Best Socket A Chip for overclocking

[Actaeon]

3.6ghz?

Are you guys sure? Do you mean 2.6ghz?

Where can I find these 3.6ghz cpus? I'd love to replace my 2.2ghz Barton with one .

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: StormRider

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: StormRider
Which motherboards out there work with mobile Athlons?

ABIT NF7-S Rev 2.0 - Both my boards take mobile bartons.

Does the bios boot-up screen properly detect it as a mobile barton?

No, not generally. As the mobile's are not intended for desktop mobo's, seems most mobo's won't auto detect correctly.

Usually the mobo defaults the CPU to 100FSB and a multi of 6. So, when you boot up for the time, you'll have 600mhz CPU.

No biggie, just go into BIOS and change the settings (but this is why it's important for the mobo to offer these adjustments).

Even after changing the BIOS to the correct settings (ex. 200 FSB and multi of 11), the boot screen will likely report the CPU as "unknown"

Note that some mobo's have modded BIOS which will auto-detect the mobile CPU properely and reflect it on the boot screen.

It's no biggie.

Fern

What he said.

It is picked up as an Unknown Processor 600mhz (100x6) by the official BIOSes. Manual setting up on the NF7-S Rev 2.0 is easy enough.

 

[fstime]

Hi,

2600+ mobile barton is the best chip for socket A if your overclocking.

I had mine at 2.6 ghz.

I reached 2.7 after burn in, not completly stable but stable enough.

EDIT: Abit motherboard.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: JDCentral
Are the mobiles the EXACT same chips as the XPs, but they can just sustain a high clock rate at lower vcores?

Yes. They are hand-picked as the best silicon. Because they are intended for lappie's, they use the best cuz it'll run fast on low voltage/temps. Leaves a bunch of headroom for OCing in a desktop.

Fern

 

[JDCentral]

Excellent... my decision is made.

 

[Makaveli]

actually the newest NF7-s 2.0 Bios now shows the processor as athlon, no longer unknown. I suggest you guys updates your bios!

 

[JDCentral]

mmkay... 35W or 45W?
35W seems 'better' because it CONSUMES less power, but will it be able to dissipate as much as the 45W model?

 

[pradeep1]

Athlon XP-M 2400+ or 2500+ easily overclocks to 3200-3400+ levels on air and stock HSF on a reasonably stable board even with PC2700 memory.

 

[lkm]

My Cpu is the Athlon XP-Mobile 2600+ running at 2.4ghz for over a year now. stable as a rock with cool temps. Trust me, this is one ot the best OC chips ever made{cheaply}

 

[osage]

best OC I have had is a 35W XP-m 2400, 2500mhz on air.

 

[xsilver]

just to throw a spanner in the works but if you're thinking of performance, no socket A chip is going to hold a candle to a s754 or s939 solution -- and from that standpoint, rather than spending money on a cpu, why not dump your mobo and spend money on a new set

a mobile xp @2600mhz or so should equate roughly to a s754@2000mhz -- aka amd3000+ -- and that's before overclocking the s754
ref --http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2038&p=6

you'll also be getting more upgradabilty with a new mobo as well.... an xp-m @2600mhz is definitley the end of the line for socket A

 

[Cruise51]

I had a A7V8X-X and a 2700+. The highest I ever got it was 2.3 ghz on air, you'd be better off with a mobile.

 

[JDCentral]

Originally posted by: xsilver
just to throw a spanner in the works but if you're thinking of performance, no socket A chip is going to hold a candle to a s754 or s939 solution -- and from that standpoint, rather than spending money on a cpu, why not dump your mobo and spend money on a new set

a mobile xp @2600mhz or so should equate roughly to a s754@2000mhz -- aka amd3000+ -- and that's before overclocking the s754
ref --http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2038&p=6

you'll also be getting more upgradabilty with a new mobo as well.... an xp-m @2600mhz is definitley the end of the line for socket A

Honestly, b/c I don't really NEED a new computer, and because I can afford to get an entire Athlon XP System for under $300. Performance-per-dollar is what matters here.

This is going to be my toy/guinea-pig computer... so if I blow it all away, it's not a big deal. Also, I don't play very many games. My computers are mostly tools, not toys... unless you consider a Video-recorder a toy.

 

[nwo]

Some good OCing socket A CPUs are:
All mobiles of course, they can easily get up to well above 2GHz with good RAM, PSU, and cooling.
2400+ sempron can easily reach 2GHz without a voltage increase
2500+ barton can also easily reach 2GHz without a voltage increase

 

[LED]

My XP1700 does 2.2+ so that would be the best IMO for the socket in question ...OTT theres the ole 550 Celeron

 

[Crashedout]

The above ref does not say anything about an overclocked xp. My XP-M is at 2.5 Ghtz and it seems to score around an A64 3400-3600 depending on app/game. Which is pretty good for a 70 dollar chip. It is multi unlocked which makes it easy to maximize the overclock. I will upgrade again when A64 3000's are overclocking to 3 ghtz, that would be a good increase from what I have now.

