Good uppgrade?

O

overclocked

Veteran
I was thinking of uppgrading my computer and would like to hear what you think. And NO it´s not a A643800 + and NV40/R420 cause i just don´t
have the cash right now. :p
I was thinking getting a Barton 3000+ cpu(333Mhz) and a extra 512megs of 2700DDR. I currently have a UNDERCLOCKED :oops: XP @1333MHz(long story) and 512Megs of said memory. The FX5900NU are going to sit till the prices of the new card´s go down a bit.
What do you think, is it a "good" uppgrade? It will cost about 200EURO, max 2000:-SEK/swedish crowns.
 
Get a mobile athlon xp chip. Mine is running 200 mhz beyond 3200 speed with mediocre cooling. And my voltage is about half a volt lower then Barton defaults. I haven't bothered to find my chip's limits yet, because it's already fast enough.

Another thing... my chip + cooler cost about US $70 less then a 400 mhz fsb 3200+. If the prices are comparable in your area, and if your mobo supports adjustable voltages and cpu multipliers, I'd go with a mobility 2600+ rather then a normal barton.

If you don't/can't do the Mobile route, that Barton 3000+ would be noticably faster then an xp at 1.3 ghz. Depending on what you do with your pc, a gig of ram is handy, too.
 
The price of a M-XP is exactly like the Barton XP so you think ishould go that route, how do you know that your MOBO supports it btw, and are all Mobile XP´s unlocked?
 
All mobile bartons are clock unlocked to allow them to raise and lower their speed as needed when used in a laptop. The mobile bartons are normal bartons that can run at their rated speeds at a lower Voltage core. My Mobile 2600+ can run stably at 1.9 ghz with 1.45 Vcore, but it can run much faster when given the normal Barton Vcore of 1.65 volts. In my case, it's at 2.4 ghz with 1.62 volts. I've heard of people reaching speeds hundreds of mhz higher if they overvolt it and use very good cooling.

How do you know if your mobo supports it? Well, what manufacturer and model of mobo do you have? I'd go into the bios and see if their are options to adjust Vcore and cpu multiiplier. You could also check the manufacturers website or even email them. There's a chance you might need to have a recent bios to support the mobile xp.

Finally, should you go this route? (First of all, be absolutely sure your mobo will support it before getting one.) Exactly what models of mobile xp and normal barton are you comparing? Some mobiles overclock better then others. I've had experience with a mobile 2500+, which I set at 2.2 ghz for my brother in law's pc, and my own mobile 2600+. I haven't bothered to find the upper limits of either chip yet...

Something else to keep in mind: all mobile chips are oem only. This means you need to buy a cpu cooler separately and the warranty only last 30 days. Some sellers give an option for extended warranties. I paid $7 for a one year warranty. I don't think I'll need it, but it gave me some peace of mind.

It's a gamble to get a mobile in hopes that it'll overclock, but it's just about the safest bet a person can make. Just don't blame me if you decide to get one and it doesn't work. :LOL:
 
Hey Zoinks, if'n you got a second could you give me a recomendation between these two mobile CPUs?:

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (Barton) 2.133GHz 266 FSB 47WMobile, $107us shipped; or this AMD Athlon XP 2400 Mobile 2.0GHz 45W 333MHz CPU OEM for $97 shipped.

I currently got a Barton 2500+ (non-mobile), but I also still got my old K7N2-L mobo sitting on a shelf along with an extry 1/2GB of PC3200 and if I got meself a new mobile barton I could put my current 2500+ into the K7N2-L and upgrade my son's PIII800 to an actual respectable gaming rig. (He has a 5900 flashed to 5950ultra in his rig and games a lot, he could REALLY use some more CPU power)

Thanks in advance. (Oh, I'm running an NF7-s rev2 right now so I think I'll be ok with a mobile CPU. ;) )
 
If you want a higher overclock, go with the 2600+ mobile. 2400+ is typically fine at 2.2-2.3 ghz, but seems to struggle for 2.4 ghz, i.e. it often needs some serious overvoltage. As mentioned earlier, my 2600+ is at 2.4 ghz with voltage lower then the normal barton. Due to mediocre cooling, I get temps up to 57-58c under load, but that's not a problem. These cpus are designed to operate regularly at up to 80c and don't burn out until 100c.

I'm sure I could reach phenomenal clockrates if I overvolted and improved my cooling... maybe I'll get around to it some day. But right now I'm considering flashing my vidcard so that's enough fun for the time being. :p

One question... why not buy from newegg? They have the 2600+ shipped for $95 and the 2400+ shipped for $77. And my one year extended warranty was about 7 bucks.

btw, I hear those nf7-s's are great for mobiles. 8)
 
ZoinKs! said:
One question... why not buy from newegg? They have the 2600+ shipped for $95 and the 2400+ shipped for $77. And my one year extended warranty was about 7 bucks.
Click to expand...
Well, 'cause I checked Pricewatch before checking NewEgg...that and I'm kind of getting tired of wearing nothing but NewEgg t-shirts, I'm getting quite the collection. ;)

I'll grab the 2600+ from NewEgg later tonight then, sounds like it'll go well with my set-up. (I got a monster Zalman all-copper cooler I just installed on my system too, cooling is NOT a problem. 8) )

Thanks Zoinks, you really did help me to figure out if I should upgrade or not and me son is gonna get a hell of a gamer too! :D

EDITED BITS: Oh dear, if I get the 2600+ from newegg for $95 shipped I get a free NewEgg clock/calender...looks like I HAVE to do it! :oops:
 
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