Looking for a 2500MHz Athlon XP review

[Dr. Ffreeze]

Hello All,

I think I might upgrade my Athlon 2100+ to a Athlon 2500+ and run it at around 2500MHz. I was waiting for the Athlon 64 and WinXP 64 but for only $200 for the board and CPU I might just upgrade now. I have not been able to find any reviews on an Athlon XP running 2.5GHz compared with Intel's PIV and the Athlon 64s. Does anyone know of any such reviews?

I know the Athlon XP is a good bit slower in many things than a Athlon 64, but if you run the XP at 2.5GHz it might be able surpass the 64s on some applications?

Thankx,
Dr. Ffreeze

 

[Diplo]

A few quick points :

1. An Athlon XP 2500 doesn't run at 2.5Ghz, it runs at 1.83 GHz.

2. What motherboard is it?

3. What type of RAM have you currently got, since you'll need RAM that can run at 333Mhz for best performance.

4. I don't think you'll see that much of an improvement and $200 doesn't seem particularly cheap to me. You can get an Athlon XP 2500 for $68 new. Either save your money or spend a little more and get an XP 3200 instead.

 

[Dr. Ffreeze]

Diplo,

1] You can overclock an Athlon 2500+ Mobile to 2.4GHz ~ 2.6GHz air cooled.

2] The best chipset for XP is the NVidia NForce 400 Ultra that I know of. I will be looking at the new Abit AN7.

3] I can get any RAM that I need.

4] I just cannot find a review that compares all of the current ~$250ish CPUs against an Athlon XP 2500+ that is wound tight to a 2.5GHz overclock.

Dr. Ffreeze

 

[Diplo]

You can overclock an Athlon 2500+ Mobile to 2.4GHz ~ 2.6GHz air cooled.

Well, I know the 2500's were legendary for overclocking, but 2.5Ghz on air seems pushing it. (I've a 2800/Nforce2 Ultra 400 and it overclocks pretty well, but I don't really have the cooling to push it too far). I used to be a fervent overclocker, but frankly the noise, the effort and the risks have made it less appealing to me now. Buy hey, if you want to take the chance, go for it and report back

 

[breez]

People shouldn't expect that their processor will be the top overclocker...

 

[Dr. Ffreeze]

Diplo,

Well, I know the 2500's were legendary for overclocking, but 2.5Ghz on air seems pushing it.

- More on this later. =)

I used to be a fervent overclocker

- Me too, but I just dabble now. However there looks to be a very good overclocking CPU hidden among the normal CPUs so I am looking into it.

breez,

People shouldn't expect that their processor will be the top overclocker...

- I agree 100%. 2.6GHz to 2.7GHz is some of the best air overclocks. I am hopeing for 2.4GHz to 2.5GHz. I am not talking about the standard Athlon XP 2500+. I didn't mention that it was the mobile version because for the benchamrks that I was interested in, a 2.5GHz mobile and 2.5GHz standard will bench the same. I would not expect the standard 2500+ to overclock close to 2.5GHz air cooled. However the Athlon XP 2500+ mobile.... (haha, lookin for a reference for my reply I found my answer)

Take a look:

THOSE OF YOU WHO REGULARLY PERUSE the news here at TR probably saw this item about the Athlon XP-M 2500+ and its recently discovered overclocking potential. The chips have become so popular so quickly that their street price has jumped 33% in recent days. Of course, given the accounts of overclocking to 2700MHz "on air" (using only a heatsink/fan) it's no wonder they're so popular.

AMD does in fact use this method for the Athlon XP-M. Basically, they test their chips and determine which 2500+ chips can maintain their 1.8GHz clock speed properly with only 1.45V of core voltage instead of 1.65V. Chips that pass this test can then be set to a default voltage of 1.45V and sold as Athlon XP-Ms. Essentially, the XP-M 2500+ is the cream of the crop within its speed grade. Not only can it do 1.8GHz, it can do it with one hand tied behind its back, so to speak.

The second important mark in the XP-M's favor is what's missing: a multiplier lock.

Looking over the benches now. =)

Dr. Ffreeze

 

[Entz]

It is definately possible but at 2500 mhz it tends to be memory limited (Assuming you stick with a 200MHZ FSB).

I have my Mobile 2400+ running at 2.5GHZ on air cooling --Alpha PAL 8045 heatsink w/ Thermaltake 37CFM fan. 100% stable in all but prime95 (Which is moody, sometimes its fine other times it fails). http://www.leviathan3d.com/images/2500.jpg

Not as fast as it could be because of the ram limitation ( 250x10 would give a huge speed increase). But still lightyears above a XP3200 ( 2200mhz)

As with all overclocking it will depend on your system, ram, CPU, heatsink and a whole lotta luck Though the odds are definately in your favor.

Edit: to add, I am pretty sure that 2500mhz is my limit due to Motherboard (does not support 200MHZ fsb 1:1 officially) and memory limitations NOT the chip. She will boot up perfectly fine at 2600+ but memtest fails etc.

 

[Sxotty]

BTW I hear the AN7 is not as good of an overclocker as the older nf7-s so think about it a bit b4 taking the plunge.

