Help with AMD xp 2600+

[boboboi]

Hi I am going to purchase an AMD XP cpu. I have my heart set on a XP 2600+.
I recent read somewhere that there are 4 different ones. I will not be over clocking, My Mobo is Asus a7n8x-vm/400 onboard geforce 4mx, and Using pc2700 ram.


1. Model 8 Athlon XP 2600+ 266FSB with 256K L2 @ 2133MHz (Thoroughbred)
2. Model 8 Athlon XP 2600+ 333FSB with 256K L2 @ 2083MHz (Thoroughbred)
3. Model 10 Athlon XP 2600+ 266FSB with 256K L2 @ 2133MHz (Thorton)
4. Model 10 Athlon XP 2600+ 333FSB with 512K L2 @ 1916MHz (Barton)

I'm guessing each one performs differently...

Which CPU is best for me and my system?

Is CPU #2 worth losing CPU clock speed for more FSB? (I will be using pc2700 ram)

Is CPU #4(Barton) worth losing CPU clock speed for more cache memory?

What is the difference between CPU 1 (T bred) & CPU 3 (Thorton)?

Please Help ASAP! So I can purchase and complete my computer.

 

[TRUMPHENT]

You've got PC2700 RAM and a mainboard that supports it. Get the cpu behind door number 4. It has the largest cache and highest front side bus.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Little brothers sometimes seem to need a leash tied on them (of course, being eldest, I was of that opinion about younger sisters as well). The Asus has a setting in its BIOS that would've helped (as noted in the original thread, I have an XP 3000, and it's in an Asus A7N8X-X system board. You can go into the "Health" page and set a shut-down at 75 degrees Celcius. I like that option. I have another XP-based PC, with a DFI brand MB, that doesn't offer that capability (quite odd, since otherwise that is among the most fully adjustable Setups I've ever seen).

What happened to the XP 2800 you said you thought was running too hot? It melted?

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=37&threadid=1694004

Overall, the Barton is the best of the 2600's, and probably the only one still available new in the retail channels. Any time you can take advantage of the greater memory bandwidth available with higher FSB settings, it is wise to do so.

As noted, I would have expected a temperature high enough to damage the cpu (85 Celcius), would probably have damaged the socket as well. I had been curious when you let this next item slide unanswered:

. . . had a thought about the original question. BobO, if you don't mind, can you NAME a temperature that you considered to be unacceptable with the stock heat sink? I didn't decide that the second Vantec Aerocool was not sufficient, until I saw several instances of my cpu temperatures being reported as 65 Celcius. With the current (bigger, more expensive than $40) HSF on that OC'd XP 3000, I am satisfied to have the temps being restricted to no higher than 57 Celcius.


:frown:

 

[boboboi]

Sorry for not reply to your message kiwi.
I was pissed off ... cpu doesnt work no more ... i do have a temp monitor ... temps were reaching 70's thats why i wanted a new hsf. My lil brother was playing a game on that computer and the cpu alarm went off and that idiot just kept playing. THen he thought the alarm was annoying so he finally turns off comp way later. I go to turn on comp later that night and the comp turns on but nothing comes up on the screen. So i thought it was my monitor but it wasnt....so I took the cpu to my friends place plugged it into his mobo and it does the same thing it did at my house. so i figured the damn cpu broke. so I am shopping for a CPU. mobo is gone too...i tried my friends cpu on it and it wont go. I have a mobo asus a7n8x-vm/400 that i used to make a comp for my sister...it was decent...so i bought that same board for this comp that just broke. It only takes up to a XP2700+....but I like the 2600+ cuz they have a variety of different kinds....so imma purchase an AMD xp 2600+. but i'm not sure which one I should pick. please help me kiwi.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Go with the Barton. You get more L1/L2, higher FSB, etc. If you want to see higher speed, just OC it a little and you can put it wherever you want the speed. AMD claimed to be using that performance rating (the "2600 +") to compare their cpu's to the Thunderbirds, which were the last ones sold with actual speeds in their names. Actually, the numbers bore very close relationships to P4 actual speeds.