 

[xsilver]

Originally posted by: JDCentral

Originally posted by: xsilver
just to throw a spanner in the works but if you're thinking of performance, no socket A chip is going to hold a candle to a s754 or s939 solution -- and from that standpoint, rather than spending money on a cpu, why not dump your mobo and spend money on a new set

a mobile xp @2600mhz or so should equate roughly to a s754@2000mhz -- aka amd3000+ -- and that's before overclocking the s754
ref --http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2038&p=6

you'll also be getting more upgradabilty with a new mobo as well.... an xp-m @2600mhz is definitley the end of the line for socket A

Honestly, b/c I don't really NEED a new computer, and because I can afford to get an entire Athlon XP System for under $300. Performance-per-dollar is what matters here.

This is going to be my toy/guinea-pig computer... so if I blow it all away, it's not a big deal. Also, I don't play very many games. My computers are mostly tools, not toys... unless you consider a Video-recorder a toy.

You make a point that performance per dollar is what matters and that is exactly what i was trying to say.
You didnt make clear if you were getting a complete xp-m system or upgrading your old one but rather than spending the quoted $70 on a xp-m chip -- why not spend $150-200 or so on a chip/mobo combo (s754) which WILL give you more performance, offsetting the extra cost....
you get more upgradability as well
the con is that you have to spend the effort in getting more parts and if you're upgrading, find a way to sell off your old mobo (which will further offset the cost of going s754)

I'm not saying this is the best way to go but if you're interested in more performance, the xp-m doesnt really cut it anymore and with socket A, there is no more upgradabilty after the xp-m

and to the person that says the xp-m isnt on the chart i referenced --- yes I was aware of that but extrapolating from what WAS there, one can esitmate that a xp-m chip running 2500mhz or so is equivalent to a amd64 running at 2000mhz (amd64 3000+). Which by the way if you get, can overclock also to 2400mhz speeds, further pushing performance per dollar

my main point is that there is only so far you can go with old technology before it becomes no longer any good value - now may be a good time to jump over

 

[Diasper]

Just a small mention on the cache - it can provide a significant performance benefits.

I think I remember reading a post from someone overclocking their SanDiego and finding it significantly faster than a Venice at same speed (same memory timings etc). I think he even reported it being upto 18% faster in Half Life 2. While that might be a slightly ambigious/random result there is a general 'significant' performance advantage with having more cache in HL2.

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: Actaeon
3.6ghz?

Are you guys sure? Do you mean 2.6ghz?

Where can I find these 3.6ghz cpus? I'd love to replace my 2.2ghz Barton with one .

i'm pretty sure thats a typo or he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about...i've seen 3.1-3.2ghz@ 2.2v or some crazy voltage on a 2 stage cascade with the cpu sitting at like -60 or -70C...but thats not typical

 

[xsilver]

Originally posted by: quakefiend420

Originally posted by: Actaeon
3.6ghz?

Are you guys sure? Do you mean 2.6ghz?

Where can I find these 3.6ghz cpus? I'd love to replace my 2.2ghz Barton with one .

i'm pretty sure thats a typo or he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about...i've seen 3.1-3.2ghz@ 2.2v or some crazy voltage on a 2 stage cascade with the cpu sitting at like -60 or -70C...but thats not typical

Actually I dont think that's a typo -- but its not a realistic speed
I have a video on my hdd that shows someone exploding thier cpu, mobo and table by running a amd duron socket A at 3800mhz at 4.2volts and then removing the heatsink -- http://www.glebeci.ca/users/matt/video/...MD_Duron_Vaporizing_final_divx_lq1.avi
I found a link = here it is for your enjoyment
I love the russian/french (is it?) accent

 

[Crashedout]

My experience and math put an XP-M running at 2500 mhz in the neighborhood of a 3400, higher for somethings lower for others. I would not upgrade, ie buy a new motherboard for an xp-m but if I had a nforce2 board and wanted a cost effective upgrade I would.

 

[JDCentral]

Well.. I'm 'creating' an old system... meaning I have a Socket A Mobo, heatsink, ram, etc. but no video card, CPU, case, PSU.

I agree with you on the price/performance ratio for the s754 platform - except that I don't see any reason to 'upgrade' to a 64-bit platform (A64 isn't really a 'true' 64-bit architecture, as I understand it... it's a 32-bit chip with the ability to manipulate 64-bit words). Since no programs require 64-bit, I don't see why I need to spend the extra $150, now, to upgrade.

To tell you the truth, I plan on using this computer as a fileserver/media machine... so for my specific usage, the extra $$ spent on s754 increases my total price by about 30%. If this was to be my 'main machine', or if I planned on doing some really hefty stuff with it, I would upgrade to A64. The truth is, not many applications I run require a lot of horsepower - maybe just some engineering simulations, but that's what ssh and distributed computing is for . Right now, the main computer I use is a 3-year old 1.0 Ghz TiBook (yes.. mac!), and it easily handles everything I need to run (no games helps keep everything reasonable).

 

[JDCentral]

Also... I am a strong beleiver that CPU parts have a large amount of 'price premium' assocated with them.

The jump to get those extra 150 Mhz from your processor could end up costing you about $1/Mhz, which is rediculous.

Video cards, especially - I could spend $1200 on video cards (2x 7800s) and be able to say I had the 'best setup' for about 3 months, but it's not really necessary.