 

[Diplo]

Hi again - yeah, I did a bit more reading and have seen a few examples of people getting to 2.7Ghz (on air) which is amazing. I knew they were supposed to be good overclockers, but didn't think that was possible. Of course, it may not for any given chip, but I guess it's a good gamble

Good luck, and if you take the plunge, report back with your findings!

 

[Nick Spolec]

I got my Mobile 2500+ to 2.5ghz on air with 1.825v, and it's with an old ass Coolermaster HCC-001 heatsink (with 80mm fan adapter) and not some 50 dollar SLK.

Maybe it's my cooling for the reason that I can't get much higher without needing huge increases in voltage. Though, I'm sure you could probably get this thing to 2.6 or 2.7 with 1.9 volts and water cooling.

 

[rainz]

Diplo,

1] You can overclock an Athlon 2500+ Mobile to 2.4GHz ~ 2.6GHz air cooled.

2] The best chipset for XP is the NVidia NForce 400 Ultra that I know of. I will be looking at the new Abit AN7.

3] I can get any RAM that I need.

4] I just cannot find a review that compares all of the current ~$250ish CPUs against an Athlon XP 2500+ that is wound tight to a 2.5GHz overclock.

Dr. Ffreeze

2500+ ( ~1.8Ghz ) @ 2.6Ghz air cooled ?

RainZ

 

[Dr. Ffreeze]

Sorry all,

I forgot to provide the link.
Overclocking the Athlon XP-M 2500+ processor
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q1/athlonxp-m-2500/index.x?pg=1

Look up AMD 2500+ Mobile below
http://www.cpudatabase.com/CPUdb/

Dr. Ffreeze

 

[Tim Murray]

It overclocks like the proverbial Bad Motherfucker.

 

[zsouthboy]

I ordered a mobile 2600 at newegg yesterday... only 7 bucks more than the mobile 2500 (the 2600 is $99 shipped).

Just got in my A7N8X-E Deluxe today(which was $106 shipped there too )...

I'll give you results probably Tues or Wed when I get the chip in.

People are getting 2400 mhz at 1.65 (which is guaranteed safe, that's the desktop voltage), and up to around 26-2700 at 1.8 - 1.9 volts....

 

[Nick Spolec]

I haven't heard great things about the Mobile 2600+... Or maybe that was the 2400+?

In any event, I would have gone with the 2500+, just because hundreds have been extremely lucky with them.

 

[zsouthboy]

I haven't heard great things about the Mobile 2600+... Or maybe that was the 2400+?

In any event, I would have gone with the 2500+, just because hundreds have been extremely lucky with them.

It's the same proc... same same.

The 2600 comes from the factory to do 2.0 ghz at 1.45 v, the 2500 does 1.8 ghz at 1.45 v... you see where I'm going with this, eh?

EDIT: if nothing else, people are getting similar results from both the 2500+ and the 2600+... and for only 7 bucks more for a guaranteed 200 more mhz (1.8 vs 2.0)than the 2500+, I thought it was a good deal.

 

[BRiT]

So far I'm doing alright with my overclock. I'm running an ABIT AN7 and mobile XP 2500+ with some XMS3500+ memory at 2-2-2-11 timings. It's in a Koolance PC2 mid-tower case with running in silent mode. I haven't pushed the system too hard yet, so I probably have more room to go in the high end. I'm currently at 2.63Ghz [210.5*12.5] on 1.9vCore, 1.75vDD, and 2.9vMEM.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think the board doesn't like anything over 225Mhz FSB. I've lowered the memory timings and clock multiplier but still no go -- random lockups during memtest86+ or when posting. I'd probably have been better off with a NF7, but wanted to try something new. It's a shame the board doesn't allow for higher northbridge voltage. Later today I'll try pushing it hard to see what/where the actual limits are.

 

[Nick Spolec]

It's the same proc... same same.

The 2600 comes from the factory to do 2.0 ghz at 1.45 v, the 2500 does 1.8 ghz at 1.45 v... you see where I'm going with this, eh?

EDIT: if nothing else, people are getting similar results from both the 2500+ and the 2600+... and for only 7 bucks more for a guaranteed 200 more mhz (1.8 vs 2.0)than the 2500+, I thought it was a good deal.

Actually, no... The desktop 2600+ is 2ghz. The Mobile 2600+ is 1.9ghz.

 

[zsouthboy]

It's the same proc... same same.

The 2600 comes from the factory to do 2.0 ghz at 1.45 v, the 2500 does 1.8 ghz at 1.45 v... you see where I'm going with this, eh?

EDIT: if nothing else, people are getting similar results from both the 2500+ and the 2600+... and for only 7 bucks more for a guaranteed 200 more mhz (1.8 vs 2.0)than the 2500+, I thought it was a good deal.

Actually, no... The desktop 2600+ is 2ghz. The Mobile 2600+ is 1.9ghz.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-436&depa=0

 

[Miksu]

I also have 2400+ mobile clocked to 2.5GHz, using aircooling. Problem is that my memory is really suxor so I can only use 166FSB. Been planning of buying new memory but it seems that the memory situation is really bad at the moment. There isn't that many chips that can run even 200 5-2-2-2.

Hopefully after the summer or so the memory situation is better.