Overclocking problem

I have an AMD XP 3000+, and it currently runs at around 43 degrees celcius at default settings.
Since this temperature is so low, I decided that I would play around overclocking the CPU this afternoon, but I had a problem...

Now the default settings are: Frequency: 166Mhz, Voltage: 12.5/13 = 2167 Mhz
Right now, I am running at: Frequency: 175Mhz, Voltage: 12.5/13 = 2275 Mhz
and the core temperature is 43.5 degrees celcius.

However, when I move the frequency up to 180Mhz, and select to boot Windows XP Home, it gives me the following error message, and refuses to start: Load needed DLLs for HAL
But when I go back down to 175Mhz, the problem is solved, but past 180Mhz, it just won't start.

Any ideas what I can do?
I would also appreciate any other tips for overclocking.

Thanks

could be ram. windows gets all kinds of wonky and will give dll errors when the ram is pushed too far. you didnt say what speed ram you have or brand so im going to assume thats your problem.

then again it could be other things. you cant just bump the fsb and leave it at that. you have to keep the agp/pci ratio in mind, the cpu/ram ratio in mind (you running the ram and cpu in sync?) and cooling in mind. poke around the sharky forums a little before trying this stuff. its not as simple as you'd like to think. if you just bump the fsb then you throw the entire system out of whack and have to make adjustments elsewhere.

I have 512mb Corsair Value Ram PC3200 DDR, but I haven't tried to overclock that yet as I know very little about ram. How does it work exactly?

I also just bought another gig of Corsair Value yesterday, also PC3200 which ought to arrive in the next few days, do you think that will solve the problem?

Enclosed is a screenshot of the details for my ram.

I have a guess that the northbridge is overheating. Could be wrong.

Overclocking can be tricky business, your processor is probably locked so you can only adjust the FSB and not the multiplier. Your RAM is designed with a 200MHz FSB in mind, your processor might be able to reach that too with the proper cooling and voltage, however your motherboard needs to be able to support it as well so we'll need to know the model number. If you're lucky you could get that thing running at 2.6GHz with a 200MHz FSB, higher if your motherboard is decent and you can overclock your RAM.

I don't even bother with overclocking these days, I'd much prefer a quiet, cool, stable system.

Well I ought to be able to reach 2.6Ghz without changing the multiplier like you say. I had to reset my BIOS to default settings this afternoon, and in order to clock it back to its normal speed, I had to up it from the default multiplier of 10 to 12.5/13, so it doesn't look like the settings are locked.

I also have full access to the ram and AGP timings, but I have no idea about those and don't want to mess with what I don't understand.

As for cooling, I just ordered a complete watercooling kit, which should be arriving in the next few days, so I hope that shouldn't be a problem, although it only has a CPU waterblock.

My motherboard is an MSI KT6V-LSR, with VIA KT600 chipset. I have never had any problems with it, except that it only has two slots for ram...

What I am most worried about is what Dragonmaster Dyne said about making sure that my other components are synchronised properly with the CPU. I have no idea what I'm meant to do there.

watercooling for that old of a processor is kind of redundant.

and what i was eluding to earlier i know hold true for the p4 crowd (havnt followed amd since i put away my xp2500). basically when you increase the fsb you throw the pci and agp speeds out of spec as well as the memory speeds (basically raising only the fsb increases speeds across the whole board). at least on my system there is a pci/agp lock in the bios to keep them at their respective 33/66 spec while i raise my fsb (and lemme tell you pci and agp HATE being out of spec). i can also run the ram in sync with the processor, which i believe with amd you have to run a divider. so basically is i put the fsb to 250 (which with a p4 is basically 4x that) my memory also runs at that speed (the benefit of having pc4000 ram with enough headroom) while i keep my pci and agp slots (and therefore subsequent cards in them) running the way they should. like i said, poke around sharkyextreme and DO RESEARCH. you cant just jump into overclocking and get magic results.

I just took at look at your motherboard and it doesn't have a PCI/AGP lock, I wouldn't bother overclocking with that thing, you could fry a card. Just stick with stock settings or get yourself a nice nForce2 board on the cheap.

Things are not looking good for my CPU, and I am running at default speed here...

I left my computer on for like 12 hours for downloading Lost, and when I came home, my room smelled like burnt hair; the CPU was runnning at 71 degrees! So I opened the case, and placed my desktop right next to it so it could blow cold air into it, this took it down to like 50 degrees, and was fine to use.
(I often leave my computer running, and the most it has worked was 72 hours at one time, and then it reached 61 degrees.)

This evening, I had it switched off for like 3 hours, then when I returned and came back to use it now, it lasted about half an hour before turning itself off (The motherboard is set to do so at 70 degrees; I don't know why it didn't do this earlier)

Everything is properly connected, and I use thermal paste. Is it just my CPU is bad, or am I missing something?

sometimes the thermal paste will just burn itself off if you havn't reapplied any for a long time or used some cheap shit. never hurts to take off the heatsink, clean it off and reapply a fresh coat.

and i assume your hs fan is running properly....or running at all?