Best overclocked CPU

[Pollock]

I can't decide whether a 2.4C, 2.6C, or 2.8C have any different overclocking potentials, over than just being at different stock speeds. I guess the same goes for all Athlon XP chips. Really though, I'm not sure if I can justify the $70 difference between a 2500+ at 3200+ against like a 2.6C at 3.4...I'll mostly be using it for games, but also some things like Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I know AMD chips typically do more per cycle, but is there enough extra raw power in an overclocked P4C to beat an overclocked 2500+?

 

[RussianSensation]

I think p4 2.8 at today's price of $177 on pricewatch.com @ 3.4-3.5ghz will easily be faster than a 2500+@ 2.3-2.4ghz in the applications you have mentioned above. Since the barton is locked, that means to get above 2.2ghz you'll need faster ram than 3200. It's a minor concern since PC3500 isnt that expensive either, but with a p4 you can simply revert to ratios without losing any performance if you use low latency ram.

You should read some reviews I posted in this thread:

Similar question you asked....

Of course the Barton costs 2x as less at least than a similarly clocked p4 system. But when the price difference is only $90.....i'd up to you to decide how important that is. There is no question 3.2ghz p4 stomps 3200+ barton if you read the reviews i linked in that above thread. Similarly 3.4+ p4 will only increase that advantage.

Here is a glimpse of p4 3.4 ghz vs the Athlon fX/Opteron solutions. In essence Opteron 146 2.0ghz with 1mb is about as fast as an Athlon 64 3200+ 1mb 2.0ghz. And I am sure you know 64 3200+ is significantly faster than the 3200+ xp. So you can compare just how close the 3.4 gets if you'll get those speeds out of 2.8 which is possible.

p4 3.4ghz reviewed

Edit: I am not trying to be biased, so I'll let you decide, here you can check out the overclocking potential ON AVERAGE for the processors you question
CPU Database

 

[WA261]

wanna save cash? get a 1700..most do 2.4

 

[hytek369]

Originally posted by: WA261
wanna save cash? get a 1700..most do 2.4

or a 1800+

 

[Pollock]

Well, when I looked at the CPU database, I saw there wasn't much difference between overclocking capability with the 2.4c-2.6c-2.8c processors, so would it be safe to save like $30 and just get a 2.4c for $163?

 

[myocardia]

You're actually going to get considerably more performance, from the same clockspeed, with a 2.4C than with a 2.8C. Since the best performance comes from a high fsb (front side bus), a 2.4C@3.5ghz is considerably faster than a 2.8C@3.5ghz. However, if money isn't a problem, I would recommend getting a 3.0C. They seem to be averaging 3.7-3.8ghz, with 4.0 not being all that rare.

 

[Pollock]

I'd rather not get a 3.0c, that's where it starts getting out of my price range, or at least where the value for your money starts dropping real quickly. I don't see how the 2.4c could beat a 2.8c at the same clock speed though, since both have the same FSB. Actually, this could be easily answered by telling me if there is any difference between the 2.4c-2.6c-2.8c other than stock clock speed.

 

[myocardia]

Wrong, all P4's have locked multipliers, therefore the lower the chips stock speed, the higher your fsb is at any frequency. If I remember right, a 2.4C at 3.6ghz has a 300mhz fsb (1.2ghz, quad-pumped). I've never heard of a 2.8C that will go above around 250fsb, and I can assure you, a 50mhz fsb differential is worth hundreds of cpu clock cycles.

 

[Pollock]

I see. I just don't know too much about overclocking; I want to start out on the right foot with my first build.

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: WA261
wanna save cash? get a 1700..most do 2.4

------------------------------------------------------
AMD Athlon XP T-Bred B DLT3C 1700+ @ 2.3GHZ (1.775v) 400FSB = 3200+
Abit NF7-S V.2 (nforce 2 400U)
Corsair TwinX XMS 3200LL 512MB @ 2-3-2-6 (2.6v)
Sapphire Radeon 9500 Pro 128MB
Antec TrueBlue 480W
Thermalright SLK-947U with 92mm Vantec Tornado @2800RPM
Maxtor 91531U3 15GB
2x Western Digital WD400BB 40GB serials
Antec PlusView 1000AMG
Cambridge SoundWorks MegaWorks THX 550 5.1

 

[Shimmishim]

hehehe...

it's hard to know what to recommend these days because we're at a transitional period between cpu and sockets...

argh...

i'd say go with the 2.4C and o'c that best to 3.5 (go visit the FS/FT forum you can find some good deals there for a 2.4C like the one i'm selling! )

so yeah...

or if you wanna go the amd way... 1700+ or the 2500+ barton....