overclocking isnt too hard, just make sure you have the fans or cooling system to support it. you go into your system bios and it shows what speed its running at.
I got winXP pro, i havent had any problems with it really. Works great and the updates keep it secure. Ive never used windows 2000, i did have windows 98 before, and with XP i never get any crashes at all.
my comp specs: intel pent IV 2.4 Ghz 512 FSB 512 MB DDR PC 2700 RAM Radeon 9500 Pro 128 MB DDR 80 GB Western Digital HD
Just another comment about memory usage of XP vs. 2000, the memory footprint (that's how much ram is being taken up by the OS when it is loaded, *NOT* the "recommended minimum" which we both know is 'as much ram as you can afford') is 75MB for 2000 and 96MB for XP. So really not that much more of a footprint, and I'm sure that's mostly due to loading the targa's w/ alpha channels for the skin (which you can turn off if you don't like it, but odds are you will. damn thing grows on you).
Only scimed the messages on the front page so don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, so i will anyway.
If you are going to upgrade your system (especially your motherboard) don't install windows 2000, its hates new hardware and you will often have to re-install the operating system when adding new hardware.
Windows 2000 is better in its ways but I find windows xp has the best of both from 2000 and 9x.
I was pretty certain that I had to go to the hardware/BIOS level to do the overclocking. So, this afternoon I pulled out my motherboard manual and took a look around.
It turns out that I left a lot of things set on [AUTO] when I built this thing. Shame on me. After a few minutes of research I figured out what to change and what to change it to.
Before, my CPU was registered as an XP 1800+ running at 1.53 GHz. Now, it shows as an XP 2400+ running at 2.09 GHz. Way to go!
I manually set the FSB and multiplier on the motherboard, and then tooled around with a few options in the BIOS. I'd definitely like to try overclocking this thing, but I am not sure if my cooling/ventilation system is sufficient for such a task. Also, I understand that overclocking can potentially decrease the life-span of the chip. On the contrary, I read that the XP oveclocks very well.
Right now I have an AMD-approved heat-sync & fan and another system fan mounted in the back of the case. Do I need more than this to prevent my system from being damaged, or is what I have now okay?
Thanks!
P.S. To those of you who keep posting "Go with Linux," don't bother. I already stated in my first post that this is a dual-boot machine.
I have a copy of XP Home and I haven't had any problems with it. In the past year, its only crashed maybe half a dozen times. I also haven't had any problems with networking. I have a 3 PC home network which works flawlessly with network sharing and internet sharing, and I also attend biweekly lan parties, and I dont have any problems there either.
As for your overclocking questions, I would definetely suggest getting an intake fan (blowing cool air into the case) either on the front of your case or on the side panel. You should also download a temperature monitoring program to check the temps of your CPU and case. As long as your CPU stays under 60C maximum when under full load, you should be fine.
Do you guys really have Computers that crash? I have tried Windows 95 (back in the day) and i remember that crashing. I have tried Windows ME, which was worse that 95 btw. But all the realTM versions of windows which imho are Windows 98se, Windows 2000pro and Windows Xp pro have hardly ever crashed on me. I currently have a WinXP Pro box. Only two complaints, the fact that sp1 disabled hyperthreading (which is only barely supported by windows anyway) in my Pentium 4 slowing my system down and no offical microsoft patch fix has been released yet (there is an unoffical one). The other one was a mouse acceleration bug, which took me 10minutes, the msdn (microsoft developers network) and the oracle of google to fix. But as to stability, windows xp pro has had compariable uptime with my old linux box. Seriously i can idle on irc for a fortnight and then only have to restart to install some program. I might be cynic but i think contributory user error is causing your systems to crash. If you treat Windows fine, it treats you fine.
I have been able to run a server. Distrubuite internet, printers, files. Set up accounts and groups for my extended famliy. I use most of xp pro features and they are all in solid working order. I run alot of higher end applications as well, Maya, AutoCad, Photoshop, and they all like xp pro. I chop and change my hardware regularly (<3month intervals) and the worst problem i have had is having to find a driver on a website. Xp pro runs perfectly fine on my system pentium 4, 712mb ram etc.
So yeh what are these crashes? When do you have them? You sure its not something you have done?
Comments
I got winXP pro, i havent had any problems with it really. Works great and the updates keep it secure. Ive never used windows 2000, i did have windows 98 before, and with XP i never get any crashes at all.
my comp specs:
intel pent IV 2.4 Ghz
512 FSB
512 MB DDR PC 2700 RAM
Radeon 9500 Pro 128 MB DDR
80 GB Western Digital HD
If you are going to upgrade your system (especially your motherboard) don't install windows 2000, its hates new hardware and you will often have to re-install the operating system when adding new hardware.
Windows 2000 is better in its ways but I find windows xp has the best of both from 2000 and 9x.
I was pretty certain that I had to go to the hardware/BIOS level to do the overclocking. So, this afternoon I pulled out my motherboard manual and took a look around.
It turns out that I left a lot of things set on [AUTO] when I built this thing. Shame on me.
After a few minutes of research I figured out what to change and what to change it to.
Before, my CPU was registered as an XP 1800+ running at 1.53 GHz.
Now, it shows as an XP 2400+ running at 2.09 GHz. Way to go!
I manually set the FSB and multiplier on the motherboard, and then tooled around with a few options in the BIOS. I'd definitely like to try overclocking this thing, but I am not sure if my cooling/ventilation system is sufficient for such a task. Also, I understand that overclocking can potentially decrease the life-span of the chip. On the contrary, I read that the XP oveclocks very well.
Right now I have an AMD-approved heat-sync & fan and another system fan mounted in the back of the case. Do I need more than this to prevent my system from being damaged, or is what I have now okay?
Thanks!
P.S. To those of you who keep posting "Go with Linux," don't bother. I already stated in my first post that this is a dual-boot machine.
As for your overclocking questions, I would definetely suggest getting an intake fan (blowing cool air into the case) either on the front of your case or on the side panel. You should also download a temperature monitoring program to check the temps of your CPU and case. As long as your CPU stays under 60C maximum when under full load, you should be fine.
I have been able to run a server. Distrubuite internet, printers, files. Set up accounts and groups for my extended famliy. I use most of xp pro features and they are all in solid working order. I run alot of higher end applications as well, Maya, AutoCad, Photoshop, and they all like xp pro. I chop and change my hardware regularly (<3month intervals) and the worst problem i have had is having to find a driver on a website. Xp pro runs perfectly fine on my system pentium 4, 712mb ram etc.
So yeh what are these crashes? When do you have them? You sure its not something you have done?