Athlon 2500+ Mobile vs. 3200+

[Shortass]

I'm considering my first build, and though I have a budget I don't want to cheap out on anything if I don't have to. What would be a better deal? I know it's really easy to OC the mobile up to the 3200+ and then some, but what kind of cooling would I need to insure it stays nice and cool. The 3200+ costs about $100 more than the 2500+, but would the additional cooling be worth it?

Also, what is the best RAM to use for OCing? I'm highly considering the Corsair XMS DDR400 at 1 gig, but is that overkill?

Actually, I have a third question too. Many people have used the Abit NF7-S and love it, but since I was originally going with the 3200+ I was going to get the A7N8X-E Deluxe. Which is better for overclocking if I go that route?

I'll have more questions shortly, but this should be a good start.

 

[VisableAssassin]

get the mobile save some cash and OC it farther than the 3200+ or buy my 3000+
get the NF7-S rev 2 last i recall it does OC better than the asus.

 

[Shortass]

A couple more questions, though I want more opinions on my first few. If I OC, would the 2600+ mobile be a better deal? I don't want to have to upgrade every 2 months or so...

I've heard that the NF7-S doesn't "officially" support DDR400, but (not sure on this) you can raise your FSB when overclocking, so would that make it run optimally? I want to run dual-channel ram at it's fastest, as I'm looking for some serious gaming, which is also why I decided to go with the A7N8X-E Deluxe.

 

[charloscarlies]

The NF7-S rev. 2 DOES officially support 400 fsb. Mine gets stuck around 440-450 though.

Without a doubt get a mobile barton and an NF7 or DFI Infinity. They are MUCH better overclocking boards than the Asus. Hitting 3200 speeds with a mobile is like taking candy from a baby. My 2600 does 3200 speeds at 1.55v....and it might go lower I haven't really tried it. I would go ahead and fork over the extra $8 for the 2600 just to be on the safe side. I got mine a couple weeks ago, and it's an IQYHA which is one of the best steppings.

Good luck!

 

[Avalon]

If you're going to OC, don't go with the Asus, go with the NF7 rev 2
Also definitely get the mobile chip, you'll save big bucks
if you don't OC too much higher than 3200+ specs, you won't need more than a simple $15 copper HSF cooling solution...else you may want to look at a roughly $30 thermalright or such
again, if you're only going to OC lightly, the 2400+ will be the better deal, since you'll save about $30 and it will meet your needs (beyond 3200+)
the 2600+ is only theoretically able to reach higher OCs...it's a bit hit or miss between the models
the NF7 rev2 should support DDR400
the gig of corsair ram will do nicely if you can afford it, but the low latency sticks are now going for almost $200 a piece for a 512mb stick...I think OCZ is somewhat cheaper
I went to Newegg, and oddly enough, Corsair's low latency PC3200 module is $201, while their cas3 PC3700 module is $173
OCZ's 512mb low latency sticks are $127 (wtf is up with corsair's prices, they can't still be using winbond chips at newegg, right?)
good luck with the build!

 

[Shimmishim]

dfi board is the way to go... lanparty or infinity...

nf7-s allows for higher clockspeed...
inf/lan allow for higher fsb's...

 

[magratton]

Yeah, DFI NFII Ultra Infinity or the Abit NF7-S v2.0. You cant go wrong with either board, and I think the Abit is $10 cheaper at the moment.

I personally am having a tough time spending $220+ dollars on RAM. Probably going to be flamed on this one but, buy the Kingston Value Ram (look in the hot deals forum) direct from Kingston. It should run you under $140 for 1Gig.

As for the difference between the 2400-2600 mobiles, if you only plan to run at PC3200 speeds (200/400FSB) then any of them will do. You should be able to run 200x11.5 at 1.55-1.6v. 200x12 will be 1.65-1.7v. you will not need much better cooling than the $10-$15 range.

Lastly, I personally am having terrific luck with the Speeze Falconrock. In fact this computer I am typing on right now is running 200x11.5@1.55v on DFI NFII Ultra with 1gig Kingston Valueram and it is running nice and fast and quite cool (34C socket temp) with a room temp of about 23C.

Edit: only get the Kingston Valueram if you plan on staying around PC3200 Speeds. If you want to go higher, the you will need to spend the cash for better ram.

 

[Shortass]

Okay, I've pretty much decided on going with the Athlon 2600+ Mobile then, as it pretty much seems to be the consensus and it does make sense financially. Now a few questions on overclocking.

What is the difference between allowing a higher FSB or a higher clockspeed? I've heard more about the NF7-S v2.0, but I'm open to whatever is better for overclocking.

Since I plan to do some pretty extreme overclocking (as much as I can get out of it, without watercooling or any other ridiculous cooling system), what are the best options for cooling?

It seems that the mobile cpu's only come as OEM. What's the difference with OEM and Retail, would I be missing out on important pieces?

I'm sure a few more questions will follow.

 

[Anubis]

OEm is the CPU only no heatsink or fan,

if you wanna do extream OCing get a thermalright Heat sink, anyof them with a 80mm or 92mm Vantec Tornado fan will keep it nice and cool

i have a SLK-900a with a 80mm tornado on my 2400+ running 215x11.5 1.825v and its at 38c idle