The reason for lowered actual speeds was improved efficiency, so supposedly all four that you mentioned would have similar efficiencies. The real fact is that at about the 2600's point in AMD XP releases, a "Northwood" P4 had come along that was more efficient at 2.6 GHz than the XP 2600's back then and they needed the A64 to really catch up. The XP's from there to the 3200 were running behind the P4's (and back to running fairly "hot" thermally), but the 400 FSB XP's were the best of those (like my own XP 3000 is), although from a VALUE point of view, the XP-M 2500 was probably the best bang for a buck that they offered in a Socket A processor.

An ordinary user can take an XP-M and set it to run at the XP 3200's FSB plus its multi, and run just as fast for a lot less money (I don't have an XP-M 2500 myself, OC-ing had been a rarely-tested area until the last few months, actually. I was always a bit fearful of pulling off a meltdown the way your brother did, but more accidentally rather than plain stupidly. I have a new to me XP-M 2400 setup, with that DFI LanParty MB, and am just getting into some testing).

If you do get a 400 FSB processor, or an XP-M and run it at 400 FSB, you will probably still want a more-efficient than stock heat sink unit. Until the current year, windowed boxes seemed either more expensive, or more embarrassing, one or the other, to suit me. But I have several now (not all in service yet), and found how easy it was to tuck the wiring out of sight with a few small cable ties, so the looks of my PCs' insides is now fairly neat.

I've probably paid more than their intrinsic worth to get two Gigabyte cpu coolers that are simply too good-looking to pass up, with an electric Royal Blue colored fan on each. Since neither had sold before now for the sub-$30 figure, neither is mentioned in the HSF thread. They need a bit more space inside than some heat sinks, but nothing like the real estate that a Zalman grabs. One is called the "Neon 7" and I've now seen some Neon 8's being sold discounted from the mid- $30's MSRP, down in the $20's - the Neon 8 is used with an A64 or late model P4 (no, I haven't seen a Neon 7 discounted, and in fact found the G-Power when seeking out another Neon HSF).

(This is what a Neon-8 looks like! And it's priced at $13 plus shipping!)

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/specHR/images/BA30074.jpg

The "G-Power", has heat pipes, like the SI-97. It's just so neat to look at when lit up . .

 

[boboboi]

Wow nice stuff. I'll think about getting that hsf. pretty to look at hopefully quiet yet good cooling ability. But I'm not sure if Imma go with a 400fsb. I heard that my board i just bought, the a7n8x-vm/400 has some stability problems with 400fsb processors even though they claim it can run them. So thats why i'm gunna get a 333fsb and already have some pc2700 ram. so i was thinking of getting the xp 2600+ just to be safe. SO barton it is...thank you kiwi!

 

[boboboi]

Can you help me with one more thing? I decided to get the AMD XP 2600+ Barton. Can you help me find the cheapest place to buy it? I dont have many resources on places to search for pc parts for low prices. Please help so I can purchase asap. Thank you.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Originally posted by: boboboi
Wow nice stuff. I'll think about getting that hsf. pretty to look at hopefully quiet yet good cooling ability. But I'm not sure if Imma go with a 400fsb. I heard that my board i just bought, the a7n8x-vm/400 has some stability problems with 400fsb processors even though they claim it can run them.

I never ran across that complaint, but I don't look at boards with IGP on them. The VM is an integrated video MB, right?

So thats why i'm gunna get a 333fsb and already have some pc2700 ram. so i was thinking of getting the xp 2600+ just to be safe. SO barton it is...thank you kiwi!

You ever try Price Grabber? Look here:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getp...p/masterid=2901532/ut=d8779e192d2e4c72

 

[boboboi]

yea...it has on board geforce 4mx...and i hear you have to use the agp slot with a vid card to run stable at 400fsb. and I dont have a spare vid card and dont wanna spend more money on unnecessary items. I'll try out pricegrabber...never been there before but thank you for the link!

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Hmmm? I got a backchannel reference to more trouble and a still newer thread, but I haven't seen one. Supposed to be about an Antec SL450 psu.

 

[The Linuxator]

You know what get the barton , you will gain the extra cache and higher FSB keep the FSB at what's suitable for the integrated graphics, and increase your multiplier to match the speed of the thorugbred and done. now if you are afraid abot getting a locked XP 2600+ go to newegg and pick a mobile 2600 + and raise the FSB to the same as #4 done.