I know this system is old, but I still think its decent =\

[chroniX]

My Setup:

Windows XP Professional SP1a & RU1
AMD Athlon T-Bird 1.4GHz (266mhz FSB)
Iwill KK266Plus-R (link: http://www.iwillusa.com/products/ProductDetail.asp?vID=22
1.5GB PC133 SDRAM
PNY Geforce 4 TI4200 64mb

- I built this like 2-3 years ago, so long, i cant remember. I remember back then, the market hit 1ghz and stuff, and FRYs employees were telling me that I would not need anything over 1.2GHz cuz after 1.2 you wont notice the speed increasement...Well now my birthday is coming up, and I figured I should upgrade my computer since i have nothing better to spend my money on. (Im looking at the 2500+ and OC'ing it to 3200+ speeds)

One thing I wanted to know is do you think its worth the upgrade? I do play a few games, like CS and Need for Speed, but I mostly just chat with friends, and download things, and browse internet, etc...

Also, I have NEVER used DDR before, and was wondering how that worked and what are all these timings ppl are saying like 2-3-3-3-5 or whatever.

Before I upgrade though, i wanted to know If i could OC my current CPU and if OC'ing PC133 SDRAM is possible? I have (3) 512mb sticks of it. The FSB is at 133, when I set it to 138 or so it becomes 1.45Ghz. Anything higher I think it wont start XP. I also tried playing around with the multiplier thing with the fsb set at 133. 10.5 gives me the default 1.4ghz, and 11 gives me 1466 GHZ or something like that. Also I was wondering how VCORE works? Mine is set to automatic right now. Could someone help me get a good OC from my 1.4ghz Cpu? Is there away to get dramatic results like with the 2500+ becoming a 3200+? And is there anything I could do to make PC133 1.5gb ram faster or whatever? I'm a newb at this DDR RAM stuff. Any help at all would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[mechBgon]

Your 1.4GHz with 266MHz bus was the last of the Thunderbird lineup and it looks like you're answering your own question as far as whether it'll overclock much. I see that the motherboard can take AthlonXP up to 1900+ (1.60GHz) if you want to go a little faster without starting over entirely.

DDR is an incremental step forward in performance. I have a motherboard that can take either DDR PC2100 or SDR PC133, and the increase in performance with DDR is 0%-10% with a Thunderbird 1.4GHz that I tested with, depending on what tests I did. All the same, if you're thinking about a 2500+, then you do need DDR for that.

The merit of an upgrade is for you to decide, but if you don't need the extra CPU power right now, hold onto your money and it'll buy you more CPU power when you finally do need it. Ditto for your video card. Monitors last a long time, so if you need a new one, that could be a good way to spend it, too. Good luck with your decision and welcome to the Forums

 

[myocardia]

Okay, first of all, the timings that people are talking about are just that-- timings. The lower the number, no matter the number is located, the faster the ram's response time. These days there are 2 types of "faster ram": faster timings or higher clockspeed. Depending on how you build a system, and which processor you use (Intel/AMD), one can make more of a difference than the other.

You probably won't get much of an fsb overclock with your PC133 ram, but since your Tbird is unlocked, why not see how high it will go through the multiplier? It won't cost you anything to find out. If you decide to go with a Barton, you're going to have to buy the proc., a mobo, and some DDR ram.

 

[chroniX]

thx for the reply, this kinda helped me...cuz when i ask myself, i dont really NEED a new cpu/mobo or ram, but it would be very nice... I guess I'll wait for 64bit cpu'ing to become more mainstream and PCI express..but then again it brings me to another view, I'll be in college by the time all that stuff comes out so if you had like 200 bucks and nothing really to spend it on, would u just upgrade now? I believe 64bit processing wont be that commong until like 2006 when longhorn is going to be released, so...im kind of in a conflict right now as to whether to upgrade and make it my *last* upgrade for the 32bit processing era, or just skip this upgrade all together and wait till im in college and get 64bit cpu and PCI express graphics in 2006. Think this would be good enuff for 2 years more?

i know its a silly issue to argue about, and in the end its up to me, but just out of curiousity, what would you guys do?

 

[Jeff7181]

If you get a whole new motherboard and everything, I'd go with an Athlon-64 3000+ with a motherboard around $100 and 512 MB of PC3200 RAM... should be able to get all that for well under $400. Socket 754 will be around for a while, so that board will provide a stable upgrade path, but you may need a new power supply because I believe all Athlon-64's require the extra 4-pin 12 volt connector like P4's need.

Since you don't do a whole lot of "power user" type stuff, you don't need a ton of RAM like you have right now, 512 will be enough for everything you mentioned.

