Overclock crashing

[Stockholm1984]

Just OCd my AMD Sempron 3000+ from its stock 2GHz up to 2.1GHz for the first time. Not the best CPU in the world by any means I know but thought the system could probably handle an extra 100MHz. The system runs ok, there is no restarting of the OS though when I run programs (so far we've had Battlefield 2 and Mozilla) they've eventually just shut down. Wondering if theres anything I can do to stop this happening, like increasing voltages or speeds, or if this is simply a sign that the system just can't take it. All other componants are running at their stock speeds. Any ideas welcome even if its just to say no chance mate! Ta very much!

[Xperiment]

Increasing the Vcore by one or two notches may help stabilize the OC but seeing as its only an increase of 100Mhz I wouldn't think voltage would be the issue. Perhaps try lowering the memory speed first to see if thats what is causing the problems. Or you could run MemTest, this will soon pick up any problems in that area.

If that doesn't solve the problem I would increase the FSB 5Mhz at a time starting at stock speeds until you reach a point where the system is unstable. Then increase the Vcore a little to see if it helps. Keep an eye on those temps though.

Hope this helps

[XcOM]

in addition to above, check that your agp/pci x speed hasen't gone up too much causing yourgames to crash, also what os you using

[Stockholm1984]

Cheers for the thoughts dudes, I'll give them a try. Am only running XP 32bit given the age of the system I'm afraid, you reckon that could be causing any problems? I think my the AGP speed in the BIOS has been set to 'Auto' as well so I'll give that a tweak too. In terms of temps though the CPU was running at about 37-40 degrees even during BF2 which is why it surprised me when the thing shut down!

[Mysteriphys]

what kind of PSU are you using, stock or cheapo psu's might not supply enough voltage/amps to do the job?

[Stockholm1984]

Its a Coolermaster 'eXtreme Power' 380W. Tried changing the AGP speeds to keep them stable but the system still keeps shutting down. Can't seem to get the thing to run more than 50MHz above stock speed before it does it. Will give Xeperiment's idea a go later and keep raising the FSB by 5MHz and then up the voltage.

[AKA_RA]

I wouldn't bother OCing that CPU if you expect to see a noticable speed increase. If your just OCing for the sake of OCing, then right on.

From what I've gathered, I would expect heat and voltage to be the least of your worries with such a minor OC. Though I wouldn't rule them out as possible issues.

What other hardware are you using? MB? GPU? RAM?

Also, I suggest giving your BIOS a quick skim through to make sure everything is in order, or possibly just reset the BIOS and start fresh to make sure you haven't changed something you didn't mean to. Remember to take it slow when increasing the FSB, voltages, etc. and if you don't know what certain options do, always do your research. Bigger numbers aren't always better.

[Stockholm1984]

Yeh I'm mainly just OCing it just for the hell of it so 1) I can practice how to do it so I know I'm doing and 2) I may get a little extra speed out of the system. Though I appreciate from the start I'm hardly running an amazing spec here. To give the whole spec I'm running 1GB PC3200, Sempron 3000+, Radeon 9800 Pro all through some MSI K7 based MB capable of handling 400MHz RAM. I'm hoping to start getting a new system together after birthday and Xmas and would want to OC the CPU in that if I could so basically just wanted to get some practice in.

Update: Have managed to get it running at a stable (so far anyway) 2.2GHz by sacrificing some memory speed. We'll see how it goes anyway. Cheers for all the help guys, I have learnt much!