Ok dude, here's how it works.
The clock multiplier is on the CPU, there's nothing you can do about it. Intel has been locking its multipliers since the Pentium.
The clock multiplier, for all intents and purposes, sets the CPU speed to some multiple of the Bus speed. The only way to overclock an Intel Processor is to increase the system Bus speed, because locking the bus speed would require support from motherboard manufacturers.
Some motherboard manufacturers do not follow intel's bus speed specifications, allowing the user to select their own bus speeds. Abit, Asus, and several other manufacturers allow this. If your motherboard does not allow you to set the bus speed to an "illegal" value, but does support multiple bus speeds, then there is a way to fool it by putting a piece if tape over one of the pins on the processor.
Here's the math:
CPU Speed = Bus Speed x Multiplier
Multiplier = CPU Speed / Bus Speed
We know that the Celeron is supposed to run on a 66Mhz bus. The PII350 and better and standard PIII's are designed to run on a 100Mhz bus. The PIIIEB processors are designed to run on a 133Mhz bus.
Let's say that your Celeron is a 600Mhz. From this we can determine that the multiplier on the processor is locked at 9. (9 * 66 = 600Mhz)
Now, to overclock, assuming your motherboard will allow you, you have to crank the bus speed up. Standard bus speeds are 66, 100, and 133Mhz. There are non-standard bus speeds, but we won't talk about those yet.
A Celeron is designed to run at 66Mhz FSB (front side bus, what we're talking about). Good luck getting it to run at 133Mhz!!!! No way. The standard way to overclock a Celeron is to increase the bus speed to 100Mhz.
If your Celeron is a 600Mhz, then increasing the bus speed to 100Mhz will have the processor running at:
100 * 9 = 900Mhz.
Yeah! But there's no guarantee you'll get it up there! Some tricks of the trade are to ensure proper cooling and USE REAL HEATSINK COMPOUND. Never use thermal pads or tape. Also, increasing the CPU core voltage by small increments can sometimes get you to where you need to be. Finally, always monitor your temperature until you're sure it's stable and safe.
In regards to your memory. Who cares. Your memory doesn't care that it's going to run at a slower bus speed. You shouldn't have paid much more for it because PC100 and PC133 are pretty much the same price today. You seem to be concerned with speed, and that's what we're talking about, but the speed of the memory itself is of course dependent on the bus speed which is going to be determined by the processor you choose.
You chose to buy a Celeron which runs on a 66Mhz bus. The best you'll get is 100Mhz. Is there a big difference between 100Mhz and 133Mhz? Not necessarily...there's little evidence to show that the extra bus speed helps as much as the actual increase in CPU speed.
Ok, you can stop reading now, but I'll talk about those "odd" bus speeds now.
Some motherboards allow you to select a wide variety of bus speeds. Know this, if you aren't running at either 66Mhz, 100Mhz, or 133Mhz, then you are going to be overclocking your PCI and AGP busses.
For instance, my Celeron 400 is running at 500Mhz via an 83Mhz FSB. The PCI and AGP busses run at a multiple of the system bus speed. PCI wants to run at 33Mhz and available multipliers will be 1/3, 1/2, and 1/4. AGP wants to run at 66Mhz and available multipliers will be 1/1, 2/3 and 1/2.
So, if my Celeron was running at the 400Mhz it's supposed to, then the following would be true:
System bus: 66Mhz
PCI bus = 66 * (1/2) = 33Mhz
AGP bus = 66 * (1/1) = 66Mhz
Perfect. However, my CPU is at 500Mhz so....
System bus: 83Mhz
PCI bus = 83 * (1/2) = 41Mhz
AGP bus = 83 * (1/1) = 83Mhz
Why not use smaller multipliers? Well, you really need to run AT LEAST 33Mhz on the PCI bus and AT LEAST 66Mhz on the AGP bus.
You are taking your chances with your video, sound, and network cards if you overclock to odd bus speeds. It's usually not a problem....but if something breaks, it's your own fault.
Good luck,
Slackmaster 2000