 

[chroniX]

thx for the replies, hmm jeff thats intereresting...do you think it would be wise to let be on the market for a while and let the AMD 64 get cheaper? Or it wont make a difference for a long time and just buy it now?


btw - i have 400 watt psu, but its a cheap brand (Hercules) or something like that

 

[mechBgon]

If you're going to college, you may want to save up for a laptop, bro. If I were going (back) to college nowdays, dual 15" LCD monitors could be a worthwhile investment for doing research and schoolwork simultaneously without having to do a lot of window-swapping. Plus you save desk space.

If your IDE drive is old and likely to be burning out soon, consider a new drive, or a pair of new drives so you can back your primary drive up to the secondary one every day or two, sort of like a pseudo-tape-drive... make a folder titled by the date, such as Jan30-2004, and then copy your important stuff into it, and later you can go back in time and dredge up your document that you accidentally erased from your regular drive I have to do this at work from backup tapes every so often, and to the computer users it's like some sort of magic

A good uninterruptible power supply like an APC SmartUPS 620, which comes with the auto-save-your-work-and-shut-down PowerChute software, would be nice too. I'm just thinking of all the ways you can lose your research paper the day before you have to turn it in, know what I mean?

 

[chroniX]

hmm wait...r u sure those prices are right?? i looked at new egg just now, AMD 64 3000+ is $240
AMD 64 3000+ from NewEgg

 

[chroniX]

WOW good one mech, i forgot, I DO need a UPS...i remember my Power SUPPLy fried and burnt my CPU before during a lightning storm.

and to the laptop suggestion, im not sure if i will need it...i wont be living in a dorm or anything, infact, this is sad to admit, but i'll probably be living in my parents house for the first 2 years of college... and then get my own apartment for the rest of college... i guess i could use the laptop in class to take notes (i type faster than i write)

 

[mechBgon]

Living with your folks, nothing wrong with that. Anything you can do to save money that you'll have to pay back later, go for it. I failed in ChemE and spent the next ten years getting those loans paid off, while working as a bicycle mechanic. Never skip class, is my #1 advice. Never know what you might miss.

~ *sigh*

Back on-topic... if you want to replace your power supply with a new one for good measure, you don't have to go too wild on price. Antec, Enermax and Sparkle Power are three brands that have pretty good reputations, and Antec has a three-year warranty too. With the Athlon 1.4GHz being pretty power-hungry, it can't hurt to stick with the 400W program. The TruePower 380 or 430 are both strong for their ratings and will also come with Serial ATA plugs so you're set for the future too.

 

[chroniX]

sry for not really being specific in this thread, even I am not sure what my question is...i have so many

i have yet another question lol...i know vcore is voltage or whatever? but how do that relate to OC'ing and temperature? and How do u know wuts the default vcore for your CPU, and how much u need to set it to to overclock? Can someone help me? my 1.4ghz athlon cant go more than 11 on the multiplier with the fbs set at 133..would doing something with the vcore be able to let me set the multiplier higher w/stability?

 

[chroniX]

sry for not really being specific in this thread, even I am not sure what my question is...i have so many

i have yet another question lol...i know vcore is voltage or whatever? but how do that relate to OC'ing and temperature? and How do u know wuts the default vcore for your CPU, and how much u need to set it to to overclock? Can someone help me? my 1.4ghz athlon cant go more than 11 on the multiplier with the fbs set at 133..would doing something with the vcore be able to let me set the multiplier higher w/stability?

 

[mechBgon]

Think of the stock vcore setting like the RPM limiter on an engine. You take it off, you might get another 500-1000rpms out of your car's engine, but there goes the margin of safety when you run it full throttle, too.

By bumping the vcore about 10%, you may get another 50-100MHz of overclock, but you accelerate the degeneration of the CPU's core materials too (called "electromigration," I believe). Even excellent cooling doesn't stop electromigration from happening, as I understand it. Extra vcore also creates proportionately more heat, and the Tbird 1.4 is already producing 65 watts typical, 72 watts max, according to Sandpile.org. So add 10% to that... ouch. Some people will go a lot further than +10% on their vcore, of course.

So the question becomes, is this worth the risk? Are you going to notice another 5-10% performance by your CPU? My guess is no. I'm lucky and have a Duron 1.0GHz that does 1.33GHz at stock voltage, so I do take that risk... it's only worth about $20 anymore, anyway, and I'm not doing anything super-important with it here, so no great loss if/when it goes pins-up on me. A guy's gotta have some excuse to upgrade, right?

 

[chroniX]

haha yea i see what you are saying now, thanks...also, is there a way to find out whats the default vcore for your cpu? i dont know what the default is for mine