life. Additionally, this power saving has also meant that these chips require far less voltage than their desktop counterparts, and therefore the heat dispersion requirements will be less, and more importantly the overclockability is reported to be far greater. The reason behind the XP-M processors overclockability is that they are the ?cream of the crop? coming out of the same manufacturing process as desktop chips. This also means that mobile XP-M chips can fit into desktop motherboard CPU sockets with no problems. Below are the specific processor specifications of the XP-M that was used. Please note the stock voltage and power consumption values. The stepping code of this chip has proved to be very good for other overclockers, and as it turned out also very good for myself - but more on that later...
Overclocking the AMD ATHLON XP-M CPU
Before jumping into the overclocking details, I am going to go over the specifications of the test rig that was used. Firstly though, let me explain why I chose to use the AMD Athlon XP-M chip. The main reason is that now both major processor companies perform clock-locking of their chips. This has meant that new unlocked chips can only be found in AMD?s top of the line FX series chips or pre-week 39 Bartons.
As I was upgrading from my old Athlon 2400+ Thoroughbred B, my only feasible option was to find a pre-week 39 Barton core processor, or to go for an Athlon mobile chip, which is left unlocked in order for the PowerNowtm power saving attributes to be utilized in laptops to extend battery life. Additionally, this power saving has also meant that these chips require far less voltage than their desktop counterparts, and therefore the heat dispersion requirements will be less, and more importantly the overclockability is reported to be far greater. The reason behind the XP-M processors overclockability is that they are the ?cream of the crop? coming out of the same manufacturing process as desktop chips. This also means that mobile XP-M chips can fit into desktop motherboard CPU sockets with no problems. Below are the specific processor specifications of the XP-M that was used. Please note the stock voltage and power consumption values. The stepping code of this chip has proved to be very good for other overclockers, and as it turned out also very good for myself - but more on that later...
Overclocking the AMD ATHLON XP-M CPU
