Athlon XP Palomino and Thouroughbred

[Migroo]

Hi all. I'm not a newbie to OCing but I haven't tried anything for quite a while. I'm familiar with FSB and multiplier OCing

I've got an Athlon XP 1700+ which I believe is a Palomino? My motherboard has a VIA KT266A chipset - so I believe I can't run a 333FSB Thouroughbred..

Apparently the max I can go to is a 2600+ TB, as long as its a 266 FSB model. The fastest chip I can find for sale in the UK is a 2400+ TB.

Basically - what are the limitations of my 1700+ when it comes to OCing? I'm prepared to buy faster RAM if its needed (I have PC2100 atm I think). Or should I just go for the 2400+?

A new motherboard isn't an option as I don't want to spend that much right now.

Cheers!

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

You might want to just wait then, although the upgrade to 2400 would be noticable,i don't think it would justify its price. That palomino you have maxes out at approx 1.8ghz, so don't expect much of an upgrade with overclocking it.

 

[Migroo]

The 2400+ TB is £50 whicn isn't that bad tbh.. but I see what you mean.

Thanks for the advice. My 1700+ runs at 1.466 Ghz, right?

 

[Migroo]

Ah, I just had a look on overclockers.com and OC results for Palominos were pretty poor.

Right I'll forget about a wild overclock then!

Might try to run at 140 FSB or something.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i'd honestly say your best bet is to get nice DDR400 ram and seeing what you can squeeze out of the palomino, at least that way when you deside to upgrade you can move that nice ram over. don't expect much of an overclock,i couldn't get my 1700 to do much of anything. i'm sure the lack of PCI lock has a lot to do with it. your choice either way, if your only going to upgrade the processor speed and nothing else then you probably won't notice much.

 

[Migroo]

Well I'm going to be upgrading my RAM (to 512 from 256) and my video card (R7500 -> R9600?) and I'm trying to decide if I need to do the CPU (or if a Tbred would be good, as theyre cheap!)

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

graphics cards is my weak spot,i don't game, but i doubt that card your getting will really need much more CPU power,its not all that powerful. i think that 1700 would be fine,for now. you'd def get an increase in gaming performance with the 2400 though, but i don't think it would justify its price. how much do you game? if your getting more ram be sure to get ddr400 while your at it so you can carry it over in the future,at least thats what i'd do,and did.

 

[Migroo]

I game a fair bit.. not as much as I used to (not a student any more) but there are some up-and-coming games that I am looking forward to. I play maybe 2-3 hours a week IF I have a game on the go. I like to be able to play anything thats released that takes my interest, so staying 'current' is fairly important. But I'm not a hardcore gamer.

Thanks for your advice. I'm not going to upgrade my CPU at this point I think.

Is DDR400 the same as PC3200?

And will faster DDR memory work in conjunction with slower memory (ie the existing 2100 ram I have in my machine at the moment?)

Many thanks

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

yes, the ram will merely be underclocked for the time being,and ddr 3200 is 400mhz.

don't just take my opinion though,thats what the forum is for. wait for other peoples 2 cents on the matter.

 

[Migroo]

Appreciate the clarification.

I'll see what RAM prices are like

BTW you are FAST with the replies!

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i'm inbetween classes,nothing else to do

 

[Lonyo]

Check Ebuyer.com, Komplett.co.uk and overclockers.co.uk
They all sell TwinMOS RAM which is pretty cheap (not all that much more expensive than Generic), but is much better.
256MB TwinMOS PC3500 CAS2 is £42 from Ebuyer.com
Most PC3200 256MB sticks that are generic seem to be about £35 or £37.

 

[Migroo]

Thanks dude, I'll check it out.


Going OT:
What about Crucial these days? I used to specify that all our RAM was Crucial about 2 years ago, but I haven't needed to buy any since (haven't needed to upgrade either my home or any of the office systems). Are they still as good as they used to be?

 

[myocardia]

No, Crucial isn't nearly as good as Corsair XMS (the best, in my opinion), Mushkin Level I, Kingston HyperX, or even TwinMOS.