Is Athlon overclocking worth the trouble?
You have to look carefully to decide whether overclocking your processor is worth it. An example: Using prices current as of this writing, you could purchase an Athlon 550 for $159. Without manipulating the cache divisor, chances are good you could overclock it to 700 MHz pretty easily. But a “real” Athlon 700 is going for $243, and Golden Fingers devices (the easiest way to overclock the Athlon) cost at least $40 plus shipping. Thus, you’re going to all this trouble and voiding your warranty in the process (not to mention the small chance that the chip won’t hit 700) to save around $40. Doesn’t really seem worth it. On the other hand, the Athlon 750 goes for $337. Add in $50 or so for an overclocking device, and you’re at $387. You can almost certainly overclock the 750 to 850, and a “real” Athlon 850 goes for $725 at the moment. You’ve just saved yourself $338. Now that’s more like it. If you get lucky and the thing will push to 900, you’re even further ahead of the game. Of course,
