AMD Athlon Overclocking Guide

The release of the AMD Athlon brought to light a new way to combat remarking without resorting to implementing a multiplier lock on the CPU.  The Athlon featured the ability to be overclocked through the use of a feature connector on the PCB of the Athlon itself.  Provided that someone would manufacture such a device, this would allow someone interested in overclocking to go out and buy one of these devices and attach it to their Athlon.  Before these devices ever made it to production, an article on Tom’s Hardware Guide illustrated how to modify the Athlon’s PCB in order to change the clock multiplier and the core voltage.  While this procedure wasn’t for the average overclocker that didn’t want to attempt the risky procedure to modify his/her Athlon it was perfect for the remarker, because if the job was done properly, the CPU appeared to naturally be at the higher clock speed.

Because of this oversight, AMD is now working to combat remarkers and is in the same position they have always been in with remarking since they have never implemented a clock multiplier lock on their CPUs.  While it is very likely that AMD will eventually choose to implement a multiplier lock, the beauty of the Athlon now is that, with the aid of a little card, you can adjust the clock multiplier on the CPU and get even more out of this already powerful chip.  Since there is currently only one motherboard available (the ASUS K7M) with support for FSB settings that are useful in overclocking the Athlon, this makes for the perfect opportunity to push the limits of the CPU.

There are two methods that can be used when overclocking the Athlon: increasing the FSB frequency on the motherboard or increasing the clock multiplier of the Athlon itself. 

The latter requires either a physical modification to the chip or the use of an overclocking card attached to the feature connector on the Athlon’s PCB while the former requires a motherboard with adjustable FSB frequencies.