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I'v just been offered an slk 700 cooling unit by a friend with which I aim to replace my cheapo amd 1.7 heatsink and fan.
Presumably, this new unit will bring the temperature of my 1.7 from 41 degrees centigrade down to a level where my cpu can be overclocked to a reasonable level but the problem for me is this - I currently use a gigabyte 7dxe mothgerboard which includes easytune 4 - is this the sole means of overclocking an amd processor?

You can alter settings in the BIOS (probably just fsb, don't think gigabyte provide multiplier access in their BIOS'). Also their should be jumpers or dipswitches on the motherboard for setting the clock multiplier. So EasyTune isn't the only way to overclock. It is quite handy though

Just be aware that increasing the fsb increases the memory clock as well, so your memory needs to be of a decent quality that is rated high enough that it will handle the faster speeds (PC3200 or so would be best, PC2700 is 333Mhz ram). Also the PCI bus speed is worked out via a divider system, so 133/4 = 33.25Mhz.
For 166 fsb the motherboard needs to support a 5th divider, 166/5 = 33.2Mhz. With speeds over this normal clock speed PCI devices may not function properly and cause system errors and instabilities. I don't think the 7DXE supports this divider so your primary way of overclocking is going to be increasing the clock multiplier. If you get a decent fan for that SLK-700, you should be able to up the multiplier a couple of notches. I know I stepped up my 2100+ Tbred B to 2.171Ghz from 1.73Ghz when I got an SLK-800 and 27CFM 80mm YS-Tech fan.

Any other questions regarding your overclocking attempts, feel free to ask the forum

Which core of XP is it that you have?
If its a Palomino (original XP) then it may not overclock very well. The later Thoroughbred B core XP processors have a lot more overclocking potential. In fact the 1700+ Tbred B can make it up to 2.0Ghz-2.4Ghz depending on cooling.

The cpu was given to me as a thank you from a grateful customer whose home cinema I had help put together - as my own athlon 1.7 xp had gone to the great motherboard in the sky some weeks prior, it was very welcome.
However, I found something rather odd about this cpu - unlike my last one (and other amd chips previously bought in the past), this one was different in that its (a) green instead of brown, and (2) it does'nt have the usual markings on the face of the chip - no amd logo, no serial numbers, nothing.
In terms of performance, it DOES operate at the correct speed (1474) and is version 8.1.
My computer has always been built with budget in mind so unfortunately my memory is bog standard generic ddr 2100 so bearing in mind that high quality memory is a must for serious modding, this option is out for me so I'm going to see how far I can 'softmod' using easytune 4 - I've actually pushed my cpu speed up to 1675 with this but the temp starts to approach 50 degrees centigrade so I can't maintain that setting, hopefully with my new fan, this should be rectified.

The colour of the packaging doesn't seem to indicate a different version of the XP. Having no markings on the CPU core and it being a slightly different shape indicate that it is either the Tbred A or Tbred B core.

Check the thread "Identifying AMD processors" for more information about identifying your CPU. In the thread mentioned above I found that running my 2100+ Tbred B @ 13x166 instead of 13x133 was too hot with the silent HSF combination that I had, but with the SLK-800 and still silent fan (2000rpm and 27CFM) it cooled it enough to run stabily at that speed. Thats an overclock from 1.73Ghz to 2.171Ghz... a little over a 400Mhz overclock