The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ AM2 processor packs a mean punch if one is lucky to get one that is overclocker friendly. I've seen a number of people get over 3GHz like I have and I've seen people get just over 2.5GHz on them. It really comes down to a bit of luck and good hardware. By reading reviews like this and making sure your system is built with solid components then overclocks like this will be something in your reach. As one of our forum members pointed out after reading yesterday's article we did use a ~$55 Zalman heatsink to get our air cooling results and today we used the ~$148 Corsair Nautilus 500 water cooler to hit our high overclocks. Cooling is very important and the more voltage you run the better the cooling should be. I'd never personally run 1.6V on an AM2 processor if the test platform wasn't on a water cooler. Overclocking is simple and easy to do, but make sure you have all of the right hardware before you try it out at home!

In all honesty I didn't know what to expect in terms of overclocking when I started working on this article, but I'm very happy with the results. Taking a 2.2GHz processor that retails for $184 and overclocking it to 3.0GHz is priceless! To reach this massive overclock we did use a number of products that are known to be good quality, but nothing was modified or any different than what you get when you order one from your favorite reseller.

You will also need a motherboard that's willing to cooperate in the overclocking plan. Companies like Asus, DFI, MSI, Gigabyte, and Abit all manufacture motherboards specifically made for the tweaker. These motherboards feature extra options in the BIOS, more advanced cooling features, and better power-handling capabilities. Stay away from Intel brand boards and many name-brand pre-built systems if you plan on overclocking since they often don't have the BIOS settings that allow you to overclock the processor.

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 is not so mysterious as it sounds. To the average layman, however, the process of overclocking can sound as arcane as witchcraft. In this series we examine the basis and rationale of overclocking, the methods, the pitfalls and the benefits.