Introduction:

   With the recent introduction of AMD's new AM2 socket, there has been a very slow influx of AM2 processors and motherboards to hit the market. You would think since the move to DDR2 for AMD was such an anticipation, the market would be flooded with AM2 hardware. That has not happened though.

   However there are some strictly awesome AM2 hardware options out there if you know what you get. Since AMD is phasing out the X2 2x1MB caches on the new AM2 processors, I decided to look elsewhere for an AM2 processor until the price on them drops, because honestly I think the X2's are heavily overpriced currently. Intel's upcoming release of the Core Duo (conroe) processors, that should all change with heavy price drops from AMD (finally!).

   So what I decided to do now, was buy the best AM2 board on the market, use some crazy good DDR2 I have on hand and pick up a cheap AM2 CPU to get me started in the AM2 world until the price drops where I can get twice the CPU for not much more money (literally). Little did I know that picking up a cheap $112 AM2 3500+ (2.2ghz single core) CPU would turn into something so noteworthy, I fell compelled to share it with all you.

   It's one of those things where I have my own system of thinking when it comes to great Motherboard + great RAM + cheap CPU = UBER. This time it pays off in a big way.

   Before I get to the overclocking bit, let's take a good look at the hardware used in this AM2 overclocking adventure.

Hardware Used:

   Review motherboards are scarce (at least for me) and that's fine with me because I'd rather go out and get what I really want. This article will, if nothing else, show you what an experienced hardware reviewer and tech site owner will put his hard earned money down on when the time comes.

ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe:

   I spent my money on what I felt was the best motherboard to serve the purposes of migrating to the new AM2 platform. That includes numerous factors, but most importantly stability, overclocking and features. After a little research, and my preference for ASUS motherboards, I decided on the top of the line ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wi-Fi Edition Motherboard and I purchased it directly from Mwave.com.

   This new ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wi-Fi Edition Motherboard uses the brand new NVIDIA 590 Chipset, which is the top of the line allowing for many new features and of course true 16x dual PCI-E slots. You can learn more about the NVIDIA 5xx series chipsets here. But I'll just say the 590 chipset included with this ASUS board is the best available today.

   Since I will be migrating from the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium, I'm already familiar with ASUS` now infamous heatpipe chipset cooling, and honestly I like it a lot. As you can see the heatpipes escalate as they go up the board to allow for even better action within the heatpipes (since hot vapor rises and cool liquid descends). It's of course absolutely silent too, which is a plus. ASUS does include a fan that attaches to the capacitor heatpipe to help cool those when using passive, or water, cooling.

   Since there is already a bunch of ASUS M2N32-SLI Reviews on the web, I figure there is no use reviewing it now. I figure a kickin overclocking article using it as a base would be even better. You can get 12 pages of "stats" anywhere from a guy that used the board for 12 hours and moved on to the next one, but here you'll see what you can really do with it if you take your time!

   I have to say this before I go on to the rest of the hardware: This ASUS M2N32-SLI has the most overclocking features I've personally ever seen on a motherboard. I would need 3 PhD's in nuclear fusion to know what they all are, and I can admit that. However with a little trial and error and poking it with a stick long enough you'll get the feel for what you actually need to adjust to obtain the settings you're looking for.